Sch

ool o

f Ele

ctric

al E

ng

ineerin

g

&Tele

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

Engineering Education Conference 2006

UNSW

A NEW MODE OF TEACHING A NEW MODE OF TEACHING FOR SELF-DIRECTED FOR SELF-DIRECTED

LEARNINGLEARNING

E. Ambikairajah, J. Epps, M. Sheng, and B. Celler

The School of Electrical Engineering The University of New South Wales, Australia

Sch

ool o

f Ele

ctric

al E

ng

ineerin

g

&Tele

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

UNSW

Learning Obstacles in Large ClassroomLearning Obstacles in Large Classroom

Full-time students often do not do sufficient study out of class. (due to work commitments, fatigue in class, fast-moving large classes, comprehension difficulties)

Lack in fluency in spoken and/or written English.

Communication of difficult mathematical concepts.

Difficulty in maintaining students’ attention span.

Different learning pace of individual students.

Losing continuity due to missed classes.

Only a small percentage of students are able to grasp the key concepts at the time of live lecture delivery; the remaining students are left to develop this critical understanding in their own time, with whatever assistance they can find.

Sch

ool o

f Ele

ctric

al E

ng

ineerin

g

&Tele

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

UNSW

What Students Want

Our student feedback has indicated that:

• The ability to independently review live lecture content

at their own pace outside of class hours would be a

major benefit to them.

• They need to revisit lectures to solve problems arising

during large classes, to alleviate language difficulties,

to learn difficult concepts, and to do ongoing revision

throughout the course.

• This facilitates their increased study commitment out

of class. Engineering Education Conference 2006

VCPlayer – A Tool For Self-Directed LearningVCPlayer – A Tool For Self-Directed Learning VCPlayer allows students to play back a lecture as if they were in

the real classroom (lecturer video and whiteboard contents with annotation – both synchronized – are played back simultaneously).

The lecture view window can be overlaid on top of annotated slides in a number of pre-determined positions, or it can be dragged and positioned anywhere.

[ Click below image to see a demo of VCPlayer ]

Sch

ool o

f Ele

ctric

al E

ng

ineerin

g

&Tele

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

UNSW

Setup of VCPlayer CaptureSetup of VCPlayer Capture A PC, a camera, an electronic whiteboard, and a high quality microphone,

(or a TabletPC with a webcam and a high quality microphone)

Recorded contents can be duplicated to CD/DVDs immediately after recording thus requiring no post-editing.

If high-bandwidth connection is available, video and dynamic whiteboard content with annotation can alternatively be streamed to students.

Sch

ool o

f Ele

ctric

al E

ng

ineerin

g

&Tele

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

UNSW

Engineering Education Conference 2006

Trial of VCPlayer-based LecturesTrial of VCPlayer-based Lectures

[Session 2

2005]Class size

Total no. of lectures

VCPlayer-based lectures using pre-recorded

CDs

No. of students

surveyed

3rd year undergraduate

class129 12 2 71

Postgraduate class 24 12 5† 24

† one lecture was given in the traditional format but recorded using the VCPlayer during class and distributed for revision purposes after the class

Sch

ool o

f Ele

ctric

al E

ng

ineerin

g

&Tele

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

UNSW

Engineering Education Conference 2006

Evaluation QuestionsEvaluation Questions ‘Acceptable alternative’ – Are the pre-recorded lectures on CD an acceptable

alternative to a live lecture?

‘Achieve the level of understanding’ – I feel that I was able to achieve the level of understanding I wanted for topics that used only the pre-recorded CD (followed by some discussion in class).

‘Preferred choice’ – I would be more likely to watch 100% of the lectures if they were on a pre-recorded CD than attending 100% of the live lectures (with no CD available).

‘Efficient learning method’ – Learning using pre-recorded CDs (followed by class discussions) was a more efficient way to learn than going to live lectures.

‘Review & understand better’ – I liked the opportunity to review the CD-based lectures because understanding all the material in a live lecture environment is rather difficult.

‘Learning at my own pace’ – Pre-recorded CDs allowed me to learn at my own pace.

‘Recommend to other courses’ – I would recommend the use of pre-recorded CDs (followed by class discussions) for other courses within the school.

