Modifying the Primary Mode of Instruction
Cynthia Powell is a Mobile-Learning Fellow at Abilene Christian University and an instructor of chemistry and biochemistry. Recently she conducted a controlled study investigating how modifying the primary mode of instruction in a laboratory course impacted that course.
Her students are doing inquiry based experiments but don't have the necessary skills to design rigorous experiments on their own. Powell and her colleagues decided to prepare the students using a different modality. She writes:
"... this semester, we prepared podcasts that could be used as scaffolding tools or support tools for our students," she says. "This would allow students to access information on how to do a particular procedure, or to use a particular technique or type of equipment, and independently access the information they needed to plan their own experiment."
Powell and her teaching assistants monitored the students who accessed the podcasts and those who did not. The students who made use of the podcasts prior to entering class needed much less assistance from Powell or the teaching assistants than the students who did not access the podcasts.
One of the students commented:
"I loved how we used the iPhone in class," says Erin Boyd, sophomore biology major. She adds that Powell's podcasts "described the lab's procedure in detail and showed you what to expect before ever walking in the door. This allowed me to quickly move from simple questions like 'What is this piece of equipment called?' to more advanced questions about what was actually taking place."
I have read elsewhere that using podcasts for instruction improves learning. One of the primary reasons is that students can learn at their own pace and replay the lecture multiple times or just portions of the lecture. They can also pause the podcast and reflect and write notes as they work their way through the lecture.
