Pen-Enabled, Real-Time Student Engagement for Teaching in STEM

Article pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc

Pen-Enabled, Real-Time Student Engagement for Teaching in STEM Subjects Sylvia Urban* School of Science (Discipline of Applied Chemistry and Environmental Science), RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia S Supporting Information *

ABSTRACT: The introduction of pen-enabling devices has been demonstrated to increase a student’s ability to solve problems, communicate, and learn during note taking. For the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects that are considered to be symbolic in nature, pen interfaces are better suited for visual−spatial content and also provide a better interface to support human expression. The approach described herein is the adoption of an innovative Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) pedagogy to enable delivery of chemistry lectures through OneNote, offering real-time annotation of notes delivered directly to student’s personal devices. The TEL innovation adopts the use of Cloud-based teaching methodologies (Microsoft OneDrive), the use of highfidelity digital pen technology (Surface Pro), and standard Microsoft products (OneNote 2016), which are not specialized, to support the learning pedagogy. The motivation was to enhance the student teaching and learning experience while offering a single delivery system for the lecturer. For the lecturer, OneNote offers a one-stop-shop for those who use different source materials, and all lecture material is available via a OneDrive Cloud. KEYWORDS: General public, First-Year Undergraduate/General, Second-Year Undergraduate, Upper-Division Undergraduate, Curriculum, Collaborative/Cooperative Learning, Inquiry-Based/Discovery Learning, Multimedia-Based Learning, Testing/Assessment, Applications of Chemistry

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INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND Educational research indicates that a key barrier in technology usage by higher education teachers is the lack of familiarity with the technology and also the lack of understanding of its uses in a higher education course.1,2 Traditionally, technology training has focused on helping teachers overcome technical barriers such as acquiring technical skills needed to operate the technology, but little effort has been made around incorporating pedagogical models of technology use into training.3 In order to achieve cultural transformation, it is important to address these pedagogical models of technology usage. In terms of pen-enabling devices, it has been demonstrated that adding a precise, on-screen digital pen or stylus increases a student’s ability to solve problems correctly, communicate and build on complex ideas, make accurate inferences about information, and learn during note taking and knowledge creation.4 For many languages, as well as symbolic subjects (e.g., mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, etc.), a keyboard inhibits expression whereas a pen interface supports human expression. Pen interfaces are also better suited for spatial content than keyboards.4−6 Compared with interfaces that accept finger input on touch-enabled tablets, a high-fidelity (highly functional) digital pen supports more precise writing and elaboration of ideas. The more complex the problem that © XXXX American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

students need to solve, the greater the benefit of using highfidelity pen input. In addition, research has shown that students learn far more deeply from words and pictures than from words alone.7 Particularly in the higher education teaching environment, there is an ever-increasing demand to engage and enhance the learning outcomes of students’, particularly in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas. Economic concerns and rapidly changing technology and content require technology innovations to be adaptive and low cost. Cloud-based teaching relies on the act of storing and accessing information and using various programs over the Internet. In this teaching approach, the learning design relied on three basic elements: • Cloud-based hub for storing and sharing information • Digital information gathering and multicollaborative tool • Devices to produce, annotate, manage, share, and access information Received: February 14, 2017 Revised: May 30, 2017

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DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00127 J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX

Journal of Chemical Education

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processes, and the innovative use of technology in diverse teaching environments.

There are a wide range of Cloud-based hubs for storing and sharing information. Cloud-based teaching methodologies using Google Drive, Google Docs, or Dropbox in conjunction with the use of tablet devices such as iPads have been explored primarily with an emphasis in the application to chemistry undergraduate laboratory settings.8−15 The Cloud-based teaching methodology described herein uses OneDrive, which is Microsoft’s service for hosting files in the Cloud. It is available for free to all the owners of a Microsoft account. OneDrive offers users a simple way to store, sync, and share all kinds of files, with other people and devices on the Cloud, meaning that it can be used anywhere and at any time. The second feature of this teaching methodology is the requirement for a digital information gathering and multicollaborative tool. Proprietary and open source examples exist, such as SharePoint, and offer specific benefits depending on user requirements. In this learning and teaching design, the information gathering and multiuser collaboration occurred via Microsoft’s OneNote 2016 program, which “gathers users’ notes (handwritten or typed), drawings, screen clippings, video or audio commentaries. Notes can be shared with other OneNote users over the Internet or a network. In OneNote, users can enter typed text via keyboard, create tables, and insert pictures. However, unlike a word processor, users can write anywhere on a virtually unbounded document window. Also, users do not need to explicitly save their work since OneNote saves data automatically as the user works. OneNote saves information in pages organized into sections within notebooks. Users can move pages within the binder and annotate them with a stylus or word-processing or drawing tools. Users may add embedded multimedia recordings and web links.”16 OneNote is free for students, and the OneNote app is free for all devices, further promoting accessibility. Many students already own and are actively engaged with pen-enabled mobile devices. OneNote has been explored and compared to PowerPoint for teaching chemistry but not with the integration of Cloud-based technologies.17 The final part of this teaching methodology involves the use of a device to produce, annotate, manage, and share information and the devices for students to access the information. Many devices are now available with a pen or stylus to allow accurate and comfortable input of information. In this instance, Microsoft’s Surface Pro computer was the penenabled device used by the lecturer. The pen has a quick response and enough pressure sensitivity to make writing or drawing feel natural. Students participated with their own device (mobile phones, tablets, laptops, or desktop computers).

