Pub Date : 2017-09-07DOI: 10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.824
A. Siani
The use of mobile computing devices has become an integral part of virtually every aspect of our personal and professional life, and education is no exception to this paradigm. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) strategies are becoming increasingly prevalent in teaching, learning and assessment across all age groups, however the evaluation of their relative effectiveness compared to traditional pedagogies is still a controversial matter. Despite the vast number of reports attesting the successful integration of BYOD in higher education, it has been argued that a significant proportion of the studies on the topic are highly heterogeneous from both a theoretical and methodological standpoint. While BYOD strategies have been put in place in an increasing number of educational institutions around the world, the extent of their implementation varies widely between (and in most cases within) different institutions. This observation highlights the critical importance of the development of a solid theoretical and practical framework to underpin the integration of BYOD in higher education. The first part of this paper will aim to critically evaluate the state of the art of the literature on the efficacy of BYOD strategies in higher education, highlighting potential benefits and drawbacks. As a paradigmatic example of caveats arising from the use of BYOD in higher education, it has been argued that teaching and learning strategies based on the use of personal mobile computing devices may pose a significant risk to aggravate digital divide between students who have access to (and operational mastery of) such devices, and students who do not. The critical evaluation of the advantages and pitfalls of BYOD will be used as a theoretical scaffold for the second part of the paper, which will outline the results of a recent case study to give a practical account of the implementation of BYOD in higher education. A survey was carried out within a cohort of level 4 Biology, Biochemistry, and Marine Biology students to investigate the students’ perception of the effectiveness of Nearpod as a formative assessment tool. While the majority (65%) of the participants had never used BYOD in an educational context before enrolling into university, the students’ account of its efficacy appears overwhelmingly positive. Most students expressed a clear preference for electronic formative assessment and commended its superior helpfulness compared to traditional methods. The vast majority of the participants (over 90%) did not perceive BYOD as potentially aggravating digital divide among their peers. Keywords: BYOD; higher education; electronic; interactive; formative assessment; digital divide; personal computing devices; smartphone; tablet; laptop.
{"title":"BYOD strategies in higher education: current knowledge, students’ perspectives, and challenges.","authors":"A. Siani","doi":"10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.824","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.824","url":null,"abstract":"The use of mobile computing devices has become an integral part of virtually every aspect of our personal and professional life, and education is no exception to this paradigm. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) strategies are becoming increasingly prevalent in teaching, learning and assessment across all age groups, however the evaluation of their relative effectiveness compared to traditional pedagogies is still a controversial matter. Despite the vast number of reports attesting the successful integration of BYOD in higher education, it has been argued that a significant proportion of the studies on the topic are highly heterogeneous from both a theoretical and methodological standpoint. While BYOD strategies have been put in place in an increasing number of educational institutions around the world, the extent of their implementation varies widely between (and in most cases within) different institutions. This observation highlights the critical importance of the development of a solid theoretical and practical framework to underpin the integration of BYOD in higher education. The first part of this paper will aim to critically evaluate the state of the art of the literature on the efficacy of BYOD strategies in higher education, highlighting potential benefits and drawbacks. As a paradigmatic example of caveats arising from the use of BYOD in higher education, it has been argued that teaching and learning strategies based on the use of personal mobile computing devices may pose a significant risk to aggravate digital divide between students who have access to (and operational mastery of) such devices, and students who do not. The critical evaluation of the advantages and pitfalls of BYOD will be used as a theoretical scaffold for the second part of the paper, which will outline the results of a recent case study to give a practical account of the implementation of BYOD in higher education. A survey was carried out within a cohort of level 4 Biology, Biochemistry, and Marine Biology students to investigate the students’ perception of the effectiveness of Nearpod as a formative assessment tool. While the majority (65%) of the participants had never used BYOD in an educational context before enrolling into university, the students’ account of its efficacy appears overwhelmingly positive. Most students expressed a clear preference for electronic formative assessment and commended its superior helpfulness compared to traditional methods. The vast majority of the participants (over 90%) did not perceive BYOD as potentially aggravating digital divide among their peers. Keywords: BYOD; higher education; electronic; interactive; formative assessment; digital divide; personal computing devices; smartphone; tablet; laptop.","PeriodicalId":174795,"journal":{"name":"New directions in the teaching of physical sciences","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126139915","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-08-21DOI: 10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.844
