The Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies program at Montclair State University provides full-time students with the option to complete their degree in an expedited time frame. Students work together with a success coach, advisors, and professors. The program was developed with the needs of adult students returning to an undergraduate institution in mind. Courses in this program are fully asynchronous online courses that run for eight weeks. I am honored that Dr. Pablo Tinio, Department Chair of Educational Foundations, recruited me to teach for this program.
I regularly teach Historical Foundations of American Education asynchronously online during a full semester. My blog article A Foundation for Teaching and Learning shares the pedagogy that I engage in for online courses. I discuss the following key components of my online pedagogy in the article:
- Syllabus (with a daily schedule of tasks for online students)
- Web Conferencing
- Teaching Blocks
- Questions About the Course Forum
- Discussion Forum
- Grading Blocks
- Course Update Emails
- Contemplative Meditations (optional)
I continue to implement this pedagogy as I teach the accelerated section. In addition, I developed a welcome video to explain the course in depth to my students, and to create a personable atmosphere. My colleague, Dr. Matt Deaton, does an excellent job of sharing how to develop welcome videos.
For the accelerated section, I knew that I wanted my students to participate in philosophical dialogue online and think deeply about the issues that I present to my class during a full semester term. This prompted me to utilize the jigsaw method in my accelerated online course.
A jigsaw is a method used to break up large portions of coursework into smaller, manageable chunks for students. I inform the students of how to access the groups directly online. I also list the groups in the syllabus. Of course, I often need to amend the groups as students add, drop, and withdraw from the course.
I provide students with instructions for the jigsaw groups. Here are the weekly instructions from my syllabus.
If you are in Group 1 Jigsaw 1, then you will critically engage in the readings assigned to your group. You will complete the discussion forum for Group 1 Jigsaw 1 by posting your main response to one of the discussion prompts and offering a comment to another student.
After, you will browse the readings for Group 2 Jigsaw 2. Next, you will visit the discussion forum for Group 2 Jigsaw 2 and offer a comment to a student’s post.
If you are in Group 2 Jigsaw 2, then you will critically engage in the readings assigned to your group. You will complete the discussion forum for Group 2 Jigsaw 2 by posting your main response to one of the discussion prompts and offering a comment to another student.
After, you will browse the readings for Group 1 Jigsaw 1. Next, you will visit the discussion forum for Group 1 Jigsaw 1 and offer a comment to a student’s post.
The jigsaw provides students with the opportunity to critically read a group of readings and then skim another set of readings. Students have the chance to build their knowledge of one module, but then also to participate in a philosophical discussion for another module. This strategy ensures that students receive the same curriculum that I would engage in during the full semester term.
Before employing this strategy online, there is a need to understand how to utilize the technology that is offered through the institution. Montclair State University uses Canvas as a learning management system. Students can become quite intimidated by complex online courses. For this reason, it is crucial to provide them with tutorials that explain each step of the process.
The first step is for the professor to create the groups. I created the groups on Canvas. There is a “People” tab. The “People” tab has an option called groups. The groups option allows the professor to create multiple groups for multiple projects. I started by creating a group set. I titled the group set “Jigsaw Groups.” Then I created two groups within the group set. The first group was “Jigsaw Group 1,” and the second group was “Jigsaw Group 2.” Canvas lists the names of all students in the class on the left-hand margin. Professors may add students to the groups by dragging each student’s name over to the group, or by selecting the option for Canvas to split the groups. Once students are in the group, the professor needs to inform the students of the group that they are in. Students should go to the “People” tab in Canvas and click on the “Jigsaw Groups” group set. This will allow students to see the names of the individuals in each group. Another option is for the professors to screenshot the names of students in each group and share the screenshot through email, or directly in the syllabus.
Each jigsaw group participates in weekly discussion forums. Each student participates in two discussion forums per week. The first forum that the student centers their attention on is for the jigsaw group that they are in. Students must also offer a comment to another student in that forum. The second forum that students participate in is for the jigsaw group that they are not in. Students are expected to offer a comment to students in that group. Overall, I expect students to submit three posts. This includes the main post in the jigsaw group that they are in, the comment in the jigsaw group that they are in, and the comment for the other jigsaw group.
The syllabus lists the weekly assignments for each jigsaw group. In the weekly course update email that I send to students, I convey the specific tasks for each jigsaw group. The instructions may seem repetitive, but my students tell me that this repetition helps them to understand their tasks for the week.
My students tell me that they enjoy the jigsaw because it provides the opportunity to engage in philosophical discussions for more than one topic. I employ the Socratic method as I participate in the philosophical discussions as a professor. Students come together in the jigsaw groups, and we engage in thoughtful, critical discussions that help us all to think about crucial topics in our course. I believe that students benefit from this approach, especially in an accelerated course. For this reason, I present the jigsaw method as a potential online tool that educators may modify for courses they teach.
Disclaimer: Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall is an editor at the Blog of the APA. The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of the American Philosophical Association or the Blog of the APA.
Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall is an editor at the Blog of the APA who currently teaches philosophy, religion, and education courses solely online for Montclair State University, Three Rivers Community College, and St. John’s University.
Wow, what an informative article! I’m thoroughly impressed by the level of detail and insight provided. Thank you for sharing this valuable resource.