Using interactive content and online activities to accommodate diversity in a large first year class

As in many universities, class sizes have increased more quickly than teaching and learning resources. A related challenge is the increasing diversity of the student body in terms of socio-economic background, learning styles, English language ability and preparedness. This paper explores ways in which traditional face-to-face teaching methods (such as lectures and tutorials) can be combined with online teaching and learning activities in a “blended” learning approach to improve teaching and learning and to accommodate student diversity. Using a large first year Economics class as a case study, data were collected on student perceptions of the use of blended learning. A statistical model was used on a sample of 50 students to determine which online activities were most beneficial in improving student performance. The majority of students agreed that replacing one lecture a week with online activities and resources improved their learning, although about 20 % of the class would have preferred more lecturing and fewer online resources. Statistical finding showed that more active online resources, such as multiple choice and graphing questions, were most beneficial in improving student performance, but that more passive lecture capture was also useful in modelling the discourse of the discipline.     

Big brother or harbinger of best practice: Can lecture capture actually improve teaching?

Lecture capture is used increasingly in the UK, and has become a normal feature of higher education. Most studies on the impact of lecture capture have focused on benefits to student learning, the flipped classroom or student non‐attendance at lectures following its introduction. It is less clear how the use of lecture capture has impacted on lecturers’ own academic practice. In this study, we use a mixed‐methods approach to explore the impact of this intrusive yet invisible technology on the quality of teaching. We have mapped our findings to the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF). In doing so, our data paints a mixed picture of lecture capture's Janus‐faced reality. On the one hand, it enhances lecturer self‐awareness, planning and conscious ‘performance’; on the other hand, it crushes spontaneity, impairs interaction and breeds wariness through constant surveillance. While the Teaching Excellence Framework rewards institutions for providing state‐of‐the‐art technology and lecture recording systems, our findings pose awkward questions as to whether lecture capture is making teaching more bland and instrumental, albeit neatly aligned to dimensions of the UKPSF. We provide contradictory evidence about lecture capture technology, embraced by students, yet tentatively adopted by most academics. The implications of our study are not straightforward, except to proceed with caution, valuing the benefits but ensuring that learning is not dehumanised through blind acceptance at the moment we press the record button.     

Use of rich-media resources by engineering undergraduates

The ability to develop and distribute digital teaching resources in higher education has developed rapidly over the last decade but research into how students use such resources has received limited attention. This study uses questionnaire results, Internet analytic data and semi-structured interviews to examine the use of three types of rich-media teaching resources – lecture podcasts, key-concept videos and tutorial solution videos – by engineering undergraduates. It is found that students value all three types of resource, especially for revision and as a supplement to lectures. Students find short, focused resources more useful than longer ones. Non-native English speakers and those with disabilities derive particular benefits from the resources. The effect of rich-media resources on lecture attendance is found to be small, and two-way.     

Lecturing and other face-to-face teaching – too much or too little? An assessment based on student feedback and fail rates

Institutes of higher learning are tending to reduce the amount of face-to-face teaching that they offer, and particularly through the traditional pedagogical method of lecturing. There is ongoing debate about the educational value of lectures as a teaching approach, in terms of both whether they facilitate understanding of subject material and whether they augment the student educational experience. In this study, student evaluation of teaching scores plus academic outcome (percentage of students who fail) was assessed for 236 course units offered by a science faculty at an Australian university over the course of one year. These measures were related to the degree to which lectures and other face-to-face teaching were used in these units, controlling for factors such as class size, school and year level. An information-theoretic model selection approach was employed to identify the best models and predictors of student assessments and fail rates. All the top models of student feedback included a measure reflecting amount of face-to-face teaching, with the evaluation of quality of teaching being higher in units with higher proportions of lectures. However, these models explained only 12–20% of the variation in student evaluation scores, suggesting that many other factors come into play. By contrast, units with fewer lectures have lower failure rates. These results suggest that moving away from lectures and face-to-face teaching may not harm, and indeed may improve the number of students who pass the subject, but that this may be incurred at the expense of greater dissatisfaction in students' learning experience.     

Is attending lectures still relevant in engineering education?

A case study was conducted on a group of undergraduate chemical engineering students to assess the relevance of attending lectures from a student perspective and to understand why these students attend and do not attend lectures with a view to developing approaches to teaching, which are of greater interest and benefit to student learning. The students were surveyed by means of a questionnaire-type survey, which collected both quantitative and qualitative data from them. The majority of students stated that lectures are still very beneficial to their learning and are not an out-of-date mode of education. The major reasons for lecture non-attendance were time priority and curriculum overload issues with other scholarly activities and poor quality teaching. The students provided a number of suggestions to improve lectures and lecture attendance, including the incorporation of active learning in lectures, linking lectures to assessment and adding extra value to what is already in the notes.     

