Dr Andy Chiang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics and Applied Probability, Faculty of Science. He teaches applied statistics modules from 2nd year undergraduate level through to Master level.

An avid statistician who is keen to share his knowledge, Asst Prof Chiang has been duly recognized for his teaching efforts. The Faculty of Science awarded him the Teaching Excellence Award for consecutive academic years, 2000/2001 and 2001/2002. He attributes these plaudits to NUS’ best educators, whose experiences and methods he tried to emulate, after learning from them at a Professional Development Programme early in his NUS career.

His research interest lies in the industrial statistics application field, particularly in the areas of experiment design, statistical process control and other quality assurance/improvement methods.

Students living at NUS Prince George's Park Residence will find him a familiar figure as he is a Resident Advisor there.

Camtasia, the software featured in this Faculty Voice article, enables users to produce videos of their screens, complete with audio annotation. These videos are especially useful for demonstrating the use of complex software.

Q. How did you get to know about Camtasia?
I signed up for a CIT workshop in early 2002. The description of Camtasia was fascinating - software that produces video recordings of your computer monitor output sounded very exciting to me.

Q. What prompted you to use Camtasia? Why did you start using it?
In first semester 2002/2003, I had to teach Applied Regression Methods for a part-time Master programme. The classes were held from 6pm to 9pm every Wednesday. My students had to learn textbook statistical methods. They also needed to operate statistical software – either Minitab or SPSS – to enable them to work on tutorial exercises and projects.

The challenge for me was that I only saw my students for three hours each week, as they are working adults. During the three hours, I had to deliver my lecture, conduct the tutorial and teach the software. The students were off-campus during office hours and could not visit me for help when they encountered problem with the statistical software.

From past experience, I knew that it would be very clumsy and time inefficient for me to use email to instruct students about the statistical software. The interfaces of those software are sometimes quite complex when we perform advanced regression modeling, involving several option and sub-option menus. I required a tool that allowed me to instruct students on software usage outside of the limited classroom hours. Camtasia was the perfect answer as it was very easy to operate and nearly instantaneous in delivering the video. Besides videos on statistical software usage, I also made videos that discussed selected tutorial exercises.

Q. What can you do with Camtasia? What functions/tools do you use?
Camtasia is basically a computer screen capture program. All you need to do is to start the Camtasia Recorder and speak into the PC microphone while you demonstrate the software, which may be PowerPoint, Minitab or other software you are teaching. Camtasia records your oral explanation and the corresponding screen image as you use your PC software application.

At the end of the recording session, Camtasia will compile the voice recording and screen capture into a computer video file. Apple’s QuickTime and Windows’ WMV are among the numerous supported video file formats. Post-recording editing functions such as video format conversion, annotation addition, voice narration modification and others are also available in Camtasia Studio. However, I do not spend too much time on editing as it can be quite time consuming. I do not need professional video quality.

Q. How easy was it to learn to use Camtasia? How long did you take to master it?
Camtasia is a very user-friendly programme. The one-hour workshop at CIT was all that I needed to start using Camtasia version 1. Camtasia is at version 2.2 now. The current user interface is even more user-friendly than before, and there are several instructional videos that will help users to get started.

Q. How useful is Camtasia?
I would rate it 10/10 for usefulness in teaching applied statistics modules. Just last semester, I taught Introductory Biostatistics to Life Sciences students, and we had to introduce them to a new statistical software called JMP IN. My colleague and I did not have to spend precious lecture time on software demonstration. The software instruction was delivered through five videos that I made using Camtasia. Students downloaded the video files from our IVLE workbin and reviewed them at their own pace.

Q. Has Camtasia changed your teaching style? If so, how?
I would say that Camtasia complemented my teaching rather than changed it. It freed up limited classroom time for more discussion of statistical concepts, time that used to be spent on software demonstration. Also, I have to put in extra effort in producing the videos before the semester begins.

