HOW NEW TECHNOLOGIES ARE IMPROVING OUR FIRST YEAR BIOLOGY TEACHING

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Introduction

Whilst it has not been shown conclusively if Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) is more effective than traditional methods, it has been shown by Kulik and Kulik (1991) that CAL usually produces positive effects in students by raising examination scores and producing positive changes in student attitudes towards using computers in their learning. It has also been shown that visual presentations add significantly to the learning environment. Hofstetter (1992) reported higher student interest and motivation in courses where integrated multimedia was used and Escanero and Aldo (1987) found that biochemistry students performed at a higher level when studying with CAL than when using traditional materials. These data encouraged us to introduce CAL modules to help students understand topics which are difficult to conceptualise and often difficult to demonstrate in the laboratory.

A pilot study in Biological Sciences in 1992 established that computer-based teaching is a suitable educational environment for our discipline and that the user-friendly nature of the Mac interface for student learning is appropriate. At the end of 1993 the First Year Biology Teaching Development Group (FYBT) was set up. One of the aims of FYBT is to provide for student learning in a modern setting with exciting and innovative use of computer-aided presentations. By 1997, 20-30% of the total laboratory-based work will be replaced with computer exercises and this will allow the restructuring of the teaching environment which will release academic time to be redirected into small group teaching to promote remedial activities and writing skills.

Overview of Approach

The introduction of large scale, computer-based teaching has three components - the setting up of the infrastructure, the development of the delivery mechanism and the introduction of an on-going evaluation of modules and delivery system. The infrastructure and delivery mechanism are in place and operational whilst evaluation of materials is currently in an early phase.

Computer Network

The teaching network in First Year Biology is physically spread within nine locations over three levels within the building, including four large teaching laboratories and their associated preparation rooms. The course Biology 1 is taught to 800+ students in two, 60-seater laboratories each of which is equipped with 20 Macintosh computers, linked via ethernet to a remote fileserver. There is one computer per three students in the laboratory, which allows them sufficient access. In addition we also offer a ìcomputer labî within our revision room facilities that is available to students outside formal laboratory times.

Laboratory registration of students

A registration program was used for the first time in 1994 to register students. The registration program was developed "in-house" with HyperCard to gather student information such as full name, student identification number (SID), laboratory session details, whether the student has studied High School Certificate Biology, faculty of enrolment and self-selected password for later access to the system. This is captured into a text file for later incorporation into database files on the fileserver. With our large student numbers this saves a substantial amount of keyboard work for an administrator.

Computer Quizzes

Computer-delivered and marked quizzes were introduced in 1994 and the program modified for 1995. The program was developed "in house" and written with HyperCard. The quiz consists of questions on the previous week's laboratory work and questions which test students' ability to interpret and analyse information. These latter questions do not necessarily relate to the previous week's work and may not always be of a strictly biological nature. The quizzes are designed so that students receive formative feedback as well as summative assessment. Each quiz consists of eight multiple choice questions, with five versions, so the total bank contains 40 questions (many with images). The program randomly selects and displays eight questions, one question from each group. Students are required to access the quiz with their SID and password. The program checks to see if the current quiz has already been answered by the student and, if so, the program will not allow a second attempt. Progressive histograms of progress are posted on the laboratory noticeboards each fortnight.

For more information on the computer network, registration and quizzes refer to Peat and Franklin (1995).

Teaching Modules

We are currently developing four types of interactive modules which can be used in formal laboratory classes and in the revision room. Students are encouraged to work individually or in small groups of up to three. Group work is encouraged as this facilitates student peer discussion which has been shown to result in significant gains in collaborative skills and learning outcomes (Burron, James and Ambrosio, 1993).

All the modules have the same screen layout and it is simple and consistent between modules with standardisation of fonts and text styles. Repeated instructions are in the same location within each module and between modules to allow students to become familiar with the navigation process. The modules contain feedback and positive reinforcement to help develop self-esteem and promote a sense of achievement in the user. The instructors in the laboratories are present only to provide assistance in the interpretation of the information and data provided in the modules.

i) Tutorial and Mini-tutorial Modules The tutorials are designed to be resources for students to use in conjunction with paper based materials. They contain a large amount of information for students to explore, at a variety of depths, in order to complete projects and laboratory exercises. They enable biological processes to be illustrated in an animated manner which would otherwise not be available by any other means.

