Article pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Exploring Transmedia: The Rip-Mix-Learn Classroom Lucille A. Benedict,*,† David T. Champlin,‡ and Harry E. Pence§ †
Department of Chemistry, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine 04104, United States Biology Department, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine 04104, United States § Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, SUNY College at Oneonta, Oneonta, New York 13820, United States ‡
ABSTRACT: Google Docs was used to create the rip-mix-learn (RML) classroom in two, first-year undergraduate introductory chemistry and biology courses, a second-semester introductory chemistry course, and an upper-level developmental biology course. This “transmedia” approach assigned students to create sets of collaborative lecture notes into which they inserted studentgenerated, Web-based media annotations. Students felt this helped them to reinforce concepts and create connections between content and topics with which they could personally relate. Grading of the annotations was accomplished simply by examining the revision history in Google Docs. Student-annotated lecture notes became part of the required material covered on exams. KEYWORDS: First-Year Undergraduate/General, Chemoinformatics, Computer-Based Learning, Internet/Web-Based Learning, Student-Centered Learning
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INTRODUCTION
Pence has argued that one way to use transmedia for teaching would be for the instructor to create a framework for a topic, then allow students to annotate that narrative with multimedia material they provide.3 Blogs usually consist of a series of comments only loosely connected to each other, and so blog software is probably not particularly appropriate for transmedia. Wikis normally lack the initial overall narrative, so although Wiki software may be used for transmedia, this is not usually the case. There are some examples in which Wikipedia has been used as a framework for student additions,4,5 but this is still somewhat different from true transmedia. Benedict and Pence used student-created videos for instructions on how to use certain instruments, but this also lacked the overall narrative that would have made it transmedia.4 Goggle Docs, which is now a component of Google Drive, seems to be the best software to support importation of the annotations students create using the World Wide Web into a preexisting narrative, namely, a basic set of class notes. Spaeth and Black have used Google Docs to guide students through the steps of a collaborative laboratory exercise, but their students did not add graphics or other media.5 Ideally, creating annotations will also provide opportunities to introduce students to the concepts and principles of identifying, analyzing, and judging the diversity of information sources now available.
According to the Pew Research Center, the combination of widespread access to broadband Internet connectivity, the popularity of social networking, and the near ubiquity of mobile computing is producing a fundamentally new kind of learner. Sometimes called an “mLearner”, where “m” stands for mobility, this new type of learner exhibits an ability and willingness to be a content creator rather than a student who simply absorbs material and reproduces it on an examination.1 Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, has said:1 Links have changed the way knowledge is presented; it’s no longer linear. It’s sometimes disrupted, scattered, and related to multimedia. There are ways now in the linked environment to pack more information into textbooks and other learning vehicles. You can do story telling in ways now that you never could. This suggests a classroom model that is much different from traditional teaching. Henry Jenkins coined the term “transmedia” in his book, Convergence Culture.2 Jenkins describes transmedia as follows:2 The flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want. Thus, transmedia starts with a basic narrative, which then becomes the basis for the addition of independent annotations that incorporate various media. The classic example is the Matrix movies, which have been embellished by fans to expand the original story in new directions that are still related to the original plot. The Matrix example cited by Jenkins included short videos, augmented reality games, and comic books or anime. © 2013 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
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PROJECT DESCRIPTION The rip-mix-learn (RML) classroom in this project had students in biology and chemistry courses create sets of collaborative lecture notes that incorporated Web-based media content to help reinforce concepts and create connections between course content and topics with which students could Published: August 29, 2013 1172
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personally relate. Google Docs was used to create and share the notes with all the students in the course. To produce the framework at the beginning of the semester, the instructor created a document for each lecture on Google Docs and all students were given viewing access. (Note: Google Docs is now a part of Google Drive.) As the course progressed, assigned students were given access to edit the appropriate document. Students in both the chemistry and biology courses produced a set of lecture notes for which they wrote portions or all of the material and annotated the content with images, videos, Web sites, or simulations they found on the Internet. The instructor had access to the document’s revision history and could thereby grade each student. The instructors referenced the notes and annotations during subsequent lectures. Exams were based on the assigned textbook material and also the annotated lecture notes, including Web sites used for annotations. Consequently, exam questions came from material contributed by both the instructor and students. The RML classroom was created for two first-semester introductory chemistry and biology courses, a second-semester introductory chemistry course, and an upper-level developmental biology course. The first-semester and second-semester introductory courses host 65−120 students a semester ranging from first-year students to those in their last year, with a variety of STEM majors represented, including chemistry, biology, environmental science, computer science, engineering, and physics. The first-semester courses also fulfill the general education requirement for a science course with lab; thus, many of the students were undeclared or nonmajors. The developmental biology course has 30 students and is an advanced course that biology majors typically take during their last year. The RML classroom was incorporated into all four courses as part of a larger transformation. Course development support was provided by a National Science Foundation award to increase access for students with disabilities through universal design for learning methods and to support their pursuit of careers in STEM fields.