Q. What were the benefits of using Camtasia? Were there any unexpected ones?
The students can review the instructional videos over and over again in the comfort of their homes. So, they are able to learn the statistical software at their own pace. Before using Camtasia videos for software demonstrations, students almost inevitably emailed me questions such as: “Why couldn’t I get that same regression output from Minitab as you had demonstrated in class?” With Camtasia videos, my students have stopped emailing me about software usage. From project report submissions and feedback, I have found my students were comfortable learning and using the statistical software on their own.

Q. How can Camtasia be improved? What features do you want to see in future versions?
Camtasia has been revised a couple of times in the last two years. I think the current version is excellent.

Q. What is your students’ response to your Camtasia-developed media files?
The students gave positive feedback about the videos. They appreciate being able to review the videos at their leisure after class.

Q. Do you have any other comments?
I would like to thank CIT for introducing me to Camtasia 2 years ago. I would also like to thank CIT Director Mr Ravi Chandran for providing an upgrade for my office copy of Camtasia to Camtasia Studio 2.0 this October.

Dr Lee Kim Seng is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Engineering, in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He teaches second-year ME undergraduates Engineering Visualization & Modeling. A/P Lee also teaches Manufacturing and Automation elective modules Design for Manufacturing & Assembly and Automation in Manufacturing for ME and Bachelor of Technology senior undergraduates. At postgraduate level, he teaches Metal Forming Technology.

He uses IVLE intensively for the modules he teaches and has been doing so since 1999. His interests revolve around exploring and using the latest IT technology to improve his pedagogical methodology and to improve teaching resource management.

A/P Lee has been conferred numerous awards by the Faculty of Engineering in recognition of his innovative contributions in e-education. These include the Teaching Commendation Award (ME) and the Innovative Teaching Award (Gold) in 1999/2000 and 2001/2002 respectively. In 2002/2003, he was awarded the Commendation Award (B. Tech) and the Honours Award (Graduate). Recently, he clinched the Commendation Award (ME) for 2003/2004.

His hobbies outside teaching and research include traveling and gardening.

Q. How did you get to know about IVLE?
I got to know about IVLE when it was introduced to the staff some years ago. That is when I started to explore the different functions and tools available in IVLE to see how they could be used for my teaching.

Q. What prompted you to use IVLE?
It is a fact that technology is moving very fast, and traditional teaching methodology using transparencies and blackboards no longer appeals to the newer generation of students. Also, the number of students has been increasing over the years. To be able to stimulate their interest and effectively transmit information to them, there is a need to find new tools that can manage content, time and users. Here in NUS, IVLE answers my call.

Q. How do you use IVLE?
There are many IVLE tools I use for the modules I teach:
1) Announcement
I find the SMS announcement function useful when I need to remind the students there is an upcoming quiz. One student gets the SMS on his/her handphone and he/she spreads the message much faster to his/her peers than it takes for me to inform them via other methods. Right now, 138 out of 379 students in my year two module subscribe to the SMS announcement service. I also use the service when I need to inform them of newly uploaded exercises, tutorials or other materials.

2) Module webpage
The module webpage is handy. I use it to inform students about the module description, syllabus and required reading. I have linked to my personal homepage – this can be done easily – within the module webpage so students can easily access further module information via IVLE.

3) Forum
This tool is an essential component of any module because some students are bound to have queries as they revise. Lecturers cannot be perpetually online to answer students’ queries. Instead, I tap the students’ helpfulness, particularly the better ones. They can discuss these queries in the forum, and most of the time, the problems are solved before I get to answer them. Besides getting quick responses to questions, the forum greatly increases student interaction.

4) Workbin
This tool is perhaps the most important for me. I have created a number of workbins and classified them according to class and tutorial groups. The entire class has access to class workbins whereas tutorial groups only have access to their respective group workbins.

This can easily be set up, by allowing access to a selected group of people. Within the workbin, I can easily set up various assignment submission folders with allocated opening and closing dates and times. This way, students have to submit their work by the deadline. I do not need extra resources to collect assignments from them. Additionally, I upload my lecture notes and tutorial questions to the class workbin and students can download them at their leisure. This saves me the time and effort of having to make hardcopies for all students, especially since I have a large class.

