V Rolfe - Open Education in Life Sciences - 27th July 2012

“Buns and burners”OPEN STEM EDUCATION in the UK

(Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)

5th Annual International Symposium for Emerging Technologies for Online Learning

July 25-27, 2012

The Venetian | Palazzo Resort - Las Vegas, Nevada

50 minute presentation by:Dr Viv Rolfe BSc PhD

National Teacher Fellow

Hello Vegas!

Boy I’ve always wanted to say that!

I’m a Principal Lecturer in Anatomy andPhysiology at De Montfort University in theUK. I develop and use animations and multimedia resources to support studentlearning, and am a great advocate ofOPEN EDUCATION and the sharingof these resources globally to supportALL LEARNERS.

I’m looking forward to my trip to Vegas,and then on to Boston and Newport. I just wish I could have brought my horn with me!

With the exception of the institutional LOGOSall materials in this presentation are openly licensed for use:

CC – BY

Please attribute Dr Vivien Rolfe, De Montfort University

• De Montfort University• Education establishment

since 1870• 25,000 students• Arts, Science, Business and

Law, Technology• The Queen visited in March

2012!

Outline

1. UK OER and higher education landscape2. Why support STEM subjects? (Science,

technology, engineering and mathematics)3. DMU Research and activities

A. Student experience of OERB. How to creating the best OERC. Promoting discovery and open technologyD. Growth and other STEM initiatives

4. Summary

LANDSCAPE

Outline

1. UK OER and higher education landscape2. Why support STEM subjects? (Science,

technology, engineering and mathematics)3. DMU Research and activities

A. Student experience of OERB. How to create the best OERC. Promoting discovery and open technologyD. Growth and other STEM initiatives

4. Summary

• 500,000 entrants each year• 2.5 million in total in HE• 400,000 total from outside the UK

UK Higher Education (HE)

Universities UK 2012

Open Education in the UK

• Government-fundedUK Open Educational Resource Programme UKOER

• £11.8 million• 3 phases 2009, 2010, 2011• Open University SCORE

Fellowships• JORUM national repository

Jorum.ac.uk

Open Education in the UK

• Open University – 600 courses online• Oxford’s iTunes U materials – over 12 million

downloads• From De Montfort:

– STEM – life science focus– Over 500 courses, learning objects, videos,

animations, podcasts and 1000’s of individual assets– Estimated 30,000 global visitors to our websites

viewing 100,000 pages

Outline

1. UK OER and higher education landscape2. Why support STEM subjects? (Science,

technology, engineering and mathematics)3. DMU Research and activities

A. Student experience of OERB. How to create the best OERC. Promoting discovery and open technologyD. Growth and other STEM initiatives

4. Summary

Why Support STEM?Science, technology, engineering and mathematics

"STEM skills are vital for UK business competitiveness, but they are in short supply. Over the next three years more than half of employers expect to have difficulties recruiting staff with these skills.“ (CBI 2011)

Problems “STEM” from Schools

• University science students often have no lab experience from school (Rolfe 2009).“A lot of titrations and buns and burner

experiments. Very difficult”.

• Graduate lab skills deficit as highlighted by professional bodies.“Practical skills; graduates need excellent laboratory

and technical skills” (ABPI 2008, CBI 2010).

Potential Audience for OER

• 1 in 5 students study “lab science” in UK HE so potential for impact is huge, and then multiply globally!

Outline

1. UK OER and higher education landscape2. Why support STEM subjects? (Science,

technology, engineering and mathematics)3. DMU Research and activities

A. Student experience of OERB. How to create the best OERC. Promoting discovery and open technologyD. Growth and other STEM initiatives

4. Summary

DMU Research and Activity2009 VALLab skillsUKOER Funding Phase 1

2010 SCOOTERBlood disordersUKOER Phase 2

2011 HALSMedical sciences, forensicsciences, nursing, midwiferyUKOER Phase 3

Outline

1. UK OER and higher education landscape2. Why support STEM subjects? (Science,

technology, engineering and mathematics)3. DMU Research and activities

A. Student experience of OERB. How to create the best OERC. Promoting discovery and open technologyD. Growth and other STEM initiatives

4. Summary

Student Experiences

• Research on the student OER experience is lacking (Bacsich et al 2011).

• VAL improved knowledge gain and confidence of science students before going into the lab (Rolfe 2009).

“The future for learning”. (Student)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj6I7wN6zNI&feature=plcp

• "It is excellent to see such hard work being distributed throughout the world for free. These resources are of very high quality and are valuable adjuncts to education. I feel proud of the fact that I study at De Montfort University". (Student in 2010).

