Enhancing Student Learning: Providing Recordings of Chemistry Teaching –

a HEA project

Neil Berry29/6/11

Outline• Introduction

Background

Influences and context

Benefits

• Experiences

Four years in chemistry department

• Practical aspects

Hardware, Software, Time, Effort

• HEA project

• Staff Reactions

• Student Feedback & Statistics

• Conclusions

• Future work

• Acknowledgements

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Introduction - Background

• Last four years lectures recorded in Chemistry

• Initiated through my own interest

• Video (“on-screen” activity – PowerPoint, animations, web pages etc.) and/or Audio

• Recordings mounted on VLE

• Initial idea

Supplementary to “traditional” lecture to aid learning

• Not lecture replacement

Students miss opportunity for interaction and feedback

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Introduction – Influences and Context• Student diversity

Different students learn in different ways (reading, writing, hearing, doing etc.)

English not first language

• Students engagement – increase variety of stimuli

Maximise chances of engaging students => Increase retention rates

• Students – generation Y

Generally technologically savvy

Desire to be connected 24/7

Desire for face to face AND online contact with students and staff

See no difficulty in surfing between media

• Students - learner entitlement

Enhance equity between students (audio/visual impairments)

Platform independent (Windows/Macintosh/Linux)

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Introduction – Benefits

• Benefits for staff AND students

• Students

Increase student engagement (individual/group) especially outside “contact hours”

Promoting personalisation of learning

Support for flexibility of learning in a diverse student body

Encouragement of active learning on the part of the student

Support student progression

Improved contact between student and staff

Promote lifelong learning

• Staff

Higher levels of student engagement

Increased rates of student progression

Provision of recordings such will also improve the attractiveness of programmes

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Introduction - Background

• Last four years of lectures recorded

Range of years (1-4) and courses (chemistry and subsidiary subjects)

• Video (“on-screen” activity – PowerPoint, animations, web pages etc.) and/or

Audio

• Recordings mounted on VLE

• Recordings in format which can be downloaded/played on variety of platforms

Windows computers (Realplayer, Quicktime etc.)

Portable media players (iPod, iPhone etc.)

Windows/Macintosh/Linux computers• Initial idea

Supplementary to “traditional” lecture to aid learning

Aid to student learning if student misses lecture

• Not lecture replacement

Students miss opportunity for questions and feedback

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Examples

• VITAL • iPhone

Practical AspectsHardware

• University lecture theatres equipped with capable Windows MWS PC

• Microphone required, e.g. webcam (~£10)

• VLE capable to store and stream content

Software

• Screen and audio capture – DebutVideo Capture (Free) (Mac – Quicktime)

• Format conversion – ffdshow codec (Free, Opensource)

Time/Effort

• Set up – <2 minutes

• Capture – length of teaching session

• Uploading to VLE – couple of mouse clicks (<2 minutes)

Quick, Easy and Cheap

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• Call for proposals 2 years ago

• Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of technology: a revised approach to HEFCE's strategy for e-learning

• HEFCE funding for 24 discipline-focused ‘Enhancement Academy’ style projects, organised in 2 rounds

• “Middle out” rather than “top down” change management

• Project supported via series of events and advice

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Discipline-focussed Learning Technology Enhancement Academy

Project

• Use technology to enhance student learning and teaching

• Provision of audio and video recordings of teaching sessions

Scale of change

• Aim to have 10 academics within chemistry providing recordings by end of

project

• Across a range of disciplines and year groups

Project Deliverables

• Implementation plan for technology-enhanced approach to teaching and

learning

• Plans for both staff and infrastructure

• Reports

Discipline-focussed Learning Technology Enhancement Academy

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Team Members

Dr Neil Berry Academic, Chemistry Department

Dr Nick Greeves Academic, Chemistry Department

Dr Helen Aspinall Academic, Chemistry Department

Nick Bunyan Learning Technology Developer

Kirsty Barnes Recent graduate of Liverpool Chemistry

Paul Chin HEA Physical Sciences Subject Centre

Michael Bradford Critical Friend (former PVC T&L Manchester, Geography)

Essentially a change management challenge

– shaped and implemented by team

Discipline-focussed Learning Technology Enhancement Academy

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Discipline-focussed Learning Technology Enhancement Academy

Achievements

• Computer purchase

• Staff informed – email, staff meeting

• Awareness heightened – T&L committee, staff meeting, informally

• “Training”, documentation and follow ups

• Through ups and downs over 12 month period – AV infrastructure, central

timetable

• 12 Colleagues now recording lectures routinely – easy to do

• >25 modules

• >100 lectures

• Across all areas of chemistry and years groups

Staff Reactions

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Chem130 2009-10 Attendance

Series1Series2

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Similar story across range of modules

• Initial staff reactions – mainly positive, occasional concern

• Concern – Attendance

• Concern - recording being used as “evidence”

Any difference to errors in handouts, or errors made by student notes?