Natasha Slater, R. Micallef
To enhance student engagement and learning, the use of a social medial platform, Snapchat, was introduced into a cohort of second year pharmacy students (n=160). This study aims to evaluate student perception of this intervention which was used in a pharmacy law module. Participation in the intervention was voluntary. An evaluation survey was designed to understand usage of the Snapchat tool through tick box responses and comment boxes. The survey was given out and collected at the end of a lecture. The response rate was 55.6%. Of those with an active Snapchat account, 90% (n=63/69) had joined our pharmacy law Snapchat account. When asked whether Snapchat supported revision, 91.9% (n=57/62) agreed whilst 81.0% (n=51/63) reported that the snapchat account had increased their knowledge in relation to pharmacy law and 93.8% (n=60/64) would recommend this learning tool to their peers. Keywords: Student engagement, SnapChat, Social media, Pharmacists, Pharmacy Law
{"title":"Increasing Student Engagement in Pharmacy Law","authors":"Natasha Slater, R. Micallef","doi":"10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.844","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.844","url":null,"abstract":"To enhance student engagement and learning, the use of a social medial platform, Snapchat, was introduced into a cohort of second year pharmacy students (n=160). This study aims to evaluate student perception of this intervention which was used in a pharmacy law module. Participation in the intervention was voluntary. An evaluation survey was designed to understand usage of the Snapchat tool through tick box responses and comment boxes. The survey was given out and collected at the end of a lecture. The response rate was 55.6%. Of those with an active Snapchat account, 90% (n=63/69) had joined our pharmacy law Snapchat account. When asked whether Snapchat supported revision, 91.9% (n=57/62) agreed whilst 81.0% (n=51/63) reported that the snapchat account had increased their knowledge in relation to pharmacy law and 93.8% (n=60/64) would recommend this learning tool to their peers. Keywords: Student engagement, SnapChat, Social media, Pharmacists, Pharmacy Law","PeriodicalId":174795,"journal":{"name":"New directions in the teaching of physical sciences","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115298326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-08-15DOI: 10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.843
Amani Al-Saedi, Jake Bell, Alex Boorman, E. Cameron, Zoe Castleman, Chamos Flanagan, Cristine Fraser, J. Pearson, A. Philp, Kirsty Robinson, Flavio Silva, Amina Taki, Dareen Tubeileh, Robyn Vosters, H. Mulrooney
Authentic learning opportunities replicating working environments will enhance learners’ employability and intrinsic motivation. Within most undergraduate curricula, opportunities for students to experience hands-on learning opportunities which mimic public health practice are limited. A pilot university cook and eat programme (the Cook School) was developed based upon community cook and eat programmes. The aim was to enable trained undergraduate Nutrition students to facilitate healthy eating activities to their peers, as a voluntary co-curricular activity. Two cook and eat programmes, each of five weeks duration, were offered to undergraduate students (12 participants per programme). Cooking was delivered by trained chefs and the healthy eating components were facilitated by trained undergraduate Nutrition students. Participants did not know beforehand that sessions would include nutrition information & activities in addition to cooking. Facilitators identified ‘employability’ as a key driver for their participation in this project. Their post-course evaluations suggested that key employability skills like team work, time management, communication and organisation were enhanced by involvement in the Cook School. Participants suggested that attending Cook School improved their knowledge of healthy eating. Whether this translates into improved diets long term is currently unknown. This pilot project offered undergraduate Nutrition students a unique opportunity to gain key employability skills within an authentic learning environment, working in partnership with their peers. Keywords: Authentic learning, Peer learning, Motivation, Partnership, Employability
