Learning by Competition, by Falko Drijfhout

To enhance student engagement and interaction between students, I have started to make use of a small competition run during a lab session for second year Forensic Science students. In the corresponding module students need to solve a chromatographic problem, i.e. increase separation and efficiency of a method.

After students spend a lab session learning the basic principles of a gas chromatography and the importance of temperature programming, they are given a sample with seven compounds and an example chromatogram of an isothermal GC-analysis. Students are required, with a limited amount of time and trials, to improve the method from an isothermal analysis to a programmed temperature analysis with good resolution, but in the shortest possible time. The instructions given to them are shown below:

_______________________________________________________________

Experiment 1C: Optimisation of GC separation

(internal competition)

Introduction:
An example chromatogram (see Fig. 1) shows the results of an isothermal (80°C) analysis of the mixture of 7 compounds. Although all compounds are well separated, the analysis time is quite long.

Figure 1. Chromatogram of the isothermal analysis of mixture B

It is your task to develop a method through temperature programming to separate out all 7 compounds in the shortest possible analysis time. How you develop your method is all up to you as a group. The group who managed to get the best separation and the shortest analysis time will receive a prize!

Aim of this session:
In this laboratory session you will be able to

• apply the knowledge of the lectures and lab session 1 to solve a problem 
• develop your own method in which your aim is to separate out all 7 compounds within a mixture in the shortest possible analysis time 
• achieve a resolution of minimal 1.5 (baseline separation) between peaks 2/3 and 4/5

Instructions:
Develop a programmed oven temperature program that is most suitable for the analysis of mixture B containing the 7 compounds.

1) What GC parameters can/should be varied

• Initial oven temperature 
• Hold 
• Temperature ramp(s) 
• Final oven temperature

2) Rules

• You are only allowed to inject your sample a maximum of 3 times! 
• Maximum final oven temperature is 270°C 
• A good separation means that all resolutions should be at least 1.50 
• Analysis time = retention time of the last compound

3) Remember:

• Only inject when the GC is in ‘ready’ status 
• Start the GC temperature programming at the same time as the data collection on LoggerPro 
• You will need to present your method in a short presentation.

~~ Good Luck!! ~~

_______________________________________________________________

In developing their best method, they need to consider the theory and their discussions help them to use their newly obtained knowledge in solving the problem of inefficient chromatography. My experience with this approach in a lab session is that students are much more engaged in discussing their methods within their group. As they discuss how a new method may affect their chromatography they impart knowledge from one to the other and weaker students are helped in their understanding. It also gives me an opportunity the spot any misconceptions students may have, by listening to their discussions. I noticed an increase level of noise (due to increased and intensified discussions) during the lab sessions as they see the effect of a changed method, or as they want to win from peers.

I do this in the beginning of the module (week 2 or 3) and it does help to get students to discuss problems with each other or with me throughout the module.


Learning by Competition by Falko Drijfhout, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2001/02 #KATS2015

Project Title: Clinical Legal Education
Project Leader(s): Sally Sheldon and Brian Simpson

Project Aims:

• To provide students with ‘hands-on’ experience of the law in action 
• Expose students to ‘alternative’ types of legal practice 
• Links University with local community 
• Adds to attraction of Keele law programme 
• Provides Citizens Advice Bureau with assistance in their workload

Clinical Legal Education - Presentation Handout

Clinical Legal Education by Sally Shelson and Brian Simpson, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Widening Access for a Typical Student
Project Leader(s): M.Ironside

Project Aims:

• To establish a network including FE providers, OCN, and TUC. 
• To encourage progression of mature adults from FE to HE. 
• To provide FE students with an opportunity to sample HE. 
• To organize a weekend residential school.

Widening Access for a Typical Student - Final Report

Widening Access for a Typical Student - Presentation Slides

Widening Access for a Typical Student by M.Ironside, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2001/02 #KATS2015

Project Title: Student Profiling
Project Leader(s): Peter Knight

The aim of this project is to provide a template for undergraduate student profiling that can easily be adapted for use in any Keele undergraduate programme, thereby facilitating the adoption of profiling throughout the University.

Student profiling is a career-long procedure whereby students develop and maintain a documentary record of their learning experiences. Correctly implemented, profiling should form the core of each student's management of their own learning. Profiling has been proposed (for example by the HEFCE funded Science Education Enhancement and Development programme) as a way of improving students’ ability to take responsibility for their own learning, and of marshalling a portfolio of documented experience that students can use in seeking employment after completing their studies.

