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Analysis of Utilizing LPBI Group’s Scientific Curation Platform as an Educational Tool: New Paradigm for Student Engagement

Posted in Curation, Curation methodology, Experimental validation, Scientific Publishing, tagged Content Curation, Curation, Educational Resources, educational software, medical education, scientific curation, student engagement, university teaching on June 27, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Analysis of Utilizing LPBI Group’s Scientific Curation Platform as an Educational Tool: New Paradigm for Student Engagement

Author: Stephen J. Williams, Ph.D.

Use of LBPI Platform for Educational Purposes

Goal: to offer supplemental information for student lessons in an upper level Biology course on Cell Signaling and Cell Motility with emphasis on disease etiology including cancer, neurological disease, and cardiovascular disease.

Course: Temple University Department of Biology course Cell Signaling and Motility Spring semester 2019. Forty five students enrolled.

Methodology: Each weekly lesson was presented to students as a PowerPoint presentation. After each lesson the powerpoint presentation was originally meant to be disseminated to each class-registered student on the students Canvas account. Canvas is a cloud based Learning Management Software developed by educational technology company Salt Lake City, Utah company Infrastructure, Inc. According to rough figures, Canvas® charges a setup fee and at least $30 per user (for a university the size of Temple University: 55,000 students at $30 each = 1.6 million a semester for user fees only).

As a result of a technical issue with uploading the first week lesson on this system, I had informed the class that, as an alternative means, class presentation notes and lectures will be posted on the site www.pharmaceuticalintelligence.com as a separate post and searchable on all search engines including Google, Twitter, Yahoo, Bing, Facebook etc. In addition, I had informed the students that supplemental information, from curated posts and articles from our site, would be added to the class lecture post as supplemental information they could use for further reading on the material as well as helpful information and reference for class projects.

The posted material was tagged with #TUBiol3373 (university abbreviation, department, course number) and disseminated to various social media platforms using our system. This allowed the students to enter #TUBiol3373 in any search engine to easily find their lecture notes and supplemental information.

This gave students access to lectures on a mobile platform which was easily discoverable due to our ability to do search engine optimization. (#TUBiol3373 was among the first search results on most popular search engines).

From a technical standpoint, the ease at which posts of this nature can be made as well as the ease of including links to full articles as references as well as media has been noted. Although students seem to navigate the Canvas software with ease, they had noticed many professors have issues or problems with using this software, especially with navigating the software for their needs. LBPI’s platform is an easily updated, accessible, and extensive knowledge system which can alleviate many of these technical issues and provide the added value of incorporating media based instructional material as well as downloadable file and allow the instructor ability to expound on the presented material with commentary. In addition due to the social nature of the platform, feedback can be attained by use of curated site statistics and commentary sections as well as online surveys.

Results

After the first week, all 45 students used LBPI platform to access these lecture notes with 17 out of 45 continuing to refer to the site during every week (week 1-4) to the class notes. This was evident from our site statistics as well as number of downloads of the material. The students had used the #TUBIol3373 and were directed to the site mainly from search engines Google and Yahoo. In addition, students had also clicked on the links corresponding to supplemental information which I had included, from articles on our site. In addition, because of the ability to incorporate media on our site, additional information including instructional videos and interviews were included in lecture posts, and this material was easily updated on the instructor’s side.

Adoption of the additional material from our site was outstanding, as many students had verbally said that the additional material was very useful in their studies. This was also evidenced by site statistics owing to the secondary clicks made from the class lecture post going to additional articles, some not even included as links on the original post.

In addition, and more important, students had incorporated many of the information from the additional site articles posted and referenced in their class group projects. At end of semester a survey was emailed to each student to assess the usefulness of such a teaching strategy. Results of the polling are shown below.