Box 1. Example of Student Notes and Annotation for a General Chemistry Course When two chemicals react with one another, we can write this reaction using a balanced chemical equation. A balanced chemical equation utilizes the law of conservation of matter, which states that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. This theory was introduced in the 18th century by Antoine Lavoisier. Therefore, before and after a reaction, we will have the same amounts of particles and the same mass.6 http://shysterball.blogspot.com/2008/03/brian-sabeanalchemist.html The chemicals involved in a reaction are known as reactants and products. The reactants are the original chemicals that are mixed together. The products are what is produced from the reaction of the reactants.7 http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/chemistry/chang7/esp/ folder_structure/cr/m1/s2/index.htm If an equation does not add up, we can balance it. This is done by changing the ratio of the atoms, molecules, or formula units. This number goes before the chemical composition in our formulas. These are known as stoichiometric coefficients. They balance the relationship between reactants and products. This relationship is stoichiometry. during which time student completed the assignment even if they had missed the class. After one week, the recorded lectures were removed from the Web site, although the annotated lecture notes remained available for the entire semester. As in the chemistry courses, annotations consisted of a video, image, diagram, simulation, or Web site that correlated to the section of notes the students had chosen. Traditional communication between students outside of Google Docs was not necessary, as students could dynamically view one another’s revisions, notations and comments within the assignment. If a student accessed the file to add a notation, but saw that another student or students had already done so, then the assignment was to continue document revision by inserting additional notations or editing the other entries for further refinement of the assignment. The annotated lecture notes and textbook assignments became the basis for the exams. Each student had access to all the annotated lecture notes and could study them on Google Docs or download them to their computer in the Adobe Portable Document Format, PDF. Boxes 2 and 3 give examples of annotations created by
Variations of RML in the Chemistry Classroom
To implement the RML classroom into the general chemistry courses, the instructor had students annotate and expand on lecture notes that were created and uploaded by the instructor to Google Docs. In each course, students were divided into groups (20−30 students per group) and each group was required to annotate the notes twice during the semester. Each student had one week to choose a topic and add an annotation with a description. An annotation consisted of a video, image, diagram, simulation or Web site that correlated to the section of notes the students had chosen. For the general chemistry courses, the students were given only an outline for the course notes and they were required to write the notes for the section that they chose as well as add two referenced annotations to their notes. Box 1 gives an example of annotations from the firstsemester general chemistry courses. As in the example, students inserted “annotation” at the beginning of each annotation they inserted into the lecture notes in order to help other students identify material created by their classmates.
