Developing creativity in learning through multimedia presentations

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Developing creativity in learningthrough
multimedia presentations

• Jacqueline Elsom
• School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences

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Students doubt their ability to succeed in
learning biochemistry

• Interdisciplinary subject which examines dynamic
  chemical interactions that are fundamental to all
  life processes
• Students show strong negative preconceptions and
  anxieties about ability to succeed in studying
  biochemistry
• I didnt do very well at chemistry, so
  biochemistry is going to be even worse
• its too difficult, there are so many pathways
  to learn and so much detail to cover
• May be related to the fact that fundamental
  principles cannot be seen in our day to day
  environment thus understanding requires spatial
  awareness and imagination
• Subject traditionally taught in very dogmatic
  way, contextual holistic approach improves
  engagement but adds complexity

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Therefore need to promote change in attitude to
promote engagement with subject and positive
academic performance

• Given these problems need to improve self
  efficacy in learning to promote motivation,
  engagement with subject and provide richer
  learning experience.
• Banduras work on social cognitive theory places
  self -efficacy as a common cognitive mechanism
  for mediating motivation and behaviour (Bandura
  1986)
• In context of academic performance Self efficacy
  in becoming scientifically literate Baldwin
  1998.
• Importance of developing self-efficacy in skills
  associated with deeper learning such as problem
  solving, reflective practice, personal
  development and learner autonomy (Gibbs 1992)

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Students expectations of their ability to
perform well can shape the outcome of their
efforts and ability to succeed
Based on model described by Bandura 1986
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Therefore self-efficacy in learning can be
promoted through number of pedagogical strategies

• Developing ownership of learning
• Development of self-evaluative and reflective
  skills
• Encouraging student collaboration of problem
  solving
• Incorporation of self and peer assessment to
  enhance learner autonomy
• And of course provision of regular feedback

Thus module teaching strategy involved
incorporation of opportunities for all of the
above Jewel in the crown was, so I thought, use
of peer and self assessed student presentation
seminar session
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Standard student presentations - why doesnt this
help them learn?

• Students remain in a stage of basic duality
  according to Perrys work on cognitive
  development (Perry 1988)
• Performance related anxiety prevents learning in
  the seminar session
• I am not thinking about what people are saying,
  I am not even listening, in my head I am running
  through what I am going to say
• Even if you are not nervous, when you watch
  someone else, and they are, you are thinking,
  come on it will be all right, you feel for them
  and you concentrate more on this than what they
  are saying
• In the preparation
• you just have to memorise lots of facts to get
  out in the seminar, you dont really remember it
  afterwards
• Once its done you forget about it, you think god
  I am glad that is over
• Provides limited opportunity for reflection in
  peer and self evaluation

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What is creativity?

• Potential of digital technologies to enable new
  forms of engagement, access and educational
  achievement through provision of opportunities
  for interaction and participation and the active
  demonstration of the terms below. (Loveless 2003,
  2006)
• Digital technologies exhibit features which can
  be exploited by users to make a distinct
  contribution to activities (could not be done as
  effectively or at all using other tools)
  (Loveless, 2003)
• Creativity has been defined as imaginative
  activity fashioned so as to produce outcomes that
  are both original and have value NACCE, 1999
• This definition expresses 5 characteristics of
  creativity Using imagination, A fashioning
  process, Pursuing purpose, Being original and
  Judging value

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How could being creative help?

• Therefore use ICT resources as tools for
  pedagogic purpose of developing students ability
  to explore and express their perceptions of
  biochemical concepts
• Could applying imagination and creativity to
  problem-solving in communicating ideas,
  effectively work with students who do not fit
  within the tradition realms of creative subjects?
• Could the introduction of such a creative
  opportunity decrease self-censorship and shift
  the students position to one of increased
  ownership of learning?

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How did we prepare the students?

• Students were told that they needed to prepare a
  4 minute film and given the opportunity to choose
  a topic that interested them from a wide ranging
  list
• They were allowed to organise themselves into
  groups for the exercise and given the criteria
  for which the exercise would be assessed
• An introductory session from Janette and Myself
  introduced them to some fundamentals of media
  presentation preparation with examples of
  previous films
• This also gave them the opportunity to discuss
  with us their ideas, choices of film style
  available and our expectations

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How did we prepare the students?

• To help them plan their time they had to submit a
  storyboard of their ideas part way through the
  semester
• Mid-way through the semester students had
  individual group tutorials with Janette to
  discuss and refine their storyboard ideas
• They also had a tutorial with me to discuss
  ideas, develop ideas and review progress
• Films and a portfolio demonstrating development
  of their ideas and individual contributions to
  the project were submitted for assessment
• The finished films were shown in a seminar
  session at the end of the semester and were peer
  reviewed by the students themselves using the
  criteria provided at the start of the assessment

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How did I investigate their responses to the
assessment strategy?

• Students were invited to fill in an anonymous
  questionnaire which allowed them to express how
  they felt about this type of presentation
  strategy compared with others that were required
  to carry out on the course in other modules
• The questionnaire was composed of a mixture of
  comparative scales in relation to their feelings
  combined with questions to allow them to further
  expand on their experiences
• Informal discussions with student groups were
  carried out throughout the semester to provide an
  opportunity for more detailed feedback

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Students Reponses
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Overall what were the key themes that emerged?

