Making lectures more interactive with “clickers” and peer learning
Joanne Blanchfield and Trevor Appleton (UQ) and Roy Tasker (UWS)
We started with a demonstration of how student response units (SRUs or "clickers") work in a lecture context. The wireless receiver slots into a USB port in the computer, and you need software (we use the Turning Point plug-in for MS PowerPoint) to process the SRU responses.
There are all sorts of applications of this simple technology:
- questions to probe understanding before, during, or at the end of a lecture
- questions that produce ‘cognitive conflict’, followed by peer discussion to sort out what is going on
- questions of a routine administrative nature
- monitoring attendance (we now have convincing data showing a clear correlation between attendance and overall grade in the unit)
- questions that probe the affective domain, with truthful data because students can express their feelings privately
The UWS model is to assign each student a SRU on a loan basis, so we can use the technology for assessment purposes. At UQ they have tested this model and the voluntary participation model (some publishers package SRUs with textbooks). However, HECS legislation requires that compulsory learning resources, particularly if required for assessment, be provided to students free of charge.
Great Question Types – Max. Thinking Work by Students, but Easy to Mark
Judy Brittain (UAuckland)
Judy has developed a whole range of ‘grid’ questions based on students selecting one or more options, each in its own cell in the grid, often required in a specific sequence. You can craft organic questions where subtlely different reagents, reactants, and products are in the grid. Judy advocates the need to ask for a justification to confirm the choices were not just guesses. The point is the choices are easy to mark, and if they are wrong, you don’t have to read the justification.
Lab experiments that engage students in authentic lab activity
Janice Petherick (UWS)
With a colleague at USyd, Janice is about to publish a set of innovative lab experiments that are more about the thinking process in planning experiments and analysing the results, than following recipes. One example is a prac on “smells” involving molecular modelling, grouping results together, and in discussion looking for structure/activity patterns. Her evaluation data was most impressive in terms of student and staff satisfaction.
Odyssey – A Molecular Modelling Sandpit
Roy Tasker (UWS)
The heart of this program is a molecular mechanics simulation engine. The program is produced by Wavefunction (wavefun.com) who also produce Spartan, the research-level molecular modelling software. In Odyssey you can build organic and inorganic models, and start a simulation to get a feel for flexibility and molecular motion at different temperatures and pressures. For example, you can build a 3-D model of 1M NaCl and get a feel for the average distance between ions. You can use the ‘clipping function’ to zoom in on one of the ions and only see water molecules in the first hydration sphere, and view dipoles and/or hydrogen bonds. Then ‘turn off’ the charge on the ion and see what happens to the hydration. You can also compare binding energies for different ions with different charges and radii. There is also a Molecular Stockroom of simulations of molecules and ‘bulk matter’ models, and a whole range of modelling Experiments with instructions and clickable links.
