Abstract
Three semesters of a blended learning course about gender and information technology (IT) were studied to explore the ways in which students’ interaction with course material can be altered based upon: the (a)synchronous nature of the medium, the intended audience of students’ comments, and students’ familiarity with the subject matter. This examination of blended learning course materials provides a valuable insight into a setting in which students engage with the same course material in a myriad of technology-mediated settings.
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Notes
- 1.
First person singular is used in this chapter as it is the voice of the instructor, Eileen Trauth, presenting this reflection. However, Kayla Booth is a co-author because she was a TA for two offerings of the course and because of her intellectual contribution to this chapter.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
These numbers are approximate as students did not always stay in the same mode. That is, a few face-to-face students periodically switched to one of the other modes, and some students switched back and forth between synchronous and asynchronous web-based modes.
- 5.
This chapter is written in 2013 before the first offering of the course as a permanent course that is cross-listed with Women’s Studies.
- 6.
The gender balance is expected to change when Women’s Studies students begin taking this course.
- 7.
The room is arranged in rows of tables on which are mounted computers and monitors for each student. A microphone is located at each work station.
- 8.
While I read the discussion forum posts and periodically commented on some of them in class, I do not post comments on the forum.
- 9.
The verbatim comments that appear in this chapter came from those students who consented to have their discussion forum posts, LQT questions and written work used in this research. Comments in brackets are paraphrases. Pseudonyms are used here to protect anonymity.
- 10.
Here, the student is discussing a gender theory (“essentialism”) that argues that all observed differences between men and women are inherently biological and apply equally to all members of the sex.
References
Erickson, L., & Trauth, E. M. (2010). Millennials, minorities, and adult learners: Accommodating multiple learning styles in the 21st century college classroom. Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century Classroom: 2010 Penn State Shenango Teaching Conference, Sharon, PA, October
Trauth, E. M. (2012). Are there enough seats for women at the IT table? ACM Inroads, 3(4), 49–54.
Trauth, E. M., Huang, H., Quesenberry, J., & Morgan, A. (2007a). Leveraging diversity in information systems and technology education in the global workplace. In G. Lowry & R. Turner (Eds.), Information systems and technology education: From the university to the workplace (pp. 27–41). Hershey: Idea Group, Inc.
Trauth, E. M., Johnson, R. N., Morgan, A., Huang, H., & Quesenberry, J. (2007b). Diversity education and identity development in an information technology course. New directions for teaching and learning, 111, 81–87 (Special Issue on the Scholarship of Multicultural Teaching and Learning).
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Trauth, E., Booth, K. (2014). Reflections on Blended Learning. In: Carroll, J. (eds) Innovative Practices in Teaching Information Sciences and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03656-4_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03656-4_18
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