Research on Taking Moodle as a Platform for Undergraduate Nursing Just-In-Time-Teaching XU Juling Medical School of Huzhou Teachers College, China, 313000 xjl0125@hutc.zj.cn Abstract: How to utilize the network information resources, giving full play to the students' motivation to learn, improving the efficiency of classroom teaching, which is the key to deepen the teaching reform in Colleges and universities, and the integration of information technology with curriculum is one of the effective ways to achieve this goal. With a large number of learning resources and communication space provided by Moodle platform, through the Just-In-Time-Teaching timely feedback to stimulate students interest in learning, the effective training of students' autonomous learning ability, and then achieve the goals of improving the undergraduate teaching quality. The assay state that taking moodle as a platform for undergraduate nursing Just-In-Time-Teaching research. Keywords: Moodle, Just-In-Time-Teaching, Undergraduate nursing 1 Introduction Just-In-Time-Teaching is a kind of undergraduate teaching mode that integrate information technology with curriculum, and it is proposed by professor Gregor Novak et al at the end of the twentieth Century. It is a new type of teaching and learning strategies that based on the interaction of network-based learning task and active learning classroom. The essence of JiTT is combining the traditional learning methods with network learning, teachers guiding, inspiring, monitoring the teaching process, the students actively extracurricular self-learning, taking use of students' feedback to guide the classroom teaching, and then stimulating the students' learning motivation. The "National Science Foundation" (NSF) of United States takes it as an undergraduate teaching reform project "the road of reform" paradigm to promote because of its feasibility and operability. But JiTT require teachers to make webpage for publishing preview content and require students to feedback to the teacher before the class by e-mail, which require teachers to acquire the computer application technology well. Because network technology in China started late, the majority of teachers in Colleges and universities is not proficient in software development and webpage making.the choice of good network teaching software platform is the research focus in many colleges and universities teaching reform. Moodle is a course management system that is developed by Martin Dougiamas in Australia based on educational theory of constructivism and it is free and open source software. Moodle provide a platform for information teaching and self-studying and then gradually becomes the mainstream platform of Network teaching in Colleges and Universities in the world. Colleges and universities in our country using Moodle platform of teaching research in certain subject areas has just started, it is worth our further thinking and exploration. 2 The Connotation of JiTT Method Based on Moodle Platform Moodle platform a course management system that based on the social constructivist teaching thought as the equality between teachers and students, interactive learning, it allows teachers and students or between students to cooperate with each other, and construct knowledge together according to the their own experience. Eventually achieve the goal of "collective wisdom" and "collective cognition". The platform interface is simple and compact, the teachers only need take use of the dynamic module function to design individualized network curriculum by free combination. The platform can be embedded in a variety of electronic documents, Word, PPT, Flash, video, and sound, etc that rich 30
teaching resources and support a variety of teaching mode. It can carry out real-time and non real-time communication by interactive tools such as discussion area and real-time chat room. The core of JiTT is "feedback chain", which is formed both by making full use of extracurricular network to guide students to self-study and then affecting the next classroom learning. The teacher arrange the learning tasks before the class and the students finish them through network. The teachers timely adjust lecture content according to students problems and then aim to get maximum learning efficiency. The students can acquire and consolidate knowledge discussion, debate, experiment or the actual operation that conducted by their teachers in the class. JiTT can make up the losseness and athymia of network at the same time. 3 The Implementation Process of JiTT JiTT in undergraduate nursing is mainly carried out from three aspects of curriculum design, curriculum management and teaching evaluation. 3.1 Curriculum design Take campus network as hardware foundation and then establish a network of undergraduate nursing courses learning by Moodle platform. This part consist of network preview release (the preparation before class and task before the experiment), the assistant information for network course learning (information type, expanding type and interactive type) and evaluation exercises (homework and laboratory task). Classroom learning consists of interactive classroom, laboratory activities, class activities. 3.2 Curriculum management Carrying out individualized teaching and management by statistical tools such as daily record, anecdotal records and test report provided by network platform. 3.2.1 Network curriculum management The teachers add course content through the "resources" and "activities" two modules. The "resources" can Release preview and problems to the students by the function of compile and link, and it can also provide students with the course material, handouts, syllabus and other learning resources website links to ensure that students are familiar with material and prepare well ahead of the class. The evaluation practice that requires students to finish by themselves can be taken as a standard for final exam score. "Activities" set up many function module such as chatting rooms, discussion, test, interactive evaluation and questionnaire survey that allow participants to communicate with each other. And it is convenient for teachers to communicate and feedback to students. 3.2.2 The classroom curriculum management After the teacher receive feedback from students, they can adjust teaching method according to the overall level of students had acquired. Increasing some contents that students are interested in, the contents can solve the problems in clinical practice at the same time. Selecting some feedback and showing it to students in the form of slides, and then set up a question that will be disscussed in detail. After the class teaching, the students are usually required to finish the problems in the webpage which develop Students' senior cognitive ability. Teachers should pay more attention to the reaction of students, encourage students to learn through group discussion and debate, etc. The teachers should also stimulate students to participate in studying with the interest and enthusiasm and then give some evaluation according to their performance. 3.3 Teaching evaluation 3.3.1 Moodle platform evaluation The Moodie platform provides activities module such as test, interactive evaluation and discussion areas to evaluate students. The teacher set a specific type of evaluation, evaluation ratio, evaluation elements 31
