Date visited: May-June 1999
Rating: very good
The Virtual Resources Room is designed for students studying first year Biology at The University of Sydney. It is clearly identifiable to those students and the discipline areas supported by the site are clear. The site has a graphical interface which models a resource room. It contains lecture notes, graphics, visual reminders and CAL modules (minitutorials/prelabs/tutorials on specific subjects), self assessment modules and exams and a search facility for the site. It has clear gateways to the first year biology teaching staff, the School of Biological Sciences and the University as a whole. It also provides students with the opportunity to form discussion groups and offers an on-line tutorial service called Cybertutor.
I was impressed with the prelab tutorial on Spectrophotometry which was well designed and kept one's attention very well. Some other areas however appeared to have little interactivity and were quite passive, page turning exercises. Nevertheless they do give students the opportunity to revise topics quickly and in a very focused way.
I felt that the strengths of the site are the Self Assessment Modules, the Cybertutor facility and the discussion lists. It was good to see the amount of discussion of course questions and students explaining to each other as well as general chat and the usual round of grissles one has to expect if you ask for feedback. This sponsorship of collaboration by students is great to see. The Cybertutor facility shows the commitment the staff have to helping students who ask for it and is an excellent idea.
The content is directly applicable to First Year Biology at The University of Sydney and is original content developed for these students. There is a significant amount of content available for second and third year students although it has not been updated since September 1998. I have however concentrated on the first year resources in this review.
The unit content appears to be well related to the content outlined in the Concepts timetable available on the site. The site authors have clearly used material developed over a number of years and have made good use of early developments. I thought that the self assessment modules were well designed, very user friendly and would be a valuable resource for students. They allow students to test themselves at different levels of difficulty and get immediate and useful feedback.
The site is easy to access and the navigation is transparent. However, I found accessing the CAL modules and visual reminders frustrating as it was not clear immediately that the required plug-in was Shockwave Authorware. The computer requirements for successful access are made clear and plenty of help was available for installing the required software. Access is unrestricted to all parts of the site except the lecture area which is an easy and effective way to customise the site. Nice link to the Biological Society.
I found the structure very easy to follow with appropriate icons. In the visual reminders on mitosis and meiosis it wasn't obvious how to get out when you have finished. Generally however the site is well signposted and easy to use.
The web site is supported by the First year Biology Teaching Group at The University of Sydney. I was interested to see that the discussion groups are monitored by staff and comments made about the way students interacted. However there did not appear to be any censorship. I think that there has been a great deal of effort and thought put into the web site. It is a useful resource for both students and staff. The web based feedback mechanisms incorporated into the site must provide some useful information about students use and needs.
Accessing problems with plug-ins, passive nature of some of the learning tools.
Self assessment modules, Cybertutor, discussion lists.
Link to web sites (other than the Biological Society) which have appropriate materials. Does the textbook have an interactive website?
Reviewer: Dr Sue Fyfe
ifyfes@info.curtin.edu.au
Department of Human Biology
Curtin University of Technology
June 1999
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