5) Multimedia
The multimedia tool on IVLE allows me to upload my videos for web streaming. This section includes my videos, webcast lectures and Breeze presentations. Students can easily access them from home as most of them possess broadband Internet connections. Thus, students can revise at their own time and pace.

6) Assessment
I find the assessment tool particularly effective when having to assess a large group of students. Test duration and schedule, and students’ integrity are the main issues where assessments are involved. The assessment tool allows me to control the quizzes' timing. Students have to complete the assessment within the stipulated time. To prevent students from informing their peers what questions are in the quiz, the questions are randomly selected from a large, pre-prepared question bank. To prevent cheating, the answer options are also set randomly.

There are various questions types that I choose from. I use the multiple-choice type very often. At the end of the quiz, all student submissions are marked automatically and their marks computed and ranked accordingly. As an educator, this takes a large burden off me.

7) Class management
This tool is essential because I teach a large class. It allows me to split my class into tutorial groups. I allow my students to sign up for their choice of groups via this system. To avoid having large tutorial groups, I set the class size limit using this tool.

8) Lesson plan
I use the lesson plan section to allow my students to prepare for lessons arising in the following weeks. It allows me to list the learning resources my students are required to access for any lecture or tutorial. Learning resources in the form of lecture notes, animations, videos and discussion forums provide students with a basic understanding of the subject prior to attending the lectures and tutorials.

Q. Would you consider IVLE easy to use?
Yes, IVLE is very easy to use.

The user interface is easy to comprehend. The various tools, modules and setups are arranged in their intuitive categories and thus are easy to find.

Understandably, sometimes there are bugs in IVLE, but the CIT staff responds very well to emergency phone calls and emails. Any problems I encountered using IVLE were solved almost instantaneously. Using IVLE is a not only a breeze, it is also stressless and painless.

Q. Did using IVLE change your teaching style?
I would not say that IVLE has changed my teaching style drastically. Rather, I consider IVLE a tool that enhances my teaching style. With IVLE, it is easy to implement a quiz for my class of over 400 students at anytime. Before IVLE, this task was difficult to accomplish in short notice. The workbin allows me to easily administer student assignment submissions without having to worry about the logistics of managing the submission deadlines.

I strongly believe in peer-assistance, where better students help others who are not up to speed. The forum facilitates this, allowing the better students and myself to collectively discuss and solve students’ queries. By using IVLE to help manage most of my teaching tasks, I free up time that can be devoted to improving my lecture presentations and creating more animations for my e-learning courseware.

Q. Any response from your students?
There are many responses from my students obtained from their feedback on my teaching. Below are some of the responses over the years:

• He always tries to answer all our queries within the shortest time and is a very IT-based person.
• Unique teaching method incorporating videos … makes it more interesting.
• He is able to use IT to present his lecture effectively.
• Good websites. Spends considerable effort to use the website as platform to generate interest and understanding.
• He puts in effort to ensure that we have additional resources so that we can strengthen whatever we have learnt in class. In making a lot of lessons online, we can re-learn from home.
• He is very tech-savvy and always willing to enhance his course with technology.
• A lot of information put up on the IVLE where we can access and learn from. Some of the flash programs are very useful and greatly enhance our thinking.
• He has a very good teaching approach in all directions with a very well setup e-learning centre.
• Gives a lot of pictures, videos and animation for illustration purposes.
• Good use of IT, by putting the lecture notes up in the IVLE, it allows access at the convenience of the students.
• Is very approachable and keeps in constant contact with student via email, SMS or IVLE announcements.

Q. Do you use any other resources to facilitate learning?
Besides using IVLE to manage my teaching resources and students, I have explored other areas to enhance my teaching. Most of my modules involve a lot of visualization skills in order for my students to understand and learn concepts. Thus, I use several animation tools such as Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Director and eDrawings to create animations for most of my modules. These animations have been included as part of my e-learning teaching package.

Q. Is there a need for such a system like IVLE?
To be able to manage a large quantity of students and other teaching resources, it is vital to have a system like IVLE for teaching staff. It dramatically lightens our burden and gives us fewer things to worry about. I give IVLE two-thumbs up!