Different patterns of university students’ integration of lecture podcasts,learning materials,and lecture attendance in a psychology course

Lecture podcasts are considered an efficient means for passing on learning contents to students, most notably in lectures with large numbers of students. Here, the lecturer’s presentation, combined with lecture slides, is recorded and broadcasted in video form. The present study investigates how students organize learning when they have the choice of different representations of content: face-to-face lectures, lecture recordings as video podcasts, and additional text material. Latent class analysis identified three groups with different patterns of integration of these representations of content: (1) students who focused on podcasts; (2) students who made little use of the different representations of content; (3) students who occasionally made use of the different learning opportunities. Students in group 1 with a focus on podcasts achieved best. They devoted more time to learning and made diligent use of a variety of learning strategies such as note-taking, generating summaries, or rehearsing with the podcasts. The results suggest providing different representations of content to take into account differences in learners’ preferences and abilities. They speak in favor of podcasts, especially in lectures with a large audience. However, the results also show a group of learners who make minimal use of the various representations of content. Instructional measures should be taken to engage and support these students.     

Interactive lectures in engineering education

This article discusses an alternative approach to lecturing: the interactive lecture. In the literature, interactive teaching is forwarded as a means to increase the effectiveness of lectures. Members of lecturing staff still seem, however, reluctant to incorporate interactive teaching in their classes,as interaction reduces the time they can devote to explaining subject matter. Lecturers often voice the concern that they will not get enough material across in interactive lectures and that this consequently will negatively affect student learning. In order to establish whether or not the concerns of lecturers could be empirically verified, an experimental study was conducted. This study examined the effects of interactive teaching in lectures, using an interactive voting system and peer instruction, on: the attainment of learning objectives; student motivation; and student perception of the instruction offered. From the results a complex picture emerges. Results suggest that students may learn as much in interactive lectures compared with traditional lectures, but a traditional lecture may also result in active student involvement. The study indicated that interactive teaching will not automatically result in students who are more activated, and provided additional insight into conditions for successful interactive teaching. Finally, interactive teaching was shown to influence positively student motivation.     

Podcasting in higher education: What are the implications for teaching and learning?

A podcast is any digital media file, or series of files, distributed over the Internet for playback on portable media players and personal computers. This study explored the attitudes, perceptions, and use of podcasting as reported by instructors and students at a large American Midwestern university. The results of two online surveys were examined, focusing specifically on items related to teaching and learning. Findings suggest that students use podcast materials largely for reviewing concepts and issues raised in lectures that they have previously attended. While instructors and students agree that podcasts help students learn, students are less sure about whether podcasts improve instructors' teaching. The authors argue that podcasts can help instructors change face-to-face instruction from traditional didactic lectures to more constructivist learning practices.     

Introductory Biology Courses: A Framework To Support Active Learning in Large Enrollment Introductory Science Courses

Active learning and research-oriented activities have been increasingly used in smaller, specialized science courses. Application of this type of scientific teaching to large enrollment introductory courses has been, however, a major challenge. The general microbiology lecture/laboratory course described has been designed to incorporate published active-learning methods. Three major case studies are used as platforms for active learning. Themes from case studies are integrated into lectures and laboratory experiments, and in class and online discussions and assignments. Students are stimulated to apply facts to problem-solving and to learn research skills such as data analysis, writing, and working in teams. This course is feasible only because of its organizational framework that makes use of teaching teams (made up of faculty, graduate assistants, and undergraduate assistants) and Web-based technology. Technology is a mode of communication, but also a system of course management. The relevance of this model to other biology courses led to assessment and evaluation, including an analysis of student responses to the new course, class performance, a university course evaluation, and retention of course learning. The results are indicative of an increase in student engagement in research-oriented activities and an appreciation of real-world context by students.     

Extending the pedagogy of mobility

Direct student experience of the real organism, object, place or environment is recognised by teachers as having powerful potential for high-quality learning. Mobile technologies offer a way for students to capture their authentic learning experiences, but rendering this rich experience into explicit and highly situated learning contexts for students remains an ongoing pedagogical challenge. After reviewing the changing nature of smart learning tools, several examples are explored to identify how they provide a novel learning context. Each example uses the integration of the smart device’s capabilities, such as the rapid capture of images and the juxtaposition of motion and static display. When comparing the incorporated tools of only a few years ago with the current tools available with the latest smart mobile devices, general principles can be generated to inform effective professional practice, specifically when teaching spatially dependent tasks, and in mobile collaborative learning environments.     