• “It would be a good thing because some of the information here might be explained differently from another tutor at another university” (Student in 2010).

• “I know it sounds really cheeky but we live in a day and age where we’ve got to pay for it, why should everybody else get it free”. (Student in 2012).

• “It depends what materials are shared. If it’s full course material then I don’t think that’s right. Any student studying and paying fees, those fees are being paid for access to that course material”. (Student in 2012).

£30K for a 3 yeardegree course!

Learner Perceptions – shifting?

• Students LIKE OER and LIKE the concept.• With increases in fees students seem more

cautious about sharing materials THEY have paid for.

• But OER can offer new educational models and solutions.

Outline

1. UK OER and higher education landscape2. Why support STEM subjects? (Science,

technology, engineering and mathematics)3. DMU Research and activities

A. Student experience of OERB. How to create the best OERC. Promoting discovery and open technologyD. Growth and other STEM initiatives

4. Summary

How to Create the BEST OER

Discovery

ImprovementPublication

Nathan Yergler 2010

Use (unchanged)

Building External Collaborations

• We work with public and private sector - Leicestershire Police Constabulary, the National Health Service and the publishing industry with Oxford University Press.

• OER support employment / employability.• Quality OER based on real-life scenarios.• Collaborators are end-users of OER.

Pathology slides from theLeicester Royal Infirmary

Used for university-biomedical science teaching

Used for trainee biomedical scientists in the hospital

Hospital assets / data

Shared benefits

DMUCreates OER

Given with kind permissionby Dr Amy LivingstoneWittenberg University

Out of publication text

book

Globalresource

DMU releasewith Creative

Commons

FingerprintSociety

Shared benefits

DMUCreates OER

Finger print materialsand expert knowledge

For Forensic Sciences

Motivation for InvolvementExternal Partner Business Model

Leicestershire Constabulary Graduate employability

National Health Service Graduate employability / staff continual professional development (CPD)

Oxford University Press Business development / quality supplementary information

Forensic Focus Business development

The Fingerprint Society Maintaining quality of professional materials

•Unexpected benefits (research projects, Masters, PhD opportunities; visiting professorships support undergraduate teaching).

Building STEM Communities

Outline

1. UK OER and higher education landscape2. Why support STEM subjects? (Science,

technology, engineering and mathematics)3. DMU Research and activities

A. Student experience of OERB. How to create the best OERC. Promoting discovery and open technologyD. Growth and other STEM initiatives

4. Summary

Promoting Discovery• SEO = search engine optimisation.• Means of improving a website’s visibility in the Google

(mainly) rankings.• Drive organic traffic (through keywords) and back links

(URL on other sites).• Social networking strategy – Facebook, Twitter,

Posterous, Pinterest, YouTube.• 2012 changes place importance on authority, profiles,

Google +• ££££££££££££££$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Our “Bite-sized” SEO Strategy

Rolfe & Griffin 2011

Why Adopt this Approach?

• To make OER discoverable.• Alternative to the institutional repository. 165

HE institutions in the UK. Are they open? Who maintains them after project funding stops?

• Most users find stuff these days doing a Google search – not by RSS going to repositories (Richard Windle, Nottingham University).

Two Examples

SCOOTER UKOER2 HALS UKOER3

Wordpress Direct Blog Wordpress Direct Blog

Static OER HTML pages OER Blog articles with RSS feed

Basic SEO Enhanced SEO (eZine submissions, press releases)

Posterous (Facebook/Twitter/Blogs) Posterous(Facebook/Twitter/Blogs)

Google Analytics for basic tracking of site performance

Enhanced monitoring of site performance

£ Pragmatic and time realistic ££ Enhanced SEO campaign

Reach and Impact of our OER?• E.g. Virtual Analytical Laboratory VAL.• 200 web pages of basic lab skills in multiple file

formats.• Evaluation through Google analytics / on-line surveys

– WHERE? 21,000 visitors from 134 countries (UK, USA, Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Singapore)

– BACKLIONKS? Oxford university press– WHO? Stay at home mom. Day care provider. Student.

Trash collector. Accountant. Lifeguard. Unemployed.– WHY? “I always wanted to know how a microscope

worked”. (Trash collector).

Outline

1. UK OER and higher education landscape2. Why support STEM subjects? (Science,

technology, engineering and mathematics)3. DMU Research and activities

A. Student experience of OERB. How to create the best OERC. Promoting discovery and open technologyD. Growth and other STEM initiatives

4. Summary

PROBLEMS with OER• Many resources ARE NOT OPEN!

