Spring 1998
Vol 6 Issue 2
IN THIS ISSUE...
Technology and Change ... duh!
Some Thoughts on Change from Egypt
Creating Opportunities for Student Success
Playing
Out the Imagination's Wildest Scenarios...
From Computer Bio Simulations...
Community College Assessment Library
SEE ALSO...
The Forum
Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction
From Computer Biology Simulations to Virtual Science Courses
at Rio Salado College: An Interview with John Arle
Alan Levine, MCLI
NOTE: The audio version of this interview, taped on March 13, 1998, is available in RealAudio format.
A: A few years ago, you started a project with a fleet of laptop computers for
your remote science labs. How is this lab used?
J: The two simulations we use in introductory Biology deal with genetics and photosynthesis.
The student's experience is well beyond what they get in the "traditional" labs.
With the photosynthesis software, students can manipulate individual variables such
as light, humidity, and temperature, and then they can monitor the rate of photosynthesis
for their "cyber-plant." After a whole series of experiments they graph data and
summarize results. With the genetics software, students conduct breeding experiments
by choosing organisms, mating them, and then analyzing the characteristics of the
offspring.
A: Over the years, how many students have gone through these labs?
J: Every student who has taken our labs in the last 5 years...hundreds. I've actually
quit collecting feedback data because it hardly changed from the first year.
A: These labs are taught by part-time faculty -- what kind of support is available
for these teachers?
J: I have a full-time lab technician who moves around town to set up the labs, and
he keeps track of the faculty who are teaching the classes that use computers. The
first time they teach such a course, he provides an orientation to the software and
checks out a laptop to them so they can become familiar with it. He is also "on
call" in the evenings so, if there is a problem, the teacher can page him and
he can immediately respond.
A: Switching gears, tell us about teaching science via distance learning.
J: We provide options for either a print-based or an Internet-based "lecture." The
labs are done with "kits" that we send by regular mail. [ Image 37k ] For the environmental class,
I have taken a botanical approach. We have individually packaged labs, for example,
a seed dispersal lab. Students get several types of seeds which they plant and collect
data as they grow.
A: How do your distance students compare to your classroom students?
J: The lab reports, on the average, from the distance learning students are vastly
superior to the classroom students. I receive better data collection, better presented
data results, better graphs; every aspect of the lab report is better. I think they're
putting in a higher quality of individual time.
The pattern that we find is that students who get A's and B's in the introductory
course, say BIO 100 or BIO 181, and then used it as a pre-requisite for Anatomy and
Physiology or Microbiology tend to get A's and B's in the follow-up classes, regardless
of where they took those classes. Likewise, students who earned C's or D's in the
introductory course tended to get C's or below in the follow-up class. These factors
tell me that the work ethic or application vehicle is involved rather than anything
else the instructor is doing in the course. Students are getting the introductory
content from us adequately enough to be competitive at the next level.
A: Tell us about the Anatomy class you are developing for the Internet.
J: Last June, I attended a seminar in which A.D.A.M. software displayed their latest
product. I thought their previous products were "cute" and useful as an add-on. When
I saw the improvements in their newest product, I began to understand that I could
take an entire course and wrap it around the material on an A.D.A.M. CD-ROM as well
as Internet resources and augment it with my own writing. So the direction I have
gone is away from a textbook. It's a savings over what the students would be paying
for the book, the lab book, and the lab fee.
A: What kind of activities are on the CD-ROM?
J: On the "Interactive Anatomy" disc they have everything from a complete body dissection
that can be manipulated one layer at a time. Each one of the diagrams are coded so
that the student can click on any body part and see what it is. With the new utility
software, I can select a particular body part and ask the students to investigate
the 15 major structures found on that screen. So this is not a lecture which points
out the parts and names them. It allows the students to go to their own screen and
find the parts. With this, I have access to a tremendous reservoir of medical-quality
images around which I may create entire lessons. The learners are responsible for
finding these parts; they are engaged in the activity.
A: Since the media is on the CD-ROM they won't have to download big data files?
J: Right. The file is a tiny little instruction file. All of the gripping images,
some three-dimensional, some 360 degree rotating that can be manipulated are stored
on the CD-ROM.
And that is only one of the discs! The other discs cover physiology. These are programmed
content, written by Elaine Marieb, author of one of the best selling Anatomy and
Physiology textbooks. Students work through these modules as well as simulated lab
activities such as learning the process of measuing blood pressure or drawing blood.
A student doesn't learn how to put the cuff on a patient or how to insert the needle
to draw blood, but she/he learns all of the analytical parts that surround these
procedures. So, if I am looking at this as an introduction to the concepts, I think
it is a superior way of covering the content.
As far as the development of what I am doing now, it's fun. It is fun to be structuring
a course totally different from what I've done in the past in the classroom. I am
convinced that when I am done, the new curriculum will provide a better experience
for students than my previous classroom activities.
A: Are you using other technologies for the Internet courses?
J: I'm using a program that creates Java-based interactive crossword puzzles, another
great way to test vocabulary. Another program, "QuizPlease," can write
a quiz with multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank items. My primary use is for practice
items that provide immediate feedback. I tell students up front that some of the
questions will be used on the proctored mid-term and final exams.
Also, after students enter all of their answers, they click a button that will give
them a total score. It won't give them individual item feedback, but at the bottom,
I can provide some suggestions for the process thy should follow if they scored in
a particular range.
A: What do you see in the future?
J: For Rio, what I see are fewer and fewer classroom sites. The trend indicates that
more students are enrolling in the distance programs. Two or three years from now
I may not have any classroom instruction here in the Phoenix metro area. What I would
like to see is a nationwide program of students. I think we can enroll thousands
and thousands of students nationwide. The implications support that I will need adjunct
faculty nationwide. Maybe even globally.
A: It sounds like you thrive on constant change.
J: I've learned to...although initially I didn't. Our student base is one that is
mostly working students who cannot afford to spend the entire day taking class. These
distance learning classes work very well for them. And I see a superior body of work
from these types of students -- better writing and better analysis. Technology enables
this.
A: It puts a lot of responsibility on the student.
J: It's a ton of responsibility. But again, the average student we have in these
classes have accepted that responsibility. This is a student-active process, the
exact opposite of passively sitting in class.
Web References
Cogix Crossword Wizard
http://www.cogix.com/
QuizPlease
http://www.quizplease.com/
A.D.A.M.
http://www.adam.com/