2005-2006 ACADEMIC YEAR

PROJECT PROGRESS REPORT

April 7, 2006

 

 

Name Barry Rhoades

 

Division/Dept. Natural Sciences and Mathematics/Biology

 

Phone 757-5238

 

Date Proposal Submitted 10/06/05

 

Course Name(s) and Number(s) to be impacted BIO 103, BIO 110, BIO 112 (initially)

 

Specify if this is an application for: ___X____STIPEND (Up to $1,500)

 

Background: This project requested mini-grant funds in the amount of $1500 as a stipend for developing course materials based on the Interwrite PRS system and WebCT, for use in BIO 110 Principles of Biology I (fall semesters), BIO 103 Human Biology (spring semesters), and BIO 112 Principles of Biology II (spring semesters). The PRS hardware and software system was purchased, in part, with funds from a concurrent Title III mini-grant to Jim Ferrari.

 

The PRS hardware and software packages were purchased in November of 2005. In December, the system was installed and tested on the PC in Taylor 204. Learning the PRS control system, labeling and encoding the transmitters, and setting up PRS class rosters for the two spring 2006 BIO 112 sections took most of December. The basic PRS system worked, but imbedding of PRS questions in PowerPoint (PPT) presentations did not, apparently due to conflicting system/software configurations on that computer. The computer support staff scrubbed the hard drive on this machine and reinstalled Windows and Office Suite near the end of January 2006. At this point we reinstalled the PRS software and class rosters and successfully tested the use of PRS within PowerPoint presentations.

 

On February 5^th Jim Ferrari and I assigned PRS transmitters to our students, and began using interleaved PowerPoint/PRS presentations as the central element in our BIO 112 class sessions, for both sections of BIO 112 (a total of 20 students). Each core PPT presentation was compiled or updated by Dr. Ferrari, then PRS questions were written and inserted by me. Starting February 15^th, weekly PPT/PRS quizzes were added. BIO 112 students have now had 7 weeks of exposure to PPT presentations without PRS questions and 6 weeks of PPT/PRS combined use. PPT/PRS presentations will be used for the remainder of this spring semester in BIO 112, during May term in BIO 103, and during fall 2006 in two sections of BIO 110. At that point the Biology Department will formally evaluate the continued and/or expanded use of the PRS system in introductory biology courses.

 

To date, we have not incorporated the planned WebCT component, primarily because WebCT itself was not fully implemented and supported until midway through spring 2006. The first use of WebCT will take place this fall (2006) with the two sections of BIO 110. As originally planned, WebCT materials will be used as a follow-up for addressing specific problems students have with concepts and information, as revealed by PRS responses.

 

Students learned the use of the PRS transmitters almost immediately, and student reactions to using the PRS system have been generally positive. The PRS system allows students to answer imbedded questions and test their knowledge, while maintaining a degree of anonymity, and the students have appreciated this aspect. Reactions to the graded PPT/PRS quizzes have been more mixed. Some students appreciate how rapidly and painlessly they can complete the quiz, but others have expressed concerns about having to read and evaluate answers within the fixed time limit. As faculty, we have noticed that using the PRS system dramatically increases student attentiveness; in short it forces everyone to stay awake. On the negative side, each PRS question takes 30 seconds away from limited class time that would otherwise be devoted to primary course comment. BIO 112 involves a large volume of material and both Dr. Ferrari and I have struggled to keep up with the pace required by the syllabus, while devoting 15-30 minutes of class time per week to the PRS component.

 

We are developing a 10-15 question questionnaire to more formally assess student reactions to the use of the PRS system. This will include questions about both reactions to and perceived effectiveness of PPT/PRS questions and quizzes. It will also solicit more open-ended written comments from students, as well as suggestions for improvements.

To date, implementation of the PRS system has involved the following approximate combined time commitments for Dr. Ferrari and me:

 

            10 hours          installing the receiver and labeling the transmitters, installing the software,

                                    familiarizing ourselves with the system, and establishing PRS class rosters

            50 hours          developing PPT/PRS course materials for BIO112

            60 hours         TOTAL

 

We anticipate that final assessment for BIO 112 will take an additional 10 hours.

 

 

Stipend: I am requesting that the requested $1500 stipend be split equally between Dr. Ferrari and myself.