CASES IN OPEN DISTANCE LEARNING: A CASE STUDY OF STUDENTS

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CASES IN OPEN DISTANCE LEARNING A CASE STUDY OF
STUDENTS FEEDBACK

• This case study deals with B.Sc. (Ed.) students
  views of virtual laboratory for TWO SCIENCE
  PRACTICAL

Prof. Dr. Tushar. K. Mukherjee Faculty of
Science and Technology Open University Malaysia
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OUTLINE

• Introduction to OUM blended pedagogy
• Case study
• Virtual laboratory in Genetics and Cell Biology
• Summary of Questionnaires
• Feedback from students
• Summary Conclusion

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OUMS BLENDED LEARNING
Face-to-face Learning Classroom
Environment Formal Classroom Computer
Laboratory Science Laboratory Number of
Meetings 5 or less meetings 5 or more
meetings Teaching Strategies Direct Indirect
Online Learning Resources Learning Objects
(iTutorials, iWeblets) Multimedia Courseware PDF
Documents Microsoft Office Attachments Digital
Library Discussions Asynchronous
Discussion Forums
Self-Managed Learning Specially Designed
Modules With support from CDROM
Courseware Digital Library Physical
Library Subject Matter Experts Peers Tutors
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A blend of learning materials
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OUMS MULTIMEDIA COURSEWARE
Biology-Virtual Lab
Si Tenggang
Chemistry Lab
e-Education 27 March 2008
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(No Transcript)
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Online learning

• myLMS

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The Features of myLMS

• myLMS is designed to provide users i.e. the
  Learner, Instructor, Administrator and Subject
  Matter Expert (SME) with a single access to
• Information
• Administration
• Teaching Learning
• Communication
• Support Services

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The magic is in the mix!" The beauty is in the
blend! http//www.e-learningcentre.co.uk/eclips
e/Resources/blended.htm
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Case studies in OUM

• Case studies give OUM the feedback from our
  customers students (Student Affairs department
  has published many papers on this)
• Case studies by CIDT involve the assessment for
  the quality of modules
• Case studies are done by Research, Quality and
  Innovation unit
• Case studies by individual lecturers

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VIRTUAL LABORATORY

• Virtual laboratory is a platform for enhanced
  learning teaching Research
• Virtual laboratory is crucial to OUM science and
  technology students
• Safe and save students travel time

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How virtual Laboratory developed?

• SME ID at CIDT develops a storey board,
  selecting a few experiments from the class
  practical
• Video and audio experts with photographer record
  the selected experiments

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DEVELOPMENT Contd.

• Multimedia and Computer Graphics experts are
  selected by CIDT for each course that help design
  interactive lessons with 3D and Animation
  techniques
• Final editing is done by CIDT and SME

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Virtual Laboratories Developed

• Genetics and Cell Biology
• Physical Chemistry
• Motion, Fluid and Waves
• Basic Techniques in Laboratory Safety
• Plant and Animal Diversity
• Microbial Diversity and Physiology
• Introductory Mathematics

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CASE STUDY Involving B.Sc. (Ed.) STUDENTS

• Students learning preference in introductory
  mathematics (2004)
• Plagiarism in Mathematics , Business
• Management and Engineering Design through
  Assignment (Looking at selected scripts from KK
  and Sibu Centre (2004)
• Virtual laboratory in Genetics and Cell Biology
  (2005)

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Virtual Laboratory (VL)

• Genetics
• Cell Biology and Cellular biochemistry
• Demonstration

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STUDENT SURVEY- METHODOLOGY

• 500 questionnaires were sent to two of the 4
  centres where practical classes in Genetics and
  Cell Biology were held (Institute of Biological
  Science, UM and School of Biological Science,
  USM) for the courses.
• Selected interview of 58 students in the two
  centres from 318 respondents.

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STUDENT SURVEY ON VIRTUAL LABORATORY

• The survey asked students of B.Sc. (Ed.) class
  for their views about OUMs virtual laboratories
  on Genetics and Cellular Biology Biochemistry.
• Some parts of the questionnaires sent
• General Information on age, gender, family size,
  learning centre etc.
• Are you teaching science in FORM IV or V?
• Have you attended the class practical?

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STUDENT SURVEY Contd.

• Estimate how many hours during the semester you
  typically used for studying the digital
  laboratory (VL) (lt2, lt5, lt10 or gt10).
• Overall quality of the VL was Excellent, Very
  good, Good, Fare, Poor
• Is the VL comparable to class practical?

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STUDENT SURVEY Contd.

• Is the VL comparable to class practical?
• Ease of use Grade 1 2 3 4 5
• Understand key concepts 1 2 3 4 5
• Apply key concepts 1 2 3 4 5
• Linked with other course material
• 1 2 3 4 5

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STUDENT SURVEY Contd.

• Have you taken part in the exercises given at the
  end of the practical?
• Yes No
• Does the VL increase your interest in the
  course? 1 2 3 4 5
• Does it help at the time of writing your
  laboratory report? 1 2 3 4 5

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STUDENT SURVEY Contd.

• Excluding the labs, the overall quality of the
  two courses was 1 2 3 4 5
• Please summarize the strengths and weaknesses of
  the two VL
• Strengths______________________
• ______________________________
• Weaknesses____________________

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SURVEY ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

• Most of the analysis was done using SPSS
  software. Only simple statistics was involved for
  the Yes- No response.
• ANOVA was carried out where there were three or
  more variables.

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Major Observations from the analysis

• There is no difference in the response between
  age, gender and family size of the respondents
  but Penang centre had more positive response
  about the virtual laboratory.
• Form V teachers in science were very few compared
  to Form III teachers, hence no analysis done.

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VL was found to be well received by students

• Compared to Class practical, VL was rated between
  good to very good for ease of use and
  understanding concepts.
• For application of key concepts class practical
  was found to be better.
• There was very little linked resources in VL.

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OBSERVATION Contd.

• All students took part in doing the exercises
  given in VL and class practical.
• VL increased the interest of students to look for
  other digital lab for same courses.
• Vl helped slightly in report writing, assessed by
  the Lab supervisor

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OBSERVATION Contd.

• Many students did not write anything about
  strength and weakness of VL.
• 50 of the students felt that the VL gives them
  opportunity to revisit the lab any time.
• 10 of the students thought the VL does not
  include most of the topics taught in lectures.

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SUMMARY CONCLUSION

• VL was successful in creating interest among the
  students for practicals
• Partial success of the VL stimulated the faculty
  to develop VL for other courses in chemistry,
  physics, laboratory safety, etc.
• VL may be uploaded in myLMS.

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• Thank You
• mukherjee_at_oum.edu.my