Box 2. Example of Student Notes and Annotation for a General Chemistry Course
Implementing RML in the Biology Classroom
Since we have been talking about ATP, I was curious about how much ATP we use everyday. An average human adult used 200−300 mols of ATP in a day. Also, because there is only 0.1 mols of ATP active in the body at any time, it must be created and recycled from 2000 to 3000 times per day. ATP is never a storage molecule, so each time it is created, it is immediately used.8 http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drobson24.htm
To implement the RML classroom into biology courses, a calendar was posted on the course Web site at the beginning of the semester and for each lecture date, three student note takers and three student annotators were listed. Lectures were recorded and posted on the course Web site for one week,
students for the lecture notes in the introductory biology course and the developmental biology course. Depending on the semester, there were two ways the annotation assignment was done for the three students assigned 1173
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groups based on whether or not they had completed at least 80% of the required quiz assignments during the semester, final grades were quite different (average GPAs of 3.34 and 2.21, respectively), but completion of the annotation assignment was virtually the same (94% and 91%, respectively). In other words, participation in the RML Classroom was particularly effective in engaging students who might not otherwise complete assignments and participate in the course. Exams were based in part on material created by students. Of course, that is a concern in science courses where content accuracy is absolutely essential. If needed, instructors can revise material in Google Docs. The instructor can edit and add a clarifying note while choosing to remain anonymous or adding their name. However, perhaps the most striking finding reported here is the quality of materials created by students. For example, during one semester of an introductory biology section with over 80 students involved, only three corrections or clarifications were added by the instructor to the annotated lecture notes. Indeed, rather than frustrating time spent by the instructor correcting student contributions, student-generated annotations often became part of the instructor’s lecture material in subsequent semesters. In an initial comparison, annotations created by students one semester were compared to presenting the material as part of the instructor’s lecture the next time the course was taught. For both semesters, the same three questions were asked about the material on exams. The average percentage correct for the three questions in the first semester and second semester was 64 and 60%, respectively, in the introductory course, and 78 and 69%, respectively, in the advanced course. Thus, in this brief comparison, students performed at least as well when the material was presented by a classmate annotator as by the instructor. Student-generated lecture notes and annotations were found to provide excellent material for exam questions. In looking back at the course exams, more questions were found to have come specifically from examples in the annotated lecture notes than from the textbook. Pre- and postassessment questionnaires were administered on the first and last day of each semester. In the preassessment survey, students reported using computing tools and social media at a high frequency for school assignments. For example, when asked to list computer tools they had used to complete assignments with a classmate or lab partner, email, Facebook, and Blackboard were frequently mentioned (60, 35 and 23%, respectively). The preassessment students reported using the Internet at a high frequency similar to how they would be using it in the RML classroom. Two-thirds of the students used the Internet daily to help them complete school assignments, and one-third used the Internet daily to learn more about school material but not as part of a required assignment. Approximately half (54%) of the students reported having used Google Docs before. When asked to list other courses in which Google Docs had been used to complete assignments, students typically listed only one course and nearly all were college rather than high school courses. Most students who had used Google Docs in multiple courses tended to report they were “very comfortable” with it, while others described themselves as “somewhat comfortable” using Google Docs. Interestingly, those who had used Google Docs did not appear particularly more experienced with using computing tools to complete assignments. For example, when asked to list computer tools they had used to work collaboratively with a classmate or lab partner, students who had experience with
Box 3. Example of Student Annotation for a Developmental Biology Course I looked at information on transgenic mice and I found a YouTube video about transgenic mice. This video is called The Science of Transgenic Mice and it is in two parts. The first part talks about how mice are very good model animals because they have a very short gestation period of only 3 weeks. They then talk about different techniques. The second video continues where the first video left off and it then talks about the difference between knockout and knock-in mice. Transgenic animals are very important because they can be used to study diseases in humans.9 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujZHrR1mro8 Below I pasted a great link that provides more information about transgenic mice since it is a very interesting topic! The link I pasted below gives a great description of transgenic strains and gene targeting related to knock out mice.10 http://www.animalresearch.info/en/science/animalsused/ mouseGM to annotate each lecture. One way was for the assignment to be completed during the week following the lecture. The other was to do it during the week before the lecture. For both ways, students added their annotation to the Google Docs document, but the latter approach also included giving a 3-min presentation of their material to the class. The student presentations included various combinations of PowerPoint slides, Web sites, or demonstrations. In every case, though, material from the Internet was included because that was a required part of the assignment. After class, each student inserted a paragraph description, including URLs, into the lecture notes document on Google Docs.
