student engagement

Interdisciplinarity in Science Communication: Promoting Student Engagement and Learning Through the Digital Collaborative Platform Miro

cdtlsd Paper Presentations , , , , ,

Amelyn THOMPSON* and Brenda YUEN
Centre for English Language Communication (CELC)

*amelyn.t@nus.edu.sg

 

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:

  1. 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
  2. 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

Bond, M., Buntins, K., Bedenlier, S., Zawacki-Richter, O., & Kerres, M. (2020). Mapping research in student engagement and educational technology in higher education: a systematic evidence map. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 17(2). https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s41239-019-0176-8

Carless, D., & Boud, D. (2018). The development of student feedback literacy: enabling uptake of feedback. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(8), 1315-25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1463354

Chen, P., Lambert, A., & Guidry, K. (2010). Engaging online learners: The impact of web-based learning technology on college student engagement. Computers & Education, 54, 1222–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2009.11.008

Corbacho, A.M., Minini, L., Pereyra, M., Gonzalez-Fernandez, A.E., Echaniz, R., Repetto, L., Cruz, P., Fernandez-Damonte, V., Lorieto, A. & Basile, M. (2021). Interdisciplinary higher education with a focus on academic motivation and teamwork diversity. International Journal of Educational Research, 2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2021.100062

Fan, S., & Di, Z. (2020). Technology-enhanced collaborative language learning: theoretical foundations, technologies, and implications. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 35(8), 1754-88. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2020.1831545

Fonseca, D., Marti, N., Redondo, E., Navarro, I., & Sanchez, A. (2014). Relationship between student profile, tool use, participation, and academic performance with the use of Augmented Reality technology for visualized architecture models. Computers in Human Behavior, 31, 434-45. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.03.006

Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Paris, A. H. (2004). School Engagement: Potential of the Concept, State of the Evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74(1), 59–109. https://dx.doi.org/10.3102/00346543074001059

Harada, V. H., & Yoshina, J. M. (2004). Inquiry learning through librarian-teacher partnerships. Linworth Publishing.

Henrie, C. R., Halverson, L. R., & Graham, C. R. (2015). Measuring student engagement in technology-mediated learning: A review. Computers & Education, 90, 36-53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2015.09.005

Kuhlthau, C., Maniotes, L., & Caspari, A. (2015). Guided inquiry: Learning in the twenty-first century (2nd ed.). Libraries Unlimited.

Littlejohn, A., & Nicol, D. (2009). Supporting interdisciplinary studies using learning technologies. In B. Chandramohan and S. Fallows (Eds.), Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Theory and Practice (pp. 30-43). Routledge.

Martin, F. & Bolliger, D.U. (2018). Engagement matters: Student perceptions on the importance of engagement strategies in the online learning environment. Online Learning 22(1), 205-22. http://dx.doi.org/10.24059/olj.v22i1.1092

Redmond, P., Heffernan, A., Abawi, L., Brown, A., & Henderson, R. (2018). An online engagement framework for higher education. Online Learning, 22(1), 183-204. http://dx.doi.org/10.24059/olj.v22i1.1175

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/

 

Bringing Immersive Technology Closer to Education and Research in the NUS Community

cdtlsd Lighting Talks , , , , ,

Lyndia CHEN*, Raudhah THONGKAM, Jie Ying MAK, Magdeline NG Tao Tao, and Steven CHOW
TEL Imaginarium, NUS Libraries

*lyndiachen@nus.edu.sg

 

Chen, L., Thongkam, R., Mak, J. Y., Ng, M. T. T., & Chow, S. (2023). Bringing immersive technology closer to education and research in the NUS community [Lightning talk]. In Higher Education Campus Conference (HECC) 2023, 7 December, National University of Singapore. https://blog.nus.edu.sg/hecc2023proceedings/bringing-immersive-technology-closer-to-education-and-research-in-the-nus-community/

SUB-THEME

Interdisciplinarity and Education

 

KEYWORDS

Technology education, immersive technologies, game-based learning, training, student engagement

 

CATEGORY

Lightning Talks 

 

ABSTRACT

To prepare for the digital era, it is important to familiarise students, educators, and the NUS community with various technologies that will soon be a mainstay in education, work, and daily lives, especially for immersive technology that is reshaping research and interaction with information. While its potential is promising, it can be challenging to keep up with the development of immersive technology (Dengel et al., 2021).

 

Some reasons for a lower than desired uptake of immersive technology are the ever-evolving novelty of the technology which can be overwhelming for a user who wants to start exploring the technology, the unfamiliarity and lack of use cases that can be done in a tertiary education setting, and the systemic difficulties in implementing immersive technology across curriculum (Dengel et al., 2021; Häfner, 2020).

