1. Student evaluation of Tablet PC use for Biomedical science lectures J.K. Choate 1 and G. Kotsanas 2, 1 Lecturer, Department of Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences; 2 Academic Director - Information Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. 2010 Australasian Tablets in Education conference

2. The Biomedical science unit BMS2031 (Physiology) lecturers (4) used Tablet PC one lecturer = own Tablet PC 3 lecturers loaned Tablet PC and attended a training session technical support provided in lecture theatres

3. Project aim: To evaluate how BMS2031 students perceived the use of Tablet PC technology by their lecturers. Method: Anonymous paper-based surveys (lecture slot, final week semester).

4. Student survey (n=104, 49% response):

5. When the lecturer used a Tablet PC in class it made the lecture more interesting and engaging: 5 = strongly agree 4 = agree 3 = neutral 2 = disagree 1 = strongly disagree score 4.1 ± 0.1

6. When the lecturer used a Tablet PC in class it improved my understanding of the lecture content: 5 = strongly agree 4 = agree 3 = neutral 2 = disagree 1 = strongly disagree score 3.9 ± 0.1

7. When the lecturer used a Tablet PC in class it helped me to keep up with the pace of the lecture: 5 = strongly agree 4 = agree 3 = neutral 2 = disagree 1 = strongly disagree score 3.9 ± 0.1

8. Briefly comment on what you thought were the best aspects of the program... Echo (revision, annotations) Writing, diagrams, drawing Slowed lecturer Improved understanding of the lecture More interactive and/or engaging

9. Suggestions on how the program could be improved in the future...

10. overall, a positive experience for students coupled together with Echo lecture recording = overwhelmingly popular (especially for revision) more lecturer practise and training Summary of student survey:

11. What did the 2 nd year Biomedical science lecturers think of their Tablet PC lectures?

12. Aims = To investigate if the transition from ppt lectures to Tablet PC lectures caused lecturers to significantly alter their: a)lecture preparation b)delivery c)content d)student lecture notes Methods = Anonymous paper-based surveys (7 responses from 16 lecturers) Survey of 2 nd year BMS Tablet PC lecturers 2010:

13. Why did you choose to use the Tablet PC for lecturing? Number of lecturers

14. How did you prepare your Tablet PC lectures? Did you alter your lecture content when lecturing with the Tablet PC? ↓ number of slides (4) ↓ main lecture concepts (3) ↓ number of lecture objectives (3) replaced digital images with hand-drawn images (4) new digital images (5) altered images (5) 6 used existing ppt lectures, 1 created new lectures

15. Using the Tablet PC for lecturing: 5 = strongly agree 4 = agree 3 = undecided 2 = disagree 1 = strongly disagree n=7 4 4 4 4

16. Did you have any technical problems that interfered with the [Tablet] lecture presentation? Yes (5) the image on screen was not the same as on the Tablet the pen software was unreliable sometimes I had to go back to ppt, which was disheartening the expanded screen didn’t work in all lecture theatres the Tablet stopped working I could not go to the animations on the web easily..so I flipped between the Tablet/CP3 and the computer to do this

17. If given the opportunity, will you use a Tablet PC for lecturing in 2011? Yes (7) Will you change your lecture preparation, delivery or lecture notes provided to the students? increase the interactive component (3) more drawings and diagrams on whiteboard (2) will try to be more creative with inking

18. Summary of lecturer survey: Most of the lecturers altered existing ppt lectures, either reducing content or altering/replacing images Most of the lecturers had some technical problems with their Tablet PC presentations All would use a Tablet PC for lecturing in the future.

19. Future = lecturer-student mode Acknowledgments: BMS2031 lecturers and students MyLearningSpace Project Team Lecturer survey = Dr Monika Zimanyi and BMS lecturers Ethics approved by the Monash University Committee for Human Experimentation