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Research Design

The TEL innovation adopted was to implement the use of OneNote as the information gathering and multiuser collaboration program in conjunction with OneDrive for Cloud-based teaching and a Surface Pro computer as the pen-enabled device to produce, manage, share information, and access the information. The aim was to apply the TEL using a pen-enabled device and Cloud-based teaching methodologies to improve student learning outcomes including enhancing the student cohort experience. The key features of this TEL design that makes it useful include: • Focusing the student attention to enhance comprehension via real-time annotations • Providing lecture material for viewing anytime, anywhere, and on any device • Conducting collaborative work with students via realtime problem solving • Illustrating relevance of course content via imbedded content such as videos • Re-evaluating ways to make the content interesting and relevant to the individual student It was also anticipated that implementation of this TEL would improve student comprehension, retention, and overall performance, leading to a positive impact in the Course Experience Survey (CES) and Good Teaching Score (GTS), which are used to monitor teaching success in Australian Universities. The CES is administered by the Student Services Centre (SSC) at RMIT University to help academic and teaching staff to obtain feedback about their courses and contribute to the improvement of student learning. The GTS measures students’ perceptions of teaching standards. It focuses on teachers’ feedback, motivation, attention, understanding of problems, and skill in explaining concepts. High scores on this scale are associated with the perception that there are good practices in place, and conversely, lower scores reflect a perception that these practices occur less frequently. The goal was to implement a single delivery system for the university lecturer that could be shared to students via a viewing link. Students would then participate by observing realtime annotations, anywhere, anytime on any device. The great benefit was the ability to have off-line access, and this learning design supports distance learning such as the Open University offerings. There are a multitude of key benefits for both the student learning experience and for the lecturer using this learning design. These include an improved student experience and engagement via: • Provision of real-time annotations (syncing within seconds) of lecture notes via automatic synching in the OneDrive Cloud • Fully annotated and linked notes available immediately • Visual annotations to class experience assisting in visual and spatial memory • Improved student engagement with content via mobility in class • Providing more time for problem solving in class (e.g., using annotations in tutorial problems and getting

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RATIONALE AND FOCUS Little to no attention has been paid to pen-enabled, real-time student engagement in teaching STEM subjects at RMIT University, which is located in Melbourne, Australia, particularly as the operating system (Windows 10), and the device (Surface Pro) is not part of the university’s standard operating system. This initiative adopted the use of Cloud-based teaching methodologies (OneDrive with the use of OneNote) at RMIT University at the course level. The TEL innovation was implemented into a range of chemistry university courses to test the feasibility and acceptability of the technology with a focus to deliver all undergraduate and postgraduate courses using the TEL design. This TEL innovation maps into three key areas of teaching including the use of technology to enhance the way students learn, the use of technology to support development of teachers and improve pedagogical B



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lecturer with no background knowledge in this technology, it was not a challenging task to learn this TEL pedagogy. Essentially once the transition of material into OneNote is complete, the only two tasks that require a one-off training session are migration of the OneNote folders into the OneDrive Cloud and learning how to make the wireless connection via the wireless display adapter in the lecture theaters. In cases where the wireless display adapter fails to connect or the connection is lost, a connection to the Surface computer is made in the same manner (either via a VGA or HDMI connection) that is required for any other laptop computer.

