Web Lectures

Increasing Student Interest and Involvement

Biological Sciences 10 is a general education course for non-science majors that enrolls around 200 students each quarter. When I teach the course, I regularly poll my students, asking how many are taking the course because they truly want to learn something about biology. The response is amazingly negative! No one wants to take this course. When I ask the class why they do not want to learn some biology, I am told: "Biology is boring, too difficult, and not relevant to my everyday life."

I am fascinated by biology and such statements have always given me pause, wondering where we have failed this group of students. And, as I grew into my senior years as a professor, I began to examine ways to reach this group. The new teaching technologies offer one intriguing option. I began to experiment with facets of distance education.

Distance education, or what some term a virtual university, is an enriched educational environment that integrates the networked delivery of multimedia learning materials using synchronous and asynchronous conversations. I like this definition.

Mention a virtual university at Davis and the discussion quickly moves to the pedagogical wisdom of such an approach. Does distance education really affect learning as well as face-to-face teaching? Some will quickly state that we need assessment studies, that we just don't know, and that we shouldn't move into this new arena until we are certain that it is "better."

But a lot of assessment has been done. Thomas L. Russell has compiled a summary of the results of more than 200 studies comparing distance education with traditional in-person study (See Resources at the end of this article). The conclusion is overwhelming: there is no significant difference between the two methods of educational delivery.

Last year, I introduced virtual discussion sections to Biological Sciences 10. Rather than actually meet, the 200 students were grouped into six discussion sections that discussed eight topics via the Internet using email. For the first time in 30 years of teaching, I saw some hint of the holy grail of teaching: critical thinking.

Why did this occur? Interestingly, some of the students' comments are revealing. First, email discussion appears to be anonymous. More than one student commented that in this format, you can express your point of view and no one knows you. Others mention that it is rather nice to be able to examine what you are about to say before you press the send button. Still others particularly enjoyed the ability to attend a discussion section at their convenience rather than be tied to a class meeting.

I also placed all of the lecture materials for Biological Sciences 10 on the World Wide Web last year (see Resources). I saw lecture attendance drop to perhaps 40 as the students realized that the material on the Web was identical to my lecture material. When the 40 regular attendees were asked why they attended, they admitted that the material was all there on the Web but that they just liked to hear it from a real person. Attendance rose again near the end of the course as finals approached. Students returned concerned that I might mention things about the final examination in lecture and not include this material on the Web. I observed no particular difference in the overall performance of this class relative to previous classes, but many of my students came away with a better sense of how biology might fit into their lives.

Another wrote, "I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love this class! Leeches and maggots...well, no more food for me tonight, thanks." This person went on to provide some interesting perspectives on the use of leeches and maggots by physicians in contemporary medicine. As more students chose to attend lecture via the Internet, I saw my email traffic soar. I spent a lot of time answering questions about biology. The nature of the email questions offered me some insight. Many students asked for more information about a particular point. But, most interestingly, a significant number asked the "dumb question." Some would actually preface their note with, "I know this is a dumb question but. . ."

Yet there aren't any dumb questions. There are only unanswered questions. Too often, students will not voice these questions during lecture because they fear being looked down upon. But from the "privacy" of an email query, I could answer their questions and set up a better foundation for what was to come later in the course and dismiss a lot of their frustrations with failing to understand this or that point.

A third kind of question would also occasionally appear in my email. When I would examine how I had treated the material originally in lecture or on the Web, I would often find that I hadn't done such a great job in the first place. In a traditional lecture, the question wouldn't be asked several times and I perhaps would realize that my original explanation needed modifying.

Placed on the World Wide Web, class materials become available to the world, and this also has its ego-stroking moments. Two recent email messages will illustrate:

"I am a student at ___ college in ___, WI. My major is Biology -- Secondary Education. I am creating a Web lesson for a Computers in Education class and would like your permission to use your graphics in my Web lesson on the vascular system of plants."

And:

"I'm a 10th grade student in the IB program (honors courses) that lives in Florida. I'm trying to teach myself Chemistry because my real teacher is a moron and has absolutely no idea what she's talking about. . . . I wanted to tell you that I'm using your lecture notes and my book to learn it, and that you're doing a great job. Your notes are the best that I've found so far."

Comments from my students and additional study on how to use multimedia in teaching have led to a substantial change for my next offering of Biological Sciences 10. The Web lectures will all have significant interactivity, including simulations, embedded multiple choice questions, module quizzes -- all items that require the student to participate in the learning rather than be a passive observer. The discussion sections will all be virtual and may require some Web surfing for appropriate responses. The essay questions will certainly require some Web surfing and critical thought about what is out there.

Finally, this spring, students registering in three of the six sections in Biological Sciences 10 will take the entire course via the World Wide Web (except for the final exam).

Interested individuals can find out more about Biological Sciences 10 as I teach it by emailing me at rhfalk@ucdavis.edu.

Rick Falk is professor of Plant Biology.

Resources:

Biological Sciences 10 Web site:

http://trc2.ucdavis.edu/Coursepages2/bis10_97/

Thomas L. Russell's study:

http://tenb.mta.ca/phenom/phenom3.html