1. Digital Field Assignments Course Projects for the Net Generation Images from student projects or for which copyright clearance could not be obtained were deleted from the original presentation. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

2. Presenters Mike Reese Assistant Director Center for Educational Resources Richard Shingles Biology Faculty Member Science Curriculum Design Consultant, Center for Educational Resources

3. Objectives Define Digital Fields Assignments Describe their origin and goals Demo examples Share student and faculty feedback Summarize best practices for implementation

4. Digital Field Assignments Research assignments in which students collect and analyze field data using digital technologies.

5. Assignment Goals Ensure students apply knowledge from class Introduce undergraduates to research Encourage students to work in the field

6. Why?

7. Research is King

8. Research Teaching Pres. Daniel Coit Gilman

9. Researcher Student

10. “Hear and you forget; see and you remember; do and you understand.” ~Confucius

11. Sound Familiar? Active Learning Problem-based Learning Situated Learning

12. Obstacles TimeClass Size FROM: Bonwell, Charles C., and James A. Eison. 1991. "Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom." ERIC Digest, EDO-HE-91-01. Content

13. Today’s Learners Millennials Digital Natives NetG’s

14. Student Characteristics Want to be engaged Enjoy working in groups Motivated! Always On Comfortable with new media Want to communicate with multiple media

15. Kids don’t want to play PlayStation; they want to go outside. -Brenda Laurel

16. “The future of higher education lies outside the classroom.” Chronicle of Higher Education, c. 1999

17. Authentic Learner Tasks Ill-structured Problems Meaningful Context Time Required Multiple Solutions Thomas C. Reeves, Educause 2007 - 10/24 @ 10:30 AM

18. Digital Field Assignments Research assignments in which students collect and analyze field data using digital technologies.

19. Demos

20. Biology Faculty

21. Project Goals Ensure students apply knowledge from class Introduce undergraduates to research Encourage students to work in the field Promote teamwork Peer mentoring Enrich the teaching experience for faculty

22. Interactive Map Tool Overview: Flash-based Software Tool Allows for Student Interactivity Faculty Write Assignments On-line Students Respond On-line All Data Accumulated per Semester/Year

23. Digital Field Assignments Research assignments for a Freshman Biology class involving teamwork Enrich the learning experience for students by adopting rich, meaningful problem-based team assignments

24. Data Collection Observation Interaction Exploration Research

25. Equipment

26. Tools

27. Biomes of Homewood Students organized into teams Teams assigned areas of campus Catalogue flora and fauna Perform comparative studies Perform longitudinal studies

28. Roles Meeting Organizer Equipment Manager Compiler of Assignment Photographer Submitter of Assignment

30. Student Data

31. Cities

32. Course Design Readings Presentations Discussions

33. Objectives Analyze structural-cultural dynamics that affect cities Investigate how different disciplines conduct research

34. Final Assignment Group project (teams of 4-5) Explore urban issue Collect data Post to map tool Analyze data spatially NPR-news article/Final paper

35. Roles Sociologist Economist Artist Education Policy Maker Criminologist Political Scientist

36. Topics Public Health Public Art Crime Education

37. Gathering Data Observation Interviews Exploration

38. Images of Student Projects

42. Interviews, Video, Photos

43. Public Health and Education Final Project

44. Other Examples Museums Studies French Language Instruction History Economics Psychological & Brain Sciences

45. Evaluation Surveys Team Checkpoint Personal Perception Indicator Focus Groups

46. Team Checkpoint

47. PPI

48. Focus Group “I’d rather create a map than a paper.” – Student Student started independent research assignment based on course project “I can see what Dr. Fambrough was talking about when he said we should appreciate nature. These assignments actually get me out in the world, looking at trees, and enjoying the environment. I like them [the assignments].”

49. Faculty Perspectives Significant team collaboration experience Deeper understanding of biology content Opportunities for advanced biology students as mentors Model for other large enrollment lecture courses

50. Student Perspectives Students motivated! Students enjoy communicating and presenting with New Media Students apply knowledge Students tackle real world problems

51. Best Practices Planning Software/Hardware Support, Support, Support! - Technology - Logistics Group Assignments/ - Team Building Activities

52. Mentors

53. Publications Richard Shingles, Theron Feist and Rae Brosnan (2006) The Biomes of Homewood: Interactive Map Software. Bioscene 31(3) 17-24 Douglas M. Fambrough,, Richard Shingles, and Rae Brosnan (2005) Points of View: A Survey of Survey Courses: Are They Effective? Cell Biology Education 4: 123-137

54. Further Information Center for Educational Resources Johns Hopkins University www.cer.jhu.edu Richard Shingles shingles@jhu.edushingles@jhu.edu Mike Reese mreese@jhu.edumreese@jhu.edu