S c h o o l o f E l e c t r i c a l E n g i n e e r i n g & T e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s Engineering Education Conference 2006 UNSW A NEW MODE OF A NEW MODE OF TEACHING FOR SELF- TEACHING FOR SELF- DIRECTED LEARNING DIRECTED LEARNING E. Ambikairajah, J. Epps, M. Sheng, and B. Celler The School of Electrical Engineering The University of New South Wales, Australia
16
Embed
School of Electrical Engineering &Telecommunications Engineering Education Conference 2006 UNSW A NEW MODE OF TEACHING FOR SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING E. Ambikairajah,
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Sch
ool o
f Ele
ctric
al E
ng
ineerin
g
&Tele
com
mu
nic
atio
ns
Engineering Education Conference 2006
UNSW
A NEW MODE OF TEACHING A NEW MODE OF TEACHING FOR SELF-DIRECTED FOR SELF-DIRECTED
LEARNINGLEARNING
E. Ambikairajah, J. Epps, M. Sheng, and B. Celler
The School of Electrical Engineering The University of New South Wales, Australia
Sch
ool o
f Ele
ctric
al E
ng
ineerin
g
&Tele
com
mu
nic
atio
ns
UNSW
Learning Obstacles in Large ClassroomLearning Obstacles in Large Classroom
Full-time students often do not do sufficient study out of class. (due to work commitments, fatigue in class, fast-moving large classes, comprehension difficulties)
Lack in fluency in spoken and/or written English.
Communication of difficult mathematical concepts.
Difficulty in maintaining students’ attention span.
Different learning pace of individual students.
Losing continuity due to missed classes.
Only a small percentage of students are able to grasp the key concepts at the time of live lecture delivery; the remaining students are left to develop this critical understanding in their own time, with whatever assistance they can find.
Sch
ool o
f Ele
ctric
al E
ng
ineerin
g
&Tele
com
mu
nic
atio
ns
UNSW
What Students Want
Our student feedback has indicated that:
• The ability to independently review live lecture content
at their own pace outside of class hours would be a
major benefit to them.
• They need to revisit lectures to solve problems arising
during large classes, to alleviate language difficulties,
to learn difficult concepts, and to do ongoing revision
throughout the course.
• This facilitates their increased study commitment out
of class. Engineering Education Conference 2006
VCPlayer – A Tool For Self-Directed LearningVCPlayer – A Tool For Self-Directed Learning VCPlayer allows students to play back a lecture as if they were in
the real classroom (lecturer video and whiteboard contents with annotation – both synchronized – are played back simultaneously).
The lecture view window can be overlaid on top of annotated slides in a number of pre-determined positions, or it can be dragged and positioned anywhere.
[ Click below image to see a demo of VCPlayer ]
Sch
ool o
f Ele
ctric
al E
ng
ineerin
g
&Tele
com
mu
nic
atio
ns
UNSW
Setup of VCPlayer CaptureSetup of VCPlayer Capture A PC, a camera, an electronic whiteboard, and a high quality microphone,
(or a TabletPC with a webcam and a high quality microphone)
Recorded contents can be duplicated to CD/DVDs immediately after recording thus requiring no post-editing.
If high-bandwidth connection is available, video and dynamic whiteboard content with annotation can alternatively be streamed to students.
Sch
ool o
f Ele
ctric
al E
ng
ineerin
g
&Tele
com
mu
nic
atio
ns
UNSW
Engineering Education Conference 2006
Trial of VCPlayer-based LecturesTrial of VCPlayer-based Lectures
[Session 2
2005]Class size
Total no. of lectures
VCPlayer-based lectures using pre-recorded
CDs
No. of students
surveyed
3rd year undergraduate
class129 12 2 71
Postgraduate class 24 12 5† 24
† one lecture was given in the traditional format but recorded using the VCPlayer during class and distributed for revision purposes after the class
Sch
ool o
f Ele
ctric
al E
ng
ineerin
g
&Tele
com
mu
nic
atio
ns
UNSW
Engineering Education Conference 2006
Evaluation QuestionsEvaluation Questions ‘Acceptable alternative’ – Are the pre-recorded lectures on CD an acceptable
alternative to a live lecture?
‘Achieve the level of understanding’ – I feel that I was able to achieve the level of understanding I wanted for topics that used only the pre-recorded CD (followed by some discussion in class).
‘Preferred choice’ – I would be more likely to watch 100% of the lectures if they were on a pre-recorded CD than attending 100% of the live lectures (with no CD available).