• Students felt it was a lot of work
• Some did not like the open ended learning
  outcomes and wanted examples of films or more
  guidance despite the fact that these werent
  given to prevent constraining their ideas
• They liked that it was a new exciting alternative
  to their regular diet of assessment strategies
  (essays, lab reports oral presentations)
• They enjoyed what they were doing and had fun!

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The films, what do they say?

• Clearly the students used a wide variety of ideas
  and approaches to communicate complex concepts
  which included using paper and plasticine models
  for animation supportive with narrative, animated
  sequences using packages such as Adobe flash
  drama or acting, news report type footage, and
  chat show like discussions.
• They clearly display diversity and also indicate
  that simple (paper animation) as well as more
  sophisticated methods can be used to equql effect
• Many of these examples highlight how the students
  added personalities to biochemical components
  for example the blind date dialogue between
  enzyme and substrate and that between glucose and
  the insulin molecule
• The ability to bring to life biochemical concepts
  in dynamic and 3 dimensional ways highlights the
  ability of the students to demonstrate higher
  order cognitive processes and make new meaning
  within their existing conceptual frameworks.
  Whether this arises from he use of the
  technology, the opportunity to be creative or the
  collaboration within groups remains to be
  investigated.

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In preparing the filmsDid you feel you learnt
more in terms of factual content through
preparation of the film?
I learnt in the actual making and preparation of
the film I felt encouraged doing this as I was
understanding complex guidelines that didnt make
sense to me in text not simply revising a
chunk of text and repeating it to the
class ..very good for getting to know your
subject and very entertaining
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Did you feel you planned more in advance than you
would do normally?
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Did you feel you planned more in advance than you
would do normally? If so why?

• Dictated by needs of the exercise, camera, film
  editing suite availability etc.
• couldnt leave everything to last minute as
  usual
• Important working in a group not to let the
  other group members down
• We wanted a more professional outcome
• More interesting assignment
• More analysis of details required to think about
  how facts could be conveyed
• Time required to share ideas and understanding
  in developing film ideas

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Did you think any more about how you might
communicate your ideas than normal?
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During the seminar sessionDid you listen more
(or less) than you would in oral presentation
sessions?
.better than giving a presentation, more
informative, I actually listened! Did anything
surprise you? Yes my level of concentration and
how much attention the others (students in
seminar) were paying
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During the seminar sessionDid you feel that you
learnt any more (or less)?
would probably retain the information better
because it is a different way to learn much
easier to understand visual concepts Learn
things better I learnt more about
biochemistry Attention span is longer and your
learn more
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Using the films as reusable learning objects

• 91 of students said they would watch the films
  again and not just their own
• 82 of students agreed that they saw the films as
  a learning resource with some of the following
  comments
• Yes, definitely they explain the topics in a way
  which you can relate to. Puts detail into
  context
• Yes, since this would give me an outline to
  conduct the relevant detailed study
• Yes, kept me interested and the ideas in each
  topic concisely put together which allows you to
  get your head around a subject before learning
  the detail
• No, I prefer the lectures!
• Much easier to understand visual concepts

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During the seminar sessionDid you feel less
anxious?
But..it was a different anxiety
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Did viewing your film make you reflect on how you
communicated your ideas more (or less)?
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Did seeing the films make you reflect differently
than you would do normally?

• Yes, I saw how I responded to different styles
• More scope for creativity for presenting ideas
  may improve the ability of the viewer to retain
  information
• yes, I got to know a lot is involved in
  communicating ideas
• Realise that concepts need visual aids labels
  and good explanation to be conveyed
• Easy way to get lots of information and you can
  watch your own
• yes, made us realise that we hadnt conveyed the
  information as clearly as we had thought

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Did the finished film convey your ideas as you
had intended?

• Yes 90 of students were happy that they had
  achieved their intended goals but added comments
  such as
• Yes, but on reflection it could have been more
  factual
• yes but could have been more entertaining
• Yes, but would like to have made it more
  interesting to capture attention
• Yes, although I would have included more
  scientific content in future

So they were clearly thinking more and reflecting
on their presentations as indeed they had
indicated in response to the previous question
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Were there any things that surprised you?

• the exercise took into account group input and
  creativity which is often overlooked in
  scientific presentations
• encouraged or inhibited?encouraged because of
  the hope of appealing to the audience better
• The creativity of the groups and how much
  information we wanted to convey
• Seeing science in relative context
• That it looked as good as it did!
• The originality of the ideas and the thought
  that went into making the films
• There was a greater interaction in the class
• How difficult it is to translate ideas into
  reality

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Summary of main findings

• More planning and thought goes into this type of
  presentation
• Students think more about how they communicate
  their ideas
• Students were able to maintain concentration for
  longer periods of type (?diversity of styles or
  ability to watch TV all day long) its what we
  watch in our leisure time, what context we will
  relate to most
• Importance of students being able to see
  themselves communicate and thus provide
  opportunity for deeper reflection on
  communicative processes in science

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Work for the future

• Evaluate the impact of the exercise on students
  future communication and presentation exercises
• Will they take any lessons from what they have
  achieved here?
• Will It affect their confidence in future
  communication processes?

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Acknowledgements
Janette Grabham, Ian Spalding and Phil Riley
(Watts media centre)

• University of Brighton, Centre for Learning and
  Teaching, Fellowship Scheme
• Avril Loveless for inspiration
• Susan Holland for ideas on decreasing student
  self-censorship
• Joyce Barlow

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References

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