Ideas exchange
1. Stephen Epstein
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Incorporates YouTube and Facebook (not Twitter) into teaching Contemporary
Korean media course. Course is taught across Victoria (in person) and University of
Auckland (online).
YouTube:
o Created Asian studies YouTube channel with one playlist per course
o Works well in general but can be issues with YouTube changing page formats
and sometimes with archiving.
Facebook
o Has advantages over using discussion format on Blackboard:
 Easier interface
 Automatic notification of new posts
 Connects with what students are already doing. Students more likely to
discuss among themselves and engage… a sense of community and
camaraderie established on the page.
 People can see each other’s profile pictures
 Can easily be used by both Victoria and Auckland students (the
University of Auckland doesn’t use Blackboard)
 Can post links to items of interest and able to see who has looked at
them
 Can run contests
o Things to be aware of about using Facebook:
 Need to check for misinformation.
Q and A
o Q:Is there a limit on the size of items that can be posted? A: lots of
information is still kept on Blackboard, clarified that Facebook isn’t used for
posting files. Videos are linked to other sources rather than uploaded onto the
Facebook page itself
o Q: Does intellectual property devolve to Facebook? Impact on privacy
intellectual property etc. A wouldn't put up power points or other documents
created by lecturers. Blackboard is still used for this purpose while Facebook
is used for discussion.
o Q about role of class reps. VUWSA encourages class reps Facebook to set
up. Discussion of class reps running Facebook pages without lecturer
involvement and pros and cons. Risks of spreading misinformation. Stephen
has the class rep set it up and then accept requests to join group.
o Comment: Tash Buist described how 100 level PSYC classes have separate
facebook accounts that the lecturer announces but then the students run by
themselves. Announcement makes clear that this is not an official source of
course information. This can work well, but sometimes students can develop
their concerns about things to do with the course and become quite anxious
before they contact the course coordinator for clarification.
o Q what's happening with blackboard? Is it being made better so that it can
include these advantages of facebook? Answered by Amanda Gilbert
(CAD): not sure what is happening with Blackboard but believes that VUW is
looking for improved solutions.
o Discussion of blog function on Blackboard. Is available but not easy to use.
2. John Prebble
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Has played music in exams and lectures since 1998.
o Use lagos or adagios - slow baroque music
o Need to control volume carefully (play it softly)
Mentions option of composing PowerPoint slides in word and then exporting.
Ideas about why this music might work:
o Baroque has one beat per second, the same rate as alpha waves. Baroque
doesn't "confuse your brain" one beat per second. People at the time thought
that baroque composers had discovered the "rhythm of spheres" actually
"rhythm of brain". What was previously called “the Mozart effect”.
o Might engage the right brain in addition to the left brain that is usually active
in (verbal lectures)
o Creates a state of relaxed alertness which is best for learning
o Makes lecture into more of a performances
Student responses:
o Getting keener over time, perhaps because the sound quality in lecture theatres
is improving or because students increasingly wear MP3 players in everyday
life.
o Law students: 93% prefer or no preference
o Business students: 70% prefer
o Majority choose exam hall where music is played
o Students in the hall with music score higher in exams.
o Problems: people who are good musicians sometimes object, although often
become used to it after time
Q and A
o Q Have you tried other types of music? A No because the theories support
baroque specifically.
o Comment: This may work because learning is enhanced by having similar
contexts in the situation you learned in to at recall.
3. Dianne Ormsby (biological sciences)
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Targeting graduate attributes. Learning goals for major linked to generic attributes,
particularly “the 3 Cs” Creative thinking, critical thinking and communication (didn’t
include leadership)
Motivations for targeting these were students’ feedback that the course didn’t teach
these and feedback from an academic programme review. Realised that courses were
not well aligned with this goal of teaching these three graduate attributes
Question about how to assess whether courses are teaching these generic graduate
attributes. Is it students’ perception or reality that they are not enhanced? Particularly
given that this course includes 5 essay questions on the exam that many succeed on
and which appear to require these skills.
This project involved
o placing signposts in course content that targets the 3 Cs
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o Adding projects targeted at them, for example having groups of students
research a specific country’s approach to reproductive technology.
Results: increase in number of students who agreed or strongly agreed that course
taught attributes. Perhaps reduced perception gulf so they could identify which parts
of the course targeted the attributes.
Question for audience: What is the best way to assess whether a course teaches
graduate attributes?
Q and A
o Suggestion to use questionnaire in the middle of the course. Compare to CAD
evaluation at the end of the year
o Q from Suzanne Boniface about whether subject knowledge was improved as
shown by the exam A Yes, increase in number of students with marks
allowing progression to 3rd year.
o Discussion of value+.
o + of teaching students what critical and creative thinking actually involve in a
specific discipline context
o Discussion of aspects of the course taught by others: could they add in sign
posts? Could the marks in those parts of the course serve as control groups to
assess the effectiveness of Dianne’s intervention?
4. Lizzie Towl
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Describing a project that hasn’t started to be implemented. Victoria has a programme
of professional development for PhD students to help with their theses and careers.
Lots of workshops are run but it can be difficult to get rooms, and also they may not
be optimally timed to be useful for individual students.
Therefore thinking of using blackboard to run self-directed online modules
o Enhance rather than replace scheduled workshops
o Allow presentation of vetted materials from the internet (some material
available from Google isn’t appropriate in the NZ context)
o Initial idea is to upload PowerPoint slides with accompanying voiceover.
o Teach skills and strategies e.g. editing, proof reading, managing large
documents, writing abstracts, research proposals, how to read examiners’
reports. Include “demystifying guides”
o Possibility that students could complete these before attending workshopsusing a flipped teaching approach
Q&A
o Dianne suggested avenues to advertise/publicise the availability of these
modules
o Amanda mentioned online modules for tutor training that CAD has in progress
at the moment.
o Q Will the modules include assessable work? A no there isn't. Courses are
voluntary
o Discussion of whether examples of good student work could go on blackboard.
o Suggestions for other skills to target: using all of the features in Microsoft
word, maintaining and using records of research.