‘Efficient learning method’ – Learning using pre-recorded CDs (followed by class discussions) was a more efficient way to learn than going to live lectures.
‘Review & understand better’ – I liked the opportunity to review the CD-based lectures because understanding all the material in a live lecture environment is rather difficult.
‘Learning at my own pace’ – Pre-recorded CDs allowed me to learn at my own pace.
‘Recommend to other courses’ – I would recommend the use of pre-recorded CDs (followed by class discussions) for other courses within the school.
‘More convenient’ – It was more convenient for me to learn via a pre-recorded CD than attend a live lecture
Sch
ool o
f Ele
ctric
al E
ng
ineerin
g
&Tele
com
mu
nic
atio
ns
UNSW
Summary of Evaluation ResultsSummary of Evaluation Results
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Agreed
Disagreed
Agreed 73% 78% 75% 43% 85% 95% 80% 90%
Disagreed 8% 5% 16% 12% 7% 4% 12% 8%
Acceptable alternative
Achive the level of
understandin
Prefered choice
Efficient learning method
Review & understand
better
Learning at ow n pace
Recommend to other courses
More convenient
Sch
ool o
f Ele
ctric
al E
ng
ineerin
g
&Tele
com
mu
nic
atio
ns
UNSW
Engineering Education Conference 2006
Usage Analysis of Pre-recorded CDsUsage Analysis of Pre-recorded CDs
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
3% 10% 49% 35% 4%
Never Used someUsed each lecture
onceUsed each lecture
more than onceEntirely dependent
on CD
Sch
ool o
f Ele
ctric
al E
ng
ineerin
g
&Tele
com
mu
nic
atio
ns
UNSW
Engineering Education Conference 2006
Preferences Between CD-based Delivery ModesPreferences Between CD-based Delivery Modes
Preference between receiving a pre-recorded CD first with no live lecture but with a discussion class, and having a live lecture first but also receiving a recorded CD after class.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Have live lecturefirst & CD after
Have no livelecture, CD only
Unsure None of theabove
Per
cent
age
(%)
Undergraduate Postgraduate
Sch
ool o
f Ele
ctric
al E
ng
ineerin
g
&Tele
com
mu
nic
atio
ns
UNSW
Engineering Education Conference 2006
Observation of Student Academic Performance
A slightly improved pass rate was observed for the same level of paper over a 3-year period for an undergraduate cohort.
Year No. of students Final pass rate
2003traditional lectures only
121 81.0%
2004traditional lectures plus some tutorial
solutions on AVI files118 86.4%
2005Mixed traditional (80%) and VCPlayer-
based (20%)129 89.9%
Sch
ool o
f Ele
ctric
al E
ng
ineerin
g
&Tele
com
mu
nic
atio
ns
UNSW
Engineering Education Conference 2006
Sch
ool o
f Ele
ctric
al E
ng
ineerin
g
&Tele
com
mu
nic
atio
ns
UNSW
Engineering Education Conference 2006
• “Great idea. Liked your DVD. Need more examples.”
• “Excellent. Hope all other courses will use this too.”
• “The discussion class is of equal importance”
• “The DVD idea is very efficient as it allows for a greater
depth and understanding of any part of the course”
• “Do live lecture for certain lectures, and the remainder on
DVD”
• “DVDs very effective, but also need live discussion
class”
Example Student Feedback
Sch
ool o
f Ele
ctric
al E
ng
ineerin
g
&Tele
com
mu
nic
atio
ns
UNSW
Engineering Education Conference 2006
• “I think a live lecture followed by a DVD handout
would be very effective”
• “Use pre-recorded DVDs only for difficult topics
that need more understanding, and give more
examples”
• “Recorded lectures reduce social aspects of the
course which are an important part of university”
• “I only learnt efficiently because the DVDs were
available. 1000000x better than those live lectures”
Example Student Feedback
Sch
ool o
f Ele
ctric
al E
ng
ineerin
g
&Tele
com
mu
nic
atio
ns
UNSW
Engineering Education Conference 2006
• “Easy to record lectures”
• “Great for archiving live teaching material for future
use”
• “Miss having live feedback from students”
• “Majority of students are really enthusiastic about
this mode”
• “Discussion classes are essential”
Staff Feedback
Evaluation of Year 2006 Pre-recorded CD TrialEvaluation of Year 2006 Pre-recorded CD Trial((No live lecture, pre-recorded CDs No live lecture, pre-recorded CDs throughout coursethroughout course))