Clickers and Formative Feedback at University Lectures

Lecturing is often criticized for being a monological and student passive way of teaching. However, digital technology such as Student Response Systems (SRS) can be used to reconstruct the traditional lecturing format. During a series of five two-hour lectures in qualitative methods for first year psychology students, we used SRS to conduct 4–6 interventions per lecture. In each intervention, the students were asked a subject-related question, discussed possible answer with peers and answered individually using a handheld remote control (a "clicker"). The student answers were then displayed in histogram and followed up by the lecturer in situ. The purpose of the study was to find out whether students experienced receiving formative feedback supporting their self-monitoring from these interventions, and how the feedback was perceived. Using a Mixed Methods Research Design, data were collected in a "live survey" at the last lecture (n: 173) and three focus groups after the lecture series (n1: 6, n2: 6, n3: 2). Our findings show that most students experienced receiving formative feedback supporting their self-monitoring from the interventions. In particular, they experienced an increased awareness of their own understanding of the subject matter (feedback), what is important to learn in the subject (feed up) and what they should focus on further (feed forward). Although about 90 % of the students experienced receiving formative feedback from some part of the intervention, only slightly above half of the student group perceived the peer discussions as useful for this purpose. The focus groups related this to the students not always having peers to discuss with and variations in the quality of the discussions.publishedVersio

Clicker Interventions at University Lectures and the Feedback Gap

The article presents a mixed methods study on clicker interventions conducted in collaboration with four philosophy teachers at fourteen university lectures. The aim was to examine how feedback from the interventions were received and used by teachers and students. The data material comprises a quasi-experiment based on 6,772 student responses, student logs, a student survey and semi-structured interviews with the teachers. Findings show that students experience feedback that supports their self-monitoring and understanding of the content, and that the peer discussions enhanced student performance. The teachers also experienced an increased awareness of the students’ understanding of the topics. Yet, the findings indicate a gap between the reception and use of the feedback.publishedVersio

A qualitative investigation of psychological need-satisfying experiences of a mobile-learning application: A Self-Determination Theory approach

Much research on mobile learning is cross-sectional or lacks a theoretical basis for investigating the mechanisms of mobile learning and achievement. This may be a concern as well-formulated theoretical frameworks allow results to be interpreted and contextualized in a coherent and integrated fashion that could then be valuable when interpreting findings in educational contexts. The main aim of this study was to investigate biology students’ experiences of using a mobile application for learning about species identification. We use Self-Determination Theory as a guiding framework to investigate students’ experiences of need-satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness within a mobile application, and whether this influences students’ learning processes. We conducted four focus groups with 26 biology students in higher education. Based on our thematic analysis, we find that students experienced the satisfaction of all three psychological needs while using the mobile application. Specifically, students’ needs were satisfied by experiencing choice, feedback, mastery, cooperation, and discussion. These elements in turn were related to the process of identifying species. Contradictory to what we expected, students reported more learning from a traditional textbook, compared to the mobile application. Our results provide useful information for learning designers, which suggests that it is important to take need-satisfaction into consideration when designing technology. Our study offers new insight into the underlying need-satisfying experiences of mobile learning, and it provides an understanding of how the different elements of need-satisfaction contribute to different species identification processes.publishedVersio

Genetic Variation of an Odorant Receptor OR7D4 and Sensory Perception of Cooked Meat Containing Androstenone

Although odour perception impacts food preferences, the effect of genotypic variation of odorant receptors (ORs) on the sensory perception of food is unclear. Human OR7D4 responds to androstenone, and genotypic variation in OR7D4 predicts variation in the perception of androstenone. Since androstenone is naturally present in meat derived from male pigs, we asked whether OR7D4 genotype correlates with either the ability to detect androstenone or the evaluation of cooked pork tainted with varying levels of androstenone within the naturally-occurring range. Consistent with previous findings, subjects with two copies of the functional OR7D4 RT variant were more sensitive to androstenone than subjects carrying a non-functional OR7D4 WM variant. When pork containing varying levels of androstenone was cooked and tested by sniffing and tasting, subjects with two copies of the RT variant tended to rate the androstenone-containing meat as less favourable than subjects carrying the WM variant. Our data is consistent with the idea that OR7D4 genotype predicts the sensory perception of meat containing androstenone and that genetic variation in an odorant receptor can alter food preferences

Physicochemical characterisation of restructured Fenalår and safety implications of salt and nitrite reduction

There is a new trend to produce dry-cured ham from lamb in shorter times by boning the ham before salting to later obtain restructured hams that are easier to dry and slice. However, little information about the physicochemical characteristics of Norwegian Fenalårs during the process or the safety implications of their elaboration procedures is reported in the literature. The aim of this study was to characterize the colour, texture and physicochemical properties of restructured Fenalårs when using Standard Salting (SS), Salt Reduced (SR) and a Non-Nitrite Salt Reduced (NNSR) treatments. Microbiological safety implications of the elaboration process when using the different salting treatments were also assessed using predictive microbiology. To do so, sixty Fenalårs were elaborated using a Standard Salting (SS), a Salt reduced (SR) and a Non-Nitrite Salt Reduced (NNSR) treatments. Physicochemical characterization (instrumental colour and texture and Zinc Protoporphyrin content) was performed at the end of the process using thirty Fenalårs. The rest of the Fenalårs were used to characterize the product through the elaboration process (pH and aw) for the evaluation of microbiological hazards when using the different salting treatments using predictive microbiology. Results showed a significant increase in softness when reducing salt content and a decrease of redness when no nitrite was used, attributed to the formation of ZnPP content instead of nitrosylmyoglobin. In terms of risk assessment, the decrease of aw through the elaboration process reduced the growth capacity of all the microorganisms evaluated. However, microbiological safety implications in salt reduced Fenalårs are important, especially when no nitrite was added, because the considerable increase of growth potential of L. monocytogenes. The increase of growth potential of proteolytic C. botulinum is very little and no relevant effect of nitrite on growth potential of S. aureus was observed. Predictive microbiology and optimization of the process to enhance ZnPP formation can help to ensure safety and quality of salt reduced restructured Fenalårs without additives.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Digitrans kortrapport: Studentenes opplevelse av studiesituasjonen etter nedstengingen av UiB grunnet COVID-19

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Beyond standard PSE testing: An exploratory study of bioimpedance as a marker for ham defects

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Beyond standard PSE testing: An exploratory study of bioimpedance as a marker for ham defects

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Detectability of the degree of freeze damage in meat analytic-tool depends on selection

Novel freezing solutions are constantly being developed to reduce quality loss in meat production chains. However, there is limited focus on identifying the sensitive analytical tools needed to directly validate product changes that result from potential improvements in freezing technology. To benchmark analytical tools relevant to meat research and production, we froze pork samples using traditional (−25 °C, −35 °C) and cryogenic freezing (−196 °C). Three classes of analyses were tested for their capacity to separate different freeze treatments: thaw loss testing, bioelectrical spectroscopy (nuclear magnetic resonance, microwave, bioimpedance) and low-temperature microscopy (cryo-SEM). A general effect of freeze treatment was detected with all bioelectrical methods. Yet, only cryo-SEM resolved quality differences between all freeze treatments, not only between cryogenic and traditional freezing. The detection sensitivity with cryo-SEM may be explained by testing meat directly in the frozen state without prior defrosting. We discuss advantages, shortcomings and cost factors in using analytical tools for quality monitoring in the meat sector