{"title":"Public health teaching in practice, peer learning and partnership working: the Cook School project","authors":"Amani Al-Saedi, Jake Bell, Alex Boorman, E. Cameron, Zoe Castleman, Chamos Flanagan, Cristine Fraser, J. Pearson, A. Philp, Kirsty Robinson, Flavio Silva, Amina Taki, Dareen Tubeileh, Robyn Vosters, H. Mulrooney","doi":"10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.843","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.843","url":null,"abstract":"Authentic learning opportunities replicating working environments will enhance learners’ employability and intrinsic motivation. Within most undergraduate curricula, opportunities for students to experience hands-on learning opportunities which mimic public health practice are limited. A pilot university cook and eat programme (the Cook School) was developed based upon community cook and eat programmes. The aim was to enable trained undergraduate Nutrition students to facilitate healthy eating activities to their peers, as a voluntary co-curricular activity. Two cook and eat programmes, each of five weeks duration, were offered to undergraduate students (12 participants per programme). Cooking was delivered by trained chefs and the healthy eating components were facilitated by trained undergraduate Nutrition students. Participants did not know beforehand that sessions would include nutrition information & activities in addition to cooking. Facilitators identified ‘employability’ as a key driver for their participation in this project. Their post-course evaluations suggested that key employability skills like team work, time management, communication and organisation were enhanced by involvement in the Cook School. Participants suggested that attending Cook School improved their knowledge of healthy eating. Whether this translates into improved diets long term is currently unknown. This pilot project offered undergraduate Nutrition students a unique opportunity to gain key employability skills within an authentic learning environment, working in partnership with their peers. Keywords: Authentic learning, Peer learning, Motivation, Partnership, Employability","PeriodicalId":174795,"journal":{"name":"New directions in the teaching of physical sciences","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116259890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-08-02DOI: 10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.674
Philippa Cranwell, F. J. Davis, J. M. Elliott, J. Mckendrick, E. Page, Mark J. Spillman
The transition from A-level to degree-level practical classes then to a research project, hence from dependent learner to independent researcher, is a hurdle that all students face when studying for a chemistry degree. This can be daunting so any innovations that aid this transition are of great value. At the University of Reading, the first year practical course has been redesigned to facilitate this transition by embedding independent thought and experimentation across all chemistry disciplines (introductory, organic, inorganic and physical). Examples of experiments that provide opportunities for independent student investigation, along with student perceptions of the experiments of the course, are given. Using this model for practical-class delivery, student engagement, confidence, independence and ultimately preparedness for year 2 were improved. Keywords: Practical Classes; First year; Transition; Open-Ended Investigation
{"title":"Encouraging Independent Thought and Learning in First Year Practical Classes.","authors":"Philippa Cranwell, F. J. Davis, J. M. Elliott, J. Mckendrick, E. Page, Mark J. Spillman","doi":"10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.674","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.674","url":null,"abstract":"The transition from A-level to degree-level practical classes then to a research project, hence from dependent learner to independent researcher, is a hurdle that all students face when studying for a chemistry degree. This can be daunting so any innovations that aid this transition are of great value. At the University of Reading, the first year practical course has been redesigned to facilitate this transition by embedding independent thought and experimentation across all chemistry disciplines (introductory, organic, inorganic and physical). Examples of experiments that provide opportunities for independent student investigation, along with student perceptions of the experiments of the course, are given. Using this model for practical-class delivery, student engagement, confidence, independence and ultimately preparedness for year 2 were improved. Keywords: Practical Classes; First year; Transition; Open-Ended Investigation","PeriodicalId":174795,"journal":{"name":"New directions in the teaching of physical sciences","volume":"27 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133251820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-07-20DOI: 10.29311/ndtps.v0i15.3251
Philippa Cranwell, E. Page
The use of a group-based approach to project working has been shown to provide significant advantage to students in terms of project outcomes, motivation and engagement. The Department of Chemistry at the University of Reading has recently explored the use of group projects for final year practical work. In this model, students are presented with a research problem that they investigate within a team of three to five students. Students are expected to divide the work and share results in a manner that closely resembles project working in industry. This paper will report the experiences and attitudes of final-year BSc students towards this group-based approach, and outline the self-identified skills development of these students.
