David McGarvey Chemistry School of Physical & Geographical Sciences TAKING THE LECTURE OUT OF THE LECTURE

OVERVIEW  Supporting learning using screencast technology: why, how and what?  Examples  Student feedback  Conclusions

SCREENCASTING SOFTWARE Camtasia Studio - powerful editing tool - create table of contents and navigation bar

A screencast is a recording of the computer screen that can include narration and synchronous visible author activity such as mouse movements, annotations, editing and operational tasks. Feedback (individual or cohort) Use of online resources Worked examples Lecture supplement Use of software Model Answers Complete Lectures Open Day Talks

Prime students for classes using pre-lectures. Release contact time for more interactive learning activities. As independent study tools for particularly challenging material. Effective means of showing ‘how to’. As revision tools. Useful for colleagues Accessible Versatile SCREENCASTS: WHY? ~200 screencasts in chemistry

FOUR YEARS AGO! Timetabled classes + written guidance for teaching IT skills/use of software Timetabled classes for mathematics for chemistry lectures And more… Timetabled classes + written guidance for teaching IT skills/use of software Timetabled classes for mathematics for chemistry lectures And more… TIME SPACESUPPORT RESOURCE LEARNING EVENTS

WHAT HAS CHANGED? Screencasts for teaching IT skills/use of software Screencasts for mathematics for chemistry lectures And more…. Screencasts for teaching IT skills/use of software Screencasts for mathematics for chemistry lectures And more…. TIME SPACE SUPPORT RESOURCE SCREENCAST LEARNING RESOURCES

‘HOW TO’ SCREENCASTS TO SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF SKILLS WEB OF SCIENCE GRAPHS & TABLES CHEMICAL STRUCTURE DRAWING Plotting Spectra in Excel Plotting a Straight Line in Excel EXCEL SOLVER MS EQUATION EDITOR USING ACD LABS TO PROCESS NMR SPECTRA All of these screencasts are linked to assessments

WEB OF SCIENCE ‘HOW TO’ SCREENCASTS

EXCEL SOLVER ‘HOW TO’ SCREENCASTS

EQUATION EDITOR SCREENCAST ‘HOW TO’ SCREENCASTS

EVIDENCE OF IMPACT THROUGH ASSESSMENT: STUDENT LAB REPORT

BEDMAS Units and unit conversions Rearranging equations Linear equations and making curves straight Equation of a Straight Line Principles of Logarithms Graphs and Tables Powers, reciprocals and roots Significant figures Fractions Differentiation (3 Screencasts) Units and Equations Integration (3 Screencasts) Scientific Notation Properties of Logarithms LECTURE REPLACEMENT SCREENCASTS, MATHEMATICS

EXAMPLE PRE-LECTURE SCREENCASTS 1 ST YEAR CHEMISTRY Integrated Rate Laws Equations of Light NMR Spectroscopy IR Spectroscopy Effective Nuclear Charge VSEPR Formal Charges in Lewis Structures Writing Lewis Structures Organic reaction mechanisms 1 st order kinetics Using the Arrhenius Equation MO Diagrams for Diatomics Some of these topics have also been supplemented by additional screencasts on worked answers to problems etc.

INTEGRATED RATE LAWS PRE-LECTURE SCREENCASTS

WHAT DO STUDENTS THINK?

‘I like the fact that I can prepare for the lectures to turn up understanding what the lecturer is saying. Also I found it really easy to use new software and Excel where I had the screencast to help me’. ‘The pre-lecture screencasts helped me to understand the lecture content’ ‘Allows you to go to lectures knowing something about the topic, makes it easier to learn’ ‘Makes you think about what the lecture is going to be on – also a good revision tool’ ‘Excellent use of screencasts – very beneficial to learning’ ‘Screencasts improve understanding before and after lectures’ ‘If you don’t understand it, you could go back and watch the screencast over and over’. ‘They were so detailed’. STUDENTS’ COMMENTS ON SCREENCASTS

‘They took you through what to do step by step as if you were in a lecture’. ‘They were good revision’. ‘Very thorough and lead on to lectures well’. Very useful for pre-lecture info and teaching extra-curricular skills (equation editor in Word etc.)’. ‘They were useful for explaining things after the lecture’ ‘Extremely helpful, always there when you need to go back to them’. ‘They are idiot-proof to find on the VLE and idiot-proof to understand’. ‘They actually helped, especially when struggling after lectures’. ‘Visual tutorials – shows exactly how to use a program’. STUDENTS’ COMMENTS ON SCREENCASTS

‘I am revising for exams at the moment, and the only way that I can understand some of the harder concepts is by having them explained to me via a screencast. I can watch them again and again until I understand the material, which is great. It is a much more efficient use of my time to watch screencasts whilst revising than reading through tricky textbook language’. ‘I think the screencasts are very useful. I've never experienced teaching in this way before, but when I came to Keele and I was introduced to them I was surprised at how good they are. You can go back to them whenever you want and use them to answer problem sheet questions, labwork and homework. I'm really glad I have access to them and it's like having a mini lesson at home one to one and you can pause and rewind if you don’t get it the first time. I think as a student I am really lucky to have access to these screencasts and hope they continue throughout my time at Keele’. STUDENTS’ COMMENTS ON SCREENCASTS