students to interact with this task by answering verbally or by providing their own written response via the pen) • Making all notes available on any device anytime • Students getting a perfect record of everything written in class and stop worrying about writing down every equation or sentence and can focus on the points being made at the lecture • Enabling students to annotate the lectures themselves immediately after class on their own pen-enabled device In addition to the student engagement for the lecturer, efficiency and cost benefits to the university include removing the need for using whiteboards or document cameras and providing real-time annotations. There is also the advantage of mobility in the classroom environment. Microsoft’s wireless display adapter (ScreenBeam Education Edition 2) can be plugged into the HDMI or VGA input during lectures. This wireless display adapter lets teachers and students wirelessly share content from compatible tablets, smartphones, and laptops onto a projector screen or other display. Teachers are free to move around the classroom while simultaneously sharing content onto the big screen. This enables greater engagement with students as they can use the Surface Pro computer to write an answer. The lecturer is no longer “tied” to the screen control console but can move the computer to a more central location, be closer to the students, or move the computer around the room. There are also offline capabilities, such as making video Screencasts to reinforce theory after class, and these can be used either within or outside the class. All these features make “flipping” the classroom a lot easier. The pen-enabled device adds a number of functionalities to online marking. This is particularly important for areas, such as organic chemistry, which require annotations of structures rather than annotations of structured rubrics which are limited to text. These extra features streamline and speed up marking. The Surface Pro computer enhances the usability of OneNote. By simply clicking the pen, one can capture any area of the screen and send that information directly to OneNote. OneNote has a built in recording feature allowing for feedback and explanations to students to be recorded directly. This recording feature is of significant benefit to students from non-English speaking backgrounds or those with disabilities as it allows them to work with the material at their own pace or to replay and review the material when required. In addition, the ability for the lecturer to navigate around a room means, especially in lab settings, that the teacher can move to students and groups requiring help and emphasize points alongside their workbenches. Personal interaction between lecturers and students is thus enhanced. The true power of OneNote is that it accommodates any teaching style from the standard PowerPoint-based lectures, to flipped classroom,18,19 blended learning,20 hybrid learning, or interactive question-and-answer. All lecture material in any form (e.g., Word, PowerPoint, pdf, etc.) is stored in one common place using OneNote. It is also ideal for writing-based courses or courses with significant group work. It is easy to change, upload content, and control how information is released to the classroom. This provides a flexible learning and teaching environment that is sustainable. The cost benefit is that one device can be used for both lectures and the office. For academics or lecturers reluctant to invest time in new tools, their familiarity with Microsoft Office makes the implementation and the transition to OneNote intuitive. As a

The Student Cohort

RMIT University is the largest higher education provider in Australia and as such has one of the most diverse student cohorts. The College of Science, Engineering and Health (SEH) encompasses up to 28,000 students and nearly 1000 teaching staff with diverse student cohorts, learning needs, and teaching issues. Cloud-based teaching methodologies can provide a common platform for academics to enhance student learning. The TEL innovation was employed to deliver into a total of 6 undergraduate and 1 postgraduate chemistry courses in 2016. These courses comprise students studying across several programs across various year levels and are taught in a face-toface context. Most of the courses involved teaching in the areas of Organic and Analytical Chemistry with curricula that spanned a series of topic areas.

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METHODOLOGY The TEL innovation described herein employed the use of a Surface Pro 3 or Surface Pro 4 computer with a high-fidelity digital pen. In addition, the use of a wireless display adapter which can be plugged into the HDMI or VGA input during lectures provides mobility in the class. All lecture material is imbedded into OneNote and made available via a view-only link to students via OneDrive or via OneNote. The lecturer is required to establish a OneDrive Microsoft password protected account to create OneNote folders in the Cloud. Students are then provided with a viewing link only to access the OneNote notes. OneNote as a collaborative tool requires the sharing of digital information. A multitude of different file formats can be imbedded into OneNote. For collaborative teaching styles an editing link can also be shared with students. Students used tablet PCs, iPads, and Android devices including some smartphones in the classroom environment. It must be emphasized that it is at the students’ discretion to view the lecture content via a device of their choice and expense. Alternatively, they attend the class, and a recording as well as a PDF of the lecture content is provided at the end of the class via the Learning Management System (LMS), currently Blackboard Learn, at RMIT University. Students are able to participate in their own way, but a complete set of lectures is available to those who do not have a device via the LMS. OneDrive behaves like a LMS for course materials, but what separates it is the real-time annotation features. Learning Pattern

One important aspect of reproducibility of technology beyond the single university is the communication opportunities used to replicate the learning design across the sector.21 The TEL initiative is being developed into a learning pattern (see Table 1) on how its use can be effectively communicated and used C



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Table 1. Learning Design Pattern Key Process Activity Steps step

