AMANDA POULTON

An exploration of the pedagogic benefits of e-learning and e-

assessment as a way to make a more effective use of librarian time

LILAC 2013

Are we wasting our time?

CONTEXT

• Growing demand for information literacy– Student numbers– Staff availability– Focus on employability and interlinking with IL

skills

• Financial constraints– Trying to do more with less

• Student profile– Increasing home students from the region– Distance learners and Placement students

BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF E-LEARNING

Benefits• Increased active learning

– Interactivity can help develop deeper learning

– Encourages students to make mistakes and learn from them

• Flexible and accessible• Students can review and

revisit material• Reduces teaching time• Reduces pressure on space• Can be completed at a time

convenient to the learner

Challenges

• Time to develop materials• Students can choose not to

participate• Librarian skillset• Teacher-learner interaction• Students can feel isolated• Programme culture• Accessibility through firewalls

e.g. the NHS• Teaching can be technology

rather than learner-led

BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF E-ASSESSMENT

Benefits• Easy to mark and

moderate– Assessment possible for

large numbers of students

• Bank of questions makes set up easy

• In a familiar environment to the students (VLE)

Challenges• Reliant on Internet

connectivity and computers working

• Computer not flexible in marking

• Can’t switch off the Internet – has to be “Open-book”

• Can be restrictive in terms of type of assessment (technology-led)

“It is not just a question of providing access to the technology but making sure

that it has a demonstrable impact on student attitudes, behavior, knowledge and understanding. Finally it must be

based on sound pedagogy”

Edwards and McKinnell (2007)

“As digital technology dominates students’ behavior in everyday life, that technology

can be used to enhance the dialogue between teacher and learner as new

ways of engaging students in learning become available.”

Biggs and Tang (2011)

CASE STUDY• Pharmacy and related subjects• Use of Blackboard since 2004• Three taught sessions, one assessment• E-learning only introduced 2012-13 in

line with new Pharmacy curriculum• Mix of information and activities• Pharmacy exam is now formative• Backed up with drop-in optional face-to-

face workshops

EVALUATION

• Students asked to complete online feedback form

• Six questions using Likert scale plus three open questions

• Response rate of 14%

EVALUATION - RESPONSES

Agreed/strongly agreed

74%

Disagreed/strongly disagreed

7%

Neutral16%

No response3%

This course has given me the confidence/skills to find the information I need for my studies

EVALUATION - RESPONSES

Agreed/strongly agreed

72%

Disagreed/strongly disagreed

9%

Neutral14%

No response5%

This course has given me the confidence/skills to evaluate resources found on the In-

ternet

EVALUATION - RESPONSES

Agreed/strongly agreed

77%

Disagreed/strongly disagreed

8%

Neutral11%

No response4%

This course has given me the confidence/skills to cite references and compile bibliographies

STUDENT FEEDBACK

"It was a very useful course"

"I think the library course was better presented this year"

"I liked the visual representation we went through in ‘Preparing your search and getting started’”

STUDENT FEEDBACK

"Could include more interactive features or more quizzes"

"Maybe spread the content out further - found it difficult having to read through the material released

each week in time for the next lot of material"

“Perhaps spending more time on real teaching, instead of wasting time telling

students to complete useless stuff online”

EXAM COMPARISON

2011/2012 2012/2013

Pharmacy – 75.7%

Biomedical Science – 69.2%

Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Science – 69.8%

Pharmacy – 83.8%

Biomedical Science – 71.9%

Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Science – 70.6%

A WAY FORWARD

• Enhance interactive elements• Expand online learning course to other

subject areas• Consider how to increase teacher-

learner interaction– E.g. Assessment feedback– Discussion boards, Twitter chat etc

• More structured drop-ins

THINGS TO CONSIDER• Culture of students and programme• Programme level• Librarian engagement/interest with online teaching• Staff training• Availability of reusable learning objects to develop

online course• All the same pedagogical principles of sound

course design apply e.g. Clear objectives• Assessment mapped to objectives etc.• Higher initial outlay of staff costs in year one

REFERENCES• BIGGS, J. and TANG, C. (2011) Teaching for quality learning at

university. 4th ed. Maidenhead: Open University Press/McGraw Hill Education.

• EDWARDS, A and MCKINNELL, S. (2007) Moving from dependence to independence: the application of e-learning in higher education. In CAMPBELL, A. and NORTON, L. (eds.) Learning, teaching and assessing in Higher Education: developing reflective practice, pp. 68-79

• KAARTINEN-KOUTANIEMI, M. and KATAJAVUORI, N. (2006) Enhancing the development of pharmacy education by changing pharmacy teaching. Pharmacy Education, 6 (3), pp. 197–208.

• WAKE, M. and LISGARTEN, L. (2003) VLEs and Pharmacy—Learning from Experience. Pharmacy Education, 3 (3), pp. 209–214.

ACKNOWEDGEMENTS

• Thanks to the Pharmacy E-learning team:– Katie Fraser– Ceri Laing– Nathan Rush– Joanne Tidswell