Department of Chemistry

I teach on two very different degree courses: Chemistry – mostly lecture, tutorial and lab based with some C/PBL (≈110 students per year) IScience – mostly C/PBL based with few lectures. Paperless degree, student work marked on tablets (≈15-20 students per year)

Introduction of C/PBL in chemistry Introduction of wikis in IScience course ‘Chemistry Clips’, ‘Maths Miniatures’ and ‘Physics Pieces’ projects RSC C/PBL project ( ) New Science Communication module

Planning –Construct a problem plan Research –Find missing information Analysis –Review and discuss progress –Update and modify the problem plan

MULTIMEDIA RESOURCES Multimedia resources – increasing significance in chemistry teaching Various approaches demonstrated by D. Read (Southampton) and S. Lancaster (UEA) Similar approaches have been introduced to teaching at Leicester in several departments

BACKGROUND Our aim was to develop a series of short multimedia resources focused at both distance learners and campus based chemistry students Spring we received funding from the University of Leicester Student Experience Enhancement Group A series of short (around 5 mins), focussed screen capture clips were produced based on PowerPoint slides with a spoken soundtrack Piloted in academic year followed by a wider implementation in the year

PILOT STUDY EVALUATION (10-11) Clips were piloted in a second semester year 3 (Metals in Organic Synthesis) module in Two types:audio lectures interactive tutorials 70 % of students viewed the clips (total of 52 students including 7 distance learners) 86 % of those who watched the clips agreed that they were very useful 87 % of those who tried the tutorial clip agreed that they liked the opportunity to request a hint and try again

PILOT STUDY EVALUATION (10-11) “Audio lectures was brilliant, really helpful for the auditory learners. able to understand note mores. recommend to carry on with it. Thanks Dr Davies” “The audio lectures were the best thing since sliced bread! if only all distance learning modules had them, and what is stopping other lecturers recording audio from their lectures and releasing it for students” “T he audio lectures are quite good, they led me to think about the lecture slides rather than just memorise them ”

KEY LESSONS FROM PILOT A number of significant findings were made during the pilot phase: It is essential for all clips to be scripted Non-interactive clips were much more straightforward to produce than those with interactive elements minutes should be allowed for recording and editing a single (approx. 5 minute long) clip

MAIN PROJECT PHASE (11-12) Final year project students were used to record a series of resources for chemistry and i-science modules The resources were branded as ‘Chemistry Clips’ Screen capture was used in some of the clips to allow reaction mechanisms to be shown. This was achieved using Jing and a Smart Sympodium tablet Clips were designed for areas of these courses that students often find most difficult

MAIN PROJECT EVALUATION Clips were watched by the majority of students (e.g. 73/104 for ‘Molecular Spectroscopy’ CH2010)

MAIN PROJECT EVALUATION Clips for the ‘Molecular Spectroscopy’ were watched by slightly more students and the feedback was slightly more positive

MAIN PROJECT FEEDBACK “When I went back to read the lecture notes I understood it better compared to other modules with no audio” “The fact that you get the extras that the lecturers say in lectures, but don’t always put in the slides!” “The clips helped to reinforce my understanding” “I wish all modules had some sort of chemistry clip”

KEY LESSONS FROM MAIN PHASE Many students tend to like this type of resource Students use the clips mainly for revision Some students access the clips in the early hours of the day This is an ideal way of developing student generated content This type of resource may be of particular use to distance learners and dyslexic students Just providing resources does not mean students will use them

RECORDING TIMES Type of resourceLength of time (in mins) to record & edit Standard clip (3-5 mins) – no animations Standard clip (3-5 mins) – with animations Interactive clip (3-5 mins) with tutorial questions Up to 180 Based on the use of Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe Presenter to prepare clips These times do not include the preparation of the PowerPoint slides or scripting

FOCUS GROUP A focus group interview was held at the end of the academic year (5 students) Students liked the peer-teaching aspect of the clips and also liked the fact that they were focused specific areas of content Some participants felt that it was a useful way of reviewing lecture content, especially for dyslexic students Although useful, students could never see this type of clip replacing the lectures Some students suggested increased use of questions and interactive components in future clips Students also suggested the inclusion of more animations to explain difficult concepts Otherwise students thought we should continue to target ‘trouble spots’ – concepts that students often find difficult ‘This would be great for distance students’ ‘I’m surprised they haven’t done this earlier’

THE NEXT STAGE A new series of resources was developed in academic year We trialed the use of Adobe Captivate. We will participate in a lecture capture project in

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS UoL Student Experience Enhancement Group for providing funding Terese Bird, Simon Kear and Grainne Conole for providing training and advice Prof Derek Raine and Prof John Fothergill for advice and for practical support Matt, Rebecca, Ashleigh, David, Michelle, Manmeet, James and Linden