On June 16th, 2021at 12 PM CST, Dr. E Ann McGee led an all-star panel conversation with VP Jana Kooi, Dr. Kimberly Coffman, and Dr. Kathy Cecil-Sanchez. Check out the highlights from the webinar to hear panelists share the findings from Packback’s year-long study, explore the emerging research on discussion pedagogy, and discuss the future of educational technology.
Watch the following clips to hear:
- Results from Packback’s year-long study determining the effectiveness of inquiry-driven discussion across 10 institutions
- VP Jana Kooi, Dr. Kimberly Coffman, and Dr. Kathy Cecil-Sanchez discuss the dramatic improvements to student grades, knowledge retention, and confidence as a result of implementing Packback at their institutions.
1. Creating space for rich faculty engagement with AI-powered feedback
Dr. Kathy Cecil Sanchez, VP of Instruction at Lone Star College-University Park, shares how Packback’s AI-driven feedback enabled faculty to start engaging more deeply with students; allowing them to move past simple assessment and move towards a richer, more holistic approach to teaching and learning.
“Faculty are able to shift from assessment to engagement because of the AI tools.”
Dr. Kathy Cecil-Sanchez: “That AI gave more quality feedback than a faculty member typically has the time to give and students performed better with that support.”
VP Jana Kooi: “If you don’t have good communication and ways for students to interact with each other, you are not doing higher level learning. There has to be synergy.”
2. Increasing student confidence through consistent feedback
Upon implementing Packback, Jana Kooi, VP of Online and Workforce Education at Florida State College at Jacksonville, and Dr. Kimberly Coffman, Professor of Psychology at Miami Dade College, noticed increasing levels of student comfort with taking part in the discussion as a result of more peer-to-peer interaction and receiving consistent feedback on the platform.
“Students felt more comfortable with the discussion because of the feedback!”
Dr. Kimberly Coffman: “By students being able to see continuously throughout the semester what they wrote and that other students are still responding and adding to information, it’s really building their own sense of capability.”
3. Allowing students in any discipline to move past rote memorization and basic assessment
Dr. Kathy Cecil-Sanchez shares why Packback is essential for empowering students in any course, regardless of discipline, to think outside of the box about course concepts and ask themselves how what they’re learning relates to the outside world.
“The whole idea is to get students thinking about your curriculum beyond just what’s in the textbook.”
Dr. Kathy Cecil-Sanchez: “It gets them looking at what is out there and really looking at current events.”