{"title":"Assessing Final-Year Practical Work Through Group Projects; A Further Study","authors":"Philippa Cranwell, E. Page","doi":"10.29311/ndtps.v0i15.3251","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29311/ndtps.v0i15.3251","url":null,"abstract":"The use of a group-based approach to project working has been shown to provide significant advantage to students in terms of project outcomes, motivation and engagement. The Department of Chemistry at the University of Reading has recently explored the use of group projects for final year practical work. In this model, students are presented with a research problem that they investigate within a team of three to five students. Students are expected to divide the work and share results in a manner that closely resembles project working in industry. This paper will report the experiences and attitudes of final-year BSc students towards this group-based approach, and outline the self-identified skills development of these students.","PeriodicalId":174795,"journal":{"name":"New directions in the teaching of physical sciences","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131412642","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-07-18DOI: 10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.673
S. Fergus
I was invited to write this opinion piece following a presentation at the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) conference on Methods in Education Chemistry Research related to translating creative teaching ideas and innovations into chemistry education research outputs. With a keen interest in learning and teaching and a solid training in organic chemistry research, my choice to combine them both and engage in chemistry education research (CER), seeking the empirical evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness (or not) of classroom or laboratory activities, would seem obvious. My professional journey has been both a stepping-stone, in terms of the positive impact of CER in deepening my pedagogic theory and stretching my ideas, yet it also has been a stumbling block. The perspective from colleagues strongly implied CER to be easier, not to mention “fluffy and vague” compared with traditional chemistry research. My experiences have been quite the contrary. I found CER if anything to be more difficult and challenging. To execute chemistry research, in for example my discipline of organic synthetic, would typically require me to consult the literature, obtain published procedures to synthesise a target compound or intermediate products and then to identify the chemicals required. I can assume that the chemicals used will react in a similar way to the published procedure. This however, cannot be assumed in education; replication is not guaranteed. An effective classroom activity with my undergraduate students or a successful doctoral research supervision strategy may not work effectively with all students in all contexts. I will outline the common pitfalls to avoid in CER, the first step in planning high quality CER and hopefully offer some reassurances that, although the transition to CER may feel like starting again within a new research discipline, it does not need to be daunting. Although my experience is in CER most of what I write here will be applicable across the disciplines in higher education.
{"title":"Writing A Chemistry Education Research Article: Stepping Stone Or Stumbling Block?","authors":"S. Fergus","doi":"10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.673","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.673","url":null,"abstract":"I was invited to write this opinion piece following a presentation at the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) conference on Methods in Education Chemistry Research related to translating creative teaching ideas and innovations into chemistry education research outputs. With a keen interest in learning and teaching and a solid training in organic chemistry research, my choice to combine them both and engage in chemistry education research (CER), seeking the empirical evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness (or not) of classroom or laboratory activities, would seem obvious. My professional journey has been both a stepping-stone, in terms of the positive impact of CER in deepening my pedagogic theory and stretching my ideas, yet it also has been a stumbling block. The perspective from colleagues strongly implied CER to be easier, not to mention “fluffy and vague” compared with traditional chemistry research. My experiences have been quite the contrary. I found CER if anything to be more difficult and challenging. To execute chemistry research, in for example my discipline of organic synthetic, would typically require me to consult the literature, obtain published procedures to synthesise a target compound or intermediate products and then to identify the chemicals required. I can assume that the chemicals used will react in a similar way to the published procedure. This however, cannot be assumed in education; replication is not guaranteed. An effective classroom activity with my undergraduate students or a successful doctoral research supervision strategy may not work effectively with all students in all contexts. I will outline the common pitfalls to avoid in CER, the first step in planning high quality CER and hopefully offer some reassurances that, although the transition to CER may feel like starting again within a new research discipline, it does not need to be daunting. Although my experience is in CER most of what I write here will be applicable across the disciplines in higher education.","PeriodicalId":174795,"journal":{"name":"New directions in the teaching of physical sciences","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129599459","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-06-08DOI: 10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.598
N. Gordon, M. Brayshaw
Connecting undergraduate students as partners can lead to the enhancement of the undergraduate experience and allow students to see the different sides of the university. Such holistic perspectives may better inform academic career choices and postgraduate study. Furthermore, student involvement in course development has many potential benefits. This paper outlines a framework for connecting research and teaching within Computer Science- though this is applicable across other disciplines. Three case studies are considered to illustrate the approach. The first case study involves students in their honours’ stage (level 6, typically 3 rd year) project, the second an undergraduate intern between stages 5 and 6, and finally, a MSc (level 7) project. All three case studies have actively involved students in core parts of the University’s teaching and research activities, producing usable software systems to support these efforts. We consider this as a continuing engagement process to enhance the undergraduate learning experience within Computer Science. Keywords: Enquiry Based Learning; Computing Education; Research Inspired Education.
