Online Classroom Format That Leads to Student Success and Satisfaction
Case Study with Professor Lawrence Duke
Drexel University
LeBow College of Business
Marketing Department
Clinical Professor & Faculty Advisor for the MS Marketing program
Professor Duke on how often he reads his Yellowdig feed:
“I’d say one to two hours a week. I actually wanted to spend more time because there was such good content, I just didn’t have the time. So there’s really good content there… And I think it’s more enjoyable for the students too. I actually think they are reading what other people are doing…”
How Professor Duke Uses Yellowdig:
Professor Duke has actively used Yellowdig in six marketing courses from Spring 2018 to Spring 2019. Courses ranged from introductions to marketing to advanced undergraduate seminars. In each of his classes, Professor Duke had students respond to prompts, though perhaps “prompts” is a bit of a misnomer. Professor Duke’s prompts were really conversation starters: open-ended questions that encouraged students to reflect critically and creatively on a topic. Unlike traditional prompts, which merely assess students’ comprehension of course materials, conversation starters initiate dynamic discussions and yield interesting and varied responses. Like good classroom conversations, good Yellowdig conversations don’t just disseminate easily verifiable facts. They facilitate active learning and promote deep understanding.
In each of his courses, Professor Duke factored Yellowdig points into the final grade (usually 5-10%). In accordance with our best practices, he also enabled the weekly point max and “nudge” notifications that reminded inactive students to contribute to the board.
Professor Duke’s Point Settings —What Happened When He “Turned the Dials”:
Professor Duke instituted significant changes in his point system over his first three Yellowdig classes. These point changes correlated with significant changes in board performance outcomes. Professor Duke’s most significant performance changes appear to have been driven by social points, which include points for receiving accolades, upvotes, and comments on posts. Social points incentivize the production of high-quality content, since social points are more likely to be awarded for high-quality than low-quality content. In general, we strongly recommend that instructors enable social points. Indeed, as Professor Duke’s performance outcomes suggest—and as Professor Duke’s students have themselves testified—social points powerfully influence the quality of students’ contributions and the extent of student engagement.
Student Reactions:
Over the course of his six Yellowdig courses, Professor Duke has solicited valuable feedback on Yellowdig from his students:
83% of students preferred or strongly preferred Yellowdig to Blackboard Discussions; 15% were indifferent; and only 1 student preferred Blackboard Discussions. None of his students strongly preferred Blackboard Discussions.
Students frequently characterized Yellowdig as “more interactive”, “better”, “easier”, “different”, “fun”, and “amazing.” Students compared Yellowdig to social media, praised the quality of the content, and reported enjoying reading others’ posts.
About Professor Duke:
Prior to becoming a business professor, Professor Duke was a senior executive in international finance and marketing with twenty years of experience in the public and private sectors at Citigroup, Nomura, State Street, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and as a U.S. naval officer. His teaching has garnered him a number of recognitions (2013 LeBow Teaching Excellence Award; 2013 ArchiTech Technology and Teaching finalist; 2008-2011 LeBow Distinguished Teaching Fellow, Center for Teaching Excellence; 2007-2008 LeBow Teaching Excellence Award). Professor Duke’s research focuses on marketing ethics, quality, digital and global marketing, and finance.
Professor Jesse Ballenger
College of Nursing and Health Professions
Health Administration
Associate Teaching Professor
One thing Professor Ballenger had to say about the Yellowdig experience:
“The discourse environment of Yellowdig has been everything I had hoped for. It is engaging. I don’t get posts that are repetitive. In a blackboard discussion forum, most posts do not get any comments on them. Students approach it less as a discussion than an individual assignment. I’ve counted this, and in the typical Blackboard forum only 5 or 6 percent of the posts will get a comment from other classmates. In Yellowdig, this is flipped. Almost all of the posts get some comment. There is real discussion going on.”
How Professor Ballenger Uses Yellowdig:
Professor Ballenger used Yellowdig in four courses over the last 3 quarters (Spring ’18 – Fall ’18). They include students at most levels (new undergraduates to graduate students). The classes are online and Yellowdig is used in place of what might normally be in-class discussion. All point categories were active in Yellowdig and students earned them for 5%-10% of their course grade. Professor Ballenger’s Yellowdig instructions are relatively open-ended in that they allow students to choose the topics of posts and don’t prescribe how students should earn their points. In talking about Yellowdig participation he emphasized to students the importance of them actually discussing posted content. Given this implementation, his students earned many points by reading, commenting on, and discussing existing content rather than just generating Pins. In addition to using points for grading, the weekly point maximum was active and “nudge” notifications were set.
Classes with Yellowdig Boards:
Spring 2018 – HSAD 500: Historical Influences on the US Healthcare System
Online (Graduates) – 18 students asked to participate across 10 weeks
105 Pins & 419 Comments = 2.91 posts per student per week; 3.99 Comments Per Pin
Summer 2018 – HSAD 346: Mental Illness in the Media and Arts
Online (Mid-Level to Advanced Undergraduates) – 34 students asked to participate across 10 weeks
221 Pins & 741 comments = 2.83 posts per student per week; 3.35 Comments Per Pin
Fall 2018 – HSAD 500: Historical Influences on the US Healthcare System
Online (Graduates) – 25 students asked to participate across 10 weeks
5 weeks into the course: 98 Pins & 397 Comments = 3.96 posts per student per week; 4.05 Comments Per Pin
Fall 2018 – HSAD 210: Health-Care Ethics
Online (Low- to Mid-Level Undergraduates) – 22 students asked to participate across 10 weeks
5 weeks into the course: 78 Pins & 215 Comments = 2.66 posts per student per week; 2.76 Comments Per Pin
Student Feedback:
“It is already tough working and doing online classes… It seemed very much like I was in a classroom. The assignments opened my perspective to a whole new look of how I view people and most importantly how I view myself.”
“I enjoyed the format of the Yellowdig discussion board and the weekly readings were very thought provoking and encouraged critical thinking/analyzing. Definitely one of the most interactive courses I have taken since starting the online program.”
About Professor Ballenger:
Professor Ballenger teaches health care ethics, history of health care, and health services for the elderly. He came to bioethics from a background in the history of medicine and the interdisciplinary field of Science, Technology and Society. After working for more than a decade as a nursing assistant, he earned a B.A. in History from Kent State University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in History from Case Western Reserve University. He then did a post-doctoral fellowship at the Institute of the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. He has lectured and written extensively on the ethical and policy implications of dementia. His research primarily focuses on the ethical and policy implications of the history of medical, social, and cultural responses to dementia and aging.
