TEACHER
TRAINING AND INITIATIVES
Virtual Biology: How
Well Can It Replace Authentic Activities?
Mary Peat & Charlotte Taylor, School of Biological Sciences, University
of Sydney http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/synergy/article.cfm.?articleID=33
This article examines the issue from the authors experience and concludes:
“In answer to the question “Virtual Biology: how well can it replace
authentic activities?” the students are telling us that whilst there
is also an important place for virtual biology in its various guises, we must
also provide authentic activities where possible. Hands-on lab activities
are still the preferred activity in our courses and provide the key element
in ratings of satisfaction with studying biology. Virtual experiences are
valued for their flexibility of use, availability for revision and provision
of additional information, whereas real experiences are valued for the hands-on,
3D nature but also for their “reality”. If we wish to stimulate
and challenge students about biology we consider that it is essential that
they experience as much real material as possible within the constraints of
time and budgets.”
Teaching Chat Group
Join The Teaching Chat Group on the last Tuesday of each month to share solutions
to perennial teaching challenges. The group meets in the cafeteria at 12:00,
usually consumes something tasty, and will next meet January 25th. Anyone
who teaches is welcome.
Biology Teaching
Enhancing Teaching-Learning Environments in Undergraduate Courses is a four-year
project in the UK with the Universities of Edinburgh, Durham & Coventry.
The project has been designed to support departments involved in undergraduate
teaching in thinking about new ways of encouraging high quality learning.
This collaborative research will be underpinned by research into the quality
of student learning and how it is influenced, not just by teaching and assessment,
but by the whole teaching-learning environment.
One of its occasional papers covers Biology and includes a good review of
the literature on its teaching and learning environment.
Teaching-Learning Environments in Undergraduate Biology: Initial Perspectives
and Findings
Dai Hounsell and Velda McCune
http://www.ed.ac.uk/etl/docs/ETLreport2.pdf
FAST - Formative Assessment
in Science Teaching
This project hosted by the UK Open University evolved out of the need
to develop new and effective approaches to formative assessment which are
cost-effective and which:
• Capture students’ time and attention
• Generate appropriate kinds of learning activity
• Provide regular and timely feedback which has an impact on student
learning
The project focus is on the Biosciences and Physical Sciences. The project
web site under ‘Publications’ includes pdf files of research reports
by Graham Gibbs, a leader in the improvement of instruction of large enrollment
classes. The ‘Research Methodology’ section has an ‘Assessment
Experiences Questionnaire’ to allow instructors to evaluate how their
assessment practices assist student learning. Go to: http://www.open.ac.uk/science/fdtl/
Student Portfolios
A portfolio is an effective device allowing students to present material
that reflects their learning during their degree program. It offers potential
employers a richer description of what a student has learned than can be contained
in an official transcript. It is also a useful vehicle to let a student reflect
on their own learning and plan future opportunities. The following site provides
a useful template that students can download and adapt for their own use along
with advice on what to include in a portfolio. There is also a FrontPage template
but that would require more customization. http://www.elon.edu/students/portfolio/index.htm
SCALE-UP
The Student-Centered
Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP) Project
has the goal of establishing a highly collaborative, hands-on, computer-rich,
interactive learning environment for large-enrollment courses. The research
was supported, in part, by the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the
Improvement of Post-Secondary Education, the National Science Foundation,
and Hewlett-Packard. For an example of what such a course re-design looks
like in a first-year physics course visit: http://www.ncsu.edu/per/scaleup.html
Science Education
A recent edition
of Science has a significant Policy Forum paper on Science Education.
It contains the provocative statement: “Many scientists are still unaware
of the data and analyses that demonstrate the effectiveness of active learning
techniques. Others may distrust the data because they see scientists who have
flourished in the current educational system. Still others feel intimidated
by the challenge of learning new teaching methods or may fear that identification
as teachers will reduce their credibility as researchers.” Readers can
judge the argument for themselves by going to the following URL.
Handelsman, J.,
D. Ebert-May, R. Beichner, P. Bruns, A. Chang, R. DeHaan, J. Gentile, S. Lauffer,
J. Stewart, S.M. Tilghman, W.B. Wood. 2004. "Scientific Teaching,"
Science 304 (23): 521-522. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol304/issue5670/index.shtml#policyforum
Library News
Public Library of Science - UofA Membership
http://www.plos.org/
The University of Alberta Libraries is supporting the Public Library of Science
(PLoS) http://www.plos.org/index.html
Open Access publishing initiative. All material published by PLoS is available
through an open-access license that allows free, unrestricted use, distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Through our membership, University of Alberta researchers receive a 10% discount
on publication charges in PLoS journals. Also see the list of other Open Access
and Alternative Publishing http://www.library.ualberta.ca/aboutus/partnerships/index.cfm
initiatives supported by the University of Alberta Libraries.
News from the BioSci Library Rep
Thanks to the suggestions and persistence of Cam Aldridge and Mark Hebblewhite
(here in Bio Sci) and Geoff Harder (at the library), we now have access to
Journal of Wildlife Management online, and other products offered by ABSEARCH.
Check out the website at http://www.library.ualberta.ca/databases/databaseinfo/index.cfm?ID=3317.
Colleen Cassady St. Clair.
