Blogs for Pre-Reading in Higher Education: A Prototype

Kristian Leisegang

School of Natural Medicine
University of the western Cape

 Clinical science coordinator at School of Natural
Medicine

 Teach 3rd year and 4th year students

 6 modules to cover:
 General and systemic pathology
 General medicine III & IV
 Clinical diagnosis
 Differential diagnosis

 Completing a PhD with Medical Bioscience

 Administration work.....like...
 setting tests, exams
 marking papers
 Setting and marking assignments
 attending meetings

 Increasing focus on learning how to teach!

 General pathology

 Introduces new and complex concepts

 Underpins study of specific disease process (systemic
pathology)

 Pathology underpins the diagnostic process in
medicine

 Learning consists of 2 parts (Ally, 2004):
 Information transfer from a knowledge source (class)
 Assimilation of the information by student (home)

 Learning influenced by instructional strategy more
than the type of technology used (Ally, 2004)

 A need to move the assimilation phase more into the
classroom and to move information phase transfer out
of the classroom (at least in part)
Ally, M. (2004). Foundations of educational theory for online learning. In T. A. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds). Theory and Practice of
Online Learning (chapter 1). Athabasca University

 An interactive environment to learn?

 To learn via experience rather than books?

 To assimilate knowledge in the presence of a facilitator
rather than instructed in the presence of a lecturer?

Blogs for Pre-Reading in Higher Education: A Prototype

How to transfer information to
students before the contact
sessions?

Pre-reading of course material

 Large lecture load – 14 hours per week
 How can I find more time to address student needs?

 Large volumes of work to cover in class
 How can I minimise traditional lecture scenario but still cover
the course content?

 Relatively little time to cover work load
 How to provide more formative assessment strategies?

 Complex concepts to convey to students
 How can I focus more on areas the students battle with?

 Clinical science a basis for their career
 How can I instil a desire and interest in a large and
complex workload?

 How can I increase teacher-learner interaction in class
time?

 How can I better develop more higher order thinking
skills?
 Identifying; Summerising; Analysing; Integrating;
Critical thinking;

 Access to basic technology should not be a problem

 Students complete typed assignments and upload to
Turnitin (access to computer, printer and internet)

 I already make use of UWC eLearning platform that
students use

 Will look at a web based survey to assess students
access to and ability to use various multimedia
platforms

 Just-in-time teaching (JITT)

 Pre-reading material activities should be used for
activating and constructing background knowledge
(Ajideh, 2003)

 Pre-reading activities elicit prior knowledge, build
background and focus attention (Ajideh, 2003)

Ajideh, P. Schema theory-based pre-reading tasks: an neglegted essential in the ESL reading class. The Reading Matrix 2003, 3(1).

 Just-in-time teaching (JITT)

 According to Derek Bruff, research indicates that 30%
student prepare when asked to do so

 I suspect my class is lower than this!

 So how to encourage this essential component of
learning?

Derek Bruff - http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/getting-students-to-do-the-reading-pre-class-quizzes-on-wordpress/23066
[accessed 24 May 2012]

 A well used platform for communication and knowledge sharing

 Considered a formative learning tool in the classroom

 Allows facilitator and peer communication outside the classroom

 Allow flexibility, adaptability and a wide range of potential uses in
teaching and learning

 Allow the following of a students leanring with immediate publications
of capabilities on the web

 Easy interaction with other web based tool

Williams JB, Jacobs JS. Exploring the use of blogs as learning spaces in the higher education sector. Australasian Journal of Educational
Technology 2002, 20(2): 232-247
Armstrong L, Berry M, Lamshed R.Blogs as electronic learning journals. E-Journal of Instructional Science and Technology 2004, 7(1)

Students can use a blog to do
anything they would usually do
on paper: answer homework
questions, receive feedback on
draft projects, reflect on
reading assignments etc.

Teachers can then provide
feedback using comments.
Or, other students can provide
qualitative feedback.

Taken from a presentation by Andrew Rusk

 Blogs and wikis process potential in enhancing
learners competence (Schrire, 2006)

 Blogs and wikis valuable in the knowledge building
process (Schrire, 2006)

 Online discussions and blog postings are beneficial to
the learners’ ability to gain and build knowledge
(Hammond, 2000)

Schrire S. Knowledge building in asynchronous discussion groups: Going beyond quantitative analysis. Computers & Education 2006,
46(1):49-70.
Hammond M. Communication with on-line forums: The oppertunities, contraints and the value of a communicative approach. Computers &
Education 2000, 35(4):251-262.

