A PBL Approach to Physics

A PBL Approach to Physic

SCAFFOLDING PROBLEM BASED LEARNING WITH MODULE LENGTH PROBLEMS

At the Centre for Interdisciplinary Science (University of Leicester, UK) we have developed an undergraduate programme in Natural Sciences in which the core sciences (biological sciences, chemistry, physics and earth sciences) are taught entirely by Problem Based Learning (PBL) through modules that address inherently interdisciplinary problems. We have found that the extended nature of the research tasks presented by the problems presents various challenges including surface learning, lack of pre-session preparation and an inappropriate division of learning within groups. To address these issues we introduced a number of interventions to scaffold the student activities including less frequent but longer facilitation sessions, pre-session tasks (recommended reading, questions for discussion and detailed learning objectives) and assigned weekly questions. We also introduced facilitation by dedicated trained, subject specific teaching fellows, rather than employing ad hoc graduate teaching assistants, to provide continuity over the programme. We report on the implementation of these interventions and provide quantitative indicating resulted in a statically significant increase in the average module grade. Qualitative data from focus groups with the students indicated that the most significant change was the use of teaching fellows in PBL facilitation

Undergraduate e-Journals

Most undergraduate science programmes provide students with a project through which they can obtain some experience of the research process, but few students get to know the mechanism by which research output reaches the public domain. Fewer still get to appreciate that the hard part of originality in science is to ask the right questions. . At the University of Leicester we have introduced a module to explicitly cover these areas. Our Physics students and Natural Sciences students learn about scientific publishing and peer review by acting as authors, referees, and editors of their own scientific journal. Split into small research groups, the students come up with original ideas, conduct research and write short scientific papers. They peer-review the work of other groups in a process overseen by a student editorial board who, based on the referees’ reports, have the final say on whether or not a paper is published. We use professional Open Journal Systems software to run the submission, review and publication processes of the journal online and, since 2008, all the students’ published work has been publically available from the journal website. The student experience is now a true reflection of that of professional research scientists and, as an added incentive to the students, some of the more creative published papers have recently gone viral, including interviews on Radio 4 and CNN international. In this presentation we shall report on the development of the module and its scalabilit

Revisiting the Research-Teaching Nexus Framework: Two Case Studies Introducing Research into Program Level, Undergraduate Teaching

Internal and external drivers have seen institutions of higher education place increasing emphasis on the links between teaching and research in their curricula. Despite the apparent positive trend towards research-oriented undergraduate programs, there are a number of documented challenges or “risks” to incorporating research into teaching and learning. This paper presents an adapted fourquadrant framework that maps student progression throughout a program of study from researchbriefed learning to carrying out independent research themselves. The model is illustrated by two case studies of its implementation throughout entire degree programs (Natural Sciences at the University of Leicester and Integrated Science at McMaster University)

A Framework for Student-Instructor Partnerships

In recent years significant emphasis has been placed on staff and students as partners in higher education in order to address issues of engagement and transferable skills. However, the concept covers a wide range of meanings. On the one hand it can refer to module feedback questionnaires. At the other extreme it can include student input in curricular design, particularly constructing course materials. These very different experiences require different levels of academic preparation and student engagement. For the purpose of clarity in discussion it would seem useful to have a framework for the different levels of student-instructor partnerships, which emphasizes this range of experience rather than the activity content. This paper presents a framework based on the levels of student initiation of the partnership and of student involvement in the outcomes (referred to as ownership and autonomy respectively). The scheme was arrived at following study of the collaborative activities in two cognate programmes, the Natural Sciences degree programme at the University of Leicester and the Honours Integrated Science program at McMaster University. These programmes adopt pedagogical models which encourage the formation of strong, cohesive learning communities, thereby providing a rich variety of examples and an international perspective

A realist evaluation of loneliness interventions for older people

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