UCS L&T Day Workshop: Elevate Posters #ucsltday14

The presented the following two posters during the L&T Day. If you have any questions about the content, please email elevate@ucs.ac.uk

Uses of objective testing at UCS

Enhancing the student experience on your LearnUCS Module: A few simple steps

UCS L&T Day Workshop: Designing a flipped classroom activity #ucsltday14

The Elevate Team ran a number of workshops and poster sessions at the UCS Learning and Teaching Day on Friday (13th June, 2014). We hope to be sharing session details over the next few weeks. To start the process, we ran a workshop (45 mins, no computers) on designing flipped classroom learning activities. The session was well attended (about 14 people, mainly lecturers). I'll admit we had a very rich discussion around designs and anxieties, but we didn't get close to discussing a post session activity. So, we'll need to arrange a follow on session :-)

The key concern was around strategies to ensure students engage with the pre-session activity. Collectively, we decided the approach was ensure the pre-session included a task which involved using a LearnUCS (Blackboard) tool so we can track through the retention centre. The objective being we can use the retention centre to manage communication with students (who have, or have not completed the pre-session task). This would enable us over a few weeks to explicitly connect the pre-session with the face to face session so students start to see the value in completing the pre-session task, which will leads to a change in their behaviour.

The technologies we discussed and demo'd where:

1. Screencastify (google chrome plug in) - use to create talk over presentations
2. LearnUCS Quiz engine
3. LearnUCS Retention centre
4. Classroom technology: clickers

The slides are linked below, as are the session outputs. A big thank you to all those who took part, I hope you found it useful.

If you have any questions around how you might start developing please contact elevate@ucs.ac.uk.

Open Badges Generator

Having tested the initial generator (http://ucselevate.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/open-badges-generator.html) and having since updated to a multi-function system, the first generator will be turned off at the end of the week (Fri 13th).

This will free up some development space for us to debug the current system and make way for future enhancements.

If you have tested the generator above and have any comments, please feel free to email us at elevate@ucs.ac.uk

The use of clickers at UCS: Reflections on 2013/14

This blog post is the annual report on the use of Clickers (Audience response systems) by teaching staff at UCS. For more information on how the clickers can help your teaching, learning and assessment models, please contact elevate@ucs.ac.uk

Executive Summary

The Elevate Team at UCS manage the Audience Response System (clickers), and have responsibility for evaluating their use within learning, teaching and assessment. The service aims to enable staff to effectively use audience response systems in their face to face teaching, learning and assessment practice.

The following report covers the period September 1st, 2013 to April 29th, 2014, and aims to address;

• Are clickers being used by staff at UCS and are they likely to continue using them?
• Do staff perceive clickers add value to their teaching, and the student learning experience?

The evidence suggests clickers are being used. Between 1st September, 2013 and 29th April 2014 the clicker were booked on 59 occasions by 26 staff. This is a large increase from the previous year, where the figures were 27 occasions by 16 staff.

The broad findings are in line with previous year. Staff who use clickers perceive they add value to the learning experience. On occasions this evolves into a number changing their face to face teaching plans to effectively embed this learning technology. However, the level of engagement by lectures at UCS with using Clickers is still relatively small. At the current moment we are not encountering any significant barriers to use.

The recommendations for the next academic year (2014/15) are;

1. Review the online booking form based on commented from the last survey, and include links to FAQs within automated email response
2. Look at RFID technology to offer a scan in & scan out service for better tracking
3. Provide more printed help material for staff
4. Coordinate the staff awareness and development programme, including, collect stories, posters and within structured staff development programme

Background

From January 2011, the Elevate Team started administering the audience response system (clickers) at UCS. The service aimed to administer the loan of clickers and develop staff in their use of audience response systems (TurningPoint Clickers) to enhance face to face teaching.

The backdrop to the Elevate Team’s interest has been the rapid uptake of audience response systems across the UK HE Sector. This uptake has many drivers, one of which is the emerging assessment and feedback agenda.

