Digital Dissemination Platform of Transportation Engineering Education Materials Founded in Adoption Research

INE/AUTC 14.0

Developing e-assessment using the quiz activity within Moodle: empowering student learning

Using formative assessment within Moodle has been shown to encourage self-directed learning (Bromham & Oprandi, 2006). Our experience of using formative assessment quizzes as stand alone entities, as well as within Moodle lessons, has been used to introduce Moodle assessment quizzes over the past year in Level 1 and Level 2 Life Sciences courses. This experience has been distilled to inform the content of this workshop. Some advantages of incorporating assessments in the form of Moodle quizzes are that they allow for quick, reproducible and flexible assessment with a relatively small initial set-up cost, and substantial long-term staff and administration savings. One significant advantage is that staff and room pressures can be reduced as students can attempt the assessment at a time and location of their choice within a specified time period. This flexibility can help to reduce student stress associated with completion of a continuous assessment for their course. It is also a relatively simple process to account for students entitled to extra time during assessments. Providing clear instructions beforehand and at the start of the quiz ensures that students understand their responsibilities for completion of this assessment and ultimately the course. There are some disadvantages and limitations to the system as it currently exists, for example there is the perceived ability for students to “cheat” by completing the assessment as a group, accessing books and the internet. Strategies to account for these can be put in place and will be discussed in detail during the workshop. This workshop aims to take the participants through the initial set up of a quiz, highlighting the various question types and how these can be used to create a challenging assessment that can be quickly graded and prove informative for staff and course development. Reference Bromham L. & Oprandi P. (2006) Evolution online: developing active and blended learning by using a virtual learning environment in an introductory biology course. Journal of Biological Education 41 (1): 21-25

A Pilot Evaluation Study Using LectureTools to Enhance Interactivity in Classroom-Based Teaching in a Project Management Course

With students’ ownership of laptops and mobile devices increasing, there exists an opportunity to harness their use to support interactivity within the traditional classroom. Two educators, motivated to enhance interactivity in a two-day project management course at a UK university, trialled LectureTools, a cloud-based audience-response system. To assess potential benefits to learning and teaching, as well as identifying accompanying challenges, an evaluation study was carried out comprising a range of data sources. These included observation of a LectureTools-based lecture and a student questionnaire followed by a focus group discussion with a subset of students about their experiences throughout the two days. Interviews with both teachers were also conducted, adding to the evaluation research data and giving them an opportunity to reflect on their teaching practice. All participants recognised the benefits of LectureTools in promoting student engagement, learning and discussion while students acknowledged the distractive potential of having laptops in the lecture theatre. Efforts are required by educators to ensure that the interactive potential of laptops in classrooms to enhance learning and teaching is supported while controlling the potential for distraction. Future research is needed to ascertain the impact of using LectureTools on approaches to learning and teaching

Advances in Teaching & Learning Day Abstracts 2005

Proceedings of the Advances in Teaching & Learning Day Regional Conference held at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2005

Toward an Understanding of Instructor-Student Interactions: A Study of Videoconferencing in the Postsecondary Distance Learning Classroom.

This qualitative case study examined interactions, the effect of instructional strategies on interactions, participant attitudes, and perceptions that occurred during two courses taught via interactive videoconferencing in higher education. Analysis of coded observational data, field notes, and interviews with students and instructors provided insights about the distance learning environment. Using an interaction model, the classroom interactions were grouped into the following categories: (a) learner-content, (b) learner-instructor, (c) learner-learner, and (d) learner-interface. Results showed that learner-instructor and learner-learner interactions were highest during classes which were organized as discussion sessions with specific guidelines for the content and the nature of questions on which the dialog would focus. Several questions on which the dialog would focus. Several instructor strategies appeared to increase interactions with the students at the remote site. Statements of praise and acceptance of student ideas and the use of questions that required the learners to synthesize and draw conclusions rather than simply recall information were effective in soliciting responses. Humanizing the students\u27 learning experiences by using their names and relevant personal experiences increased participation. Use of visual realia and well-designed textual visuals provided a scaffold for connecting the students with course content and facilitated dialog. A strategy that proved to be minimal in effectiveness was the use of peer presentations. During these presentations, fewer interactions occurred and more off-task behaviors were observed. A major determinant of effectiveness in the distance learning classroom is the expertise of the instructor to present content information and elicit student participation. Learner-instructor interactions were impaired by limitations of the technology. Students at the remote site reported feelings of isolation when excluded from informal conversations at the local site. Both instructors and students indicated that the technology created a barrier to spontaneity and the ability to read facial expressions and other physical cues. A mediator located at one remote site helped reduce transactional distance by manipulating the cameras and helping learners to interface with the technology. This assistance allowed the instructor to focus more attention on teaching and engaging students with content information. Additionally, the mediator facilitated student participation through modeling and encouragement