process activity

1

If possible attend a workshop or symposium on the use of pen-enabled devices for learning and teaching. This will provide an opportunity to engage and network with experts and users implementing this technology. Procure a pen-enabled device (Surface Pro computer) for Cloud-based TEL including peripherals to deliver wirelessly including a wireless display adapter which includes a HDMI to VGA adapter, a mini display VGA adapter and mini display HDMI adapter. Procure Office 2016 to access OneNote for Surface computer. Create a Microsoft account in OneDrive and create OneNote folders for lecture content in the Cloud. Transition existing lecture content (e.g., .ppt, .pdf, .doc, etc.) into OneNote folders ready for delivery. For lecture delivery use either pdf or PowerPoint (note that the latter will lose any animations once imported). Convert Microsoft Word documents to pdf files prior to importing into OneNote to ensure inked annotations appear correctly online. Print to OneNote is the best way to import content. It is also recommended that a copy of the OneNote folder prior to annotations is exported as a OneNote folder and saved so that a clear copy of the notes is maintained for future reference. Ensure syncing of OneNote notes in the OneDrive Cloud is complete (this should occur automatically as long as there is an Internet connection). Learn how to implement the technology and deliver all courses using the TEL innovation (can be facilitated via workshops and drop-in sessions). In particular, learn how to establish a wireless connection to the wireless display adapter. Practice before attending lectures and be prepared for occasions were the wireless connection fails and for these occasions connect directly to the projection facility in the lecture theater (via usual VGA or HDMI connection). Obtain a view only link via OneNote to the lecture notes and send the link to students via email or via the LMS prior to lectures including guidance on how students can use their own device to maximize their learning experience. Uploading the content will take some time on the first occasion that students access the link so it is best to share this ahead of time. Deliver lectures using pen-enabled device using own pedagogical approach (face-to-face, flipped, collaborative, etc.) performing inked annotations. Indicate to students that they are able to participate further by downloading the full version of OneNote 2016 which is free and then copy the lecture notes so that they can make their own annotations either at the lecture or after the lecture if they have their own stylus. Obtain constant face-to-face and email feedback from students on TEL and keep in constant communication with students about the mode of delivery. A set of anonymous survey questions can be useful here. Check with students to confirm availability of notes and annotations. Obtain Course Experience Survey (CES) results (or similar) at the end of the teaching semester to evaluate the success of the TEL implementation based on student’s comments. Look at student results before and after the implementation of the TEL to look for trends such as an increase in the pass rate. Implement opportunities to improve delivery and content based on student feedback analysis. Recruit further adapters to the TEL to promote further adaption in your teaching environment and across Disciplines to provide further comparison and evidence of impact of the TEL. Further evaluation of the TEL via the CES obtained across a range of STEM disciplines via the additional early adopters.

2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

university-wide. In developing this learning pattern, a total of 16 key process activity steps were identified (Table 1). The RMIT University learning pattern provides a practical framework for implementing technology, a work task flow process, evidence of benefits, and lessons learned. Peer review is also required to establish integrity and allows repeatability. A team of early adapters will play an important role not only in using the technology but also in reproducing the learning design pattern in their teaching environment and in providing considerable and constructive feedback to help refine the design to build adaptability. Initiatives employed here can be applied to all universities.

Table 2. Distribution of Students by Level in Chemistry Courses Delivered in 2016 Using TEL

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The TEL innovation using a pen-enabled device (Surface Pro computer) and Cloud-based methodologies was employed to deliver into a total of six undergraduate and one postgraduate chemistry courses at RMIT University in 2016. This represented >380 students, and the lecture material was shared with students via a viewing link prior to the lectures. The courses delivered in 2016 are provided in Table 2. In all but one instance (CHEM1068), the general lecture content and the lecturer remained the same between the years of comparison, and in all instances, the single lecturer who utilized this learning and teaching design remained constant in the comparison. In all of these courses, there are a minimum of two teaching staff, but usually up to four different lecturers teach into the one course. The comparisons shown here are only for the single lecturer who utilized this TEL and represent the results obtained from student surveys and for the pass rates for the tests or exams that were facilitated by this lecturer. Despite the common perception of poor attendance at classes if all class notes are posted, the lecturer did not witness a significant change in class attendance over this two year comparison. In fact, students

courses

year level

students enrolled, N

CHEM1039, Chemistry Theory 2A CHEM1053, Analytical Spectroscopy ONPS2313/4, Natural Products Drug Discovery CHEM1239, Chemistry for Life Sciences CHEM1068, Chemistry Theory 3B CHEM1080, Advanced Spectroscopy ONPS2188, Chemistry of Drugs and Toxins

second-year undergraduate

62

second-year undergraduate

72

honors postgraduate

10

first-year undergraduate

164

third-year undergraduate

32

third-year undergraduate

24

second- and third-year elective undergraduate

23

have reported and continue to indicate how much they enjoy the greater interaction (both by their lecturer and themselves) that is achieved at classes. The benefit to the student in attending classes is the greater student participation that can be achieved in the learning process. This can be facilitated via tutorial sessions where students can either provide their answers to questions verbally or provide their own inked annotation when offered the pen by their lecturer. In addition, timely resolutions to the understanding of lecture content can be facilitated by way of asking or the raising of questions in class followed by immediate inked annotations to provide further elaboration and explanation of the concept. This has been one of the great benefits of having the pen at hand. Minimal technical assistance was required for an average class. A record of each lecture was kept to keep track of issues encountered in each class, and these amounted to less than two D



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Figure 1. Comparison of the good teaching scores for the six undergraduate courses delivered using the TEL in 2016.