‘More convenient’ – It was more convenient for me to learn via a pre-recorded CD than attend a live lecture

Sch

ool o

f Ele

ctric

al E

ng

ineerin

g

&Tele

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

UNSW

Summary of Evaluation ResultsSummary of Evaluation Results

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Agreed

Disagreed

Agreed 73% 78% 75% 43% 85% 95% 80% 90%

Disagreed 8% 5% 16% 12% 7% 4% 12% 8%

Acceptable alternative

Achive the level of

understandin

Prefered choice

Efficient learning method

Review & understand

better

Learning at ow n pace

Recommend to other courses

More convenient

Sch

ool o

f Ele

ctric

al E

ng

ineerin

g

&Tele

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

UNSW

Engineering Education Conference 2006

Usage Analysis of Pre-recorded CDsUsage Analysis of Pre-recorded CDs

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

3% 10% 49% 35% 4%

Never Used someUsed each lecture

onceUsed each lecture

more than onceEntirely dependent

on CD

Sch

ool o

f Ele

ctric

al E

ng

ineerin

g

&Tele

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

UNSW

Engineering Education Conference 2006

Preferences Between CD-based Delivery ModesPreferences Between CD-based Delivery Modes

Preference between receiving a pre-recorded CD first with no live lecture but with a discussion class, and having a live lecture first but also receiving a recorded CD after class.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Have live lecturefirst & CD after

Have no livelecture, CD only

Unsure None of theabove

Per

cent

age

(%)

Undergraduate Postgraduate

Sch

ool o

f Ele

ctric

al E

ng

ineerin

g

&Tele

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

UNSW

Engineering Education Conference 2006

Observation of Student Academic Performance

A slightly improved pass rate was observed for the same level of paper over a 3-year period for an undergraduate cohort.

Year No. of students Final pass rate

2003traditional lectures only

121 81.0%

2004traditional lectures plus some tutorial

solutions on AVI files118 86.4%

2005Mixed traditional (80%) and VCPlayer-

based (20%)129 89.9%

Sch

ool o

f Ele

ctric

al E

ng

ineerin

g

&Tele

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

UNSW

Engineering Education Conference 2006

Sch

ool o

f Ele

ctric

al E

ng

ineerin

g

&Tele

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

UNSW

Engineering Education Conference 2006

• “Great idea. Liked your DVD. Need more examples.”

• “Excellent. Hope all other courses will use this too.”

• “The discussion class is of equal importance”

• “The DVD idea is very efficient as it allows for a greater

depth and understanding of any part of the course”

• “Do live lecture for certain lectures, and the remainder on

DVD”

• “DVDs very effective, but also need live discussion

class”

Example Student Feedback

Sch

ool o

f Ele

ctric

al E

ng

ineerin

g

&Tele

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

UNSW

Engineering Education Conference 2006

• “I think a live lecture followed by a DVD handout

would be very effective”

• “Use pre-recorded DVDs only for difficult topics

that need more understanding, and give more

examples”

• “Recorded lectures reduce social aspects of the

course which are an important part of university”

• “I only learnt efficiently because the DVDs were

available. 1000000x better than those live lectures”

Example Student Feedback

Sch

ool o

f Ele

ctric

al E

ng

ineerin

g

&Tele

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

UNSW

Engineering Education Conference 2006

• “Easy to record lectures”

• “Great for archiving live teaching material for future

use”

• “Miss having live feedback from students”

• “Majority of students are really enthusiastic about

this mode”

• “Discussion classes are essential”

Staff Feedback

Evaluation of Year 2006 Pre-recorded CD TrialEvaluation of Year 2006 Pre-recorded CD Trial((No live lecture, pre-recorded CDs No live lecture, pre-recorded CDs throughout coursethroughout course))

(these results are not in the paper)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Agreed April 77% 76% 65% 67% 87% 70% 80%

Disagreed April 8% 8% 16% 12% 7% 8% 12%

Agreed May 60% 61% 57% 64% 71% 54% 61%

Disagreed May 16% 11% 25% 14% 11% 18% 15%

Agreed June 70% 79% 64% 72% 78% 62% 76%

Disagreed June 17% 9% 21% 11% 9% 12% 9%

Acceptable alternative

Achieve the level of

understanding

More likely to w atch 100% of lectures

Ef f icient learning method

Review & understand

better

More learning

Recommend to other courses

Sch

ool o

f Ele

ctric

al E

ng

ineerin

g

&Tele

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

UNSW

Engineering Education Conference 2006

Sch

ool o

f Ele

ctric

al E

ng

ineerin

g

&Tele

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

UNSW

Engineering Education Conference 2006

Discussion and QuestionsDiscussion and Questions