"Engaging marine science students through a flipped classroom model" Final Report Partnership Project Report Period Report: September 28 to December 13, 2013 Faculty: Science Project Name: Engaging marine science students through a flipped classroom model Department: Biology Academic Lead: Melanie Bishop Project Manager: Lee Mowbray Current Project Team: Michael Rampe, Ollie Coady, Mike Catabay Project Background Overview: The project centred on the implementation of a flipped classroom model to a new core unit for the marine science degree in Semester 1, 2014. The traditional lecture format was replaced with interactive discussion groups which would be run as a series of workshops where students discuss and debate various marine issues through case studies on topics such as deep sea oil and gas drilling and marine parks. The flipped model provides improved opportunities for student engagement and for more active learning. By structuring the unit in this model, it has the potential to improve student understanding of the complexities of maintaining and managing marine resources. The aim of the project was to: design the unit s pedagogy within the flipped model develop an online learning environment that enables and encourages interaction with a variety of unit media. Prior to each workshop, students will be encouraged to explore this media, including peer-reviewed and grey literature, as well as newspaper articles, radio interviews and video, in order to view marine resources through the lenses of the multiple stakeholders. establish student blog function which can be assessed so students can be reflective about their learning produce short exemplar videos that will complement readings and other media and that will enable more interaction with media content. This included building capacity of academic lead in the area of video production. Project Objectives: For the LTC team and the academic lead to collaborate on developing a pedagogically sound implementation of a flipped approach to the unit, which: encourages meaningful interaction with the learning resources provides deeper learning and greater understanding of the various perspectives of maintaining and managing marine resources Page 1
For the LTC team to provide advice on, as well as training and support for the effective approach for: developing and creating videos and audio visual material implementing, managing and assessing student reflective comments via a blog What was achieved: 1. Development of the MAR202 ilearn unit, with a flipped classroom model / pedagogy: The unit was scoped and structured, with a content matrix and key points. Online resources and sources were investigated as well as available media from MQ Library. This included clarification of copyright issues relating to the media to be utilised in the online component of the flipped unit which resulted in a sum mary provided by Sylvie Saab, Executive Information Policy Officer, Macquarie University Library. Media release forms were created for videoed interviewees. Content delivery and 'flow of learning' was developed i.e. interweaving of media, teacher facilitation and student activity in each ilearn topic/week; checklist and weekly blog completed prior to workshop; scaffold for interaction i.e. setting up your blog and your first post Twitter feeds Class #mar202 in block feeds in a topic area: #marineconservation, #sealevelrise, #bluecarbon Class BlogRoll - aggregated feed of each student's blog various solutions investigated, with TintUp being chosen due to its visual appeal and being able to embed into ilearn Feed.informer may be used as possible backup if needed A number of QuickGuides created, including Twitter, Flickr and WordPress Development of Teacher Presence graphics via bitstrips and PhotoShop Bitstrips graphics: Teacher Presence Twitter search # Page 2
twitter class hashtag #mar202 twitter QuickGuide for students TintUp class blog roll Flickr 2. Video material filmed, edited and published: The academic lead undertook and received training and support to produce required AV material. This included attending workshops and one-to-one training in both the video-taking, video capture (Camtasia) and editing software (Adobe Creative Cloud). The Science video camera pack was loaned to the academic lead for field trips and other videoing opportunities. Video footage taken: five interviews of marine experts were filmed by LTC staff in the linguistics soundproof room three days of 'on location' filming sessions with academic lead and LTC staff in and around Sydney There were 16 exemplar videos created, with the academic lead as well as team members completing the editing. Kaltura video repository discussed and to be utilised in the 2014 trial Page 3
Exemplar video: Lesley Hughes interview - incorporating blue carbon in emissions reduction schemes 3. Student engagement and active learning Blogging tool implemented in unit, with training on its setup, use and assessment. Following trials with OU blog and the MQ multisite WordPress blog, it was decided WordPress provided a better solution. A planned upgrade of WordPress during December with the inclusion of a number of plugins which would facilitate student interaction. Blog assessment options were fine-tuned, with relevant %, rubric, inclusions and protocols. Netiquette and Acceptable Use policies were uploaded Flickr and Twitter feed/ plugin Blog process developed, including commenting and activities developed e.g. Week 2, scenario with 4 perspectives and letters to council Digital treasure hunt / digital portfolio: activities specified in unit photos / media uploaded to WordPress by assessment date (at end of course) concept of 'selfie' for authenticating digital item Social media integration: Flickr - GeoTag, evidence and examples uploaded, selfie (if relevant), include into blog post if appropriate Twitter - sharing and contributing information with #mar202, #hashtags for experts / journals for RSS Page 4
MQ WordPress multisite blog 4. Workshops and classroom activities: initial discussion with examples / suggestions for challenging, higher-order experiences Project closure recommendations: A Phase 2 FPP of this project runs in S1, 2014. The focus of this project could include reviewing and refining the assessment procedures, monitoring student activity and learning within the new flipped model, fine tuning the pedagogy and inclusions of the unit as indicated by student interaction, analyse the impact on convenor workload and continue to develop effective and challenging workshop activities. Further collaboration is needed into February / March due to timing constraints with technology e.g. WordPress multisite changes, Kaltura trial and 1 st tutorial support for blogging and social media tools (Ollie). A greater range of video workshops could be offered, including those for the beginner, intermediate and more advanced, as well as video editing and production workshops. Having expertise in the LTC for all aspects of video production was extremely valuable, in both running workshops, video production and one-to-one support for the academic. This sharing of expertise, with hints, ideas and what works in editing provided the academic lead with invaluable support for her independent video production. Page 5
Evaluation: 1. Formative evaluation carried out to date: Regular project meetings and debriefs were held with the academic lead and team members during the project. This provided a very productive and energetic environment for brainstorming ideas, strategies and activities for the project. It also provided valuable feedback on the direction of the project within this session as well as future directions. At the end of the project we held a reflective discussion / evaluation with the project team to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the project. Project reflections included: Video process was very effective. Building capacity in taking and editing videos for the academic lead was very useful. Brainstorming possibilities provided a better outcome for the unit and the project. Suggestions and the demonstration of emerging technologies to be integrated provided the academic lead with a wider variety of technology tools to increase student engagement and improve student understanding. Innovative assessment tasks and engaging activities, both for individuals and in the workshops, were discussed and supported by the project team as well as the academic lead's attendance in the FLaMe program. 2. Summative evaluation planned for future: Evaluation by academic lead and students at the conclusion of Session 1, 2014, incorporating questions about student engagement, learning design and the flipped model as an effective learning and teaching strategy. It is also planned to evaluate student learning and engagement at regular intervals through the unit to monitor interactivity. Page 6