Figure 2. Comparison of the overall satisfaction index for the three undergraduate courses coordinated and delivered using TEL in 2016.

that deployed the use of this TEL innovation, there has been a clear improved student experience by students. This is evident by the elevated Good Teaching Scale (GTS) results obtained for five of courses (CHEM1039, CHEM1053, CHEM1239, CHEM1080, and ONPS2188) in 2016 compared to 2015 (see Figure 1) and also by the comments students provided via the CES (see Supporting Information file), which showed a 5−23% increase in the GTS between these years. For CHEM1068, the lower GTS was attributed to the major teaching changes to the curriculum implemented, lecturer, and assessment that occurred in 2016. The overall satisfaction index (OSI) is also obtained via the CES, but this is a measure of the entire teaching team for a course led by the course coordinator, and as such, the OSI is greatly dependent on the entire teaching team. The course coordinator ensures efficient and effective delivery of the course and constantly communicates with the student cohort on course matters. As the course coordinator for three of the undergraduate courses (CHEM1039, CHEM1053, and

calls being made to IT services at RMIT University, and these were for projector equipment failure in the lecture theater. The Surface required rebooting on occasions and at times recordings failed, but this was at the fault of the lecturer. The major issue experienced was with annotations appearing in the correct place when lectures were delivered using OneNote that had material transitioned from Microsoft word imported documents. This was readily resolved by converting these files to PDF format and then importing them into OneNote. Transitioning and importing of common lecture materials such as PowerPoint, pdf, or Microsoft word files was a straightforward exercise. At least half of the students in an average class did not bring a device to follow the lectures, but most commented on accessing lecture notes on their mobile phones at lab classes or on public transport as a means of revision. TEL Evaluation

At the course level, based on the RMIT University 2016 Course Experience Surveys (CES) for the six undergraduate courses E



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These comparisons were made to assess the student performance before and after the TEL pedagogy implementation. When the lecture content and lecturer remained constant over the two year period, the pass rate improved in most courses (Table 3). In making these comparisons, the enrollment size of the class also needs to be considered, and for CHEM1239, for which the pass rate remained constant, there was an approximate 20% increase in student enrollment from 2015 to 2016 (see Table 1).

CHEM1239) delivered using this TEL, I was able to guide students about the new teaching innovation as well as coordinate this with the rest of the teaching team. For these three courses, the GTS and OSI increased between 2015 and 2016 (see Figures 1 and 2). As an example, in 2016 for CHEM1039, the GTS was 94%, an increase of about 10% from the previous year, and the OSI was 95%, an increase of 23% from the previous year. This represents an outstanding result in both the GTS and OSI scales and is rated “excellence in teaching” at RMIT University. In addition, the overall pass rate for the Organic Chemistry Unit in CHEM1039, using this TEL in 2016, rose from 68 to 79% between the years 2015 to 2016. This pass rate is the combined result from all lecturers teaching into this course. This shows greater student comprehension and improvement in performance. There is no CES distributed for the postgraduate honors course. These results translated into improved learning outcomes for students at the examination and assignment levels of these courses. It also demonstrates the importance that the course coordinator plays in supporting the implementation of new teaching initiatives. For the courses where I was not course coordinator, there was no increase in the OSI. This demonstrates the importance that the course coordinator has in facilitating a smooth transition to a new TEL where constant communication with students is imperative. The pass rates for the six undergraduate courses for the single lecturer that deployed the use of this TEL innovation saw a 2−12% increase for four of the courses, and it remained constant for one course, and for the final course where the pass rate dropped, this was attributed to the significant changes made to the lecture content, lecturer, and assessment (Table 3).

Student Feedback

Undergraduate student comments have provided testimony of the flexibility of the TEL. Students provided positive comments pertaining to this new method of lecture delivery (see Table 4 for a sample of these). In particular, they were positive about the use of OneNote for the delivery of lectures because of a number of features. It enabled all of their notes to be in one central location; lecturers had the ability to add their own notes as annotations and the real-time accessibility of the lecture notes. Comments were also received on the ability for the teaching staff to record their own lectures and capture OneNote annotations. Students also remarked that they wanted other teaching staff to adopt the technology and use OneNote, due to the static nature offered by lecture content delivered using PowerPoint. Students commented on these lectures being the highlight of the course! A complete summary of the students’ comments is provided in the Supporting Information file. As other staff of the School of Science begin to implement the TEL initiative in other areas of STEM, the data will be monitored and a bigger picture of the student engagement and learning and teaching design will be able to be concluded. Some students also sought clarification on the need or requirement to bring a device to class to access lecture notes and identified the need for improved guidance on the setup on their device. Based on the enrollment of the six courses where this TEL innovation was implemented (Table 1) and the percentage of students that responded to the CES survey (19−63% response rate), the percentage of students that provided positive feedback by way of a comment in the CES was between 17 and 55%. Based on student feedback, opportunities exist to improve communicating with students prior to the commencement of the course to explain the benefits of bringing your own device and how to use OneNote to enhance their learning experience. Provision of the OneNote viewing link was provided to students prior to the course commencement, enabling access to the OneNote folder that included access to unannotated lecture content and associated material such as past exams. Clearer instructions are required for student installation of OneNote and how lecture notes can be downloaded during or after class.

