Prof. Stein used WordPress for general information about the course including assignment descriptions (see: Assignments > Montage vs Long Take Wars).  These assignment descriptions then contained links to Moodle assignment “activities” where students could submit their assignments.  The WordPress site was also used as a place where students could blog about projects and share the videos they produced as part of their course work (see: Categories > Montage)

Prof. Stein used Moodle to distribute readings, collect assignment submissions and as a place for online discussion and used Moodle’s grading functionality to grade assignments and forum posts.

This screencast is the first in a series based on an interview Alex Chapin did with Louisa Stein in the spring of 2011. 

What:

Who: Catherine Combelles, Assistant Professor of Biology

Class: BIOL0145 Cell Biology and Genetics

Technology Used: Personal Polling Devices (Clickers)

Number of students: approx. 70

Learning objective: To monitor the students’ understanding of concepts covered in lecture and promote peer learning and discussion.

Description of use: Catherine used the clickers for every lecture from day 1 to the last day of classes, and throughout the duration of each lecture. At the beginning of each lecure, she started with a question that tested their understanding of concepts from the past lecture or on their readings for the day. She would then pose between 3-4 more questions depending on the lecture content that day.

All of Catherine’s questions were prepared beforehand; she never created questions on the fly (although she would like to play with that in the future). She sometimes skipped a question if it became clear that it was not needed based on the students’ understanding. But typically, she asked all of the questions she had prepared. She would pose a question, let students answer on their own, then show the class how all students answered before showing the correct answer. If the answers were too spread out, without satisfactory agreement throughout the class, Catherine would have the students talk among themselves and convince their peers of their choice before re-answering. During the students’ discussion, she would walk around, listen, gauge what the learning issues may have been and answer or prompt further questions.  With the help of this peer learning, the goal was to get most of the class to re-answer correctly.

Catherine says that the toughest part in all of this was writing good questions. Otherwise, she felt it was a fantastic way to pace the lecture, break at key points, check on students’ understanding before moving on, and trigger discussion on tougher questions that might be subject to interpretation.

Assessment: This technology proved very effective and helpful. Catherine will use the clickers again next year. Students responded positively to clicker use in their evaluations.  They reported that the clickers were a fun way to stay engaged in lecture, raise quesitons and keep up with the material. There were criticisms about the quality of some of the questions, but the overwhelming feedback Catherine received was to continue using them.

This technology could potentially be used in a variety of lecture courses.  Catherine would be happy to be approached by anyone that would like to learn more about them.

Technologies

How Do I… » Data Collection and Analysis » Survey/Polls

Tools » Clickers

Technology used:

The BlackBox Wireless Video Presentation System allowed the nine students in Professor Chris Watters’ Human Nutrition class to share their work as peers rather than as presenters at a podium.  Discussion continued seamlessly through PowerPoint presentations that students ran from their own laptops.

Chris can envision other uses for this technology, including collaboration and peer review, and more simply, large projector presentations.  He first saw the BlackBox server in action at an international visualization conference in 2005.  A group would demonstrate a project, take feedback, make revisions, and present again.  When Chris learned that the server was available in the US, he mentioned it to Dean Cadoret.  Dean found the server and helped configure it with other LIS staff.

Full configuration remained difficult despite adjustments to the server, the network, and even the students’ laptops.  Some of Chris’ objectives couldn’t be met (he had hoped students would be able to pull up nutrition web pages and evaluate them as a group), but overall Chris found this experiment with new technology worthwhile.

Photo by Carrie Macfarlane

When Professor Jeff Byers, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, was looking for an online discussion tool for Organic Chemistry 2 (Chem 242) and Advanced General Chemistry (Chem 107), he wanted to find a tool that was student-centric.  “I did not want this to be ‘top down’ — the students get enough of me,” he says.  His students were already on Facebook, so he opened a forum there (see Middlebury Orgo Spring 2009).

Through conversations on “The Wall,” students were able to work together to answer simple questions and solve complex problems.  If they participated regularly then at the end of the semester, their quiz grade (5% of final average) was replaced with a perfect 5/5.

The students worked collaboratively, which was exactly what Professor Byers had hoped.  Advancement of science depends upon collaboration, and Professor Byers wanted the students to get plenty of practice. In addition, posting quick questions to a large pool of students, instead of bringing all inquiries to one professor, can be faster and more beneficial for everyone — including the students who take the time to answer and explain. Finally, because students can work together on complex “thought” problems, these types of problems now can be incorporated into exams.

Professor Byers estimates that about one-third of each class participated regularly.  Another one-third joined in only when they had a pressing problem, and the rest “lurked” when an exam question was posted. He was pleased with these results, and he will use the technique again.