Background

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Managing change: the use of mixed delivery modes to increase learning opportunities for large first year classesSue Franklin & Mary PeatSchool of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science Virtual Learning Environment http://FYBio.bio.usyd.edu.au/VLE/L1/ What is the biology VLE? • General Resource Centre - contains access to information, to learning resources, to self-assessment resources, general university information and much much more • Has access to CyberHelpers - students can ask CyberTutor about academic matters, CyberAdmin about administrative matters, and CyberTechSupport about using the computer and the VLE • Offers support for new students - this is especially important for mid year entry students who need help during their transition to uni life • Consists of nine study rooms, one for each unit of study - each unit room has access to lecture notes, data from laboratory experiments, discussions, learning resources, self-assessment resources Evaluations • Peer Review - the web site was externally reviewed in 1999 - see http://science.uniserve.edu.au/disc/reviews/ • Student comments via - use of log-out surveys and focus groups; discussion forum on the Web; email surveys. • Survey outcomes include - strong use of learning resources and self-assessment materials; comments that the VLE is easy to navigate; unsolicited praise for all the CAL materials and FAQs. “I’m so addicted to the VLE. I hang out there” “Biology web site is extremely useful and well organised” “You have done an absolutely fantastic job ….I appreciate it very much and so no doubt do many other ‘silent’ students” • Background • Science teaching in this millennium will need to suit the students’ needs and understanding, and employers’ expectations. Choosing to learn will help form the learning opportunities presented. Universities today are in transition, with much of the change driven by economic pressures and demands for graduates who will be able to function in a knowledge society. To cope with these pressures and demands, the majority of universities are turning to the use of the Internet to deliver courses at distance as well as to enhance on-campus educational programs. • Strategies in use in biology • Mix of on-campus and online learning opportunities - since the mid 1990s we have been using both computer technology and face-to-face scenarios to support our students in their learning • Development of student learning communities - in the lab classes we use peer group activities to help students develop expertise in working together • Gateway for online materials - Virtual Learning Environment - our use of computers in the classroom led to the development on an online resource • Use of VLE and perceptions of usefulness • The majority of students (85%) use the VLE and report it to be useful • However 15 % of our students elect not to use the VLE to support them in their learning and report that this is because they have not had enough time • Focus group interviews also support the time/motivation issue. For many students there is too much to do in the limited time The Future? • Need to provide more learning and self-assessment resources • Have provided a CD ROM with the more stable and developed resources to help overcome the competition in the home for the Internet line • Looking at introducing curriculum changes to provide more flexibility in the units with less face-to-face materials and more independent work • Developing appropriate evaluation strategies to determine the value of the changes References • Franklin, S., Lewis, A & Peat, M. (2001) A large-scale evaluation of the effectiveness of computer-based resources: A research methodology. In A. Fernandez (Ed.), Proceedings of Research and Development into University Science Teaching and Learning Workshop. UniServe Science, The University of Sydney • Peat, M. (2000), On-line self-assessment materials: do these make a difference to student learning? Association for Learning Technology Journal, 8(2), 51-57 • . Peat, M. (2000a) Towards First Year Biology online: a virtual learning environment Educational Technology & Society 3(3) 203-207 • Peat, M., Franklin, S. & Lewis, A. (2001) A review of the use of on-line self-assessment modules to enhance student learning outcomes: are they worth the effort of production? Proceedings of the 18th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Tertiary Education, Melbourne • Student learning communities - a cultural change • Advantages - helps develop a sense of belonging for students; peer support groups can function on many levels; collaborative teaching strategies may enhance learning outcomes; students encouraged to take responsibility for own learning • Outcomes - reduce teacher focus; rely on self-directed learning; offer flexible learning scenarios; help develop life-long learning skills; may help improve performance • Activities to promote learning communities • Communication between students and with teachers - activities that help students work together include the use of card games, board games, concept maps, experiments, field work and poster presentations • Provision of Virtual Learning Environment - to help individuals and groups to work on resources anytime/anyplace. The VLE has online learning materials of various types and well developed communications portals for access to various types of help