Table 3. Pass Rate Comparison for Courses Delivered Using TELa pass rate relative to TEL implementation, % course

before (2015)

after (2016)

CHEM1039b CHEM1053c,d CHEM1239c CHEM1068e CHEM1080d,e ONPS2188c,f

80 71 73 93 64 79

82 75 72 63 76 81

a

Pass rates shown are only for the section of the course delivered by the lecturer who implemented this TEL pedagogy. bAssessment by test and exam. cAssessment by exam. dFirst year of course delivery. e Assessment by test. fContent, lecturer, and assessment for this course changed before and after the TEL implementation.

Table 4. Sample of Student Comments course

students responses by course to the prompt: “what are the best aspects of this course?”

CHEM1039

This technology was real great in that the lecture content could be directly accessed from home, and annotations were visible as lectures progressed. I get a lot out of having written notes that I can refer to in study and prelectures. The accessibility of lecture notes done in class by the teacher allowed me to actually listen to what was said as opposed to writing everything down myself and not taking a whole lot in. OneNote being openly accessibly with frequent annotation updates. The use of OneNote for the lecture notes is a really good idea as it allows synced notes and annotations across multiple devices so I do not have to go download a file just to look at the notes elsewhere. The accessibility of lecture notes done in class by the teacher allowed me to actually listen to what was said as opposed to writing everything down myself and not taking a whole lot in. The use of OneNote as a lecture delivery tool was useful and should be continued.

CHEM1039 CHEM1053 CHEM1053 CHEM1239 CHEM1068

F



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strations, professional development sessions, and videos, along with staff mentoring both in the SEH College as well as in the RMIT University College of Design and Social Context (DSC), were provided. The College implementation plan for this TEL initiative relied on recruitment of a team of early adopters from each of the seven discipline areas of the School of Science. The discipline areas in the School of Science include Applied Chemistry and Environmental Science, Mathematical Sciences, Geospatial Science, Computer Science and Information Technology, Computer Science and Software Engineering, Biosciences and Food Technology, as well as Physics. In late 2016, early academic adopters were nominated to take part in the adoption of this TEL into their discipline. Early adopters were selected to ensure a diverse range of academic experience that would use and promote this TEL initiative. This “early adopters” plan has been successfully trialed in other technological areas and is most successful in academic cohorts.23 The training package put together for the early adopters included workshop sessions to demonstrate the capability. Workshops were delivered in conjunction with Microsoft, who provided hardware and practical guidance on the use of technology and OneNote. Direct access to experts enabled early adopters to receive specific guidance on each individual’s teaching needs. Early adopters will be expected to play important roles in future workshops if this TEL is implemented into the College. In early 2017, a Scheme for Learning and Teaching (STeLR) grant was awarded to facilitate the procurement of Surface Pro computers and to facilitate workshops and drop-in sessions to assist the early adopters with implementation of the TEL in their teaching. The team of early adopters will implement this TEL commencing in July 2017 (semester 2 of the Australian academic higher education calendar). The early adopters are specifically looking to improve their teaching scores and technology interventions to engage more students. The early adopters have the capacity to influence others in their discipline area in the School and will form the basis of a community of practice around this type of technology. The team of early adopters will be able to provide further evidence of student impact across a range of STEM disciplines. As RMIT University will be migrating to a new Learning Management System (LMS) called Canvas in 2018 and implementing the use of Windows 10 as the standard operating system with Office365, current presentations and workshops are being conducted with the Information Technology Services executive team at RMIT University. RMIT University is now looking to support the Surface Pro computer, and so the drive to champion and integrate this TEL design across RMIT University has gained considerable momentum.