{"title":"Connecting Undergraduate Students as Partners in Computer Science Teaching and Research","authors":"N. Gordon, M. Brayshaw","doi":"10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.598","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.598","url":null,"abstract":"Connecting undergraduate students as partners can lead to the enhancement of the undergraduate experience and allow students to see the different sides of the university. Such holistic perspectives may better inform academic career choices and postgraduate study. Furthermore, student involvement in course development has many potential benefits. This paper outlines a framework for connecting research and teaching within Computer Science- though this is applicable across other disciplines. Three case studies are considered to illustrate the approach. The first case study involves students in their honours’ stage (level 6, typically 3 rd year) project, the second an undergraduate intern between stages 5 and 6, and finally, a MSc (level 7) project. All three case studies have actively involved students in core parts of the University’s teaching and research activities, producing usable software systems to support these efforts. We consider this as a continuing engagement process to enhance the undergraduate learning experience within Computer Science. Keywords: Enquiry Based Learning; Computing Education; Research Inspired Education.","PeriodicalId":174795,"journal":{"name":"New directions in the teaching of physical sciences","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125005028","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-02-27DOI: 10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.586
B. Paschke, Shazia Ahmed
It has been recognised for some time by Science and Engineering departments that students are entering Higher Education ill-equipped in terms of their mathematical skills, despite having in many cases, attained good grades at Higher/A level (The Engineering Council 2000; Fry, Ketteridge & Marshall 1999; Score Education 2009). In an attempt, therefore, to ensure that all students progressing on to Chemistry degrees are equally prepared (in terms of ability and confidence) to attempt the more mathematical aspects of our courses, the School of Chemistry has over recent years been sequentially introducing mathematics support into the curriculum. As part of the School’s ongoing mathematical support provision, the aim of this project was two-fold: 1) to assess the popularity and effectiveness of tailored maths support sessions and 2) in relation to the teaching of mathematical concepts to science students, collate examples of existing appropriate open educational resources to provide additional support to facilitate student learning such as RSC Discover Maths for Chemistry and Math Centre (Royal Society of Chemistry; MathCentre 2016). A pilot project has been carried out during the academic year 2015-2016, where support sessions were delivered in tutorial format by the Maths Adviser. Although the sessions were open to all 3 rd year students studying on chemistry degree programmes, the expectation was that they would mainly be attended by students with little formal mathematics training and those who are less confident about their abilities. Keywords: Chemistry, Mathematics, Student Support, Maths Support
{"title":"Maths Advice and Revision for Chemistry (MARC)","authors":"B. Paschke, Shazia Ahmed","doi":"10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.586","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.586","url":null,"abstract":"It has been recognised for some time by Science and Engineering departments that students are entering Higher Education ill-equipped in terms of their mathematical skills, despite having in many cases, attained good grades at Higher/A level (The Engineering Council 2000; Fry, Ketteridge & Marshall 1999; Score Education 2009). In an attempt, therefore, to ensure that all students progressing on to Chemistry degrees are equally prepared (in terms of ability and confidence) to attempt the more mathematical aspects of our courses, the School of Chemistry has over recent years been sequentially introducing mathematics support into the curriculum. As part of the School’s ongoing mathematical support provision, the aim of this project was two-fold: 1) to assess the popularity and effectiveness of tailored maths support sessions and 2) in relation to the teaching of mathematical concepts to science students, collate examples of existing appropriate open educational resources to provide additional support to facilitate student learning such as RSC Discover Maths for Chemistry and Math Centre (Royal Society of Chemistry; MathCentre 2016). A pilot project has been carried out during the academic year 2015-2016, where support sessions were delivered in tutorial format by the Maths Adviser. Although the sessions were open to all 3 rd year students studying on chemistry degree programmes, the expectation was that they would mainly be attended by students with little formal mathematics training and those who are less confident about their abilities. Keywords: Chemistry, Mathematics, Student Support, Maths Support","PeriodicalId":174795,"journal":{"name":"New directions in the teaching of physical sciences","volume":"48 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126683976","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-02-16DOI: 10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.571
R. Hilliam, Carol Calvert
Statistics pervades everyone’s lives, whether it is through media coverage, reading reports, weighing up internal risks or evaluating decisions. Most managers are swamped by endless targets, dashboards and spreadsheets, but few organisations have enough employees with statistical skills to support the requirement for evidence based decision making. The need to equip today’s workforce to deal with the increased amount of data is imperative. The shortage of mathematics and statistics teachers is also likely to increase as the Government aims by 2020 to provide all post 16 students with continued mathematical education until the age of 18. At The Open University we have devised a highly successful first level statistics module which is simultaneously studied by students across a range of different disciplines, many of whom encounter statistics at some point in their qualification. This has been achieved by using topics which are of interest to everyone rather than being discipline specific. The module has produced some impressive results particularly when analysing the progress of different cohorts of students, not just from varying disciplines, but also across a broad spectrum of students with differing backgrounds. It is thought that by adapting these techniques it is possible to produce high quality statistics provision to be widely used as professional career development for employees. Keywords: Statistics; Interactive; Career and Professional Development
