Dear Colleagues:
I am writing to share with you an optional resource we developed based on crowdsourcing from faculty in June 2024. We received 57 responses (thank you!) and faculty shared approaches to administering BCQs and obtaining high response rates, and other wisdom, suggestions and cautions. The context, the crowdsourcing request, and my three-page summary of the responses, along with the verbatim responses are found in the attached PDF document.
From these responses, we learned that allocating class time for BCQs and explaining the importance of BCQs was the most frequent response mentioned for successfully getting a high percentage of students to complete BCQs.
Many faculty members noted that students often don’t understand the role BCQs play in course development and faculty trajectories. We heard requests for creating a resource available for all faculty, as best captured by this suggestion: “Might be a good idea to provide some context and information about BCQs and their importance to students. I know some professors do this, but I don’t. It might be helpful to have faculty share advice about what they tell students and circulate this with faculty at large, encouraging them to use this rough script.”
In response to this suggestion, Katie Byrnes and I collaborated with faculty* and arrived at PowerPoint template with a script for helping students understand the importance of BCQs. You may use the template as is or modify as appropriate for you and your course. The template consists of PowerPoint slides and an accompanying script (see attached PowerPoint; the script is imbedded in the notes section on the PowerPoint and also provided in the attached word document). We have also created a short 10 minute video** using this, same template (Thank you! Katie Byrnes). You may use the PowerPoint template or video in several ways:
- Take a few minutes of class prior to administering BCQs to go through all/parts of the template of slides or play the video
- Ask your learning assistant to go through the slides using the script or play the video
- Ask your students to watch the video on their own
Again, this is an optional resource, created at the request of faculty and informed by faculty input*. It is not intended to be prescriptive, but instead offers suggestions for your consideration, and you can modify the template based on what best serves you and your students.
Note: The attachments and the video can also be accessed from Canvas: Resources for Faculty and Instructors/Bowdoin Course Questionnaire Resources.
I hope you find these resources useful.
My very best, Dharni
*Acknowledgment: This template was informed by input from 57 anonymous faculty who responded to a crowdsourcing survey. Professors Kathryn Byrnes, Tina Chong, Javier Cikota, Eric Gaze, John Paul Kanwit, Abhilasha Kumar, Angel Matos, Maron Sorenson, Kana Takematsu, and Dharni Vasudevan contributed to the creation of this template.
**The direct link to the video is: https://bowdoin.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=b516543c-4e3c-4d4c-9d0f-b22e010a20fe