It is important to make it clear to students that they are not at a disadvantage if they do not bring a device to class. A complete posting of the lecture material (e.g., pdf) published to the LMS enables students the ability to print a copy of the notes. The benefit here is that the process is seen to be fair and equitable to all students and that no single student misses out on the learning via the additional inked annotations. A recording of the lectures posted to the LMS also provides further alternatives for students to engage with the lecture content with annotations. People learn and retain information better if they write it themselves, and so students can also be encouraged to participate in the note-taking and creating process by downloading the lecture notes to their own OneNote folder so that they can make their own annotations either at the lecture or after the lecture. They can do this easily if they have their own stylus or pen, and in instances where there is no stylus, students can make their own notes in OneNote using the keyboard. A future opportunity to improve student engagement is to develop short video Screencasts (no longer than 10 min in length) using Office Mix of particularly challenging topic areas in organic and analytical chemistry. The basis behind the creation of these short videos is that students can learn better from watching and rewatching the annotations performed by the lecturer to understand the thinking process that is involved in solving a problem. Short videos such as these Screencasts can be housed within the OneNote folder as well as being posted on the LMS so that students may review these at any point during the semester. Another option for improvement would be to provide gapped lecture notes where more inking annotations would be conducted at the lecture in real time. Often, gapped notes where students need to copy these down can be conducive to learning, taking away the focus of the student from what is being said. A study performed at Monash University in Australia looked at the effect of the transition of lecture notes into PowerPoint, which occurred in the year 2000, and found that the student engagement with content had dropped.22 In order to better engage students, it was found that it was better to provide gapped lecture notes and perform the annotations in real time. In this TEL, the real time, anywhere, anytime annotations would alleviate the anxiety of copying the notes and focus the student’s attention on the lecture content being delivered. Watching annotations performed by the lecturer can provide the insight students require to grasp the concept. Students can then add their own notes to these either at or after the lecture. The TEL design provides a dynamic way to teach for the lecturer and is interactive for the students. With further iterations that incorporate some of the options for improvement discussed here, it is expected that this TEL methodology will continue to make an impact on the student engagement in both the Good Teaching Scores (GTS) and also improvements in the test and exam scores. Further student comments and the pass rates will provide evidence to support this.

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CONCLUSIONS The TEL innovation was successfully implemented across a number of undergraduate and postgraduate chemistry university courses at RMIT University. The Good Teaching Scale (GTS) performance together with the feedback provided via student comments in the Course Experience Survey (CES) and the increase in pass rates is a testament to the success of OneNote not only as a means to facilitate teaching but also as a means for students to engage and enhance their student learning experience via note taking. Further implementation of

School and College Implementation

The demonstrated success of this TEL was rewarded with approval for the role out of the technology to the School of Science (College of SEH) and the promotion to other Colleges across RMIT University. This process commenced with a promotional program to raise awareness of the benefits of this TEL with the academic community. A number of conference presentations, demonG



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this TEL design. Thanks to the undergraduate and postgraduate students of RMIT University who provided feedback on the TEL and who participated in the learning pedagogy. I am grateful to R. Tinker for assistance in proofreading and in some of the preparation of this manuscript. Finally, a special thank you to the Leading Australian Teacher Engagement Manager at Microsoft Australia (T. Smith) who provided mentorship in learning the technology, for procuring a leased Surface Pro 3.0 computer so that I could immediately implement the TEL design and for his assistance in facilitating workshops to recruit higher education lecturers in the School of Science, RMIT University to become early adopters of the TEL in 2017.

video Screencasts to focus on known student comprehension challenges and identified key problem areas will only enhance this TEL innovation. Enabling students to use their readily accessible technologies provides a more engaged learning experience and enables the student to customize the learning environment to their own unique learning style. RMIT University is currently leveraging the work undertaken in this TEL design to ascertain how it can be rolled out to the rest of the university.

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ASSOCIATED CONTENT

S Supporting Information *

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The Supporting Information is available on the ACS Publications website at DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00127. Student comments obtained from the course experience surveys for all undergraduate courses (Semester 1, 2016: CHEM1039, CHEM1053; and Semester 2, 2016: CHEM1239, CHEM1080, CHEM1068, and ONPS2188) delivered using this TEL; student testimonial to this TEL innovation (PDF, DOCX)