The 2012/13 Annual Review outlined a number of recommendations which have been been implemented or part implemented. These are;

1. Include printed (A5) quick guides within the Clicker bag on uses within teaching and learning Not completed - roll over for 2014/15
2. Publish a set of quarterly blog posts on How clickers are being used within Higher Education Completed. Continue for 2014/15 as an implicit component of the service.
3. Re-design the online staff development material, including; FAQs, Guides and Short Courses for Clickers Explored - waiting for UCS Infozone online
4. continue to pilot the Poll Everywhere service as a complementary classroom voting / interaction tool for subjective questioning Service discontinued - no avialable budget
5. arrange a webinar with an external speaker on the topic of enhancing teaching, learning and assessment through the use of Clickers Not completed - roll over for 2014/15
6. be more proactive in raising staff awareness of effective use of learning technology Completed. Continue for 2014/15 as an implicit component of the service.

Methodology

The data was collected via an online survey during May 2014. The respondents were identified as those who had booked the clickers between Sept 2013 and April 2014. The respondents were self selecting. The question design was informed by the previous year to allow a longitudinal context.

The response rate was 35%, with 9 respondents from a possible 26 people. It is acknowledged this is not a statistically significant response rate.

Findings and discussion

The following discussion focuses on answering two key questions;

• Are clickers being used by staff at UCS and are they likely to continue using them?
• Do staff perceive clickers add value to their teaching, and the student learning experience?

The evidence is drawn from two sources; log data from the booking form, and a staff survey carried out during May 2014. It is important to note this is a very small sample population, therefore, these results give an indicator and should not be viewed as representative of the views of all staff across UCS.

Are the clickers being used by staff at UCS and are they likely to continue to using them?

The evidence suggests clickers are being used. Between 1st September, 2013 and 29th April 2014 the clicker were booked on 59 occasions by 26 staff. This is a large increase from the previous year, where the figures were 27 occasions by 16 staff.

Table 1 illustrates the level of repeat bookings by staff.

Table 1: Number of times an individual booked the clickers

Frequency of bookings	Number of people (2103/14)	Number of people (2012/13)
1	12	5
2	6	7
3	3	1
4	6	1
5	1	-
6	1	-

Overall, there has been a very encouraging uptake of Clickers during the period, compared to the previous years. The proportion of staff re-booking has also remained high, even with the increase in staff using them (65% in 2012/13 and 58% in 2013/14).

The survey question asked, are you planning to use clickers again in your teaching? The responses identified all respondents (n=9) were planning on using them again.

The next question focussed on, do staff perceive clickers add value to their teaching, and the student learning experience?

It was evident 8 respondents (100%) thought the use of clickers in face to face teaching adds to the student learning experience. When asked, why? the responses clustered around key concepts of student engagement, feedback and the technology helped the lecturer adapt their teaching if required. For instance,

“The versatility of the system offers to students immediate feedback on their chosen option/answer. The graph showing percentages helps them realising how the answers are distributed and perhaps how 

"generally difficult" a question was. This helps also the lecturer to spot areas that require further revision or explanation for the students. In terms of being used for revision sessions, clickers render everything more easy and straightforward, instead of time consuming approaches such as mock exams. Clickers are a great tool for enhancing learning and teaching”

“Students are more engaged - I think they feel more inclined to come up with an actual answer to the question (as opposed to quietly sitting in their seat waiting for the answer).”

“As a teaching and learning tool this clickers are very effective. Students assess the gaps in their own knowledge. It also adds variety to the session.”

The quotes are representative of the responses and highlight a genuine perception from staff that clickers add value to the learning experience. This view is evident as some staff are starting to change their session plan to include clicker activities within their sessions. For instance, when asked if you used clickers in a previous academic year, could you describe if your teaching approach has changed through their use? The responses indicated a developmental aspect.

