Amelyn THOMPSON* and Brenda YUEN
Centre for English Language Communication (CELC)
Thompson, A. A., & Yuen, B. (2023). Interdisciplinarity in science communication: Promoting student engagement and learning through the digital collaborative platform Miro [Paper presentation]. In Higher Education Campus Conference (HECC) 2023, 7 December, National University of Singapore. https://blog.nus.edu.sg/hecc2023proceedings/interdisciplinarity-in-science-communication-promoting-student-engagement-and-learning-through-the-digital-collaborative-platform-miro/
SUB-THEME
Interdisciplinarity and Education
KEYWORDS
Digital collaborative platform, student engagement, science communication, news article writing, interdisciplinary collaboration
CATEGORY
Paper Presentations
ABSTRACT
Higher education research suggests the use of learning technology promotes student engagement (e.g. Bond et al., 2020; Chen et al., 2010; Fan & Di, 2020; Fonseca et al., 2014). This paper discusses the impact of technology-enhanced inquiry-based learning tasks using the digital whiteboard Miro in SP1451 “Exploring Science Communication through Popular Science”, part of the College of Humanities and Science (CHS) Common Curriculum. This interdisciplinary core course for NUS science undergraduates has the key learning outcome of communicating scientific concepts effectively to educated non-specialised audiences. Miro was chosen because of its vast array of features and tools for real-time collaboration, commenting, and presenting in teams.
Technology-enhanced learning supports interdisciplinary learning by integrating different perspectives or facilitating mutual understanding in pursuit of goals or learning tasks (Littlejohn & Nicol, 2008); meanwhile, valuable data otherwise lost in traditional contexts is preserved (Henrie et al., 2015). Research suggests well-designed inquiry-based learning tasks promote positive learning outcomes including deep thinking, knowledge application, and logical reasoning (Harada & Yoshina, 2004; Kuhlthau et al., 2015). Technology-enhanced inquiry-based learning tasks have been implemented in SP1541 to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and enhance students’ engagement and performance.
According to Bond et al. (2020), engagement is defined as “energy and effort” expended by students in their learning community, observable through “a range of indicators” (p. 3). In search of these indicators, we adopted Redmond et al.’s (2018) online engagement framework for higher education. This framework extends the traditional definition of engagement (Fredricks et al., 2004), which considers behavioural, cognitive, and emotional dimensions by adding collaborative and social dimensions.
The objectives of this study are to:
- investigate the extent to which the use of Miro enhances students’ engagement in the discussion of science news articles during synchronous tutorials in online and face-to-face modes; and
- examine the correlation between students’ perceived engagement level and perceived science news writing competence.
This study employs an embedded mixed-methods design, where qualitative data supplement quantitative data, encapsulated in an online questionnaire administered at the end of the semester. The questionnaire comprises 23 statements measuring the five dimensions of engagement (Redmond et al., 2018) on a five-point Likert scale, and four items for students to self-rate their writing competence based on the criteria established in the criterion-referenced assessment rubric (i.e. criterion-based writing competence). It also includes three open-ended questions regarding students’ perception of their use of Miro and its impact on their learning.
The findings indicate Miro is effective in fostering collaborative and cognitive engagement, while comparatively lacking in social engagement, across both online and face-to-face modes. Quantitative results showed a moderate, positive correlation between online engagement and writing performance in the online mode; however, this was not reflected in the face-to-face mode. Qualitative responses corroborated the quantitative results and confirmed the importance of Miro as a useful tool for review in both contexts.
This study is particularly relevant to interdisciplinary core courses as technology-enhanced learning is potentially more impactful when integrated in the early years of university (Martin & Bolliger, 2018). The findings provide several pedagogical implications in higher education. First, Miro’s value lies in its ability to foster collaborative and cognitive engagement, especially as collaboration may prove challenging in interdisciplinary environments, although teamwork remains a vital part of the experience (Corbacho et al., 2021). Second, it may be worth extending the use of Miro asynchronously to boost social engagement. Third, Miro is helpful in promoting behavioural engagement, including supporting peers (Redmond et al., 2018). This is crucial for collaborative tasks like peer feedback, where feedback is a sense-making process with students using comments from various sources to improve performance (Carless & Boud, 2018).
REFERENCES
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Thompson, A., & Yuen, B. (2022). Using Miro to enhance students’ online engagement and learning in a science communication module. Teaching Connections. https://blog.nus.edu.sg/teachingconnections/2022/08/26/using-miro-to-enhance-students- online-engagement-and-learning-in-a-science-communication-module/