 

Digital engagement strategy , adapted from Windham (2005)

 

As a team and a space in NUS Libraries, the Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) Imaginarium tries to raise awareness of immersive technology and its educational potential to the NUS community by organising bite-sized learning experiences through three main ways—short hands-on workshops, exciting game competitions, and tours that showcase popular tech tools and devices.

 

Underlying all the initiatives implemented by TEL Imaginarium is a strategy to engage participants, which its elements are succinctly described by Windham (2005), as described in Table 1.

 

Table 1
Principles to engage digital era learners [Adapted from Windham (2005)]

Interaction A classroom setting with ample opportunities to not just communicate, interact and collaborate with peers and educators, but also with multimedia material. Activities are organised to allow the building of connections in and out of the classroom setting.
Exploration Give learners an opportunity to explore and come up with their own conclusions, critique established literature, and develop an output or understanding with their unique stamp on it.
Relevancy Give learners an opportunity to impact real communities, interact with real-life case studies and applications, to acquire relevant skills and experiences.
Multimedia Provide a variety of media and keep them short and alternating to produce diverse content that meets the class’ learning objectives.
Instruction Basic research skills are still required to help learners navigate the information landscape, which can include teaching how to find, organise, evaluate, mix and use information correctly.

 

Workshops and other outreach initiatives to engage digital era learners.

 

Short hands-on workshops

The Jumpstart Miniseries are 1–2-hour workshops conducted every semester to increase familiarity with common immersive technologies. Participants from various disciplines get together to develop an output by presenting ideas in novel ways. The work is then showcased on an online exhibition platform to show possibilities of applications to research to inspire. Gamification elements such as digital badges are introduced to motivate learners to take charge of their learning and development for immersive technology (Huotari & Hamari, 2012).

 

Exciting games

In the name of education, the TEL Imaginarium team carefully weaves captivating storylines, game development concepts, and applications of immersive technology to develop escape room games. Packaged as a game competition with prize incentives, the NUS community can have fun pitting their wits to solve puzzles while learning about immersive technology. The game-based learning approach resulted in the popular reception of the games and successful engagement of the community (Kraiger et al., 1993) to share the technology’s potential in research and learning applications. Multiple partnerships were forged that increased the uptake of learning with immersive technology in NUS (Ketelhut & Schifter, 2011), such as with the Global Relations office to use games to orientate their incoming exchange students, and with the NUS Health and Wellbeing unit to develop escape room games revolving around the theme of mental health.

 

Tour showcases

TEL Imaginarium used to offer tours to interested NUS members to showcase the variety of immersive technology tools in the Library. Participants got to try out the applications and learn from use cases developed in NUS such as the 360 virtual tour application of NUS Libraries, which resulted in some notable interdisciplinary collaborations, such as with the Department of Biological Sciences where the team co-creates assessment tasks using immersive technology tools. This generated interest from the NUS community and NUS Libraries decided to organise yearly Tech Central Carnival events to do outreach on a wider scale over organising individual tours.

 

REFERENCES

Dengel, A., Buchner, J., Mulders, M., & Pirker, J. (2021). Beyond the horizon: Integrating immersive learning environments in the everyday classroom. 2021 7th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.23919/iLRN52045.2021.9459368

Gilbert, J. (2007). Catching the Knowledge Wave: Redefining knowledge for the post-industrial age. Education Canada, 47(3), 4-8. Canadian Education Association. Retrieved June 2023 from https://www.maailmakool.ee/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/gilbert-catching-knowledge-wave.pdf

Häfner P. (2020). Categorization of the benefits and limitations of immersive environments for education. Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Modeling & Applied Simulation (MAS 2020), 154-59. https://doi.org/10.46354/i3m.2020.mas.020

Huotari, K., & Hamari, J. (2012). Defining gamification: A service marketing perspective. Proceeding of the 16th International Academic MindTrek Conference, 17–22. https://doi.org/10.1145/2393132.2393137

Ketelhut, D. J., & Schifter, C. C. (2011). Teachers and game-based learning: Improving understanding of how to increase efficacy of adoption. Computers & Education, 56(2), 539–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2010.10.002

Kraiger, K., Ford, J. K., & Salas, E. (1993). Application of cognitive, skill-based, and affective theories of learning outcomes to new methods of training evaluation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(2), 311–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.78.2.311

Windham, C. (2005). The student’s perspective. In D. Oblinger & J. Oblinger (Eds), Educating the Net generation (pp. 5.1-5.16). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE. Retrieved June 2023, from https://cyberlearn.hes-so.ch/pluginfile.php/804144/mod_resource/content/2/pub7101.pdf

 

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