– Unusable technical formats (SCORM packaged, QuestionMarkPerception quizzes).

– Lack of instructions for use / unpackaging.– Articulate Presenter files interoperable on iPad.

• We need to ensure resources are TECHNICALLY OPEN. What format? What granularity? What technical skills are required?

PROBLEMS with OER• OPEN does not always mean educationally effective:

– Whilst a video is a fantastic way of learning, if the video doesn’t contain written information throughout then it can be difficult to remember what it is being told.

– The animation with voice over is effective as the learning outcomes are present so you can relate back to them at the end and see if you have achieved what you wanted to. (Dyslexic Student, 2012)

• Ensure OPEN means EDUCATIONALLY EFFECTIVE.

PROBLEMS with MEDICAL OER

• Becomes outdated.

• How to make sensitive material “open”? E.g. autopsy photographs, death and palliative care OER all unreleased.

• Extra scrutiny of materials ©, patient confidentiality and data protection.

• Ensure OER is HEALTHY.

Growth and other STEM initiatives

• 6 month Commonwealth research fellowship exchange with University of Ibadan, Nigera to develop a sickle cell health-promotion game.

• Sickle cell schools resources translated into Portugese, Spanish and Italian.

•VAL part of UK ESTEEM Project (£1 million).

Outline

1. UK OER and higher education landscape2. Why support STEM subjects? (Science,

technology, engineering and mathematics)3. DMU Research and activities

A. Student experience of OERB. How to create the best OERC. Promoting discovery and open technologyD. Growth and other STEM initiatives

4. Summary

EnhanceSTEMeducationUK / Global

Support science TO and THROUGH university

Quality ofgraduates

WebsitesVALSCOOTERHALS

Students buy-inSensitive to fees and what should be OER

VAL improves knowledge gain & confidence

External collaborators – quality OER;local networks; employability

4. Summary

Quality ofgraduates

WebsitesVALSCOOTERHALS

4. Summary

Use SEO to build global networks.More fragile, less dialogue.Monitor impact on learning?

Multiple formats for longevity,accessibility, interoperability.

NEW ROUTES FOR DISCOVERY?APPS?Apple NewsstandAndroid Newsstand / Market Place

EnhanceSTEMeducationUK / Global

Support science TO and THROUGH university

References• ABPI 2008. Skills needs for biomedical research. Available July 2012:

http://www.abpi.org.uk/our-work/library/industry/Documents/skills-biomedical-research.pdf

• Bacsich P 2011. Learner voice literature review. Available July 2012:

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/oer2/LearnerVoice.aspx

• CBI 2010. Set for growth. Available July 2012: http://www.cbi.org.uk/media/935312/2010.08-set-for-growth.pdf

• CBI 2011. Building for growth. Business priorities for education and skills. Available July 2012: http://www.cbi.org.uk/media/1051530/cbi__edi_education___skills_survey_2011.pdf

• HALS (Health and Life Science Open Educational Resources). Available July 2012:

http://www.biologycourses.co.uk

• Rolfe V 2009. Development of a Virtual Analytical Laboratory (VAL) multimedia resource to support student transition to laboratory science at university. Available July 2012: www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk/ftp/casestudies/VRolfe.pdf

References

• Rolfe V and Griffin SJ (2011). A Guide to SEO http://www.sicklecellanaemia.org/teaching-resources/resources/scooter80/SCOOTER80a_SEO_Guidelines.pdf

• Rolfe V, Fowler M and Dyson S (2011). Sickle cell in the university curriculum. Available July 2012: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/rmp/dhc/2011/00000008/00000004/art00006

• SCOOTER (Sickle Cell Open – Online Topics and Educational Resources). Available July 2012: http://www.sicklecellanaemia.org

• Universities UK 2012. Overview of the HE sector. Available July 2012: http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/UKHESector/Pages/OverviewSector.aspx

• VAL (Virtual Analytical Laboratory). Available July 2012: http://www.tinyurl.com/oerval

• Yergler NR 2010. Search and Discovery : OER's Open Loop. Available July 2012: http://openaccess.uoc.edu/webapps/o2/handle/10609/4852

LeicestershirePolice

Thank You’sStaff and students

Funding

Collaborators

Thank You Vegas!

Twitter@DMUViv

FacebookViv Rolfe

Emailvrolfe@dmu.ac.uk

YouTube ChannelsBiology CoursesBelvoir Academy