Education Research Projects
Lydon S, Hartman, T, Rasmussen A, (in prep) Hunting for Answers: using treasure hunt software to link lecture material with the real world, (ethics approval: BIO-1718-0003)
Design of technology-led activity: using a Treasure hunt mobile app (blog here). This practical hones students’ observational skills by getting them to make a plant key using material placed in the lab (Stage 1), they then use their key outside (Stage 2) and the final stage of the app involves students finding plant traits and concepts linked to their lectures. The ActionBound app allows me to design questions of a wide variety of formats including voice recordings, find and photograph, short answer, and multiple choice questions. These different question types were deliberately selected to improve inclusivity. All the Plant Science and Life on Earth students stated they enjoyed the activity and 77% of Life on Earth and 94% of Plant Science students agreed that the activity improved their understanding of the lecture material. Publication in preparation.
Design of technology-led activity: using a Treasure hunt mobile app (blog here). This practical hones students’ observational skills by getting them to make a plant key using material placed in the lab (Stage 1), they then use their key outside (Stage 2) and the final stage of the app involves students finding plant traits and concepts linked to their lectures. The ActionBound app allows me to design questions of a wide variety of formats including voice recordings, find and photograph, short answer, and multiple choice questions. These different question types were deliberately selected to improve inclusivity. All the Plant Science and Life on Earth students stated they enjoyed the activity and 77% of Life on Earth and 94% of Plant Science students agreed that the activity improved their understanding of the lecture material. Publication in preparation.
Education Publications
Rasmussen A, Rossini R, and Kuchel L. (2011) Is it worth taking time out of first year science courses to explicitly teach team skills? IN: Krause, K., Buckridge, M., Grimmer, C. and Purbrick-Illek, S. (Eds.) Research and Development in Higher Education: Reshaping Higher Education, 34: 238 – 252). Gold Coast, Australia, 4 – 7 July 2011. http://herdsa.org.au/publications/conference-proceedings/research-and-development-higher-education-vol-34
RS Wilson, AC Niehaus, J White, A Rasmussen, L Kuchel (2009) Using video documentary-making to enhance learning in large first year Biology classes, Integrative and Comparative Biology 49, E325-E325