Fouratt & Zimmerman-Liu: Perusall
Caitlin Fouratt
Dr. Caitlin Fouratt is a professor of International Studies. Her research explores transnational family-life, immigration policy, and foreign migration within Central America. She is also involved with CSULB's Dream Success Center, as well as study abroad and international education. She has used Perusall since 2020 in both online synchronous and in-person courses.
Teresa Zimmerman-Liu
Dr. Zimmerman-Liu is a lecturer of Asian Studies in the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies. She currently teaches online asynchronous courses for that department, and her Asian Films course is a QM certified course. She is also a QM master reviewer and a peer reviewer for CSULB's Faculty Online Readiness Program (FORP). She has been using Perusall since 2018 in both her in-person and online asynchronous courses.
"I have found it makes a huge difference in helping students read class material before coming to class. Class discussions improve because the students have prepped with the materials well."
Key Question:
How does Perusall work?
Highlights:
- Persuall allows students to create comment threads within media such as articles, videos, and podcasts. When you uploaded an article or link to a video to the Perusall platform, it converts them into a special collaborative format. You can then make these versions of the media accessible via your Canvas courses.
- You can assign students to make a minimum number of comments that you choose within a media item. Students tend to create comment threads about the media that engages them with the content and each other. This builds a sense of online community. There is also the benefit of students being better able to understand the media's content. Perusall can also grade the quality of students' comments using AI. You can also view their comments and respond if you want.
Key Question:
How has it helped build community and engagement?
Highlights:
- Caitlin finds that students like being able to see what other people think about reading material and to respond to each other. They like knowing that they're not the only one struggling with a concept or a theory, but that others are also having trouble.
- Caitlin's students create comment-threads that are surprisingly long, which speaks to their level of engagement. They comment more than what Caitlin requires them to. For example, if they are required to make five comments, they often make about 10-15 comments.
Key Question:
How has your teaching benefited?
Highlights:
- Caitlin finds that Perusall has shifted the way she engages with students and readings. Their shift can be described as one towards student-centeredness. Through Perusall, students can start their own conversations about the material. This gives Caitlin insights that she can then bring into class.
- In addition, Perusall helps Caitlin see how her students are reading. This enables her to give them guidance on critical reading strategies.
Key Question:
How does Perusall spark student conversations?
Highlights:
Caitlin sees Perusall as more effective than discussion boards because the latter often feel forced in terms of conversation. Perusall leads to student-driven comment threads.
Key Question:
How can instructors get started with Perusall?
Highlights:
Caitlin suggests that a quick way to use Perusall is to post your syllabus and any assignment guides in your class. From the students' comments, you'll be able to see what they're excited by, as well as questions and points of confusion.
I began using Perusall in the 2018-2019 academic year in my in-person classes. I found it made a huge difference in helping students read class materials before coming to class. Class discussions improved because the students had prepped the materials well. Students liked using Perusall because they could learn from one another and ask questions of me and their peers while they were reading. The platform worked so well that I began implementing Perusall in all my classes, including my asynchronous online courses. The results of using Perusall in asynchronous classes were outstanding.
Students benefit from Perusall because its grading algorithm keeps them responsible for deeply engaging with the class readings. I set Perusall's grading algorithm to give them points for reading the entire document as well as for writing thoughtful comments and interacting with their classmates on the platform. I have found that in asynchronous online classes, the weekly Perusall assignments spontaneously build community among the students. By the middle of the semester, my students have gotten to know their classmates, and their Perusall discussion threads contain thoughtful, insightful dialogues about the readings. Perusall's grading algorithm automatically rewards these in-depth discussions, which encourages the students to continue their in-depth reading. Every semester I get several student comments on the SPOT evaluations identifying the Perusall annotation assignments as the most helpful component of my courses.
-Teresa Zimmerman-Liu, Department of Asian and Asian American Studies