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REFERENCES

(1) Gannon-Leary, P.; Fontainha, E. Communities of Practice and Virtual Learning Communities: Benefits, Barriers, and Success Factors. ELearning Papers 2007, 5, 20−29; ISSN 1887-1542. (2) Pajo, K.; Wallace, C. Barriers to the Uptake of Web-Based Technology by University Teachers. International. Int. J. E-Learning & Distance Education 2007, 16 (1), 70−84. (3) Reinders, H. Teaching (with) Technology: The Scope and Practice of Teacher Education for Technology. Prospect 2009, 24 (3), 15−23. (4) Oviatt, S. The Design of Future Educational Interfaces, 1st ed.; Routledge: New York, 2013. (5) Hammond, T.; Valentine, S.; Adler, A.; Payton, M. The Impact of Pen and Touch Technology on Education; Springer International Publishing: Cham, Switzerland, 2015; DOI 10.1007/978-3-31915594-4. (6) Mueller, P. A.; Oppenheimer, D. M. The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking. Psychological Science 2014, 25 (6), 1159−1168. (7) Mayer, R. E. Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. In The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning, 2nd ed.; Cambridge University Press: New York, 2014; pp 43−71. (8) Pence, H. E. Moving Chemical Education into the Cloud(s). J. Chem. Educ. 2016, 93 (12), 1969−1971. (9) Weibel, J. D. Working toward a Paperless Undergraduate Physical Chemistry Teaching Laboratory. J. Chem. Educ. 2016, 93 (4), 781− 784. (10) Amick, A. W.; Cross, N. An Almost Paperless Organic Chemistry Course with the Use of iPads. J. Chem. Educ. 2014, 91 (5), 753−756. (11) Bennett, J.; Pence, H. E. Managing Laboratory Data Using Cloud Computing as an Organizational Tool. J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88 (6), 761−763. (12) Spaeth, A. D.; Black, R. S. Google Docs as a Form of Collaborative Learning. J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89 (8), 1078−1079. (13) Abrams, N. M. Combining Cloud Networks and Course Management Systems for Enhanced Analysis in Teaching Laboratories. J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89 (4), 482−486. (14) Smith, R. Y.; Keil, H. C.; Hodge, T. ChemDraw, iPads, and Collaboration Tools in the Classroom: Results of a Joint PerkinElmer and McGraw Hill Pilot at the Organic Chemistry Undergraduate Level. Abstracts of Papers, 246th ACS National Meeting & Exposition, Indianapolis, IN, September 8−12; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2013; CINF-9. (15) Stilts, C. E. Can the Stylus Be Mightier Than the Model Set? Using Tablet PCs To Teach Sophomore Organic Chemistry. Abstracts of Papers, 233rd ACS National Meeting, Chicago, IL, March 25−29, 2007; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2007; CHED159. (16) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_OneNote (accessed May 2017). (17) Tofan, D. C. Using a Tablet PC and OneNote 2007 To Teach Chemistry. J. Chem. Educ. 2010, 87 (1), 47−48.

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Corresponding Author

*E-mail: [email protected]. ORCID

Sylvia Urban: 0000-0002-2376-4260 Notes

The author declares no competing financial interest.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This TEL innovation is supported by an approved RMIT University Human Ethics application SEHAPP 15-17 Penenabled, real-time student engagement for teaching in STEM subjects. The TEL design was nominated for a 2016 Australian Council on Open, Distance and E-learning (ACODE) & Pearson Award in Innovation in Technology Enhanced Learning and a demonstration of the technology can be viewed via a video.24 The TEL design will be further supported by invitation to the first ACODE TEL showcase. In addition, a OneNote presentation on this TEL initiative was given at the RMIT Learning and Teaching Conference 2016.25 A symposium is being organized to present this TEL innovation in the higher education sector in Australasia. This TEL innovation was supported and funded by the School of Science, RMIT University, via funds to procure a Surface Pro 4 computer and by providing opportunities for engagement at the School level through planning days and workshops to recruit early adopters. A Scheme for Learning and Teaching (STeLR) grant awarded in early 2017 will support the procurement of computers and workshops to facilitate adoption of this TEL by early adopters recruited from within the School of Science at RMIT University. I am grateful to T. Ray (Collective Education Australia, Digital Pedagogies Specialist & ICT Curriculum Coach) who will facilitate the training workshops for the early adopters, and to T. Sullivan (Senior Manager-Learning, Teaching and Research, Information Technology Services, RMIT University) who has assisted with procurement of peripherals for early adopters and is facilitating discussions to implement a university-wide implementation and support for H



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(18) Tucker, B. The Flipped Classroom. Education Next 2012, 12 (1), 82−83. (19) Weaver, G. C.; Sturtevant, H. G. Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Flipped Format General Chemistry Course. J. Chem. Educ. 2015, 92 (9), 1437−1448. (20) Christiansen, M. A. Inverted Teaching: Applying a New Pedagogy to a University Organic Chemistry Class. J. Chem. Educ. 2014, 91 (11), 1845−1850. (21) Laurillard, D. Rethinking University Teaching: A Conversational Framework for the Effective Use of Learning Technologies; Routledge: New York, 2013. (22) Logan, M.; Franke, K.; Bailey, N. Is Tablet-Based Teaching for Everyone? An Exploration of Teaching with Tablet PCs across Science and Humanities Classes. In The Impact of Tablet PCs and Pen-Based Technology on Education: Going Mainstream; Reed, R. H., Berque, D. A., Eds.; Purdue University Press: Purdue, IN, 2010; pp 103−110. (23) Brace, S. B.; Roberts, G. Supporting Faculty’s Development and Use of Instructional Technology. Proceedings of the Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference, Murfreesboro, TN, 1996; pp 324−329. (24) The ACODE video submission is available at http://bit.ly/ 2nSlwa3 (accessed May 2017). (25) The OneNote link to the RMIT learning and teaching conference presentation is available at http://rmitltc.com/day-1/ (accessed May 2017).

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Pen-Enabled, Real-Time Student Engagement for Teaching in STEM

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