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Faculty
of Science Learning,
Teaching and Assessment Information and Resources |
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20/03/15 Faculty of Science Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA) Update |
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Consultation: Code of Practice for Placement Learning (thanks to Jamie
Fearn) The University is currently
reviewing the Code and comment is invited from all staff that work within its
requirements. Faculty of Science staff can record
their views through this online
form and the deadline for comments is Friday 10th April. |
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The Reading List project: Start of pilot phase (thanks to Val
Stevenson) The University has purchased some
software to better manage our reading list information, stored previously in
the ‘indicative references’ section of the Module Catalogue.
The Rebus:List software has now been
configured on the external site, and will soon be implemented in Blackboard
ready for the start of a pilot project with academic staff who have
volunteered to take part. Reading list items (books, journal articles, web sites
etc.) uploaded to module reading lists are all allocated to a specific
category in Rebus:List. The main categories for the
purposes of the pilot will be: • Essential • Recommended When the system is launched fully,
it is anticipated that all books they place in the “Essential” category will
be automatically purchased by the Library and this will be tested during the
pilot phase. Academic staff will be able to
structure their reading lists and use “tags” or keywords and notes on
individual items to guide students through the reading material. This functionality will also be tested during the pilot. |
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LJMU LTA Awards 2015 Although you may have received
information about these awards recently, the Faculty has already identified
this year’s official nominees. This early action was
in response to feedback from previous nominees that the ‘normal’ timescale
does not give sufficient time to compose a substantive claim. In a change to previous years, nominees for the
institutional LTA awards were this year sought from the Faculty’s Subject
Leaders and the LJMU PGCert Coordinator. A specially
convened meeting was held to consider the staff suggested and nominators
could send in citations by email if they were unable to attend in person. All staff and teams receiving multiple nominations and
who wished to be put forward for these awards were chosen as Faculty nominees. It is intended that their award applications will be
formally endorsed by the Faculty Management Team in April before submission
before the May deadline. I am sure you will join me
in wishing good luck to the Faculty’s nominees this year. |
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Panopto: Video microscopy (thanks to Jim Turner) Jim Turner from the Teaching and Learning Academy has
passed on this example
of the video recording tool Panopto being used in conjunction with a
microscope. The purchase of Panopto is being
considered as part of broader review of the use of videos as teaching aids
and it is recognised that institutional policy and procedures will need to be
developed. The ultimate goal would not simply to
record lectures, but rather to enhance and enrich the student experience. |
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Plickers (thanks to
Chris Gilles) Plickers is a free website and app that mimics voting
handsets (aka clickers) except you give each of your students a unique and
re-usable printed card. These cards can be held up
in four different orientations to give up to four responses per card which
are then efficiently scanned, collated, attributed, shared on the
projector (if you wish) and stored by
the app. Unlike clickers, Plicker cards can be setup
quickly and could be given to students at the start of a module to take away
and re-use in future sessions. |
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Plickers is still being developed and currently has two
clear drawbacks: Firstly, students can only choose between a maximum of four
answers per question, although if a student does not put up their card then
it perhaps indicates a fifth response (“I have no idea!”). Secondly, only 63 unique cards can be
printed (larger class sizes would have to share cards). I’ve
asked Chris Gilles (EHC) and he says the technology works well within IM
Marsh over about 10-15 metres. For larger spaces,
there is the possibility of printing larger A4 cards. Despite
the limitations, Chris was impressed by how robust and fun it is to use. More information is available
here in video form and
on the site
here |
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Dr Philip Denton BSc PhD PGCE PGCert SFHEA Lecturer in Physical Chemistry Faculty of Science |
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Maintained by Philip Denton. Last Update: 13/10/2015.