Engaging students through digital asynchronous tutorials
Lecturer Caitlin Healy, Senior Lecturer Judy Hart, Associate Professor John Daniels School of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Science
As part of the digital uplift process, we were provided with the opportunity to create a standalone website of modular interactive online tutorials. The project first started with our two first-year courses with scope for the creation of revision tutorials for higher year courses and the creation of new modules for other courses. The purpose of the tutorial website for the students was to allow for asynchronous learning, giving the students continuous feedback on their understanding. For the instructors, it was to be able to identify areas at which students are having difficulty and provide the flexibility to create different modules for each course drawn from a centralised database.
With the historical and future changes to higher education learning management systems, an independent website in conjunction with Qualtrics quizzes and checkpoint questions was chosen to ensure the longevity of the tutorials. Direct links to each tutorial can be embedded into the Moodle site or course notes for easy implementation into any course. Each topic and learning theme of the courses had their own tutorial created that the students can access prior to or after attending the lectures. The asynchronous delivery was chosen to give the students autonomy over their learning, online with the study by Beyth-Marom et al. which found asynchronous tutorials to be preferred over synchronous live tutorials for the majority of students [ 1 ]. The inbuilt checkpoint questions and summary quizzes provided the students with continuous feedback. Importantly when the students get a question incorrect, it allows for hints to stimulate their thought process and points them back to the content. This ensures that the students can target their revision to the areas in which they are struggling the most.
Since their implementation in term 1, 2019, the digital asynchronous tutorials have featured multiple times in each of the terms myExperience feedback. Below are a few examples that highlight the student’ s positive engagement with the content.“ The online tutorials of this course are wonderful ´-T1 2019“ the online tutorials were excellent, they were well structured and were full of relevant”- T3 2019“ The online tutorials were very effective in helping me consolidate my knowledge”- T1 2020
[ 1 ] R. Beyth-Marom, K. Saporta, A. Caspi, Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Tutorials, J. Res. Technol. Educ. 37( 2005) 245 – 262. doi: 10.1080 / 15391523.2005.10782436.
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