Abstract:

The screen capture technologies utilized in tablets and tablet PCs opened up new exciting opportunities in undergraduate science teaching since they allow capturing reasoning, writing and drawing unfolding in real time (with the audio component that can be recorded simultaneously or added later). The entire reasoning process can be exposed and made explicit. The problem-solving process can be recorded in short video form. These videos can be uploaded into the courses management system where the students can access them on demand as many times as needed. We created a number of mini-lessons targeting particularly difficult concepts and modeling effective problem-solving strategies in introductory Mechanics and intermediate Electricity and Magnetism. Our mini lessons (shorter than 10 minutes) typically include a problem statement, detailed diagrams, questions to probe student initial knowledge and derivations with detailed explanations. The selected scripts for the mini-lessons were developed by upper year students under the guidance of a faculty member. These students were enrolled in the directed studies course involving the education-related projects. The examples of mini-lessons will be demonstrated. The introduction of the mini-lessons component is a part of the courses revision/redesign with the ultimate goal of creating a blended learning environment with significant online presence to extend student learning beyond the classroom.

Keywords:

Screen capture, science, videos, mini-lessons, tablet PC.