 Unable to find templates or similar use in the
published literature

 Original post and comments not altered or changed

 Facilitates engagement, reflection and assimilation of
new material autonomously

 Facilitates writing skills and communication

 Encourage students to articulate their own thoughts

 May have a discussion based nature (although a blog is
not a discussion forum)

 Essentially a reflection log on the new concepts and
how they relate to what is already known to them

 Would need to be well constructed framework to stimulate a
desired outcome

 Post open ended questions and framework for the students to
reflect on

 Contectualisation of the use for self reflection and thought
processing is very important

 Focus on the development of thought processing, assimilation of
new knowledge and learning skills

 Learning outcomes to focus on the process of learning rather
than the content

 Ineffective contextualisation

 Unclear learning outcomes

 Misuse of the environment

 Illusive grading practices

 Inadequate time allocation

Ruth Reynard: Avoiding the 5 most common mistakes in using blogs with students.
http://campustecnology.com/articles/2008/10/avoiding-the -5-most-common-mistakes-in-using-blogs-with-students. [accessed 29 May
2012]

 Encourage student engagement with new material on
their own

 JITT approach
 assess common problem areas
 focus on these in class facilitation and discussions

 Can incorporate reflections that encourage students to
ask questions

 In order to encourage engagement

 Clear outcomes will need to be put in place via rubrics

 A focus on how each student has engaged with the
material and develop learning and assimilation skills

 Small or no focus on the correctness of the work
(students not expected to self study the material, just
to engage with it and display the ability to assimilate)

 Create a course specific blog: general pathology

 Link blog to UWC eLearning plateform and a
corresponding facebook group

 Instruct students via assignment handout (print and
electronic) how to create google profile and access
blog

 Similar instructions in how to join a facebook group

 Produce broad open ended questions and statements for blog
discussions for each chapter

 Post this on the blog for ‘replies and comment’ from each
student

 Limit posting via minimum and maximum word length (e.g. 400
– 600 words)

 Also post a link to the assignment from facebook and through
eLearning to student emails

 Comments due the day before we begin the chapter and
corresponding course work in class

 Participation - completion of task with a response related to the discussion
topics

 Reflective statements – self positioning within the course concepts

 Commentary statements – effective use of reading material in the discussion

 Application statements – direct use of new ideas in there current education
setting and future career

 Communication – effective writing skills and communication of the
information without re-typing the textbook

 Further research – links or referals to other on-line sources of knowledge based
on the material

Task: Read chapter 14 on thrombosis

 Reflect on the underlying mechanisms of thrombus
formations, and relate these mechanisms to the
physiological process of haemostasis as previously
studies
 Discuss areas of potential difficulty in understanding
the definition, aetiology or pathogenesis of thrombus
formation
 Identify any potential risk factors your are exposed to
that may increase you chances of a thrombus forming

Task: Read chapter 24-27 on cancer

 What are the most interesting components of these
chapters that stimulate your interest, and provide
some insight as to why you find it interesting
 Describe how reading these chapters has changed your
preconceived ideas and knowledge about what cancer
is and how cancer forms
 Describe relevant areas of anatomy and physiology
studies in previous years has been most useful in
preparing you to study cancer formation and spread?

 Difficult to execute in large classes

 Consider condensing the readings into units that can
be addressed bi-weekly or monthly to reduce
continuous workload

 Word-press can accommodate wiki applications, and
you can in bed alternative reading or even videos into
the posting for discussions and comments

 Consider using facebook group to facilitate the process

 Nothing as yet....

 Margolis et al. (2006) consider student feedback as
essential in order to gauge efficacy of technological tool in
course gain

 Have been developing and experimenting with on line
survey programs to address student based formative
feedback

 This can be used for various aspects of teaching, and not
just my prototype
Margolis JL, Nussbaum M, Rodriguez P, Rosas R. Methodology for evaluating a novel education technology: A case study of hand held video
games. Computers & Education 2006, 46(2):174-191

 Was it useful?

 Did it aid learning?

 Did it stimulate increased interest in the subject?

 Did it stimulate anticipation for the contact sessions
and practical classes?

 What would you change and why?

AND THAT IS ALL FOR NOW

QUESTIONS?

FEEDBACK?

Blogs for Pre-Reading in Higher Education: A Prototype

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