Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Pop-up Extra Credit: Getting Students Checking-In

Economics Professor Mary Orisich wanted to get online students checking-in more frequently to her online course. As an incentive, she devised Pop-up Extra Credit. Every week, she randomly posts a pop-up extra credit assignment usually in an Advanced Forum. She makes sure to vary the days and times to keep students guessing and to be compatible with different students' schedules.

Characteristics of Prof. Orisich's Pop-up Extra Credit activity:
  • Usually a 24 hour turn-around time
  • Usually related to content of the week or designed to build community
  • All posted in one topic area in Moodle so students know where to look
  • Announcement in the header block when a pop-up extra credit activity is available
Mary reports that usually 5-6 different students participate and the students vary in terms of their grade in the class. (Not only strong or weak students participate.) I spoke with one student in her class who reported that he did indeed make a point of checking-in more often. He also enjoyed the assignments as they were usually related to current events and able to be applied to their own lives.

Moodle block with Pop-Up Extra Credit Forums
Moodle block dedicated to Extra Credit Assignments (Click to make larger)

Pop-up extra credit assignment
Example of Pop-Up Extra Credit Assignment (Click to make larger)

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