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Instead of just talking about scholars and their work, OWU students are talking to them directly with Skype.

Ohio Wesleyan professors in a variety of disciplines are using the free video-calling service to bring scholars, performers and other guests into the classroom to illuminate class discussions. This allows students to learn about the subjects they’re studying and other parts of working in that field.

History professor Ellen Arnold, for example, had students talk with a guest from Dominican University whose work they had read. They were “excited” about the opportunity to talk with him about both his scholarship and his public outreach work, she said.

“It was a productive and easy way to have someone else’s ideas and views enter the classroom,” she said.

Skype has also proven useful for dance professor Rashana Smith. She called choreographer Paige Phillips to talk with students about some of her work that was unlike much dance they had seen.

After talking with Phillips, the students better understood her work, Smith said. That first-hand knowledge made it easier for them to write about something that was new to them and broadened their views of dance.

Skype has helped students outside the classroom, too. It allowed New York-based choreographer Erik Abbott-Main, who directed a piece for this year’s Orchesis dance concert, to interact with students before and after his weeklong campus visit.

“The students not only had the opportunity to work with a New York choreographer, but they also enjoyed continuing the process with him all the way up to the concert,” Smith said. “Two-and-a-half months of exposure with someone working successfully in the field is better than just one week.”

Faculty considering using Skype in the classroom might want to test the program at different times of the day to avoid scheduling a call when the network is congested, Smith said. But overall, the program is easy to use.

3D Printing in Botany/Microbiology

The OWU Department of Botany & Microbiology recently acquired a MakerBot Replicator 2 printer. For now, it’s being used to construct custom-made 3D pieces of equipment for research purposes.

Professor Chris Wolverton and Information Services arranged for the printer’s purchase, and Wolverton coordinates its use in his teaching lab. He calls it “a prototype builder” because it gives users a tactile appreciation of their research pieces and allows them to identify opportunities for improvement. Wolverton says the equipment his student is producing now with the 3D printer is not what Wolverton originally envisioned–it’s better.

Junior BOMI major Patrick Zmina quickly became the primary user of the printer and is happy to share what he’s picked up so far. He cautions, for example, that users can’t let the workstation go to sleep in the middle of a job, which can take several hours. If this happens, the printer still will be communicating with the computer, but it no longer will be functioning. Users could wind up with the start of a piece and a glob of plastic on top.

In addition, although many free designs are available with the software and online, Zmina has had to learn both Google SketchUp and MakerBot’s own MakerWare to build custom pieces for the labs. He knows these are marketable skills applicable to many careers, and he’s having fun.

As Wolverton described early on, he and Zmina started with a simple holder for an LED light. With that piece under their belts, they started a more significant project: “a tray that would hold a digital camera in exactly the right position to take photos of roots on a Petri dish.” And they have accomplished this, too, allowing them to precisely position not only the camera but the petri dish as well.

When building a piece, the printer first lays a thin plastic tray underneath the actual project. This is similar in purpose to the frames around model car pieces in boxed kits. The tray holds the project pieces in place and prevents them from sticking to the printing platform. A recent update to the MakerWare software has it building honeycomb patterns, more efficient than the previous squares, on the inside. This allows easier removal from the base.

Wolverton is promoting campus-wide adoption of the device, or more like it, and expects an iterative approach similar to the actual use of the printer itself.

“First, folks will have to hear about it to get them thinking about how they might use it,” he says. “Then they try it out and find what works and what doesn’t. Then they adapt that.”

Wolverton hasn’t fully explored the many educational uses for the 3D printer, but has several ideas. These include building 3D models of viral proteins to help students visualize them and to design models of their own.

Faculty interested in exploring how they might use the 3D printer are invited to contact David Soliday or Chris Wolverton for more information.

Encouraging learning via technology

Watching cool videos online? It may sound like the way a college student kills time. But for Dr. Paul Dean, OWU assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, it’s an important part of the way students can learn.

Dean is one of the founders of the The Sociological Cinema, a website that compiles interesting videos for use in the sociology classroom. Rooted in the idea that pop culture and video can be useful tools for illustrating sociological concepts and theories, The Sociological Cinema is the combined effort of Dean and two of his graduate school classmates at the University of Maryland.

“We knew that video was an engaging way to communicate with students,” Dean says. “But it was time-consuming to locate relevant videos.” As a solution to that problem, The Sociological Cinema aggregates and tags videos based on their themes, making it easy for instructors to locate helpful content.

According to Dean, short videos like those featured on the The Sociological Cinema are the wave of the future when it comes to classroom media. “It used to be that feature-length films were common in the classroom, but shorter clips are more effective now,” he comments. Dean says shorter videos can serve as a supplement to lecture, rather than a replacement, and students respond well to them. “There’s aesthetic involved,” he adds. “Video taps into experiences that resonate more strongly than just hearing someone explain a concept.”

This emotional connection is especially important in the sociology classroom, Dean says. For example, in a Race and Ethnicity class, video testimonials introduce students to the experiences of different racial groups. Race is a difficult concept for many Americans to discuss, and while some students may not feel comfortable sharing their experiences in class, video is a way to tap into this part of social life. Dean also teaches a class centered on the HBO TV series The Wire, a drama focusing on the Baltimore drug scene.  “The Wire is one of the most sociological shows I’ve ever seen, and teaching through its lens is a very effective way to introduce relevant sociological ideas,” he says.

Dean’s passion for instruction through video is important, as he and two co-founders of The Sociological Cinema manage all of the content that is found on the site. “Fifty percent of the content you’ll see on the site originates with our team, and the other half is recommended to us through the site and through Facebook,” he explains.

The Sociological Cinema team doesn’t plan to slow down anytime soon. With several upcoming presentations (not to mention a Facebook page boasting over 36,000 likes), they are considering next steps for the site, including ways to link more faculty to videos, collaboration with other faculty, academic publications, and more. “It’s important to me to be able to leverage technology to assess and encourage learning,” Dean says. “And of course, it’s a lot of fun.”

Faculty Say Technology Provides More Authentic Assessment

Students today have been brought up on keyboarding, which, to some degree, has resulted in the demise of legible handwriting—and illegible writing can make grading more time-consuming and less objective.  “I want my exams to assess students’ interaction with the material, not their handwriting,” says David Eastman, Assistant Professor of Religion.

To learn more about how Exam2 can enhance your testing contact David Soliday.