Mini-tutorials are aimed at replacing large format (750 x 1000 mm) cardboard teaching posters which had been produced by the First Year Biology teaching staff. Due to space restraints in the laboratory there is only one copy of each poster, so replacement CAL modules increase the access by students to these materials.

ii) Pre-Lab Modules are introductions to the use of laboratory equipment which would have previously been given by the teaching staff to small groups of students. The structure and functioning of the equipment is explained and the students can then practise using the equipment on the computer prior to using the laboratory-based equipment.

iii) Revision Modules: Visual Reminders review practical materials previously seen in the laboratory. The emphasis is on visual stimuli. The Visual Reminder modules do not target any new materials but offer revision aides and will have a "quiz me" section available so that students will be able to test their understanding and knowledge. The emphasis is on understanding and not rote learning.

iv) Student Self-assessment Modules enable students to take a series of formative tests and exercises aimed at helping them monitor their level of understanding of major biological concepts. It had become apparent over the years (through student examination and quiz performance) that first year students tend to adopt a surface approach to learning/studying biology, failing to perceive the connections between topics within the course. These modules address this issue by drawing together related parts of the course helping students make connections between topics in biology and thus promoting deeper learning strategies. The modules offer students an enjoyable feedback and reinforcement session which aims to lead the students back into the material, to be motivational and to develop self esteem.

For more information on the types of modules refer to Franklin and Peat (1995).

Evaluation

It is important that the effectiveness of computer-aided learning be evaluated. Since 1992 discussions with staff and students have been held, students have been observed using CAL and questionnaires have been used to survey the students attitudes to the use of computer delivered materials. Feedback has been used to improve the modules and modes of delivery. In particular the manner of delivery of the quiz was changed as a result of feedback - the 1995 version gives the students the opportunity to determine the order of answering the questions and the chance to change their answers before sending the quiz for marking.

In 1992 a student questionnaire was used to find out their prior experience with computers and whether our presentation of material was user-friendly. From this survey of 118 students (out of a class of 1200), the results show that 28% of students had previously used computers often; 67% of students had previously used computers occasionally; and 4% of students had never used computers before. Despite this, 90% of students used the computers in our laboratory classes and of these 92% had no difficulty in using the programs, navigating through them and using the mouse. 83% of these students thought that the programs increased their understanding. 53% of the students found the animations of most use in their understanding of the topic while 23% of students found the self help questions of great use.

In 1994 and 1995, 356 and 189 students respectively were surveyed using a questionnaire to find out their perceptions of the use of the computer for laboratory quizzes, as compared to the use of paper-based quizzes, which do not give immediate feedback. The 1994 survey indicated that the majority of students liked the mode of delivery of the quizzes, the speed of marking and the instantaneous feedback. They preferred continual assessment as it focused their study on a weekly basis and they appreciated that the material offered them an indication of the examination material ahead. On the negative side, students were unable to change an answer after first selecting it, they did not like the set order of questions and those that forgot their disks complained that they could not do the quiz. All of these problems have been addressed in the 1995 version. The combined results, with the 1995 results preceding the 1994 results, show that 72% (74% in 1994) of students preferred to have a computer quiz which was marked instantly than do a paper quiz and wait a week for the feedback. 75 % of the students agreed that having control over the order in which they answered the questions was preferable (47% in 1994 requested this with 30% undecided). 69% (65%) of students prefer questions to have an image associated with them (with 24% (28%) undecided on this issue). Overall 77% (54%) of students found the quizzes to be a useful guide to their progress in biology. Only 18 % (18%) of students used their stored quizzes in revision.

