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Using online collaboration to personalise the first year experience and actively engage students in their education
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Ebert, Paul R. O'Brien, Mia B. Edwards, Wallis |
| Copyright Year | 2006 |
| Abstract | The first year university experience is characterised by very large classes that are managed by comparatively small numbers of academics. In this environment, practical and financial considerations often interfere with the establishment of optimal learning environments. Against this backdrop, we try to engage and challenge students as well as share with them our own fascination with science. Our challenge is to encourage these students to become creative and intellectually critical scientists who relish the challenge of exploring the frontiers of knowledge. So, with little budget, an absolutely crushing student to teacher ratio and a plethora of distracting administrative tasks, what can be done to encourage learning? The good news is that students themselves can provide the solution and large classes provide the critical mass to make it work. In a first year genetics course with enrolments approaching 1100, a student-managed wiki allows them to work collaboratively on study questions. The wiki has also evolved into a self-help forum for lecture clarification as well as general information sharing. A student forum, seeded by the lecturers with topical questions every fortnight, provides a novel context in which students can integrate information from the course. A class blog combines input from lecturers and student in a timely and interesting format. These resources scale to very large enrolments with no additional effort. They assist struggling students and challenge advanced students who might otherwise become bored. They personalise the course and actively involve the students in their own education. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://fyhe.com.au/past_papers/2006/Papers/Ebert.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