Results from polling of students of #TUBiol3373 “Cell Signaling & Motility” Class

Do you find using a web based platform such as a site like this an easier communication platform for posting lecture notes/added information than a platform like Canvas®? (5 votes)

Answer	Votes	Percent
Yes	2	40%
Somewhat but could use some improvement	2	40%
No	1	20%
Did not use web site	0	0%

Do you find using an open access, curated information platform like this site more useful than using multiple sources to find useful extra study/presentation materials? (6 votes)

Answer	Votes	Percent
Yes	5	83%
No	1	17%

Did you use the search engine on the site (located on the top right of the home page) to find extra information on topics for your presentations/study material? (5 votes)

Answer	Votes	Percent
Yes	4	67%
No	1	17%
Did not use web site	1	17%

Were you able to easily find the supplemental information for each lecture on search engines like Google/Yahoo/Bing/Twitter using the hashtag #TUBiol3373? (6 votes)

Answer	Votes	Percent
Yes I was able to find the site easily	4	67%
No	1	17%
Did not use a search engine to find site, went directly to site	1	17%
Encountered some difficulty	0	0%
Did not use the site for supplemental or class information	0	0%

How did you find the supplemental material included on this site above the Powerpoint presented material for each of the lectures? (7 votes)

Answer	Votes	Percent
Very Useful	4	57%
Did not use supplemental information	2	29%
Somewhat Useful	1	14%
Not Useful	0	0%

How many times did you use the information on this site (https://www.pharmaceuticalintelligence.com) for class/test/project preparation? (7 votes)

Answer	Votes	Percent
Frequently	3	43%
Sparingly	2	29%
Occasionally	1	14%
Never	1	14%

Views of #TUBiol3373 lessons/posts on www.pharmaceuticalintelligence.com

Lesson/Title	Total # views	# views 1^st day	# views 2^nd day	% views day 1 and 2	% views after 1^st 2 days
Lesson 1 AND 2 Cell Signaling & Motility: Lessons, Curations and Articles of reference as supplemental information: #TUBiol3373	60	27	15	93%	45%
Lesson 3 Cell Signaling And Motility: G Proteins, Signal Transduction: Curations and Articles of reference as supplemental information: #TUBiol3373	56	12	11	51%	93%
Lesson 4 Cell Signaling And Motility: G Proteins, Signal Transduction: Curations and Articles of reference as supplemental information: #TUBiol3373	37	17	6	48%	31%
Lesson 5 Cell Signaling And Motility: Cytoskeleton & Actin: Curations and Articles of reference as supplemental information: #TUBiol3373	13	6	2	17%	15%
Lesson 8 Cell Signaling and Motility: Lesson and Supplemental Information on Cell Junctions and ECM: #TUBiol3373	16	8	2	22%	13%
Lesson 9 Cell Signaling: Curations and Articles of reference as supplemental information for lecture section on WNTs: #TUBioll3373	20	10	3	28%	15%
Curation of selected topics and articles on Role of G-Protein Coupled Receptors in Chronic Disease as supplemental information for #TUBiol3373	19	11	2	28%	13%
Lesson 10 on Cancer, Oncogenes, and Aberrant Cell Signal Termination in Disease for #TUBiol3373	21	10	2	26%	20%
Totals	247	69	46	31%	62%

Note: for calculation of %views on days 1 and 2 of posting lesson and supplemental material on the journal; %views day1 and 2 = (#views day 1 + #views day 2)*100/45 {45 students in class}

For calculation of %views past day 1 and 2 = (total # views – day1 views – day2 views) * 100/45

For calculation in total column last two columns were divided by # of students (45) and # of posts (8)

Overall class engagement was positive with 31% of students interacting with the site during the course on the first two days after posting lessons while 61% of students interacted with the site during the rest of the duration of the course. The higher number of students interacting with the site after the first two days after lecture and posting may be due to a higher number of students using the posted material for study for the test and using material for presentation purposes.

