Student Voices in SoTL:
Examples & Questions
Jeffrey Coker, Sirena Hargrove-Leak,
Stephen Schulman, Peter Felten, Collin Bright
ANAC Summer Institute
June 14, 2007
Agenda
i.
Context and questions
ii.
Examples
a.
b.
c.
Underwater Robots
Students as Partners in Course Re-design
Reinventing Life
iii. Discussion and questions
SoTL at Elon

1999 – 2005: Project Interweave



2006+ : CATL Scholars


Student partners involved in design,
implementation, assessment, and
dissemination of SoTL projects
38 faculty; 65 students; 18 disciplines
2-year projects, 4 per year, more $
2006 – 2009: CASTL Institutional
Leadership Program
Questions for you
1.
What do you do now to understand
what your students are learning?
2.
How do you involve students in the
design and development of your
courses?
Continuum of student voices
Faculty informed
by students
Faculty alone
Student – faculty
partnership
Examples

Why involve students?

How do you involve students?

What are the opportunities and
problems resulting from student
involvement?
Underwater Robots
Sirena Hargrove-Leak
2007-2009 CATL Scholar
Dual Degree Engineering Program
Department of Physics
Course overview

Student teams design and build ROVs
organized instruction on core
components
 mission tasks based on professional
applications
 basic materials supplied
 small budget for additional materials


Culminating presentation and piloting
experiences
Student voices address
Is the course providing a
transformational experience in
science?
 Does the course meet the educational
goals?
 Does the course connect with
students at the appropriate level?

Student voices heard in
Entrance/Exit survey
 Mini lecture and lab challenge surveys
 Design journal
 ROV performance interview
 Traditional quizzes and final design
presentation

Opportunities and challenges
Design a better course
 Students more engaged

Feedback an additional burden
 Documentation medium
 Useful feedback
 Limited enrollment

References





Beer, R.D., Chiel, H.J., Drushel, R.F. Using Autonomous Robotics to
Teach Science and Engineering. Communications of the ACM, Vol.
42, No.6, June 1999, pp. 85-92.
Ettouney, O.M. A New Model for Integrating Engineering Into the
Liberal Education of Non-Engineering Undergraduate Students.
Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 83, No. 4, October 1994, pp.
349-355.
Nourbakhsh, I.R., Crowley, K., Bhave, A., Hamner, E., Hsiu, T., PerezBergquist, A., Richards, S., Wilkinson, K. The Robotic Autonomy
Mobile Robotics Course: Robot Design, Curriculum Design and
Educational Assessment. Autonomous Robots, Vol. 18, No. 1,
January 2005, pp. 103-127.
Turbak, F., Berg, R. Robotic Design Studio: Exploring the Big Ideas of
Engineering in a Liberal Arts Environment. Journal of Science
Education and Technology, Vol. 11, No. 3, September 2002, pp. 237253.
Weinberg, J.B., White, W.W., Karacal, C., Engel, G., Hu, A.-P.
Multidisciplinary Teamwork in a Robotics Course. ACM SIGCSE
Bulletin, Vol. 37, No. 1, February 2005, pp. 446-450.
www.marinetech.org/
Students as Partners in Course Re-design:
Learning Together about Student Learning

Stephen Schulman and Collin Bright
Reinventing Life:
Introductory Biology for a
Rapidly Evolving World
(picture omitted from
web version of this
presentation)
Jeffrey S. Coker
CATL Scholars 2006-08
BIOLOGY
Reinventing Life

A new curriculum for teaching biology to
non-science majors that focuses on modern
biological change.
Cutting-edge Science
Civic Engagement
Modernization of Intro
Biology for the 21st
Century
Inquiry-based pedagogy
Models for Student Involvement in SoTL
1. Student-turned-Scholar
2. Teacher-Scholar Apprentice
3. Independent Evaluator
4. Pre-teacher in Training
5. Interdisciplinary Intern
6. Voluntary Professional
7. Teacher-Scholar
1. Student-turned-Scholar
(Anna)

Assessment and improvement of a class
activity that the student had participated in
as a student.

Results:


Improved class activity.
Publication: Coker, J.S., and Johnson, A.
2007. Using presidential elections to engage
students in science issues. American
Biology Teacher. In press.
2. Teacher-Scholar Apprentice
(Sarah and Jenni)



Involvement in labs AND their assessment
Replaces the “TA”
Example – Video exit interviews
•
•
•
•

University evaluations?
Customized post-survey?
Oral question written by professor?
Question adaptation by student?
No
No
No
Yes
Result: Priceless information to improve the new
curriculum.
3. Independent Evaluator
(Katie)

Assessment of a course component by
a student who is (relatively) unbiased.

Results:
Improved course readings.
 Katie is entering grad school at Ohio
State.

4. Pre-Teacher in Training
(Danielle and Laura)

Development and assessment of class
activities that could be used in both college
classes and in high school classes.

Results: Both activities were implemented
in high school classes by the students, but
were not used at Elon.
5. Interdisciplinary Intern
(Lauren)

Applying special skills and interests of a student
toward a course in a different discipline.


i.e. Applying corporate advertising to science
education.
Results:

The birth of “Biommercials”!!!

Publication: Coker, J.S. and Scott, L.D. 2005. Rev. of
Successful Scientific Writing, by J.R. Matthews, J.M. Bowen, and
R.W. Matthews (Cambridge University Press, 2000). American
Biology Teacher 67: 571-572.
6. Voluntary Professional
(Kat and many others)

Allowing current students to voluntarily
choose professional projects
•
•
•
•
•
Graphic design
Brochures
Children’s Books
K-12 Lesson Plans
Biommercials
• i.e. Global Warming Biommercial
7. Teacher-Scholar
(Beth)

Development and assessment of a teaching
lab, as well as a disciplinary research project
Student
DNA

Genetic
Test
Results: A very successful lab
and probably a publication. Beth
is entering grad school at
George Washington.
Analysis of
Class Data
(picture omitted from
web version of this
presentation)
Conclusions

Successful SoTL projects involving students in
the Reinventing Life curriculum tend to be…
• Innovative
• Individualized
• Interdisciplinary

Why do it?
• Better-prepared students and better
SoTL products.
Reinventing Life:
Introductory Biology for a
Rapidly Evolving World
(picture omitted from
web version of this
presentation)
Jeffrey S. Coker
CATL Scholars 2006-08
BIOLOGY
Discussion and questions