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ASSESSMENT Students completed the assignments in the RML classroom at a high frequency. In the introductory courses, 92% of biology students and 95% of chemistry students completed the annotation assignments, and 100% of the students in the advanced course completed the annotation assignments. The introductory courses are notable because in a preassessment survey, only 58% of the biology students and 46% of the chemistry students reported having used Google Docs before. As student ownership of the material increased, scores and work quality increased. Prior to implementing the RML Classroom, a comparable annotation assignment was used in the introductory course except the assignment was simply turned in for credit. Only 73% of those students completed the assignment, in comparison with 92% in the RML Classroom. The quality of the work also improved. Scores averaged 80% when turned in for credit, while the average score for the Google Docs work was 96%. When the annotation assignment was coupled with a classroom presentation, more students completed the Google Docs work than the presentation, 94% and 83%, respectively. Interestingly, when the annotation assignment was coupled with a classroom presentation, all the students included their names as part of the annotation they inserted into the Google Docs lecture notes, while only 17% had included their names during a previous semester when the classroom presentation was not part of the course. Participation in the RML classroom assignments was high for all students. For example, when students were divided into two 1174
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their work would improve the ability of students to identify, analyze, and validate the information sources they used from the World Wide Web. This result is hard to measure, although the instructors did feel that the work the students produced was of higher quality than usual, even for students who were otherwise not fully engaged or succeeding in the course. The authors hope to follow up on this question in subsequent studies. Interestingly, although the assignments did not require students to interact with each other, an informal survey found that more than half the students contacted other students and worked collaboratively on the assignments. The students created course content using real-world examples of science principles often involving such topics as health, exercise, nutrition, and the environment, which were directly relevant to themselves and their classmates. One of the important factors to consider when developing any project based on the World Wide Web is the security of the information that the students provide. Web sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn solicit a great deal of personal data, and Facebook is notorious for frequently changing the security settings to make this information more available to the public. This project avoided these problems because Google did not require personal information to set up an account, and the material added by the students was viewable only to other members of the class. Instructors who are reluctant to try assignments like those described here might be concerned about implementing the assignments in large, introductory courses, especially as the tools used may be new to many of the students. However, we found there were almost no technical questions from students about how to complete the assignments. To help reduce technical questions, detailed descriptions of the assignments along with examples were posted on course Web sites at the beginning of the semester. Technical problems were also reduced because the student e-mail accounts created by the university happen to be gmail accounts. Consequently, those addresses could be easily used by the instructors for communication and administration, as well as minimizing issues of student privacy. For example, grading was able to be accomplished simply by examining the revision history in Google Docs. The only challenge faced seemed to be the currently limited effectiveness of Google Docs on mobile devices.
Google Docs were about equally likely as others to have used Facebook or email to complete previous assignments. On the postassessment survey, students were supportive of the RML classroom approach. Spending more time on a topic tends to increase student understanding; in addition, if students enjoy an activity, they are also more likely to spend that extra time. Table 1 focuses on the responses in the first-semester Table 1. Mean Student Responses from Selected Survey Questions Mean Scoresa (SD) Statements for Response 1. 2.
3.
4. 5. 6. 7.
I found the annotations to Google Docs a meaningful learning experience. Searching for chemistry-related Web content for the annotated notes helped me gain a better understanding of the course material. Writing notes to go along with a topic and adding annotations helped me gain a better understanding of the course material. I will use Google Docs for other courses and group work. The annotated notes helped me to better understand topic that I found confusing. I regularly used the annotated notes to study for this course. I would recommend that a friend take this course with the current format.