Dr. Victor Tan, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics began using IVLE since it was “born” in early 1998. An early adopter of educational technology, he has actively used most of the tools and resources on IVLE to engage and interact with his students.

His passion and pro-active approach has won him the Science Faculty Teaching Excellence Award (2000-2003) and the University Excellent Teacher Award (2002-2003). Faculty Voice wanted to find out from Dr. Tan whose teaching assignments include linear algebra, advanced calculus and engineering math how he incorporates IVLE into his teaching style.

Q: How did you get to know about IVLE?
I knew IVLE since it was born (or do you call it version 1 ?). I remember CIT staff came down to Math Dept to give an introduction of IVLE when it was just launched. I attended the session.

Q: What prompted you to use IVLE?

I have always been interested in using IT in teaching. Before IVLE, I created my own course webpage (which won an honorable mention in the NUS IT in teaching award) and designed some simple online quizzes for my modules. When IVLE was launched, I was excited to see quite a number “tools” that can be incorporated into my teaching, especially the much more sophisticated “assessment tool” (I think then it was called “online quiz” or something like that). I couldn’t wait to try it out.

Q: How do you use IVLE?

(1) Course webpage - I don’t really use IVLE as the course webpage. I still create “official” course webpages for my modules as I can customize the look and display of the pages. Nevertheless, I use IVLE as a “gateway” to access to these course webpages as it is the common place for students to get information about any module. So I usually put up some basic information about a module as well as a link to its official webpage on IVLE before the term start. This will facilitate students in module selection.

(2) Assessment - As mentioned in the earlier question above, this is the tool that I like and use most frequently. I use it for self-assess online quizzes, mid-term tests and “online-tutorial”. The last one is an online version of the regular tutorial sessions that provide more guides to students who need more help. Of course, you need to put in effort to create the online quizzes and build up your question bank.

(3) Discussion Forum - I always create at least one forum for each module for students to interact with me as well as among themselves. To encourage participation, students can submit their postings using nicknames. Sometime, I use the forum as continuous assessment by posting additional problems there for students to attempt. However, discussion forum is usually not quite successful if the class size is too small (e.g. < 70), as there are too few active participants to generate the discussion.

(4) Chat room - I chat with students on the day before mid-term test and final exam. To the students, it serves as a chance for them to clarify some last minute doubt. To me, I take it as an opportunity to collect feedback from students.

(5) Announcement - I send updates and reminders regarding the modules to students regularly. The announcement tool makes this job easier. It will be posted on the IVLE module page as well as sent out as a group email to all students in the class. If the message is not too long, I can also send it to the students’ mobile phone via SMS.

(6) Survey - This is the spin-off of the assessment tool. Mid-way through or near the end of the semester, I will use this tool to design online survey form to get the students’ responses to specific questions.

(7) Workbin - I only use this tool for students to upload document. In fact, I only used it once so far for a student to submit homework online due to chickenpox.

(8) Class roster - If I want the most updated status of my class enrollment either before the term start or throughout the semester, I will go to IVLE class roster. You will also get to see how each individual student looks like.

Q:Would you consider IVLE easy to use?

Yes. I must say that IVLE has made much improvement since its infant stage. If you have been “growing up” with IVLE, you will find it getting more user-friendly (after listening to all the comments and suggestions from the users). I have contributed my fair share of suggestions when I first started using the “assessment tool”. At one stage, I was communicating with the IVLE team almost daily and even came down to CIT with a list of “problems”. The CIT staffs were helpful and responsive. If there was a quick fix, they would eradicate the problem right away. Otherwise, they would promise to rectify it in the next version.

So, to me, it is not a problem using IVLE, although it is still quite tedious to type in mathematical symbols and equations. However, first time users may find it a bit lost. There are many items on the main page and almost all items are “clickable”. Sometime you just don’t know where to start or where to find the appropriate link.

Not to worry! Just call extension 1169 and the nice lady Yasmin will patiently guide you along. Once you get the hang of it, you will realize that in fact, there is a similar sequence of steps to create the various IVLE tools.

Q: Did using IVLE influence a change in your teaching style?

