CASES IN OPEN DISTANCE LEARNING: A CASE STUDY OF STUDENTS’ FEEDBACK

1. CASES IN OPEN DISTANCE LEARNING: A CASE STUDY OF STUDENTS’ FEEDBACK This case study deals with B.Sc. (Ed.) students’ views of virtual laboratory for TWO SCIENCE PRACTICAL Prof. Dr. Tushar. K. Mukherjee Faculty of Science and Technology Open University Malaysia

2. OUTLINE • Introduction to OUM’ blended pedagogy • Case study • Virtual laboratory in Genetics and Cell Biology • Summary of Questionnaires • Feedback from students • Summary & Conclusion

3. OUM’S BLENDED LEARNING Face-to-face Learning Classroom Environment Formal Classroom Computer Laboratory Science Laboratory Number of Meetings 5 or less meetings 5 or more meetings Teaching Strategies Direct & Indirect Online Learning Resources Learning Objects (iTutorials, iWeblets) Multimedia Courseware PDF Documents Microsoft Office Attachments Digital Library Discussions Asynchronous Discussion Forums Self-Managed Learning Specially Designed Modules With support from: CDROM Courseware Digital Library Physical Library Subject Matter Experts Peers Tutors 3

4. A blend of learning materials

5. OUM’S MULTIMEDIA COURSEWARE Biology-Virtual Lab Si Tenggang Chemistry Lab e-Education 27 March 2008 5

7. Online learning • myLMS

8. The Features of myLMS • myLMS is designed to provide users i.e. the Learner, Instructor, Administrator and Subject Matter Expert (SME) with a single access to: • Information • Administration • Teaching & Learning • Communication • Support Services

9. “The magic is in the mix!" “The beauty is in the blend!“ http://www.e-learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/blended.htm

10. Case studies in OUM • Case studies give OUM the feedback from our customers – students (Student Affairs department has published many papers on this) • Case studies by CIDT involve the assessment for the quality of modules • Case studies are done by Research, Quality and Innovation unit • Case studies by individual lecturers

11. VIRTUAL LABORATORY • Virtual laboratory is a platform for enhanced learning – teaching & Research • Virtual laboratory is crucial to OUM’ science and technology students • Safe and save students’ travel time

12. How virtual Laboratory developed? SME & ID at CIDT develops a storey board, selecting a few experiments from the class practical Video and audio experts with photographer record the selected experiments

13. DEVELOPMENT Contd. • Multimedia and Computer Graphics experts are selected by CIDT for each course that help design interactive lessons with 3D and Animation techniques • Final editing is done by CIDT and SME

14. Virtual Laboratories Developed • Genetics and Cell Biology • Physical Chemistry • Motion, Fluid and Waves • Basic Techniques in Laboratory Safety • Plant and Animal Diversity • Microbial Diversity and Physiology • Introductory Mathematics

15. CASE STUDY Involving B.Sc. (Ed.) STUDENTS • Students’ learning preference in introductory mathematics (2004) • Plagiarism in Mathematics , Business Management and Engineering Design through Assignment (Looking at selected scripts from KK and Sibu Centre (2004) Virtual laboratory in Genetics and Cell Biology (2005)

16. Virtual Laboratory (VL) • Genetics • Cell Biology and Cellular biochemistry Demonstration

17. STUDENT SURVEY- METHODOLOGY • 500 questionnaires were sent to two of the 4 centres where practical classes in Genetics and Cell Biology were held (Institute of Biological Science, UM and School of Biological Science, USM) for the courses. Selected interview of 58 students in the two centres from 318 respondents.

18. STUDENT SURVEY ON VIRTUAL LABORATORY • The survey asked students of B.Sc. (Ed.) class for their views about OUM’s virtual laboratories on Genetics and Cellular Biology & Biochemistry. • Some parts of the questionnaires sent: General Information on age, gender, family size, learning centre etc. Are you teaching science in FORM IV or V? Have you attended the class practical?

19. STUDENT SURVEY Contd. • Estimate how many hours during the semester you typically used for studying the digital laboratory (VL): (<2, <5, <10 or >10). • Overall quality of the VL was Excellent, Very good, Good, Fare, Poor • Is the VL comparable to class practical?

20. STUDENT SURVEY Contd. • Is the VL comparable to class practical? Ease of use Grade: 1 2 3 4 5 Understand key concepts 1 2 3 4 5 Apply key concepts 1 2 3 4 5 Linked with other course material 1 2 3 4 5

21. STUDENT SURVEY Contd. • Have you taken part in the exercises given at the end of the practical? Yes No • Does the VL increase your interest in the course?: 1 2 3 4 5 • Does it help at the time of writing your laboratory report? 1 2 3 4 5

22. STUDENT SURVEY Contd. • Excluding the labs, the overall quality of the two courses was: 1 2 3 4 5 • Please summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the two VL: Strengths______________________ ______________________________ Weaknesses____________________

23. SURVEY ANALYSIS AND RESULTS • Most of the analysis was done using SPSS software. Only simple statistics was involved for the Yes- No response. • ANOVA was carried out where there were three or more variables.

24. Major Observations from the analysis • There is no difference in the response between age, gender and family size of the respondents but Penang centre had more positive response about the virtual laboratory. • Form V teachers in science were very few compared to Form III teachers, hence no analysis done.

25. VL was found to be well received by students • Compared to Class practical, VL was rated between good to very good for ease of use and understanding concepts. • For application of key concepts class practical was found to be better. • There was very little linked resources in VL.

26. OBSERVATION Contd. • All students took part in doing the exercises given in VL and class practical. • VL increased the interest of students to look for other digital lab for same courses. • Vl helped slightly in report writing, assessed by the Lab supervisor

27. OBSERVATION Contd. • Many students did not write anything about strength and weakness of VL. • 50% of the students felt that the VL gives them opportunity to revisit the lab any time. • 10% of the students thought the VL does not include most of the topics taught in lectures.

28. SUMMARY & CONCLUSION • VL was successful in creating interest among the students for practicals • Partial success of the VL stimulated the faculty to develop VL for other courses in chemistry, physics, laboratory safety, etc. • VL may be uploaded in myLMS.

29. Thank You… mukherjee@oum.edu.my