1 ST YEAR CHEMISTRY (64/70 STUDENTS, 91% RESPONSE RATE) COURSE EVALUATION DECEMBER 2012 Have you accessed the screencasts for any of the following? (please tick all that apply)

1 ST YEAR CHEMISTRY (63/70 STUDENTS, 90% RESPONSE RATE) COURSE EVALUATION MAY 2013 Have you accessed the screencasts for any of the following? (please tick all that apply)

SCREENCAST: EFFECTIVE NUCLEAR CHARGE (~70 CHEMISTRY STUDENTS) Lecture 20/11 Class test 3/12 Exam 9/01

1 ST YEAR CHEMISTRY (63/70 STUDENTS, 90% RESPONSE RATE) COURSE EVALUATION MAY 2013 Screencasts help me learn

1 ST YEAR CHEMISTRY (63/70 STUDENTS, 90% RESPONSE RATE) COURSE EVALUATION MAY 2013 Screencasts are useful for revision

1 ST YEAR CHEMISTRY (63/70 STUDENTS, 90% RESPONSE RATE) COURSE EVALUATION MAY 2013 I have trouble accessing screencasts off-campus

What was good about lectures? ‘Interactive, make you work and not just sit there doing nothing’ ‘Explained content well, questions in lecture did really help’ ‘Screencast of lectures and annotated slides to look at while revising’ ‘I enjoyed the interaction during Dave’s and Katherine’s lectures’.. ‘Requires involvement and answering of questions that can be answered in the lecture and have a model answer’ ‘Interactive, make you work and not just sit there doing nothing’ ‘Explained content well, questions in lecture did really help’ ‘Screencast of lectures and annotated slides to look at while revising’ ‘I enjoyed the interaction during Dave’s and Katherine’s lectures’.. ‘Requires involvement and answering of questions that can be answered in the lecture and have a model answer’ 1 st Year Chemistry

What could be improved about lectures? ‘More interactivity’ ‘If everybody (all the lecturers) could be recorded and put on the KLE (obviously only for students who attend). ‘All could be recorded’ ‘More interactivity’ ‘If everybody (all the lecturers) could be recorded and put on the KLE (obviously only for students who attend). ‘All could be recorded’ 1 st Year Chemistry

Please highlight any particularly effective or innovative aspects of this module which have benefited you: 1 st Year Environmental Chemistry

Please highlight any particularly effective or innovative aspects of this module which have benefited you: ‘Lectures were very interactive, very easy to learn this way’ Class participation in lectures – really helpful.’ ‘The clicker quizzes were an interesting and engaging way of testing our knowledge and identifying areas where work was needed’ ‘Screencasts could be watched multiple times and cleared up various questions without having to pester the lecturer repeatedly’ ‘Screencasts – modern, could watch them multiple times unlike lectures’ ‘The screencasts were the most effective way for me to learn because you can access them anytime, pause and replay them’ ‘Lectures were very interactive, very easy to learn this way’ Class participation in lectures – really helpful.’ ‘The clicker quizzes were an interesting and engaging way of testing our knowledge and identifying areas where work was needed’ ‘Screencasts could be watched multiple times and cleared up various questions without having to pester the lecturer repeatedly’ ‘Screencasts – modern, could watch them multiple times unlike lectures’ ‘The screencasts were the most effective way for me to learn because you can access them anytime, pause and replay them’ 1 st Year Environmental Chemistry

What did you like about the screencast resources? 1 st Year Environmental Chemistry

Are there specific screencasts that you found particularly helpful? Why?: ‘Lewis structures because it gave me time to fully understand them’ ‘Lewis structures explained well something I found confusing at first’ ‘All of them because you learn how to do it in your own time’ ‘The MS Word equation editor as I have never used that feature before’ ‘IT screencasts – have never been properly taught how to use Excel’ ’Excel, drawing graphs, labelling and making work look presentable helped a lot with lab reports’. ‘Lewis structures because it gave me time to fully understand them’ ‘Lewis structures explained well something I found confusing at first’ ‘All of them because you learn how to do it in your own time’ ‘The MS Word equation editor as I have never used that feature before’ ‘IT screencasts – have never been properly taught how to use Excel’ ’Excel, drawing graphs, labelling and making work look presentable helped a lot with lab reports’. Introductory Environmental Chemistry

Can free-up valuable lecture/contact time to use for more student- centred higher level activities. They allow the teacher to go into as much detail as desired without worrying about how much time it takes. They can generally be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. They can be viewed again and again and again allowing students to study at their own pace and to digest complex and detailed topics. They can be transferable across modules, years, programmes and cohorts. They are well used by students and very popular. Useful for demonstrations of teaching technology on open/visit days. You can teach your colleagues! SCREENCASTS: PROS

Time-consuming to plan and prepare Shelf-life Passive use/false sense of security Managing student expectations SCREENCASTS: CONS

HEA Physical Sciences Subject Centre Keele undergraduates ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Katherine Haxton Laura Hancock

Thank you for listening!