The effectiveness of the CAL modules is currently being investigated. A preliminary trial of the effectiveness of the module ìInvertebrate Digestionî was set up in 1994 before introducing the CAL material into the laboratory class. Students were tested on the knowledge of the subject both before and after using the module. Both the pre-and post-tests consisted of 15 multiple choice questions which covered the content of the module and included eight key questions that were asked in both tests. Student performance in the post-test on the eight key questions was markedly improved in all but one student. It was not possible to test these students several weeks later and so no comment can be made on the retention of learning.

In 1995, the effectiveness of using the CAL module ìInvertebrate Digestionî compared with the original poster was investigated. Students were given a pre-test (Quiz 1) on the content of the module/poster before using it and a post-test (Quiz 2) one week after using the module/poster and again ten weeks later (Quiz 3). 110 students were involved, half of them using the poster and half of them using the CAL module. The results showed no significant difference in academic achievement (Table 1). Further trials on this and other CAL modules will be done in 1996.

Table 1. Results of Invertebrate Digestion Assessment

Discussion

The results of the 1992 study of students perceptions of the use of CAL in biology were very encouraging, with students rating the modules highly and believing that this type of presentation increased their understanding of the topics. This has stimulated the further introductions of CAL modules into our first year courses. The students indicated that the modules were easy to use which is important as the emphasis is on content and not computer skills. The students perceived that visualisation and animations of the processes associated with the modules made the topics considerably easier to understand and they wanted more of this type of learning. However, at present, the novelty value of using computers for learning has not been measured, if that is indeed possible, and student enthusiasm and interest may well diminish over times as computers becomes more commonplace in education and the home.

Observation of students as they used the modules indicate that they do indeed promote group discussion and cooperative learning, confirming the results of Burron, James and Ambrosio (1993). As the students work through the modules they are observed to discuss the material presented and to debate the answers to the questions interspersed throughout the modules. Groups were observed to take different approaches to using the modules, some groups choosing to take notes and discuss the material less, while other groups discussed the material more and chose not to take notes,

The evaluation of the 1994 and 1995 computer-delivered and marked quizzes showed that students like the mode of delivery and the instant feedback, that they prefer continual assessment (in any form) as it focuses their study on a weekly basis, and that they appreciated that the material offers them an indication of the examination material ahead. On the negative side, the students would prefer more feedback when they are wrong. This is not being addressed in the current version of the software.

The First Year Biology Teaching Development Group will continue to develop, introduce and evaluate the four types of CAL modules described here. The modules will be small and thus mobile within the course so that as the course changes and evolves the modules will retain their usefulness. This is an important issue as much time and money is spent creating each module. Wherever possible programmed shells, or templates, will be used so that other academics without programming skills are able to create modules. This will allow for the production of a large number of modules within a reasonable period of time.

The impact of these changes to the management and delivery of first year teaching on the School of Biological Sciences has been to offer leadership and direction in the area of teaching development. The School is now looking for introduce the delivery of more materials using the new technologies in second and third year teaching. The first year staff involved in laboratory teaching are committed to enhancing the new teaching strategies and in proselytising their use.

References

Burron, B, James, M.L. and Ambrosio, A.L. (1993) The effects of Cooperative Learning in a Physical Science Course for Elementary/Middle Level Preservice Teachers, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Vol.30, No.7.

Escanaro, E. and Alda, J.O. (1987) Evaluation of Computer-Assisted Instruction in Biochemistry: the Krebs Cycle, Biochemical Education, Vol. 15, No. 2

Franklin, S and Peat, M (1995) The Use of Multimedia in the Teaching of First Year Biology: Learning with Technology, Proceedings of the Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE í95) Conference, Melbourne, December 1995.

Kulik, C.C. and Kulik, J.A. (1991) Effectiveness of Computer-Based Instruction: An Updated Analysis, Computers in Human Behaviour, Vol. 7

Hofstettor, F (1992) Institutional Support for Improving Instruction with Multimedia, EDUCOM Review, Vol. 27, No. 1

Peat, M. and Franklin, S (1995) Improvements in both the Content and the Delivery of First Year Biology Teaching : The Apple Networked Solution, AUC Academic Conference: Technology í95.