contents and students self-evaluation in the network course. According to the students performance in test and homework, the teacher timely give results and feedback. Teachers and students can carry out self-assessment or peer-assessment for any work than had been hand on according to the rubric. Establishing a form to record students absence and behavior that be tken as the basis of evaluation on students learning attitude. Each student's activity report form is a detailed learning portfolio, and then set up students complete files on at each stage. 3.3.2 Evaluation of curriculum teaching Evaluation of curriculum teaching includes students' self-evaluation, periodic assessment and summative assessment, It is an import evaluation index on what students have achieved from the specific teaching content. In order to check themselves, the students can carry out self assessment by self-test questions after each teaching stage. Teachers take use of stage test to examine students knowledge that they have acquired, laying down detailed evaluation standard, and at last give summary evalution with the network assessment. 4 The Advantage of JiTT Which Takes Moodle as Platform in Undergraduate Nursing Teaching 4.1 Giving full play to the advantages of network resources, broaden the classroom teaching environment Medicine is a complex, strongly practical discipline. Students have little possibility to contact with diseases before clinical practice, but the words and limited pictures in the book are not enough for students to go on in-depth studying of these complex medical knowledge. Network resource library can solve this problem by providing abundant nursing teaching resources such as Word, Powerpoint, Flash and Vedio. For example, when we study the chapter of "gastric cancer", Moodle can generate a clear navigational learning roadmap. First, we can raise some question: How to diagnose gastric cancer? How to stage the gastric cancer? What are the treatments of gastric cancer? etc. Provide some preview material and network links to resources at the same time. Students can know the relevant learning requirements, auxiliary slides, operation video by data module. Setting a topic of research of related genes and the progress of molecular targeted therapy of gastric cancer can let the students further search, and then discuss the new technology and knowledge that rarely introduced but used more in clinic with each other. Teachers provide related learning content that have multi-angle and different resources to guide students to express their own views, finally forming collective cognition. Forming a multiple learning mode that includes curriculum management, experimental teaching, teaching resources, interaction and FAQ. And the teacher-centered classroom teaching model perfectly extends to the outside of the classroom. 4.2 Rich "teaching" and "learning" mode, strengthening the autonomic learning The introduction of Moodle platform in the traditional teaching of undergraduate nursing can chang the teaching method of "teachers", "synchronous explanation + memory + summary examination". In order to form an autonomic, interactive and efficient teaching process, we can apply teaching, introducing and cooperative studying into JiTT. Students accomplish some teaching content about experiment by nternet searching, discussing, and independent designing which plays an import role in developing creativity and autonomic studying. For example, when we learn the chapter of tetanus, the teacher can set a question: why do you get an injection of TAT after the trauma? The system will automatically provide teaching contents and some choices about "tetanus" to the students by Moodle teaching model. The students must pass the test before they learn the next content, or they will turn back to the intermediate links, and then the system will automatically provide the students with some relevant information to help them to understand it. You can turn to teachers or students for help through disscussing area online. The teachers can pay attention to each student s test result through back office work, then analyze the student s learning conditions and timely feedback to the students, the students will realize their own 32
shortage and adjust their own studying strategies by this method. And let student understand the principle that you can acquire the knowledge if you own both initiative studying attitude and the method of independent learning, achieving the goal of making the students educated at last. 4.3 Create a collaborative and interactive teaching, integrate the "teachers" with the "students" The teaching that is based on network platform is interactive and collaborative, which is the development of traditional collaborative teaching, and it is convenient for teachers and students to go on collaborative studying at any place or time. It is good to cultivate medical students' social cooperation ability by mutual cooperation and communication. We tried the question teaching method in undergrate nursing teaching in recent years, although improving students' ability of autonomous learning, we cannot grasp the students' learning conditions in time and timely feedback to students. Some students are too shy to express their confusion, which make teach students in accordance with their aptitude become a mere formality. But the core of the JiTT which is feedback link can solve this problem. The teachers can discover the problems and know the students attention and studying attitude to the certain curriculum by the learning tracking, online test, interactive evaluation, vote an so on that provided by Moodle. The teachers communication with students by network forum and chatting room which provides a broad space for communication to everyone. Students questions extends to the outside of the classroom and then come back to the classroom to be solved, which perfectly integrate teaching with studying. 4.4 The transformation of diversified evaluation mode The establishment of effective, reasonable evaluation system has always been the target that pursuited by colleges and universities for quality of education evaluation reform. Students attendence rate and the final score are always the main foundation to evaluate students studying and teachers teaching in traditional undergraduate nursing teaching. Moodle platform established a set of complete electronic learning portfolio such as specific learning activities, learning time, the number of discussion posts for each participant, teachers make the corresponding evaluation on different stage by analyzing students studying data, and then form a scientific evaluation. The feedback of evaluation that the students behaved in class to the students plays a positive role in keeping students enthusiasm in studying. Students can be evaluated by each other and the learners can also go on self-evaluation by Moodle test system. The above diversified evaluation methods can intuitively, reasonably reflect the uniqueness and differences of medical students in the development, and can also truly, deeply demonstrate the whole process of the development of the students. 5 Conclusion Although integrating information technology with curriculum has been applied to many subjects in higher education, there are more theory research than practice in JiTT. We need to constantly test in the teaching practice to improve a teaching mode. Applying JiTT that based on Moodle platform to undergraduate nursing education not only retains the characteristics of the traditional teaching but also reflects the advantages of information technology. It is an advanced teaching concept, powerful, three-dimensional curriculum management platform which will stimulate students interest in learning and improve the quality of nursing teaching, and it will play an import role in teaching reform which cultivate high-level nursing talents. Research Project: Zhejiang province education technology research project in 2012 (JB176); The key project of Higher Education Research in Huzhou (GJAH11004). 33
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