“Practice makes perfect - I now use them in induction, in lectures, taster sessions and conferences.”

“My personal teaching style was definitely influenced by the positive reaction of the students while I was trialling Clickers.”

“My approach has changed as I continuously consider ways to make my teaching more interactive”

So how are staff using clickers in their teaching? The following set of quotes capture the way clickers have been used across the period. They indicate the use has tended to be formative, as a stimulus for small group discussions and to consolidate learning.

“Providing tutorials on final assessments.”

“As a method to assess understanding of the taught session. (ie multiple choice questions about the teaching session). As an adjunct to the teaching session (case scenarios during powerpoint presentations)”

“I've used the clickers in several ways:

• as part of review quiz to help me assess student understanding
• as part of a review quiz to help students identify where they need additional help
• for a "fun quiz" so participants (of workshops -- non-students) to see what they know and/or what others in the group think
• for statistics class, to generate numbers that students could crunch to see if there are significant differences between groups within the class”

An alternative indicator for perceived value by staff is “would recommend a clickers to colleagues within their departments”. The rationale being if they think it is not an effective learning tool, they are unlikely to recommend it to their peers. When asked the extent to which they agreed with the following statement, six respondents strongly agreed (75%), and the other two agreed (25%). The statement was, “I’d strongly recommend the use of clickers in face to face teaching to my work colleagues”. This is an improvement on the previous year.

The survey identified a number of common themes based on the two questions; How can the Elevate Team help you? and What hurdles are you encountering? Two themes emerged;

• A feeling of frustration as the software differed throughout UCS. This is due to the Microsoft OS roll out, which meant we have two versions of TurningPoint within the institution. This will be rectified in the summer 2014 as the OS upgrade is completed.
• A sense of not being aware of the software’s full capabilities. This needs to be addressed through more staff awareness.

Recommendations

Based on the survey and a number of other conversations, the recommendations are:

1. Review the online booking form based on commented from the last survey, and include links to FAQs within automated email response
2. Look at RFID technology to offer a scan in & scan out service for better tracking
3. Provide more printed help material for staff
4. Coordinate the staff awareness and development programme, including, collect stories, posters and within structured staff development programme

LearnUCS Slow - RESOLVED

The speed of LearnUCS seems to be back to normal levels. We will continue to monitor the speed and investigate the origin of the issue.

There is currently a reported slowdown with LearnUCS, we are investigating these issues and will update when they have been resolved.

We apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Open badges: AMC Development Day Pilot - A success

We've published the badges for the AMC Development Day. There was about 9% take up from people attending.

This will act as the building blocks for the next two pilots at UCS, including use within the Teaching and Learning Day, and Research Colloquium

This is the first stage of the pilot, where we've;

1. developed and tested a Badge Generator to provide badges for face to face events
2. set the tone of the discussion at UCS where the criteria for the badge is not simply attending the event, but also the inclusion of a reflective statement about the event / development session.
3. designed and created the actual badge (image)
4. created physical support and awareness material for people attending the event (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1giN1QaU7wGlibJhkbyy6nUWyhQarV34uisxJcGb5fO4/edit?usp=sharing)
5. created the underpinning static web pages
• the criteria of the specific badge (http://www.ucs.ac.uk/openbadge/AMC-Development-Day.aspx),
• how are we using badges at UCS (http://www.ucs.ac.uk/openbadge/How-are-we-using-open-badges-at-UCS.aspx)

e-submission review update

We are entering the final stages of the e-submission, e-grading and e-return review. I would like to thank all those who have contributed, and the task and finish group will be meeting up next week (week starting 9th June) to start analysing the results. 

If you would like your say, and haven't had a chance, simply email Andy Ramsden (a.ramsden@ucs.ac.uk) your views about the following:

1. What has been your experience of e-submission, e-grading and e-return at UCS?

2. In your opinion, how might your experience be improved?

Please have all replies emailed by the 9th June.