Engagement with the site for the first two days post lecture ranged from 93% engagement to 22% engagement. As the class neared the first exam engagement with the site was high however engagement was lower near the end of the class period potentially due to the last exam was a group project and not a written exam. Students appeared to engage highly with the site to get material for study for the written exam however there still was significant engagement by students for purposes of preparation for oral group projects. Possibly engagement with the site post 2 days for the later lectures could be higher if a written exam was also given towards the end of the class as well. This type of analysis allows the professor to understand the level of class engagement week by week.

The results of post-class polling confirm some of the conclusions on engagement. After the final grades were given out all 45 students received an email with a link to the poll. Of the 45 students emailed, there were 20 views of the poll with 5-7 answers per question. Interestingly, most answers were positive on the site and the use of curated material for learning and a source of research project material. It was very easy finding the posts using the #classname and most students used Google to find the material, which was at the top of Google search results. Not many students used Twitter or other search engines. Some went directly to the site. A majority (71%) found the material useful or somewhat useful for their class presentations and researching topics.

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Mobilizing Scientific Societies: Editorial by Science Editor-in-Chief Dr. Bruce Alberts

Posted in Health Economics and Outcomes Research, HealthCare IT, Interviews with Scientific Leaders, Scientist: Career considerations, tagged AAAS, Aviva Lev-Ari, Bruce Alberts, Chronicle of Higher Education, Educational Resources, health, medicine, National Science Foundation, science, Science education, STEM, United States on February 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Mobilizing Scientific Societies: Editorial by Science Editor-in-Chief Dr. Bruce Alberts

Reporter: Stephen J. Williams, Ph.D

In a weekly editorial, Dr. Bruce Alberts, Editor-in –Chief of the journal Science discussed issues pertaining to science education in the United States[1]. He suggests the US science education system may need to be more flexible in its approach to science education in grade and high school. He considers the one major problem is the “broad coverage of each subject, which kills student interest and makes genuine comprehension impossible. Dr. Alberts suggest that state-based textbooks and the inability of the scientific community to understand teacher’s needs is driving this inadvertent problem. The current textbooks used for scientific education focus more on memorization of a multitude of scientific terms than on concept development, experimentation and inquisition, and conclusion. Materials are desperately needed for teachers to guide students to confront the overall concept, and working in teams, design potential methods to further explore these concepts. He suggest this style of teaching would require close partnerships between top-notch teachers , educational experts and scientific societies in order to research the effect of current curriculum materials but also develop new Web-based curriculum.

In a recent interview in the March 2013 issue of Wired magazine with Clayton Christensen, Ph.D. the author of the famed book The innovator’s Dilemma, Dr. Christensen forwqarns the impending changes in higher education due to increased availability of online learning. As he states, universities are on the precipice of a collapse in the future and those which survive will evolve hybrid models of education, part online and part classroom but will provide more specialized offerings to fit current needs. Indeed, as listed below these changes and suggestions in science education may well be underway. Below is a brief listing of scientific societies who have undertaken these challenges and formed extensive programs in STEM education.

FASEB (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology) programs such as:

Resources for Faculty and K-12 Teachers

APS Frontiers in Physiology Program – Provides professional development for middle and high school teachers by providing them with tools and resources and connecting them with researchers on-line and through workshops.

APS Physiology Understanding Week – Fosters relationships among teachers, students, and physiologists. PhUn Week encourages member physiologists across the nation to volunteer and work with teachers in their local community to visit a classroom during the first week in November.

Leap to the Top in Science Classes from AAAS found at:

http://news.aaas.org/2013_annual_meeting/0214leap-to-the-top-in-science-classes.shtml

A progress report from the 2013 AAAS meeting follows:

Often, in the daily grind of slogging through a difficult science class, students see fully formed scientists and their discoveries as a distant blur. Remote men and women somehow make advanced science happen.

New efforts aim to bring students face to face with creative, imaginative scientists right in their classroom.

With a lifetime of scientific contributions at their back, many retired scientists, engineers, and physicians are returning to school, not as pupils or as instructors, but as classroom volunteers in public elementary, middle, and high schools.