Roadmap to Redesign
(R2R)
The latest contribution from the ‘Pew Grant Program in Course Redesign’;
another pilot project to allow universities to realize the promise of technology
to improve the quality of student learning, increase student retention, and
reduce the costs of instruction. http://www.center.rpi.edu/R2R/R2R_ProjDesc.html
Teaching and Technology
Life e.d.u offers a new avenue for the teaching of biotechnology. Do we want
to go down it?
http://www.lifeedu.org/
Course Redesign
On May 13, 2003,
Dr. Frank Newman, Director of the Futures Project at Brown University, testified
before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. The hearing was
entitled, "The State of American Higher Education: What Are Parents,
Students, and Taxpayers Getting for Their Money." Dr. Newman’s focus
throughout his remarks was on the key role that higher education plays in
preparing students for a life of workforce and civic participation. He effectively
describes higher education’s successes, but he cautions that society’s
concerns about uneven learning achievement and the need for greater efficiency
require careful and innovative solutions. He offers examples of institutions
that focus on assessing student learning, and he highlights the successes
achieved by the Program in Course Redesign in reducing costs while improving
learning. To read Dr. Newman’s entire testimony, go to
http://edworkforce.house.gov/hearings/108th/fc/hea51303/newman.htm
On-line Publication
- Undergraduate Instruction
Change is a publication of the American Association for Higher Education.
It is available online through the e-journals section of the library web site.
You can find specific items by searching for the authors names. [http://www.library.ualberta.ca/ejournals/]
Recent editions have some interesting items relating to undergraduate instruction:
Applying the
Science of Learning to the University and Beyond
by Halpern & Hakel is in the July/August 2003 edition. It outlines ten
basic principles, derived from cognitive psychology research, on how to teach
for long-term retention and transfer to new contexts.
Improving Quality
and Reducing Cost
by Carol Twigg in the same issue reviews some major projects in course redesign
funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. It reports on enhanced student learning
through the appropriate use of instructional technology. There is a good example
from Introductory Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin.
Focus on Learning, Transform Teaching by Maryellen Weimer in the September/October
issue reviews five key practices to advance learner-centered teaching.
These three items make
interesting reading in the context of the piece in last week’s Nature
on changes in university science teaching in North America (Spare me the Lecture.
Powell, R. Nature 425:234(2003)).
Evaluation of Handheld
and PDA Use in Zoology Courses at North Carolina State University
http://www.tltgroup.org/resources/F_Eval_Cases/NCSU-PDA/Text.html
This report evaluates a project that explored the use of handheld computers
in two upper level Zoology courses: Developmental Anatomy and Evolution. Its
goals were to utilize small computing devices to increase class participation,
to introduce active learning exercises into the courses, and to facilitate
"mobile learning" outside of the classroom.
Understanding University Success
Twenty research
universities in the Association of American Universities and The Pew Charitable
Trusts recently issued this report from its 'Standards for Success" project.
It is designed to answer the question: what must students know and be able
to do in order to succeed in entry level university courses?
In the introduction they note that:
"One of the most dominant themes raised by participants is the importance
of the habits of mind students develop in high school and bring with them
to university studies. These habits are considered by many faculty members
to be more important than specific content knowledge. The habits of mind include
critical thinking, analytic thinking and problem solving; an inquisitive nature
and interest in taking advantage of what a research university has to offer;
the willingness to accept critical feedback and to adjust based on such feedback;
openness to possible failures from time to time; and the ability and desire
to cope with frustrating and ambiguous learning tasks. Other critical skills
include the ability to express one's self in writing and orally in a clear
and convincing fashion; to discern the relative importance and credibility
of various sources of information; to draw inferences and reach conclusions
independently; and to use technology as a tool to assist the learning process
rather than as a crutch."
"The specific content knowledge identified in this document should be
considered in relation to these overarching attributes and skills. Understanding
and mastery of the content knowledge specified here is achieved through the
exercise of broader cognitive skills. It is not enough simply to know something;
the learner must possess the ability to do something with that knowledge,
whether it is to solve a problem, reach a conclusion or present a point of
view."
In the Natural Sciences section they then list 'Knowledge and Skills Foundations'
in the areas of 'General Science Foundation Skills' and in 'Environmental
Sciences' and 'Biology'.
The report is available at:http://www.s4s.org/understanding.php
Classroom Design Forum
This
is a helpful site with hints on the effective display of course material using
video or overhead projectors.
http://www.classroomdesignforum.org/
The Harvey Project
http://harveyproject.org/FMPro?-db=portals.fp3&-token=home&-format=agindex.htm&-script=updatefrontpage&-Findall
An international collaboration of educators, researchers, physicians, students,
programmers, instructional designers and graphic artists working together
to build interactive, dynamic human physiology course materials on the Web.
Materials produced by the Harvey Project will be made freely available to
any educational institution.
Plagiarism (again)
The UK universities 'Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)' is supporting
a 'Plagiarism Advisory Service' web site at:
http://online.northumbria.ac.uk/faculties/art/information_studies/Imri/Jiscpas/site/jiscpas.asp
It contains many useful resources.
Exchange Magazine
Exchange magazine exists to stimulate the sharing of ideas, practices and
news about learning and teaching in higher education. It aims to encourage
positive change by supporting its readers in developing and enhancing learning
and teaching in their communities.
A tri-annual publication,
each issue includes an examination of a different theme along with a look
at news and items of interest on learning and teaching generally. The current
edition (Table of Contents below) is at: www.exchange.ac.uk/issue3_contents.asp
