student feedback and leadership - Office for Learning and Teaching

Student Feedback & Leadership
Using this technology, students received immediate feedback as to whether
they understood the concept and how they performed relative to the class.
In addition, the lecturer was able to see how well the concept had been
understood by the class and then either spend more time on the concept
or proceed to the next part of the lecture. Approximately five questions were
presented in a two hour lecture. To create enthusiasm for this initiative and
to encourage and reward student participation, prizes were randomly awarded
during each lecture by drawing names from a list of participants from the
previous week’s class. Prizes such as movie tickets, bags of lollies and
Krispy Kreme doughnut vouchers were awarded each week during the trial.
This initiative was supported with a Learning and Teaching Investment
Fund (LTIF) grant from RMIT.
Second Semester 2008:
As a consequence of the feedback from Semester 1, 2008 regarding the
cost concerns and uncertainty relating to the use of mobile phones, the
textbook publishers developed an alternative method based on the Votopedia
technology developed by CSIRO which would be cost neutral to the students.
This new technology was trialled in Semester 2. As this technology was in the
developmental stage, it was only tested in the relatively smaller evening class
comprised of mature age students. This cohort of students was more receptive
to new technologies according to the Coordinator’s experience in trialling this
technology in Semester 1.
The second technology that was applied in the course in Semester 2 was
podcasting. The podcasts consisted of a commentary on the lecture of the
week and student work. The objective was to highlight key points arising from
(1) the topic of the week, (2) student questions (elicited in classes and through
the online Distributed Learning System (DLS), and (3) the Coordinator’s
observations of students’ work in progress including student performance
on quizzes and debates. The aim of the podcasts was to provide additional
feedback to students in a form they can readily access and assimilate.
The podcasts are delivered through the DLS using multiple technologies.
ECON1030 – Business Statistics
It should be noted that the majority of undergraduate programs offered
by the Business College do not require maths as a pre-requisite. Based
on student feedback relating to difficulties with course material due to a nonmaths
background, as well as student feedback on the GTS items relating
to feedback, action was taken to address these concerns. In addition, many
of the criticisms of large classes by students relate to the lack of interaction
with teaching staff (Carbone and Greenberg, 1998) and their impersonal nature
(Cooper and Robinson, 2000). “Large classes often set up a distance between
instructors and students” (Cooper and Robinson, 2000, p.9) The Course
Coordinator sought to trial a solution to this concern commencing initially
in Semester 2, 2007 and continuing in first Semester 2008.
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