1. Tutorials via Social Networking. Samer El-Daher, Lucie Pollard School of Science

2. Some of the difficulties of teaching large classes are that: –Staff are not able to engage sufficiently with students to monitor progress –Students are not able to self assess their own progress –Feedback on work is not timely

3. Student learning is best supported when: Assessed tasks capture sufficient student time and effort These tasks distribute student effort evenly across topics & weeks These tasks engage students in productive learning activity Assessment communicates clear and high expectations to students Sufficient feedback is provided, often enough & in enough detail The feedback is provided quickly enough to be useful to students Feedback focuses on learning rather than on marks or students Feedback is linked to the purpose of the assignment and to criteria Feedback is understandable to students, given their sophistication Feedback is received by students and attended to Feedback is acted upon by students to improve their work or their learning (Brown et al 2003)

4. Methods A Biology and Physiology course was selected as a pilot Tutorials were delivered using the student portal Tutorials were uploaded on day of the lecture and left for 1 week. Students were given 2-3 attempts with a time limit of 1-2 hours depending on the difficulty level. Feedback on answers was provided on a later date. Students use of the tutorials was tracked and marks assigned according to use

5. Results of the Essay

6. Results of the Phase Test

7. . Question12345678910 Satisfaction 1 Strongly Agree 2016 14151128242220 2 Agree2023251824 15171418 3 Neither agree or disagree 47710 112589 4 Disagree5325243552 5 Strongly disagree 3113112224 Table showing responses to the course feedback BIOL 1002

8. Student Evaluation of the Project 10 questions were asked (n=51) Question 7. –The online tutorials were beneficial, 86% of students strongly agreed and agreed. Question 8. –I learnt more in this course because of the on line tutorial, 82% of students strongly agreed and agreed. Question 9. –I read more about Biology & Physiology because of the online tutorials, 68% of students strongly agreed and agreed. Question 10. –I would like to see more online tutorials for other courses, 76% of students strongly agreed and agreed.

9. Conclusions Online tutorials work because they: –encourage students to review contents covered in the relevant lectures. –encourage students to take control of their own learning, finding sources, forming study groups etc.. –encourage students, in general, to engage with the programme.