Faced with a student population that couldn't attend an in-person course, Ryan Hansen did what any reasonable instructor would do: he painted a wall in his house neon green.

"I have a very tolerant wife," explains Hansen. The wall allows him to create videos for his online Psychology 1110 class with his image inserted into them. Since students can see Hansen and know who the person is delivering the information, higher student engagement results. And it's this student engagement that Hansen sees as the best way to help students succeed.

Although the class has been online for 8 years, Hansen's use of this kind of video, what he terms "weatherman style," is new. "I taught the in-person version first, but took the opportunity to teach online because I've always loved technology." Hansen gets to compare his efforts with other's, because all sections of Psychology 1100, online and in-person, have a common textbook and examination. Student grades and Student Evaluation of Instructor (SEI) results have been similar between the two modes of delivery. Hansen has seen a slightly wider GPA spread in the online classes, which has both “the overachievers and those who might not be disciplined enough to take an online class.” 

Online and in-person sections each offer their own benefits and challenges. With the online section, the onus to keep current is much more on the students, since they have to decide when to watch the material. But the constant availability of the videos also makes review much easier for students, since they can rewind to review topics they didn't understand the first time. "This is especially true for international students who can rewind and review an unfamiliar term, instead of having to stop class and ask about it, which can be embarrasing for them," notes Hansen.

As an experienced in-person instructor, Hansen was perfectly situated to enhance his course by taking the Quality Matters training offered through the College of Nursing (described in these ASCTech videos). As Hansen sees it, “[QM] is really best practices. And it makes you stop and think about a lot of the stuff you’re doing [in class]. So you ask yourself, ‘What is it that I want students to walk away from this class knowing? Not just getting an A on the test but what are the ideas I’m really trying to get across here?’”  

Feedback from QM reviewers was very helpful to Hansen. He used to get one day of feedback for his in-person class form an observer. But with QM, he found that “to have 3 or 4 really experienced teachers look at all aspects of your course and give you feedback on all aspects of your course was really phenomenal.”

But it's the use of videos that really make Hansen excited about teaching online. "If you can tie [material] back to something they like, they’ll pay more attention.” And he's not stopping with just video. He plans to increase student enagement through the use of in-video quizzing, a technique he grew to appreciate by taking Coursera courses. In-video quizzes allow students to demonstrate their mastery of course material or to realize that they need to revisit some of the content for increased understanding. 

It's quite a improvement, and it only took one wall of his house to do it.