Three Challenges of Reimagining a World Mythology Online Course with OER and Open Pedagogy

Concurrent Session 3

Brief Abstract

 Comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell said, “You can’t have creativity unless you leave behind the bounded, the fixed, and all the rules.”  Presenters will tell the story of an online course engaging World Mythology students by incorporating OER and shifting the practice of students merely absorbing information to experiencing the content. 

Presenters

Lead Presenter: Dana Cotton, College of Eastern Idaho

Dr. Cotton earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Idaho. She has spent her career serving students in English and humanities classes through empowering learners. Her passion is to engage students in meaningful, authentic, and practical learning experiences. She is the Department Chair for the Associate of Arts degree at the College of Eastern Idaho. She lives in beautiful Salmon, Idaho, and enjoys running the local trails and rivers with her family.

Co-presenter: Daphne Tseng, College of Eastern Idaho

Extended Abstract

The use of open educational resources (OER) and open pedagogy (OP has provided new possibilities for course design and delivery to engage students in equitable and collaborative learning experiences. However, as we, a faculty member and senior instructional designer, have discovered in our experience redesigning a world mythology course to incorporate OER and open OP, there are many challenges to address. In our poster session, we will discuss three key challenges that we faced and the strategies we used to overcome them, as well as provide space for discussion.  

Traditionally, humanities classes can be "sit and gets." There is much information to absorb, maybe analyze, and then synthesize to try to make sense of it all. In the attempts to revise this kind of course, this faculty found three challenges:

(1) How can we engage students to understand the complexities and richness of world mythology without the requirement to read pages and pages of dense text while also saving them money and giving the students and instructor more agency over the material?

(2) How can we authentically use Open Pedagogy to elevate students' comprehension of the role of mythology in human existence by having an authentic and meaningful learning experience?

(3) How can we inspire our population using culturally responsive teaching at an open-access community college in a rural location?  

With the rising costs of textbooks and the attempt to provide open-access higher education, the practitioner's commitment to incorporate OERs is logical. According to Clinton and Khan (2019), despite the popularity of the traditional commercial textbooks' quality, if the value is put on access, "students in courses with open textbooks should be academically outperforming their peers in courses with commercial textbooks." In the same study, the researchers posit that withdrawal numbers were fewer in courses with OER because "students who are struggling in a course may be less likely to withdraw if they can access an open textbook for free as opposed to paying hundreds of dollars for a commercial textbook to succeed in the course." The challenge we encountered was finding appropriate OER materials that were both comprehensive and accurate. With so much information available online, finding resources that meet a particular course's needs can be arduous. We will discuss how we navigated this challenge and share some of the resources we found most helpful. 

There has been much discussion about the ambiguity of open pedagogy (OP), or Open Educational Practices (OEP), and how it translates into teaching and learning methods and practices. For the purpose of this project, the practitioners utilize the following frameworks. One approach includes five necessary principles, according to Conole (2013): "(1) collaboration and sharing of information; (2) connected communication about learning and teaching; (3) collectivity to grow knowledge and resources; (4) critique for the promotion of scholarship; and (5) serendipitous innovation." (Hegarty 2015) Similarly, Tietjen and Asino (2021) propose five useful elements of using OP: (1) "Cultivates a culture of collaborations"; (2) "Embraces learners from nonacademic settings"; (3) "Seeks diversity of cultural voices as design partners"; (4) "Emphasizes participatory pedagogy"; and (5) Uses open licenses to position learning as a commons." (p. 197) We will discuss how we used these frameworks in designing learning and assessments in the online course. 

Another challenge was ensuring that students could easily navigate the course materials and activities. With so many different resources and activities to keep track of, it was essential to design a user-friendly and intuitive course. The term "student engagement" is difficult to define, but the effects of COVID-19 on online education put even more attention on student engagement in an online setting. According to Balaloran, Hernan, and Taoy (2021), student engagement correlates directly to student satisfaction: "Students who are satisfied with the learning opportunities provided by teachers online are more likely to be engaged online in terms of course skills, participation, performance, and emotion." The instructor considered all four of these components when revamping the humanities course. The course outcomes include: 

(1)   Understand how mythology functioned within and contributed to ancient social structures and ways of thought; 
(2)   Appreciate the nature and value of mythology; 
(3)   Analyze, evaluate, and compare mythological texts and secondary sources commenting on those myths; 
(4)   Understand how modern societies continue to access mythologies of the past 
(5)   Analyze, evaluate, and compare mythological texts and secondary sources commenting on those myths. 

These skills are pointed out to the students at the beginning of the semester regarding what they will be able to do upon completion of the course. Discussion boards, individual assignments, and correspondence with the instructor serve as student participation. Formative and summative assignments include weekly reading/viewing assessments, discussion boards, unit assessments, and creative projects. Mythology lends itself to emotional response and inquiry. Systematically examining the thoughts and feelings of the people attached to myths, archetypes, and literary approaches is at the core of this class. The components of student engagement provide the foundation for designing a quality class. 

In relation to open pedagogy, the faculty member has been studying and being mindful of culturally responsive teaching (CRT) methods. According to Muniz (2019), culturally responsive teaching can improve academic achievement, increase student engagement, and increase cultural awareness and understanding. Educators need to understand and acknowledge their students' cultural backgrounds and experiences. Our student population is growing in diversity, but there is also a significant presence of a single religion that dominates the region. The instructor aims to incorporate diverse perspectives and materials into their curriculum, be mindful of their own biases and assumptions, and create a welcoming and inclusive classroom environment. By implementing culturally responsive teaching methods, we aspire to create a more equitable and inclusive educational experience for all our students. 

Overall, our experience redesigning a world mythology course with OER and open pedagogy has important implications for online course design more broadly. We will discuss the strategies we used to achieve this and share some of the feedback we received from students. Our discovery session will invite participants to share their experiences, exchange their unique situations, and actively look for collaborative opportunities around these critical issues.  

 

References 

Baloran, E. T., Hernan, J. T., & Taoy, J. S. (2021). Course satisfaction and student engagement in online learning amid covid-19 pandemic: A structural equation model. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.17718/tojde.1002721  

Clinton, V., & Khan, S. (2019). Efficacy of Open Textbook Adoption on Learning Performance and Course Withdrawal Rates: A Meta-Analysis. AERA Open, 5(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419872212 

Hegarty, B. (2015). Attributes of Open Pedagogy: A Model for Using Open Educational Resources. Educational Technology, 55(4), 3–13. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44430383 

Muniz, J. (2019). Culturally Responsive Teaching: A 50-State Survey of Teaching Standards. New America.  Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED594599.pdf.  

Tietjen P, Asino TI. What Is Open Pedagogy? Identifying Commonalities. International Review of  Research in Open and Distributed Learning. 2021;22(2):185-204. Accessed May 5, 2023.  https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=eric&AN=EJ1297960&site=ehost-live