Westmont College
Academic Technology Faculty Pilot Projects
MATHCASTING Project
GOAL: To record short videos of mathematic equations for students to watch and replay to strengthen their grasp of course skills.
RESEARCH QUESTION:
If screencasts/Mathcasts of math equations being solved are recorded and shared with students enrolled in a math course, what affect will this have on adoption of course math skills?
ACTION: I researched a number of different technology solutions before deciding on this set up. In partnership with the professor, we tested the process and made adjustments to fit the goals for the course and students. This is the set up we came up with: Using a Lumens document camera connected to a laptop, Queue viewing software and Screen-cast-o-matic web app, video of the professor drawing out an equation on paper and the audio explanation of the process are recorded. Short videos are uploaded to Eureka course page for students to view. Some Mathcasts will be created for the course, with the majority will be created during the course to respond to student questions and area of interest.
EVALUATION
This project was planned and tested in partnership with the professor. It began with a simple conversation about technology innovation and became focused on one specific idea the professor wanted assistance in pursuing. We tried a couple of different solutions before settling on the method we proposed to use for this project. From the beginning, the professor wondered if the concept of videos of practice problems for students to watch was a good pedagogical direction. The idea of providing students with greater access to more practice with the math concepts outside of class drove the progress in this project. As the semester began, the professor decided not to use this technology solution. It came down to a pedagogical question - 'If I think that lecturing/showing math examples in class is not effective, why would I view it as more effective if I video taped them and had students watch them outside of class?' For us at the OAT, the discussions, planning and implementation of this faculty pilot project were encouraging as we worked together with the professor to discover the potential for technology innovation. This project did not get used for the classroom purpose initially intended, but we believe that the culture of discovery and innovation among faculty and students is expanded with each project we work together on.
PILOT PROJECT PARTNER Reflection
I met with Doug to explore how to set up a process for creating short videos of math problems for my classes. I was hoping for a simple process that would allow me to basically video my hand holding a pen and my voice as I worked out a math equation. The goal would be to use these “math casts” as a supplement to student questions for more practice or clarity on a course area. I proposed this to Doug and shared the ideas I had thought about using. He volunteered to research the ideas further. The solution that we came up with and tested together seemed to be a simple and viable way to proceed. A document camera connected to my laptop would capture my writing and a screencast app would record my voice, packaging both together in a file that I could then upload to Eureka or YouTube for my students to access. This set up and planning of this project was done in partnership with Doug, so it really felt like there was shared ownership more than his just applying a fix to my problem. I ended up not using this technology this semester, but found the collaboration with Doug helpful and encouraging as I consider future work with technology and teaching.
RESEARCH QUESTION:
If screencasts/Mathcasts of math equations being solved are recorded and shared with students enrolled in a math course, what affect will this have on adoption of course math skills?
ACTION: I researched a number of different technology solutions before deciding on this set up. In partnership with the professor, we tested the process and made adjustments to fit the goals for the course and students. This is the set up we came up with: Using a Lumens document camera connected to a laptop, Queue viewing software and Screen-cast-o-matic web app, video of the professor drawing out an equation on paper and the audio explanation of the process are recorded. Short videos are uploaded to Eureka course page for students to view. Some Mathcasts will be created for the course, with the majority will be created during the course to respond to student questions and area of interest.
EVALUATION
This project was planned and tested in partnership with the professor. It began with a simple conversation about technology innovation and became focused on one specific idea the professor wanted assistance in pursuing. We tried a couple of different solutions before settling on the method we proposed to use for this project. From the beginning, the professor wondered if the concept of videos of practice problems for students to watch was a good pedagogical direction. The idea of providing students with greater access to more practice with the math concepts outside of class drove the progress in this project. As the semester began, the professor decided not to use this technology solution. It came down to a pedagogical question - 'If I think that lecturing/showing math examples in class is not effective, why would I view it as more effective if I video taped them and had students watch them outside of class?' For us at the OAT, the discussions, planning and implementation of this faculty pilot project were encouraging as we worked together with the professor to discover the potential for technology innovation. This project did not get used for the classroom purpose initially intended, but we believe that the culture of discovery and innovation among faculty and students is expanded with each project we work together on.
PILOT PROJECT PARTNER Reflection
I met with Doug to explore how to set up a process for creating short videos of math problems for my classes. I was hoping for a simple process that would allow me to basically video my hand holding a pen and my voice as I worked out a math equation. The goal would be to use these “math casts” as a supplement to student questions for more practice or clarity on a course area. I proposed this to Doug and shared the ideas I had thought about using. He volunteered to research the ideas further. The solution that we came up with and tested together seemed to be a simple and viable way to proceed. A document camera connected to my laptop would capture my writing and a screencast app would record my voice, packaging both together in a file that I could then upload to Eureka or YouTube for my students to access. This set up and planning of this project was done in partnership with Doug, so it really felt like there was shared ownership more than his just applying a fix to my problem. I ended up not using this technology this semester, but found the collaboration with Doug helpful and encouraging as I consider future work with technology and teaching.