Chemistry, N = 46
Biology, N = 23
4.04 (1.09)
3.95 (1.11)
3.61 (0.93)
3.57 (0.95)
4.20 (0.81)
4.26 (0.81)
3.70 (1.11)
3.65 (1.19)
3.70 (0.99)
3.70 (1.11)
3.83 (1.04)
3.83 (1.15)
4.57 (0.65)
4.61 (0.58)
a
For each statement, the students were asked to respond by choosing the closest of the following options: “Strongly disagree” (1); “Disagree” (2); “Neutral” (3); “Agree” (4); or “Strongly agree” (5).
introductory chemistry course. Notably, only one question from one student received a “Strongly Disagree” response. The most positive score was in response to whether the students would recommend the course in its current format. The same day as the postassessment surveys were done, students also completed the university’s course evaluation form. Students also responded favorably to the RML classroom approach on these. One student wrote, “The assignments made me part of the class.” On the other hand, some of the lowest scores on the postassessment survey came in response to whether the student planned to use Google Docs for other course work in the future. Perhaps students are just beginning to become familiar with using tools such as Facebook and Google Docs for school assignments. In the preassessment survey, a relatively small percentage of students who listed familiarity with Facebook and Google Docs had used the media to facilitate completing assignments (35 and 32%, respectively). In the future, it will be exciting to combine new teaching approaches in science classrooms while collecting a variety of data to gauge the success of transmedia approaches in the science classroom (e.g., attendance, quiz scores, final grades, retention in science courses, etc.).
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CONCLUSIONS The instructors concluded the student writing in annotated lecture notes was higher quality than normally seen in these courses. We attribute this to the fact the writing was public to the entire class, and each student was responsible for helping create a set of notes that everyone would use to help them in the course. It appeared these collaborative efforts also fostered community in the larger introductory courses, where learning might otherwise be a sterile and isolating experience. It was apparent that student engagement and collaboration benefited significantly from this project. The overall student assessment of this project was quite favorable, and it appears that students greatly benefited. The time required to implement the RML classroom was easily offset by the high rate of participation in the assignments and the high quality of the students’ work.
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DISCUSSION The RML classroom has significant benefits for students by exposing them to a greater variety of knowledge on different topics, as well as encouraging them to use the Internet to find, learn, and evaluate scientific principles. Students found the RML classroom assignments to be accessible, engaging, and educational. It was hoped that having other students depend on
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected]. 1175
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Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS L.A.B. and D.T.C. received support for curriculum development in part from National Science Foundation Award No. HRD 0833567.
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REFERENCES
(1) Waters, J. K. Broadband, Social Networks, and Mobility Have Spawned a New Kind of Learner. THE Journal, Dec. 13, 2011. http:// thejournal.com/articles/2011/12/13/broadband-social-networks-andmobility.aspx?sc_lang=en (accessed Aug 2013). (2) Jenkins, H. Convergence Culture; New York University Press: New York, 2006. (3) Pence, H. E. Teaching with Transmedia. J. Educ. Tech. Syst. 2012, 40 (2), 131−140. (4) Benedict, L.; Pence, H. E. Teaching Chemistry Using StudentCreated Videos and Photo Blogs Accessed with Smartphones and Two-Dimensional Barcodes. J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89 (4), 492−496. (5) Spaeth, A. D.; Black, R. S. Google Docs as a Form of Collaborative Learning. J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89 (8), 1078−1079. (6) Calcaterra, C. “Brian Sabean, Alchemist.” Shysterball, March 18, 2008. http://shysterball.blogspot.com/2008/03/brian-sabeanalchemist.html (accessed Aug 2013). (7) Balancing Chemical Equations. http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/ chemistry/chang7/esp/folder_structure/cr/m1/s2/index.htm (accessed Aug 2013). (8) Robson, D. ATP: Energy’s Currency. Bodybuilding.com, June 25, 2004. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drobson24.htm (accessed Aug 2013). (9) McKinsey, G. The Science of Transgenic Technology, Parts 1 and 2. YouTube. HHMI, April 25, 2007. http://www.youtube.com/ user/Proneural?feature=watch (accessed Aug 2013). (10) Wells, S. Of Mice and Men. YouTube. Coalition for Medical Progress and Research Defence Society, October 7, 2011. http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=zprHU1mvaBo (accessed Aug 2013).
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