Student Feedback

Anonymous VLE Feedback

• No specific questions about the recordings

• “Things liked about the module” – free text answer

“Audio files on VITAL”

“Online video and audio support provided extremely valuable support in

revision for exams especially as learning abilities demanded different forms of

media.”

“Recorded lectures helped if you missed something“

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“The lecture screencasts are brilliant, thanks!” 3rd year student – Organic Chemistry (distance learner)

“Just to let you know that I have been using your screencasts and find them really useful.” 3rd year student – Organic Chemistry (distance learner)

“One word. Brilliant!” 3rd year student – Organic Chemistry (distance learner)

Student FeedbackEmail feedback

“I just thought I'd let you know that your recorded lecture really helped me today!”3rd year student – Chemical Databases

“I've just put lecture 1 on my phone … it's brilliant! Do you think the other lecturers will follow suit? It would help us all immensely.” 3rd year student – Organic Chemistry (distance learner)

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Student FeedbackFocus Group and Staff Student Liaison Committee

• Extremely positive

• Across all modules and year groups – large proportion of students use recordings

• Revision

• Revisiting portion of lecture Found challenging

Lecturer going too quickly

Further annotate notes

• Like “Skip” to appropriate portion of lecture

Turn volume up

Particularly valued by distance learning students

• Generally accessed on laptop/desktop

• Students did not want recordings to replace lectures – miss opportunity for interaction

(staff and students) and feedback

• Students want more of it

Course start

Student StatisticsVITAL Statistics

• CHEM012 – Organic Chemistry for Biological Sciences

• Weeks 7-12 Second semester

• 6 lectures recorded

• ~150 1st year non-chemistry students

• 1285 hits

Start of summer term1st recorded lecture Easter

Examination

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Student StatisticsVITAL Statistics

• Wide variety in times of access

• Wide variety in day of access

Þ Flexibility and personalisation of learning(?)

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Student StatisticsVITAL Statistics

• CHEM170 – Introductory Spectroscopy

• Weeks 1-10 Second semester

• 5 lectures recorded

• ~90 1st year chemistry students

• 495 hits

Course start & 1st recorded lecture Easter

Start of summer term

Examination

End of recorded lectures

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Student StatisticsVITAL Statistics

• CHEM385 – Chemical Databases

• Weeks 1-6 First semester

• 5 lectures recorded

• ~50 3rd year chemistry students

• 347 hits

Course start & 1st recorded lecture

2nd Semester

End 2nd Semester

1st Report

2nd Report

• Resource used “inside” module

AND “outside” module

End of recorded lectures

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Conclusions

• No reason not to record lectures and make them available to students

• Provision of recordings has many benefits for both students and staff

• Quick, easy and cheap to achieve

• Students use it, like it and find it useful

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• Spread wider in School of Physical Sciences

• New Central Teaching Laboratory and Science Lecture block

• Technology to capture other lecture components, e.g. overhead projector

• Change what “lecture time” is used for (workshops, tutorials etc.)?

Future Directions

Acknowledgements

Dr Nick Greeves Academic, Chemistry Department

Dr Helen Aspinall Academic, Chemistry Department

Nick Bunyan Learning Technology Developer

Kirsty Barnes Recent graduate of Liverpool Chemistry

Paul Chin HEA Physical Sciences Subject Centre

Michael Bradford Critical Friend (former PVC T&L Manchester, Geography)

Colleagues now lecture recording

Software

Debut Screen Capture Quicktime

ffdshow

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ReferencesBologna http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/ncihe/

Dearing http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/educ/bologna/bologna.pdf

HEFCE http://www.hefce.ac.uk/news/hefce/2009/elearn.htm

JISC e-learning http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/themes/elearning/programmeelearning.aspx

Institutional audit 2004 http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews/reports/institutional/liverpool2004/RG049Liverpool.pdf

Learning styles http://www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp

http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/research/learning_styles.shtml

Vice chancellor priorities http://www.liv.ac.uk/staff/strategies_policies/strategic-plan.pdf

University e-learning policy https://www.liv.ac.uk/staff/strategies_policies/e-learning-policy-november-2008.doc

Blended learning http://amps-tools.mit.edu/tomprofblog/archives/2008/11/904_the_future.html#more

Institutional audit http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews/reports/institutional/liverpool2004/RG049Liverpool.pdf

E-learning and retention rates http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/case-studies/tangible http://www.echo360.com

Generation Y Redmond, P. “Talkin’ ‘bout my generation” Generation Theory and the brave new world of the ‘Yers’,

University of Liverpool Careers and Employability Service, 2007.

ffdshow http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow/

Debut Screen Capture http://www.nchsoftware.com/capture/index.html

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