Using Google Tools to Increase Student Learning, Engagement, and Collaboration in Remote, Hybrid, and In‐person Courses

Abstract

The COVID‐19 global pandemic turned the educational community upside‐down. As all in person coursework quickly transitioned to online delivery, faculty had to formulate new ways to not only disseminate course content but also assess student learning and engage students in the virtual classroom. As the pandemic state continues to affect higher education, the use of online collaborative tools has become essential to many college classrooms. This poster reviews the implementation of a selection of Google tools (e.g. Docs, Forms, Jamboard) in remote, hybrid, and in‐person courses.Initially, these online tools were added to engage students when strict COVID‐19 guidelines were in place in the hybrid and remote classroom setting as a way to promote student collaboration and group learning. In class activities, homework, and other group assignments were modified such that both in‐person and remote students could collaborate in real time during the synchronous class session and outside of scheduled class time. Student feedback on course evaluations indicate that the learning environment was positive, collaborative, and engaging. Student comments specifically pointed to the success of these activities. Students ranked the course greater than 4.0 (out of 5.0) across all evaluative questions.In the spring 2020 hybrid version of the course, summative assessments were modified to include open‐book take‐home case studies in addition to the timed objective exam. Required biweekly virtual small group sessions allowed students to collaborate on these challenging case‐based critical thinking problems. The case study exams were designed in Google Docs and a template file (copy function) was created for student use. Overall student perception of the case study exams was very high as indicated by the students' ranking of this activity on a survey and written feedback. Additionally, student performance improved on the case study exams (p < 0.001) as their critical thinking, analytical, and scientific writing skills improved, while their performance on the timed objective exams remained relatively consistent (p = 0.157).Examples of how these online tools can be set‐up for use as formative and summative assessments as well as interactive, collaborative activities will be presented and shared using QR codes at the poster session. As coursework has returned to in‐person learning, many of these tools are still used due to ease of use, positive feedback, and benefits to student learning.