{"title":"Interactive Statistics: can we use experience from a large diverse student cohort to provide professional development for a wider population?","authors":"R. Hilliam, Carol Calvert","doi":"10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.571","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.571","url":null,"abstract":"Statistics pervades everyone’s lives, whether it is through media coverage, reading reports, weighing up internal risks or evaluating decisions. Most managers are swamped by endless targets, dashboards and spreadsheets, but few organisations have enough employees with statistical skills to support the requirement for evidence based decision making. The need to equip today’s workforce to deal with the increased amount of data is imperative. The shortage of mathematics and statistics teachers is also likely to increase as the Government aims by 2020 to provide all post 16 students with continued mathematical education until the age of 18. At The Open University we have devised a highly successful first level statistics module which is simultaneously studied by students across a range of different disciplines, many of whom encounter statistics at some point in their qualification. This has been achieved by using topics which are of interest to everyone rather than being discipline specific. The module has produced some impressive results particularly when analysing the progress of different cohorts of students, not just from varying disciplines, but also across a broad spectrum of students with differing backgrounds. It is thought that by adapting these techniques it is possible to produce high quality statistics provision to be widely used as professional career development for employees. Keywords: Statistics; Interactive; Career and Professional Development","PeriodicalId":174795,"journal":{"name":"New directions in the teaching of physical sciences","volume":"258 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132445210","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-02-08DOI: 10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.596
Abdul Fatah Abdul Yekeen, Jake Bell, Alex Boorman, C. Hancock, A. Kelly, E. Kelly, H. Mulrooney, Ricarda Streich
Personal health & wellbeing are rated more highly in those with higher educational qualifications than those without, and good health & wellbeing are likely to impact upon student attendance and hence attainment at university. It is important to understand factors which may affect perceived health and wellbeing from a student perspective in order to develop university-specific campaigns to correct misinformation. In addition, multidisciplinary working is characteristic in the post-graduation world, but is difficult to truly replicate within formal university teaching. This project had two aims. First, through a cross-disciplinary staff-student collaboration, to explore student perceptions of health and wellbeing in Kingston University. Second, to enable students from a range of disciplines to work in active partnership with each other and with academic staff. A quiz was completed by almost 300 undergraduate students. Results from this and focus group discussions demonstrated reasonable knowledge of a range of lifestyle risk factors affecting health, but misinformation about the safety of vaccines and the importance of nutrition, activity and adequate sleep for maximising health, wellbeing and thus, potentially, university attainment. Future work is planned with Kingston University undergraduate students to address identified misconceptions. Student partners highly rated the opportunity for active learning, partnership working with staff and being part of a cross-disciplinary project team. Keywords: Partnership, cross disciplinary, health, active learning, wellbeing
{"title":"Exploring student perceptions of health and infection: an interactive staff: student partnership scheme","authors":"Abdul Fatah Abdul Yekeen, Jake Bell, Alex Boorman, C. Hancock, A. Kelly, E. Kelly, H. Mulrooney, Ricarda Streich","doi":"10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.596","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29311/NDTPS.V0I12.596","url":null,"abstract":"Personal health & wellbeing are rated more highly in those with higher educational qualifications than those without, and good health & wellbeing are likely to impact upon student attendance and hence attainment at university. It is important to understand factors which may affect perceived health and wellbeing from a student perspective in order to develop university-specific campaigns to correct misinformation. In addition, multidisciplinary working is characteristic in the post-graduation world, but is difficult to truly replicate within formal university teaching. This project had two aims. First, through a cross-disciplinary staff-student collaboration, to explore student perceptions of health and wellbeing in Kingston University. Second, to enable students from a range of disciplines to work in active partnership with each other and with academic staff. A quiz was completed by almost 300 undergraduate students. Results from this and focus group discussions demonstrated reasonable knowledge of a range of lifestyle risk factors affecting health, but misinformation about the safety of vaccines and the importance of nutrition, activity and adequate sleep for maximising health, wellbeing and thus, potentially, university attainment. Future work is planned with Kingston University undergraduate students to address identified misconceptions. Student partners highly rated the opportunity for active learning, partnership working with staff and being part of a cross-disciplinary project team. Keywords: Partnership, cross disciplinary, health, active learning, wellbeing","PeriodicalId":174795,"journal":{"name":"New directions in the teaching of physical sciences","volume":"52 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134380010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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