The end result of this project will be a "profiling pack", comprising all the documentation and materials required for the profiling of one student for the length of their academic career. Departments will be able to use the profiling pack "as is" or will be able to adapt it in accordance with any unique requirements of their course. For example, each course's profiling pack may make reference to specific items from that course's skills map. The project will provide set of experience-based guidelines for profiling in the Keele context.

Student Profiling - Final Report

Student Profiling - Slides

Student Profiling by Peter Knight, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Making (First Year) Tutorials Count
Project Leader(s): John MacMillan

“Making (First Year) Tutorials Count” seeks to develop certain difficult to assess skills of communication and argument through a radical re-structuring of the assessment regime.

Making (First Year) Tutorials Count - Final Report

Making (First Year) Tutorials Count by John MacMillan, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2000/01 #KATS2015

Project Title: Support and Assessment of Laboratory work in Chemistry

Project Leader(s): Paul Yates

This project will develop support materials for selected experiments in the first year physical chemistry laboratory. These will allow students to gain an appreciation of experimental design, to analyse appropriate data, and to produce a coherent report within an integrated non-laboratory environment. Each package will consist of a video clip of experimental apparatus, appropriate pre-laboratory exercises, a means of generating randomised data, a guided analysis tool and links to external analysis tools, post-laboratory exercises, and a pro-forma for electronic submission of the final report.

During the data generation stage, students will be required as far as possible to carry out the same readings as they would in the actual laboratory. Thus the data will be presented in the form of photographs (where colour changes need to be noted, for example) and representations of instruments (such as a thermometer when a temperature needs to be measured). This will retain some of the uncertainty associated with genuine experimental work.

The materials will be used in the cases where a student misses a laboratory practical for whatever reason, and as a reassessment vehicle where a student has not satisfied the requirements for successful completion of the laboratory course.

Support and Assessment of Laboratory work in Chemistry - Final Report

Support and Assessment of Laboratory work in Chemistry by Paul Yates, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Quality Enhancement of the Keele Undergraduate Psychology Provision

Project Leader(s): John Sloboda and Mark Trueman

This project will support the Psychology Department in a review of its undergraduate provision during the academic year 2000-1.

The project will deliver two outcomes:

1. A redesign of the undergraduate provision which addresses a range of internal and external factors impacting on undergraduate education in the discipline and the sector (including professional accreditation, benchmarking, new developments in course delivery and assessment, staffing changes, and the changing undergraduate market).

2. A documentation of the process by which the first outcome is achieved. This will focus on the refinement of methodology which is suitable for deployment in constraint-relevant course redesign within a resource-lean environment, and which is capable of generalisation to a range of disciplines and levels. The methodology will include (a) the design and analysis of a student experience questionnaire capable of being applied in a range of disciplines and at different points in time, separated by as much as 5 years, (b) the use of student-related data collected for quality assurance purposes, (c) a review of good practice in other institutions; (d) refinement of assessment methods and criteria in relation to the skills to be assessed and the level of study at which the assessment takes place.

Quality Enhancement of the Keele Undergraduate Psychology Provision by John Sloboda and Mark Trueman, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2000/01 #KATS2015

Project Title: Learning by Doing: Mooting and Professional Negligence
Project Leader(s): A.Manji, T.Dugdale and D.Buss 

A moot is a simulated appeal court hearing in which legal arguments for a claimant and defendant are presented by two pairs of students and a reasoned judgment is then given by the presiding member of staff or student. It is an exercise in structured argument. It provides student with an opportunity to examine a narrow issue in considerable depth, consider the argumentative strategy to be used, prepare a written outline of the argument, and give an oral presentation of the argument which includes the opportunity to rebut arguments of other side. The moots will be videoed and students will learn not just from doing but reflecting on what they have done.

Introducing this project as a compulsory element in a core level 2 law Module will strengthen the law programme in key benchmarking skills such as legal research, oral and written argument, problem solving and group work. It will also assist the development of transferable skills such as analysis, synthesis and critical judgment.

