more with less - a tale of two modules
DESCRIPTION
Presentation for HUBS Spring Meeting, May 11th 2011: "The Future of Bioscience Teaching: Doing More With Less" http://www.biochemistry.org/PublicAffairs/Events/HUBSSpringMeeting2011.aspxTRANSCRIPT
More With Less -More With Less -A Tale of Two ModulesA Tale of Two Modules
A.J. Cann
School of Biological Sciences
University of Leicester
Social media: A guide for researchersSocial media: A guide for researchers
Cann, Dimitriou
& Hooley (2011)
Social media: A guide for researchers Research Information Network
Guardian University Guide 2011: Guardian University Guide 2011: BiosciencesBiosciences
Key skills - problemsKey skills - problems
• Key skills teaching not embedded as
much as it should be, separate modules
• ~300 students in 2011/12
• Staff ownership, input
That’s the way we’ve always done itThat’s the way we’ve always done it
• Too much work
• Too many students
• Loss of quality
• etc
ww
w.flickr.com
/photos/wessexarchaeology/109591736
Solutions:Solutions:• Online (Blackboard in our case - platform doesn't matter)• Curriculum:
Semester 1:
Scientific Literature
Google Reader & RSS
Who Owns Information?
Google Docs Report
Manipulating Numbers
Units & Conversions
Molarities & Dilutions
Areas & Volumes
Exponents & Logs
Semester 2:
Microsoft Excel
Descriptive Statistics
Normal Frequency Distribution
Student's t-Test
Chi-square Test
Correlation
Regression
(From 2012: http://bit.ly/StatsBytes)
Online AssessmentOnline Assessment
• Via Blackboard
• Every topic
• Summative
• Question banks
Over-assessmentOver-assessment
• Via Blackboard
• Every topic
• Summative
• Question banks
Midterm, end of module
Good VideoGood Video
• StatsBytes
• MicrobiologyBytes Video Library
• Not talking head! BlahBlah
BlahBlahBlah
What’s a middle aged man doing sitting in What’s a middle aged man doing sitting in front of a video camera holding imaginary front of a video camera holding imaginary
conversations with a sock puppet?conversations with a sock puppet?
D.W. Winnicott,
Playing and Reality.
(Penguin 1971).
Play is important in counteracting the implicit threat in transitional spaces which limit learning.
Peer NetworksPeer Networks
Friendfeed = Facebook but not Facebook
Minimalist guidance
Reflection
Feedback
Discussion (object centred)
Staff support, not lead
Engagement?Engagement? 10 weeks, 134 students:
5,376 entries
8,151 comments
5,232 "likes”
199,853 words - average of 1,491 words each
(not including private messages)
~15% of students continued to use the service more than one month after the end of assessment -
( ePortfolios <1%)
Quality?Quality?
Does online = less?
More with less - is it cheaper?
More with less - is it quicker?
Laboratory skills?
2D B
oy tinyurl.com/26
569e
www.slideshare.net/AJCann
"Communications tools don't get socially interesting
until they get technologically boring... It's when a
technology becomes normal, then ubiquitous, and
finally so pervasive as to be invisible, that the really
profound changes happen."
Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody, 2008