Rethinking assessments - A Virtual Conference for online learning and community building
Senior Lecturer Susann Beier , Ms Vivian Lun , Ms Xinxing Chen , Dr William Armour , Mr Danny Tan School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering , Faculty of Engineering
The COVID19 period was seen to exacerbate the teaching challenges of student engagement , building a learning community and experience . The clear need for the development of unique and interactive remote learning tools for students becomes paramount . Recently , there has been an increasing emergence to adapting traditional modes of scientific communication to asynchronous , virtual platforms for professionals ( Rubinger , 2020 ). In this paper , we investigate the implementation and effectiveness of such practices in an online classroom environment .
Here , we developed a novel virtual conference assessment module which was implemented during the T2 MECH9650 class for Micro- and Biofluidics under Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering . The virtual conference assessment simulated an academic research scenario , wherein student groups were asked to apply critical thinking , apply their learning in the context of cutting-edge knowledge of the field and to exercise their professional communication skills through the production of conference posters and presentations on their chosen journal article .
Together this pioneered an interactive method to enhance contextual understanding and apply the learned theory within a peer-centered classroom setting . The adaptation of a digital platform enabled the asynchronous virtual conference , interactive feedback session and peer marking , where the group submissions were assigned to other student groups for comments , feedback and assessment . The utilisation of the peer marking scheme effectively modelled a conference environment , and further provoked reflection and self-assessment of students ’ own capabilities .
The module ’ s implementation successfully fostered a greater sense of community and communication , highlighting the value of peer-learning . Direct learning benefits in terms of critical self-assessment ( 82 %), fostering effective learning in the context of the material ( 73 %), and a deeper understanding of higher degree expectations ( 68 %) was demonstrated . 95 % of participants agreed on the effectiveness of building an online community and working with others online . This highlights the task ’ s efficacy in shaping a collaborative class community specifically under COVID19 teaching conditions . As a latter year subject in the Engineering Honours program , implementation of the virtual conference therefore may offer invaluable insights for students embarking on their final year Honours thesis .
Together , the multi-faceted nature of the assessment was able to foster community and capability building in a diverse range of learning objectives , from collaboration , communication and application of theory in innovative contexts . Taking our findings outside of the course , the virtual conference activity sees wide applications to rethinking assessment and group work in remote learning contexts .
References : Rubinger , L ., Gazendam , A ., Ekhtiari , S ., Nucci , N ., Payne , A ., Johal , H ., Khanduja , V . and Bhandari , M ., 2020 . Maximizing virtual meetings and conferences : a review of best practices . International Orthopaedics , 44 ( 8 ), pp . 1461-1466 .
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