With the help of IVLE, I have more variety to the continuous assessment components of my modules using tools such as “Assessment” and “Forum”.
“Discussion forum” and “Survey” serves as channels for the students to feedback to me about the module throughout the course. This allows me to have a chance to make timely clarification or adjustment to my teaching accordingly.

Well, I don’t really regard Webcast/Breeze lectures as IVLE tools. But in a broader sense, they are also part of “virtual learning”. In this regard, I have extended my teaching beyond classroom and contact hours. I have made additional preliminary and revision Webcast lectures to supplement the regular lectures.

Q: What is the response of the students?

They are generally happy with all these tools and facilities that enhance their learning. They are grateful that I webcast all the lectures and archive them for their review; they are excited about the chat room sessions (response have been overwhelming); they appreciate that I have conducted online survey for them to voice out their concerns etc.

After all, a tool is just a tool. To receive positive response, you need to use the tool appropriately. For example, for the discussion forum tool, if you just create a forum without actually being involved in it, it does not add much value in their learning process. But if you keep track of the discussions and respond accordingly, it will be more beneficial to the students and they will be more willing to participate in the discussion.

Dr Elizabeth Nair first discovered the Integrated Virtual Learning Environment (IVLE) as an information technology novice. She now uses it to help manage and deliver the courses she teaches.

Each semester, she engages a variety of tools in IVLE to enhance classroom teaching and communication amongst her students.

Dr Nair, who teaches research on personality and individual differences at the Department of Social Work & Psychology, describes her IVLE experience on Faculty Voice.

Q: How did you get to know about IVLE?
"I heard of it through the usual internal e-mail notices. I recalled that several years ago, e-mails and instructions conveyed by the head of department stated that the use of IT would be considered for teaching performance evaluation."

Q: Why do you use IVLE, and what are some of the tools you use?
"I use the lesson plans, workbins, webcast lectures, forums, announcements and send e-mails to students.

The use of IVLE is an efficient way to file and make available information to students, send announcements and have it filed on the course web-site. It provides a good opportunity for students to write down messages, pose questions to each other – which they do not have a chance to do in a large class or discussion group which could number from 25 to 29 per "small" group.

IVLE also saves paper when students submit assignments to the Workbin, which I retrieve, grade and return it to them through my course e-mail account. Excellent continual assessments (CAs) are posted (with permission) in the Workbin together with lecture outlines for students to refer to as examples for their learning from peers.

I can check easily which students have been accessing the Workbin to read assignments, lecture outlines, etc, and I know who has been spending time on the module in the IVLE site. I can easily check who has submitted CAs, the date of submission and who did not submit by the deadline.

With IVLE lesson plan, I can update references, readings, notices, load up webcasts etc. I find that it gives a good evolving report card of the accessories and items used in a module. It alerts students as to what lies ahead in real time. In this way, students know what to expect."

Q: Would you consider IVLE easy to use?
"I spent a lot of time at first but less now since I’m more familiar with IVLE. Initially I learnt by trial and error and depended on the IVLE support team.

The worst experience was using chat-rooms. It used to “crash”, students and I were left stranded and blocked out. I do not use this any more since I suspect the class size ("small" group) of up to 29 students may still be too large to manage if everyone chose to "speak up" at the same time , this happened in my earlier attempts to use this tool.

Another "worst" experience was when I attempted to use a combination of media such as PowerPoint, web-links, and video clips during lessons. Connection problems, "hanging" screens and slow load time for videos were a nightmare. Students were not forgiving when this happened in class. They expect lecture deliveries without hiccups. These were later translated into negative comments in annual appraisal.

Now, I have reduced the complex task of alternating between multimedia types and use one media at a time during class."

Q: Did using IVLE influence a change in your teaching style?
"Yes, especially with the webcast lectures. I’m much more careful with what I say and how I appear since I do not want to be "documented" forever looking and sounding like a fool. Moreover, I do not feel guilty about not giving handouts and spoon-feeding since students can always revise with the webcast lectures whenever they want."

Q: Have your students benefited using IVLE?
"I would say yes, though it would be better to ask them directly. They value the flexibility to view the webcasts as and when they please."