Understanding effects of COVID-19 on undergraduate academic stress,motivation and coping over time

The rapid and unprecedented shift from face-to-face instruction to remote online learning as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial impact on teaching and learning in Higher Education: students had to adapt to a new way of learning, away from typical campus settings and their peers, and to new forms of assessments. This study examined academic stress, learning strategies, motivation and ways of coping from a sample of 177 unique students from a large London university, collecting primary data via survey at three time points during the academic year 2020/21 when teaching was remote and online only. Our findings show how patterns in academic stress, learning strategies, motivation and coping vary over the course of the academic year giving novel insight into how student learning and adaptation to the situation changed over time. We also report on differences in these patterns according to year group and for those students who are the first-in-family to attend university and those who are not. Based on these findings we identify priority areas where higher education institutions should support undergraduate students and provide evidence that some groups of students may need more and targeted support to secure their ongoing learning and well-being.     

Learning approaches and lecture attendance of medical students

There are arguably many factors that affect the way a student learns. A recent report by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and the Higher Education Academy (HEA) on student academic experience in the UK states that class size is an important factor in the quality of the student experience and that smaller class sizes provide greater educational benefit than the delivery of lectures. This article assesses research related to lectures, lecture attendance of medical students and their learning approaches in higher education outside the clinical setting. A questionnaire and focus groups were employed to gather quantitative and qualitative data. The results show that students value lectures in the curriculum alongside other teaching and learning methods.     

Educating an iPod generation: undergraduate attitudes,experiences and understanding of vodcast and podcast use

There is an increasing pressure on university staff to provide ever more information and resources to students. This study investigated student opinions on (audio) podcasts and (video) vodcasts and how well they met requirements and aided learning processes. Two experiments within the Aston University looked at student opinion on, and usage of, podcasts and vodcasts for a selection of their psychology lectures. Recordings were produced first using a hand‐held camcorder, and then using the in‐house media department. WebCT was used to distribute the podcasts and vodcasts, attitude questionnaires were then circulated at two time points. Overall students indicated that podcasts and vodcasts were a beneficial addition resource for learning, particularly when used in conjunction with lecturers’ slides and as a tool for revision/assessment. The online material translated into students having increased understanding of the material, which supplemented and enhanced their learning without being a substitute for traditional lectures. There is scope for the provision of portable media files to become standard practice within higher education; integrating distance and online learning with traditional approaches to improve teaching and learning.     

Development of a support environment for first year students taking materials science/engineering

This paper is based on the experience acquired in teaching materials science/engineering to first year university students. It has been observed that students struggle with some of the fundamental materials concepts addressed in the module/course. This applies to delivered lectures but extends to the incorporation of tutorial sessions provided after lectures. Moreover, when students miss a lecture or seminar the acquisition and application of knowledge and concepts becomes problematic. Consequently, or perhaps inevitably, these students perform poorly in their assessments and their motivation for the subject suffers. A careful analysis of this situation and of the nature of interaction and engagement was performed to gain an insight into the reasons for this lack of performance. A common factor is that students do not dedicate sufficient time for reading and consolidation using the chapters/sections prescribed after each topic. They also do not attempt solving tutorial problems outside the formal contact hours. This reflection and personal evaluation is difficult to administer, resource intensive and yet potentially enables each student to monitor and evaluate their own learning and understanding. A multimedia learning technology‐based environment was created in which students could engage. This was located within the University of Wolverhampton Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called WOLF. The students were able to progress independently but with access to tutor and peer support, help and advice. The use of non‐text animations and structures was used and seen as fundamental by the students in enhancing the taught course and in developing a deeper understanding of complex atomic and crystal structures.     

The effects of passive and active learning on student preference and performance in an undergraduate basic science course

Active learning is based on self-directed and autonomous teaching methods, whereas passive learning is grounded in instructor taught lectures. An animal physiology course was studied over a two-year period (Year 1, n = 42 students; Year 2, n = 30 students) to determine the effects of student-led seminar (andragogical) and lecture (pedagogical) teaching methods on students' retention of information and performance. For each year of the study, the course was divided into two time periods. The first half was dedicated to instructor-led lectures, followed by a control survey in which the students rated the efficiency of pedagogical learning on a five-point Likert scale from one (strongly disagree) to five (strongly agree). During the second period, students engaged in andragogical learning via peer-led seminars. An experimental survey was then administered to students using the same scale as above to determine students' preferred teaching method. Raw examination scores and survey results from both halves of the course were statistically analyzed by ANOVA with Newman-Keuls multiple comparison test. By the end of the study, student preference for peer-led seminars increased [mean ± SD: (2.47 ± 0.94)/(4.03 ± 1.36), P < 0.04], and examination scores significantly increased [mean ± SD: (73.91% ± 13.18)/(85.77 ± 5.22), P < 0.001]. A majority of students (68.8%) preferred a method that contained peer-led seminars and instructor-led lectures. These results may indicate that integration of active and passive learning into undergraduate courses may have greater benefit in terms of student preference and performance than either method alone.     

