A presentation from the STEM Annual Conference 2014.
Lecturing to large groups (250+) of students can be challenging and it can be difficult to know who is engaged and coping with the work and who might be struggling. Previously students on my first year first term module were not formally assessed until the beginning of the second term by multiple choice question (MCQ) exam and I was concerned that for some revising for these exams could be the first time that they would read over their lecture notes or consult the textbooks. The transition into undergraduate study can be hard so I wanted to make the students revisit their lecture notes soon after the lectures were given and encourage them to do the suggested textbook reading by assessing them in a fun interesting and interactive way. I used the online website Mastering Biology (Pearson) associated with the course textbook and marketed this as ‘incentivised reading’ consisting of five online assignments throughout the term. The five assignments together contributed to 8.25% of the module mark. Scores were high for students that completed all assignments and the objective to make them engage with the work was met. Previous years’ data has shown a year on year improvement in written and MCQ exam results suggesting that their learning has improved although no definitive link with Mastering Biology can be made. The online gradebook can also be a useful tool to identify early ‘dropouts’ or students having difficulty before the formal assessment occurs so intervention and extra support could be given.
