Abstract:

In the Faculty of Life Sciences (FLS), first and second year practicals are delivered as stand-alone units that are based on laboratory and experimental design skills. Providing feedback to students on experimental choices made during practical sessions or critiquing generated results can be challenging during the practical session due to the time required to observe individual students. This is particularly evident in departments with a large student cohort (approx. 550 students), leading to large practical classes. In order to help address this issue, Personal Response Systems (PRS) were used during a new second year unit, ‘Experimental Design Module’ (EDM), to facilitate feedback during the practical session. The use of the Personal Response System (PRS) is widely used in universities to supplement lectures, however is sparsely used to facilitate laboratory practicals. This system allows multiple-choice based questions to be asked during the practical session and students are able to respond via a hand-held wireless transmitter. The results are aggregated using specialist computer software allowing students to view their results on projected/large screens. Practical sessions involved testing student understanding of the principles and reasoning behind the science and methodologies carried out in the practical session. Students completed evaluation questionnaires at the end of the semester and preliminary analysis showed that 89% of students on the EDM unit felt they had developed useful skills, over 65% of students found they had enjoyed the practical and 79% found the practical intellectually stimulating. This system enables ‘real-time’ discussion, guided student thinking and enhanced feedback during the practical. Student responses could also be used to drive the practical with students making strategic decisions at various points during the practical. The system has capabilities to be linked to student personal ID numbers for recording answers and so can be used for the provision of formative or summative assessment.

Keywords:

Assessment, Feedback, Practicals.