Stephen Logan

HIST 5093
Teaching Observation

Course: US History since 1877

Instructor: Jodi Peterson
Format: Online (Asynchronous)

Professor Peterson’s course presents as well organized and easily accessible for individual online
learning. She has a clear outline of student expectations and assignments from unit to unit that
would make it easy for a student to understand how to navigate the course. Assignments are
similar week to week, and the structures are similar. She has the course organized into four
distinct units. During each unit students complete weekly modules consisting of lecture notes and
a short assessment. An open-source textbook is assigned; however, usage of it is explicitly
optional for students. Once per unit, students complete a critical thinking assignment that asks
them to “reflect” deeper on the course material, “build on” that material through primary source
analysis, and “apply” what they have learned to a current event. Assessments are done via exam,
four minor exams and a final. The structural design of the assignments may make it easier to
organize for both student and teacher (incredibly important with an online course, and even more
so with a large online course); however, I would have concerns that students might struggle with
meaningful engagement due to the repetitive nature of those assignments.

Professor Peterson includes several structural scaffolds for students to support course content
mastery. She provides students with a graphic organizer/structure for completing the critical
thinking skills. She also provides an optional note taking outline for students as well as multiple
embedded media resources that give note taking suggestions. Included in the directions for the
lecture notes assignment is a list of reasons why note taking is important, which connects with
the metacognitive learning dimension we discussed in class this past week. Compared to the
college courses I experienced, this approach provides more substantial supports for student
success, and I would consider using these in my course as well.

Regarding technology, Professor Peterson’s course feels modern and up to date. She utilizes the
adobe webpage building software and templates, which provides a clean and smooth online
experience. There is a link for each module which includes everything the students need. It’s
worth mentioning that all the links worked (a seemingly minor, but incredibly important detail).
Google Docs and pdf templates are provided for digital work. Students must upload their notes in
each for the online module. Her lectures, which are screen recorded voice-overs, are packed with
details, well organized and developed, and rich with visual sources. I may consider adding more
on-screen text for my lectures to support student notetaking.

Overall, if I were a motivated and individualistic student, I would enjoy taking this class. It’s
clear, smooth, and meticulously detailed. However, I did not notice any way for students to
interact with one another or each other’s work, which is something I find valuable even in an
online environment.