Bite-size ECT logistics videos

 

After talking to Maaike and Jeneva about the current orientation event and supporting resources, we were able to understand the context behind why they were designed the way they were. From both those conversations, there was one key element that stood out to us as incomplete: the new student orientation guide. This step by step guide is located on the new student page of the ECT website and includes the following sections: 

• Step 1: Program Overview

• Step 2: What Skills will you Need?

• Step 3: Learn Key Concepts and Ideas

• Step 4: Join Our Communities

• Step 5: Explore the Larger NYU and NYC area

 

One thing Maaike mentioned that stood out to us was that “This wasn’t a very well thought out step by step process. They just came up with something out of nothing. They asked themselves how do we take advantage of the summer time to do stuff to prepare? They didn’t go through a design process at all. There was a huge constraint of new resources. It’s been out there for 5 years”  (M. Bouwmeester, personal communication, March 4, 2021). We definitely thought there was potential on this page but still wanted to learn more. Since Maaike and Jeneva also mentioned that they didn’t know whether or not students used this guide, we thought it was important to survey and learn from students themselves. Our survey results indicated that while half of the participants were aware of the guide and the other half weren’t, around 72% of participants, who were aware of the guide, didn’t find it helpful or didn’t have an opinion about it. When we asked students what type of resources they wish they had, the majority mentioned logistical resources like: 

• Information about registering for classes

• Tips on preparing for classes/expectations from the professors

• Information about first semester courses

• Learning from tenured students 

• The technology they need to download

• Campus resources 

 

With all this in mind, we came up with the ECT new student page revamp, which includes videos. This page would continue to follow the step by step guide but focused on the following categories: 

• Welcome: Getting to know the community

  • Current student video introduces a “day in the life” with an attached form to ask them questions about time at ECT

  • Faculty member giving a tour of the ECT space and where to find important certain things in that space

  • Section for upcoming informal meet-ups with other new students facilitated by current students not faculty​

• What to expect during your first semester? 

  • Video about how to prepare for your first advisor conversation

  • Current student video showing where to register for classes with an attached form to ask them questions about the process

  • Videos of faculty members talking about foundation courses with an attached form to ask them

• Skillsets

  • Video about how to do APA citations with links to connect them to library resources

  • Video about how to read an academic journal

 

Each video will be created by current faculty or students and will be a maximum of 2 minutes long. These will be featured in a “TikTok” style format so students get a glimpse into what is important for them to know, without overwhelming them with information. Below each video will be adding links and exercises students can complete along with watching videos. Five of these videos and activities will be required for new students to complete. The idea is to add a personal touch, by having people within the ECT community create it, and curate the information that is important for new students.

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Connecting learning theories and strategies 

 

Tell story: People like stories and “a really well-told story can stick with us for years” (Dirksen, 2015, p.133). As we were brainstorming how to present logistical information, which can oftentimes be mundane, we thought about the power of storytelling. Through the videos shared, new students are able to learn from current students and hear how they take on certain tasks important for a new student. It puts a voice to the activities that need to be performed and an opportunity to interact with them. In these videos, students and faculty can make these engaging by sharing funny anecdotes that humanizes the whole orientation experience. Aside from storytelling adding a personal and relatable touch, “stories usually involve sequenced events” and “logical flow involving cause and effect, and when you are recalling them, you can use that logic to recall what the events are” (Dirksen, 2015, p.134). Showing this logical flow through videos can help new students recall the process at later points of the semester or even their graduate school experience.

Show, Don’t Tell: We were very particular that we create a resource that is action-oriented and less of an information overload/dump. Videos allow new students to see and hear what happens as a result of doing this activity (i.e. taking this foundation class, registering for classes, reading an academic journal effectively etc.) but also allows them to follow along and complete tasks on their own. These videos are a guidance that gives students the confidence to draw their own conclusions and drive their own learning. This is important because “telling is smooth but showing has friction: It requires learners to make some of their own connections to interpret what’s going on” (Dirksen, 2015, p. 167). For example, a professor of Learning sciences can give a short introduction to what the course is all about. They can do this by showing some of the learning environments students will evaluate and theories they will study. This introduction may lead new students to curiosity and dive a little deeper by reading some additional materials, as well as reflect on their own learning experiences. 

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Social & Informal Learning: We learned through our research that the learning experience for a new student is “not a straight line” (Dirksen, 2015, p. 245). So we asked ourselves, how can we think beyond the initial orientation session students attend? Through these short videos and step-by-step guide, students get to learn from peers and faculty outside a formal setting of a classroom or orientation session. The videos and relevant links are resources that are more flexible to reach. It’s hard for one person, like the program director or professor to answer all questions. This allows a more learning to happen in a more curated and focused way that is still social.

 

Multimedia Principle & Spatial Contiguity Principle: We wanted to create an orientation experience that would be engaging and designed in a way that would be fun and effective. For this reason, we thought about adding videos to our design instead of just works with additional links. We learned that "People learn better from words and pictures than from words alone.” (Mayer, 2009, p. 223). For our design, we will be including bite-sized videos along with a video description with links to additional resources for further exploration. The descriptions will be very brief to avoid cognitive overload. Videos will be next to descriptions and additional links because "Students learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented near rather than far from each other on the page or screen” (Mayer, 2009, p. 135). This minimized the cognitive effort for new students trying to learn from each video. With it being easier, students can focus more on integration and further exploration. 

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Technology and media affordance: ​

 

Videos: We decided stories are easily told through videos because it is a “much richer medium than either text and sound, it can also offer dynamic or moving pictures” (Bates, 2019 pg. 240). These videos will help new students learn about processes that may seem abstract when written. It can help demonstrate practical activities that are eventually to be carried out by the student themselves (i.e register for classes). Videos can also be a great medium to “demonstrate practical activities to be carried out by students, on their own” (Bates, 2019 pg. 242). Students are able to see how to complete certain procedural tasks and then do it on their own. 

 

Google Form: students can post questions that directly go to the person who created the video: This allows students to interact with others about the video and start building community. It also enables students to ask questions with the person who is talking in the video. Text in this context enhances opportunities for “communicability.” It also provides feedback for program instructors on what is making sense, what isn’t and what new students want to learn. If a lot of similar questions are coming in, program instructors can address it on the ECT Slack channels.