Storm Gloor
Assistant Professor
Music and Entertainment Industry Studies Department
University of Colorado Denver
Arts Bldg., Suite 288
Campus Box 162 | PO Box 173364
Denver, CO, 80217
417-499-3375
storm.gloor@ucdenver.edu
What is the central question, issue, or problem you plan to explore in your proposed work?
In terms of effectiveness in learning and teamwork, how does online collaboration contribute to learning and engagement in completing formal learning group project reports versus traditional means?
Why is your central question, issue, or problem important, to you and to others who might benefit from or build on your findings?
College students continue to spend more of their leisure and exploratory time online and are advanced in their uses of new technology. Utilizing cutting edge new media tools in a teaching environment might enhance their learning because of its familiarity and appeal. With group projects, especially those based upon creating a master document and presentation, challenges including contribution equity, management of various working documents and materials, and group communication can be issues. Tools like Google Docs not only address these challenges for the students but might allow the instructor to more adequately and objectively assess the individual’s work within the team for more effective evaluation. Finally, use of such new media in group projects might better prepare students for the business environments in which these tools are being utilized.
How do you plan to conduct your investigation? What sources of evidence do you plan to examine? What methods might you employ to gather and make sense of this evidence?
I’ve developed a new course, Music and Entertainment Business in the Digital Age, which will be offered for the first time in Spring ’09. There is a group project assignment for the semester in which the students will jointly develop a new entertainment business model or product for which they will jointly create a document outlining aspects of their creation and develop tools online to present their creation toward the end of the semester. My investigation will use these projects for analysis of my central questions. I plan to conduct surveys of the students prior to their beginning the project, as well as surveys after the conclusion, to ascertain their perspectives and opinions on the project for comparative analysis. I also will be assigning reflective writing assignments throughout the project from which I’ll gain feedback. Finally, the class will include four self-assessments throughout the semester. Some questions on the assessments will pertain to the group project and their learning progress or lack thereof. To make sense of the evidence I’ll analyze longitudinal comparisons of their assessments, a comparative analysis of their survey feedback and ratings, and corroborate the reflective writings with the aforementioned data.
How might you make your work available to others in ways that facilitate scholarly critique and review, and that contribute to thought and practice beyond the local? (Keep in mind that coaching will be available to help you develop these aspects of your proposal, so you need not feel you must present a finished project design at this time.)
I feel that the results of my work could benefit several disciplines. My plan would be to publish and present my findings as a research in education, and would pursue those avenues relative to that. But I will also other national conferences and publications outside of education as well. For instance, the American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences has an annual publication and conference that includes an Educational Leadership track. Moreover, I could contribute to the thought and practice within music business programs (in which many students are very tech savvy and cutting edge) throughout the country.
A literature review of the theory and effective teaching practice of the subject of your inquiry
According to Barbara Gross Davis, in her book Tools For Teaching, researchers have found that students working together in small groups tend to learn and retain the information better. They’re also reportedly more satisfied with their classes. There is a bit of research into online group work in education, but much of it was published prior to 2004. Most of that research centers on how students communicate online through e-mail, chat groups, etc. More recently, books like Online Collaborative Learning: Theory and Practice (Editor: T.S. Roberts, Information Science Publishing), with contributions from several academics, have addressed the implications to the classroom. A reviewer of that book, Sharon Stoerger of Indiana University, even mentioned that “the literature about online cooperative and collaborative (learning) is lacking”, adding that the book attempted to remedy that. So there may be an opportunity for more research and publishing in that area. However, there are plenty of reports issued since and recently highlighting the uses of collaborative online tools like Google Docs and Second Life for effectiveness in the workplace and academia. The 2008 Horizon Report, for instance, outlines such uses and refers to programs at schools like Arizona State University and Melbourne’s Victoria University that are formally utilizing these tools and others.
What is your record of innovation in teaching and/or the assessment of learning?
Though I’ve only been teaching two years, I believe I’ve demonstrated innovation and self-growth in teaching by utilizing new technologies (iClickers and online exams, for example). I was invited to present (on Google Docs, no less) at the annual CU Online Spring Symposium in May ’08 based on my use of online tools for improving teaching and learning opportunities.
Are you able to attend the required meetings as specified in Section 2, Benefits and Expectations?
Yes, I’ll be able to attend the meetings and meet the expectations.
Provide the name and contact information for someone who can serve as a mentor to you within the PTLC program.
Judy Coe (Judith.coe@ucdenver.edu, 303-556-6013) has agreed to be a mentor within the PTLC program.
Can you suggest an appropriate coach for your project?
I’m not sure of one person in particular, so I am wide open to whatever suggestions there may be.
If your project is selected, are you willing to serve as a coach in PTLC in a future year?
Yes, I would be willing to do so.
