Abstract
This is a continuation work on our existing project that aims to flip the classroom for UGFN1000 “In Dialogue with Nature”. In the last five years, the team has developed a supplementary course website on the KEEP platform, consisting of mainly lecture-style micro-modules. We now plan to expand our collection of micro-modules to facilitate student online discussions via Zoom. We think Zoom is not only suitable for teacher-student interactions but also student-student discussions. In order to do that, we need to make new micro-modules that provides guidance to the students from the teacher on the discussion topic. More specifically, the teacher in each of these micro-modules will introduce one question that is of interest, and provide more than one possible answer to it, all within 5 minutes. Students can watch this micro-module at the beginning of a student discussion session on Zoom to stimulate their discussion. The session should be hosted by a student helper, who has been guided and trained by the teacher. This new way of using Zoom should enable students to freely generate and exchange ideas as a way of peer learning online. Besides making new micro-modules, we shall also enhance and fine-tune some existing micro-modules to achieve this purpose. We believe this enhancement work, after it is completed, can help our students to fully utilize the potential provided by Zoom even after face-to-face teaching is resumed.
Brief write-up
Project objectives
We think Zoom is not only suitable for teacher-student interactions but also student-student discussions. In order to do that, we made new micro-modules that provides the guidance to the students from the teacher on the discussion topic. More specifically, the teacher in each of these micro-modules will introduce one question that is of interest, and provide more than one possible answer to it, all within 5 minutes.
Activities, process and outcomes
To prepare the micro-modules, our teacher team prepared and delivered most of the materials, together with the help of two specialists. Both of them are very experienced in generating easy to digest yet accurate popular science content for the general public. The organizing, filming and editing of the micro-modules, and updating the KEEP (CU eLearning platform) course website, was handled by a teaching assistant.
Deliverables and evaluation
We developed 20 new question-based micro-modules, remade 40 existing micro -modules, and enhanced 6 micro-modules to improve the sound quality.
Surveys to gather feedback such as the satisfactory rate and student opinions on these new micro-modules as well as the arrangement of Zoom online discussion were conducted. The result is as follow:
|
Overall,
participating in online discussions is enjoyable.
|
141/197 =
71.6%
|
|
Overall,
participating in online discussions is helpful in learning.
|
146/197 =
74.1%
|
|
The
current setting for online discussion is convenient.
|
115/137 =
83.9%
|
Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices
We think the method of using question-based micro-module to enable student online discussion via Zoom could potentially be adopted by many other teachers within and outside CUHK. Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we didn’t have the opportunity the share our project results in international conferences. We will however, share the result in the CUHK Teaching and Learning Innovation Expo 2021, locally.
Impact on teaching and learning
One of the impacts to the teachers who have prepared these new question-based micro-modules is that it helps us consolidate our ideas related to the chosen question more clearly and concisely. We also think this project, using micro-modules to facility student-student Zoom discussions, can greatly enhance students’ overall learning experience and opportunities.