Learning by Doing: Mooting and Professional Negligence by A.Manji, T.Dugdale and D.Buss, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
(Postponed Project)

Project Title: Video as a Tool for Self-assessment of UG Oral Presentation
Project Leader(s): Paul Yates and Dave McGarvey

Project Summary
The project will be piloted on a voluntary basis (student consent) during 1st and 2nd year Chemistry/BMC student presentations in the Spring Semester of 2000-2001.
All students giving oral presentations (videoed or not) will be peer-assessed using the assessment form attached, as is current practice.
Students whose presentations have been videoed will be asked to carry out a self-assessment after viewing the video of their presentation.
As a means of evaluating the project, students whose presentations have been videoed will be asked to complete an evaluation questionnaire (this will include a comparison of ‘peer assessment’ versus ‘self-assessment through video’).
Academic staff involved in the project will also complete an evaluation of the project.
It is anticipated that the pilot project will be completed by the end of Spring Semester 2001.

Dissemination
The experiences gained from this project will be disseminated within the University through a KTN presentation and more widely through a presentation at the annual ‘Variety in Chemistry Teaching’ meeting and/or through publication in the journal ‘University Chemistry Education’.

Video as a Tool for Self-assessment - Final Report 


Video as a Tool for Self-assessment - Presentation Slides


Video as a Tool for Self-assessment of UG Oral Presentation by Paul Yates and Dave McGarvey, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2000/01 #KATS2015

Project Title: Support and Assessment of Laboratory work in Chemistry
Project Leader(s): Paul Yates

This project will develop support materials for selected experiments in the first year physical chemistry laboratory. These will allow students to gain an appreciation of experimental design, to analyse appropriate data, and to produce a coherent report within an integrated non-laboratory environment. Each package will consist of a video clip of experimental apparatus, appropriate pre-laboratory exercises, a means of generating randomised data, a guided analysis tool and links to external analysis tools, post-laboratory exercises, and a pro-forma for electronic submission of the final report.

During the data generation stage, students will be required as far as possible to carry out the same readings as they would in the actual laboratory. Thus the data will be presented in the form of photographs (where colour changes need to be noted, for example) and representations of instruments (such as a thermometer when a temperature needs to be measured). This will retain some of the uncertainty associated with genuine experimental work.

The materials will be used in the cases where a student misses a laboratory practical for whatever reason, and as a reassessment vehicle where a student has not satisfied the requirements for successful completion of the laboratory course.

Support and Assessment of Laboratory work in Chemistry - Final Report


Support and Assessment of Laboratory work in Chemistry by Paul Yates, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Quality Enhancement of the Keele Undergraduate Psychology Provision
Project Leader(s): John Sloboda and Mark Trueman

This project will support the Psychology Department in a review of its undergraduate provision during the academic year 2000-1.

The project will deliver two outcomes:

1. A redesign of the undergraduate provision which addresses a range of internal and external factors impacting on undergraduate education in the discipline and the sector (including professional accreditation, benchmarking, new developments in course delivery and assessment, staffing changes, and the changing undergraduate market).

2. A documentation of the process by which the first outcome is achieved. This will focus on the refinement of methodology which is suitable for deployment in constraint-relevant course redesign within a resource-lean environment, and which is capable of generalisation to a range of disciplines and levels. The methodology will include (a) the design and analysis of a student experience questionnaire capable of being applied in a range of disciplines and at different points in time, separated by as much as 5 years, (b) the use of student-related data collected for quality assurance purposes, (c) a review of good practice in other institutions; (d) refinement of assessment methods and criteria in relation to the skills to be assessed and the level of study at which the assessment takes place.


Support and Assessment of Laboratory work in Chemistry by John Slobodan and Mark Truman, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

An approach to Flipping the Classroom in Politics, By Matthew Wyman

The approach taken

I have used audio recordings (in MP3 format) with accompanying slides to take the place of lectures on my second year Russian politics module. As well as 12 hours of recordings, this frees up space to provide 20 or 21 hours of seminars instead of the 8 I would normally provide.

Advantages

It enables us to cover the curriculum for the module in much greater detail than previously. But at the same time it requires a great deal less preparation from me, as I don't have to prepare to give the same lecture year after year, enabling me to focus more on making the seminar time valuable, as well as providing good resources, giving more feedback, and all the other things that help enhance the student experience.

Disadvantages

I think 50 minute length is just not needed when you are exploiting audio-visual technology. A larger number of shorter recordings would be more user friendly.

Recommendations

I would pay a bit more attention to exploring the wide range of technologies I could use for lecture capture. I would also consider making the recordings available via you tube rather than the KLE for easier accessibility (you can still restrict access).

An approach to Flipping the Classroom in Politics, by Matthew Wyman of Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://lpdcsolutions.blogspot.co.uk/.