Alyson Ponomarenko

Assistant Professor Alyson Ponomarenko reinvents learning in large classes

(Dec. 11, 2003)--Alyson Ponomarenko, an assistant professor in the UTSA Department of Earth and Environmental Science, primarily teaches large introductory geology classes.  A 2002 recipient of a Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) Summer WebCT grant, she is creatively using technology in the classroom and reinventing learning in her classes with WebCT.

WebCT is a software application used at UTSA to provide educational tools that facilitate learning, communication and collaboration using the Internet and the computer. It also provides a set of administrative tools to assist instructors in the process of management and continuous improvement of their courses. 

Much of the material covered in large introductory classes is new to students, and many have trouble visualizing new concepts and placing them in context.  In smaller classes, a solution might be to assign papers or projects to help students become familiar with the new concepts and new ideas. 

This is neither feasible nor effective in large lecture courses. With expanded use of WebCT, student presentations as a method of learning can be reinvented with greater impact for each student. 

In Ponomarenko's large Earth History geology class, she requires PowerPoint presentations by each of her students. Project topics with rolling due dates are posted in WebCT, and students chose topics (or, more commonly, due dates) on a first-come first-served basis.  A brief PowerPoint presentation posted by Ponomarenko highlights what she looks for in a presentation and reiterates the UTSA academic integrity policy. 

Students submit short (six pages per student) PowerPoint presentations to her as attachments via WebCT.  She in turn posts the presentations in a public folder, so that all students can look at the presentations throughout the semester. 
 
The topics and due dates are reflective of the syllabus, so there is benefit in students looking at presentations to help understand the material before exams.  Because students can't be expected to read presentations simply for their own edification, part of the project grade entails writing five detailed summaries and critiques of five presentations.

The summaries are posted to individual discussion boards she creates. (Most recently there were 123 of them, each with only 2 members -- herself and one student.)  She creates the individual discussion boards in this manner so she can tell at a glance whether a student has submitted all five summaries. 
 
To determine the student reaction to these projects, additional questions are added to the course evaluations addressing the project.  The student reaction to these projects is very positive, not only because of the material they learn in making the presentations, but because for many it is their first experience in using PowerPoint and in sending attachments -- an experience often considered painful, but ultimately worthwhile.  They also enjoy having access to other student's presentations without having to sit through 123 oral presentations in class.
 
Ponomarenko's reaction to these projects is qualified -- she is glad to use projects, especially in large classes where student/teacher interaction can be otherwise limited.  She does the grading in large chunks (40 at a time), so it goes fairly quickly.

She has been discouraged only by several cases of plagiarism from Web sites with information copied directly into PowerPoint but uncited in references.  The plagiarism occurred despite warnings in the syllabus, on the project guidelines and verbally in class. Each student involved admitted culpability, but said they "didn't realize" what they were doing was wrong.

In a sense, Ponomarenko thinks this is all the more reason to attempt these sorts of projects because students learn by doing on all levels, while WebCT offers an easy way to run projects that would otherwise be nearly impossible in giant lecture courses.

If you are a UTSA faculty member who would like more information about using WebCT next semester in your classes, e-mail WebCT.

--Ronald Ayers