The Interactive Lecture: A new Teaching Paradigm based on Pervasive Computing

Vorlesungen sind wegen ihres einseitigen Präsentationsstils und den damit verbundenen motivationalen Problemen, die zu einer geringeren Lernleistung führen, seit langer Zeit kritisiert worden. Dennoch gelten sie als eine der effizientesten Lehrmethoden an Hochschulen, die eine Vermittlung von Wissen an eine große Zuhörerzahl gleichzeitig gestatten. Ausserdem besitzen sie auch eine hohe Adaptivität bezüglich zeitlicher Restriktionen, anderen Kursen, verschiedenen Hörerkreisen und neuen Erkenntissen; sie sind ferner ein wichtiger Bestandteil im sozialen Alltag der Studenten. Diese Dissertation beschreibt einen innovativen Ansatz, die Defizite der Vorlesung zu beseitigen. Mit elektronischen Mitteln können Studenten während der Vorlesung Rückmeldungen senden, Fragen stellen oder an Wissenstests teilnehmen. Der Dozent kann mit Hilfe einer automatischer Analyse und Zusammenfassung der eingehenden Informationen direkt und unmittelbar auf diese eingehen. Studenten werden auf diese Weise aktiver in das Unterrichtsgeschehen eingebunden und dadurch stärker zur Teilnahme motiviert. Das Softwaresystem "WIL/MA", das speziell für die Anwendung in der "interaktiven Vorlesung" implementiert wurde, wird ausführlich beschrieben. Es enthält alle Bestandteile, die zum schnellen und effizienten Aufbau der benötigten Infrastruktur erforderlich sind. Da nur leichte und mobile Geräte in diesem Szenario verwendet werden, ist keine spezielle Vorbereitung der Hörsäle vonnöten; ebenso werden die Studenten nicht durch große, die Sicht versperrende Computer in der Vorlesung gestört. Ein zweiter, großer Teil der Dissertation widment sich fünf umfangreichen Untersuchungen, die durchgeführt wurden um das neue Szenario auf positive Effekte oder Probleme hin zu untersuchen. Diese werden mitsamt der sich daraus ergebenden Ergebnisse detailliert offengelegt. Weiterhin wurde die WIL/MA Architektur regelmäßig in Kursen zweier Fakultäten eingesetzt, so dass wir auf Grund unserer Erfahrungen wertvolle Hinweise zum effizienten Einsatz geben können

The Interactive Lecture: Teaching and Learning Technologies for Large Classrooms

Conventional lectures in large classrooms are connected to fundamental didactic problems due to a lack of interactivity and feedback opportunities. In an interactive lecture each student is equipped with a light-weight, mobile device that can be used to interact with the lecturer during the lesson, thus creating an additional channel of communication. These devices support new teaching and learning paradigms such as participatory simulations. In this paper, we present our experiences with the usage of mobile devices in lectures. After discussing the didactic benefits of interactive lectures, we introduce the software toolkits used in our scenarios, we highlight selected tools like a quiz tool or a support tool for participatory simulation, and present major results from six studies we have conducted

The Interactive Lecture: A new Teaching Paradigm based on Ubiquitous Computing

In this paper we present a new teaching paradigm based on ubiquitous computing, which we call the Interactive Lecture. It specifically supports situations where the interactivity between students and lecturer is usually limited, such as lectures with a large number of students, or teleteaching scenarios. In an Interactive Lecture each student is equipped with a handheld computer. These computers connect to the computer of the lecturer via wireless communication. Interactivity between students and lecturer is then increased by a number of services. Examples for these services are: online-feedback which enables students to give immediate feedback about the lecture (e.g., about its speed and difficulty), or online-quizzes were all students participate in solving problems described by the lecturer. We have developed a first prototype of the software and performed a thorough evaluation during a graduate course. The results of this evaluation indicate that interactivity was increased significantly and that the students were very enthusiastic about participating in Interactive Lectures in the future

Basement membrane components are key players in specialized extracellular matrices

More than three decades ago, basement membranes (BMs) were described as membrane-like structures capable of isolating a cell from and connecting a cell to its environment. Since this time, it has been revealed that BMs are specialized extracellular matrices (sECMs) with unique components that support important functions including differentiation, proliferation, migration, and chemotaxis of cells during development. The composition of these sECM is as unique as the tissues to which they are localized, opening the possibility that such matrices can fulfill distinct functions. Changes in BM composition play significant roles in facilitating the development of various diseases. Furthermore, tissues have to provide sECM for their stem cells during development and for their adult life. Here, we briefly review the latest research on these unique sECM and their components with a special emphasis on embryonic and adult stem cells and their niches

Enhancing Synchronous Distance Education with Pervasive Devices

In this paper we present a system that enhances typical synchronous teleteaching environments. The key idea is to compensate the lack of social awareness and interactivity of a telelecture by allowing students to use hand-held devices and wireless communication to interact with the lecturer and with other students. One example of the interactions enabled by the system is a feedback mechanism that allows the students to provide the lecturer with information about how the speed and difficulty of a lecture is perceived by the students. Another example is the ability of the lecturer to hold quizzes with the distributed audience. The system has been implemented as a prototype and it is currently being evaluated in regular lectures at the University of Mannheim