Intelligent design: student perceptions of teaching and learning in large social work classes

Research into the effects of large classes demonstrates that students are disadvantaged in terms of higher order learning because interactions between teachers and students occur at lower cognitive levels. This has significance for social work education, with its emphasis on the development of critical thinking and problem solving, both higher order cognitive skills. This paper reports on quantitative and qualitative research that explored social work students’ perceptions of different teaching and learning strategies in a large mental health course designed with reference to principles of student‐centred learning and constructive alignment. Findings revealed that well‐integrated design, relevance to the real world and teacher enthusiasm were seen as most useful by students, rather than particular learning strategies per se. Higher satisfaction ratings and grades were also associated with this student‐centred course compared with an earlier traditional lecture‐style course. The paper concludes that design based on the interplay between diverse learning activities, including lecture input, strengthened the student‐centred orientation of learning and recommends further research that compares learning outcomes associated with these contrasting approaches to professional education.     

5G时代下,中医药院校物理化学混合式教学模式的研究

传统面对面教学方式往往是教师讲、学生听,特别是推行多媒体教学以来,个别课程变成了快速浏览PPT,学生看过、听过就忘,期末靠复习资料考试,走出考场忘得一干二净。为此,我们希望改善这种教学现象,尤其是针对中医药院校学生所说的“教师最难教、学生最难学”物理化学课程,我们采取面对面教学与在线教学相结合的混合式教学模式,将线上学习和课堂讲授两种教学形式相结合,旨在促进学生自主学习,培养学生自己发现、分析和解决问题的能力,以期获得比纯课堂面对面讲授更佳的教学效果。     

MAGNETISM TEACHING SEQUENCES BASED ON AN INDUCTIVE APPROACH FOR FIRST-YEAR THAI UNIVERSITY SCIENCE STUDENTS

The study investigated the impact on student motivation and understanding of magnetism of teaching sequences based on an inductive approach. The study was conducted in large lecture classes. A pre- and post-Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism was conducted with just fewer than 700 Thai undergraduate science students, before and after being taught the concepts, in three academic years. For 2005 and 2006, overall, the students had a better understanding of concepts associated with electricity, but a majority of the students seemed not to understand magnetism after the teaching. Drawing on these findings, the teaching sequences of the magnetism topic were developed, and then implemented in the academic year 2007. The teaching sequences included demonstrations and visuals to help students infer rules and theories for themselves (inductive method). In addition, interactive notes, information on historical science discoveries about magnetic phenomenon, questions, student discussions, and magnetism problems were used to support student learning during lectures. Students in the academic year 2007 performed significantly better after the teaching. In addition, the students had a positive perception towards the teaching sequences, which allowed them to be involved more actively during lectures.     

Improving Professional Education Courses

Abstract

College and university teaching involves almost universally and hegemonically the large group lecture format. This ubiquitous learning and teaching space has, however, long been criticized for the production of passive learning in which the “sage on the stage” transmits, and students receive passively. This article reports on and evaluates a longitudinal multidisciplinary controlled experiment in which students were exposed to imagery and non-redundant text-narrative to assess the presence or absence of active learning principles. The trial found that students exposed to MML experienced 40–80% greater levels of active learning practices over those exposed to narrative and text. Given the physiological (cognitive) nature of MML predictions, the implications of the research impact upon all disciplines where lectures are a means of knowledge-sharing practices in Higher Education.     

Has pedagogy,technology, and Covid-19 killed the face-to-face lecture?

The lecture has been around for centuries and has featured as a popular and frequent component in higher education courses across many disciplines including anatomy. In more recent years, there has been a growing shift toward blended learning and related pedagogies that encourage active participation of students in both face-to-face and online learning environments. Unfortunately, in many cases, the lecture, which has typically focused on the transmission of information from educator to student has not been adapted to become a more learner-oriented approach with opportunities for students to actively interact and engage. As a result, the future of whether the lecture should continue has once again become a center of debate. The consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath have added to this with institutions now looking to stop all lectures or offer them in an online format only. This commentary argues that lecture-style components could still feature within face-to-face and online provision, but only if they are used sparingly within a blended curriculum, have a defined use that aligns well to learning outcomes, are assessed as the most effective method pedagogically, and importantly integrate approaches and activities that promote student engagement. Anatomy educators have demonstrated for years that they are able to be at the forefront of pedagogical change and evidenced during the pandemic their agile and innovative ability to adapt and do things differently. Therefore, the fate of the lecture, at least in anatomy, may well be in their hands.