This week over 400 teachers and scientists gathered in Boston for the first International Teacher-Scientist Partnership Conference, organized by AAAS Education and Human Resources and the University of California, San Francisco Science & Health Education Partnership, sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Presenters are scheduled to share a range of partnership models over three days, from scientists generating digital education tools, to teachers participating in research.

Throughout the first day of the conference, the conversation turned to the idea of bringing scientists into the classroom to work directly with the students.

Virginia Shepherd from Vanderbilt University shared a comprehensive analysis of the university’s nearly 20-year-old Graduate STEM Fellows in K-12 Education program. Presentation attendees duly applauded the success of the program but said that they had trouble establishing similar programs in their state for lack of funding.

A handful of organizations represented at the conference have found that an affordable way to bring scientists into the classroom is to recruit retired scientists.

Volunteers at Northeastern University’s Retirees Enhancing Science Education through Experiments and Demonstrations program, or RE-SEED, spend at least one day a week in an elementary, middle, or high school classroom in Massachusetts helping students conduct experiments as part of the existing curriculum.

“Retired scientists and engineers have a lot of experience from a lifetime of working in laboratories. They can make what the students are learning relevant,” said Christos Zahopoulos, a professor of education and engineering at Northeastern University.

Since founding RE-SEED in 1991, Zahopoulos has helped to start similar programs in 15 states, conducting on-site trainings for volunteers. While such programs start out strong, many of them have since faded, with only a handful remaining, he said.

Even though retirees are offering a free service to the schools, getting them trained and placed takes a certain amount of funding, Zahopoulos says. He has been fortunate to fund RE-SEED with private donations. Many programs were not so lucky.

AAAS’ Senior Scientists and Engineers (SSE), a service-oriented organization for retired scientists and engineers, has managed to sustain a similar program for seven years. In 2005, Zahopoulos helped SSE establish its own volunteer program.

Donald Rea, a former research chemist for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and SSE volunteer coordinator for Virginia, hopes that helping to reinforce science education will enhance the public understanding of science in years to come.

“If you want to have an influence on science literacy, you want to get [kids] while they are young. So we work in classrooms as young as second grade,” Rea said.

This kind of investment takes many years to fully mature. So, how do Rea and Zahopoulos measure success? They look to their teachers, volunteers, and students.

Rea said he measures success by the eagerness of schools and teachers to participate year after year.

For Zahopoulos, hints of success sometimes come in the mail. He says one student wrote in to RE-SEED upon graduating from high school, several years after any contact with a RE-SEED volunteer, to say that she had decided to major in biology and had enrolled in a pre-medicine program.

Both Rea and Zahopoulos said they have been amazed at the dedication and eagerness of volunteers.

“When we first started, we asked volunteers to commit to one day a week for one year. Now we have volunteers who have been with us for 18 years and some volunteer as many as 4 times per week,” Zahopoulos said.

Ron McKnight, a former Department of Energy physicists and SSE volunteer has recently taken on the task of coordinating volunteers living in Montgomery County, Md. He still volunteers in middle school science classrooms and is considering taking on another assignment.

When asked what he loves about volunteering, he replied, “Whenever a kid I’m working with asks a really good question, that’s when I have a really good day.”

National Science Foundation (NSF) Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL)

Information can be found at http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=DRL

DRL invests in projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM learning for people of all ages. Its mission includes promoting innovative research, development, and evaluation of learning and teaching across all STEM disciplines by advancing cutting-edge knowledge and practices in both formal and informal learning settings. DRL also promotes the broadening and deepening of capacity and impact in the educational sciences by encouraging the participation of scientists, engineers, and educators from the range of disciplines represented at NSF. Therefore, DRL’s role in the larger context of Federal support for education research and evaluation is to be a catalyst for change—advancing theory, method, measurement, development, and application in STEM education. The Division seeks to advance both early, promising innovations as well as larger-scale adoptions of proven educational innovations. In doing so, it challenges the field to create the ideas, resources, and human capacity to bring about the needed transformation of STEM education for the 21st century.