Scholarship of Learning & Teaching
Diagnostic Quiz
A readiness assessment was given to students in a week one laboratory session. The week one quiz consisted of 16 maths questions at a Year 10-12 level (age 15-17) on scientific notation, conversions, algebra, and quadratic equations. Students were not permitted to use calculators. The aim of the quiz was to determine the level of assumed knowledge, i.e., mathematics skills that are not taught in the semester one courses, but are required to solve many processes, especially in the physical science course. A linear regression was performed on student OP and quiz scores. There was a highly significant correlation (p = 2 × 10-27, r = -0.501, N = 405), indicating that the quiz is a valid measure of the ability of students entering these programs.
Essentials Workshops
Following the quiz in week one, students who scored less than 12 out of 16 were advised to attend the Essentials Workshops, though all students were eligible to attend the workshops. The workshops ran from weeks 2 to 7, with each workshop containing a session on either biology or maths, and a session on academic skills.
The content of the workshops has been developed over several years, and has been designed to support students in areas that have been identified as contributing to poor student performance. The timing of the workshops was designed to give students the best preparation to succeed, for example, the biology and exam preparation workshops were held in the lead-up to the biology mid-semester exams.
Early Transition Needs
The engagement and retention of commencing students is a longstanding issue in Higher Education, particularly with the implementation of the widening student participation agenda. The early weeks of the first semester are especially critical to student engagement and early attrition. This study investigated the perceived early transition needs of three cohorts of commencing students in their first three weeks of university study in a Health Faculty. A short survey was developed based on a systematic understanding of student transition and supplemented by open-ended qualitative data. The results showed a stable, consistent pattern of early transition needs across the cohorts, with commencing students expressing most concern about accessing resources, balancing work, family and study commitments, establishing peer relationships, and understanding the requirements and standards for early assessment tasks, particularly group tasks. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for early co-curricular and curricular interventions to enhance early student engagement and retention.
Chemistry of Breaking Bad
The project team designed and in orientation week 2015 delivered a 2 day chemistry workshop with the general theme “The Chemistry of Breaking Bad” for at-risk students transitioning from first to second year. Students attended lectures, participated in hands-on chemistry workshops using balloons and molecular models and completed workbooks developed around the popular television series “Breaking Bad”.
The voluntary workshop was targeted at students that achieved a grade of 4 in 1015MSC. On the second day of the workshop, students watched the Prof Dave video “Friday Night Curry” where they learnt about the medicinal properties of the chemicals in the spices used in curry and prepared curry whilst watching the video. The workshop wrapped up with a trivia quiz. The workshop was an overwhelming success and loved by the students as evidenced by an online survey, thankyou emails and a group interview.
Multiple Choice Questions
In collaboration with several School of Medical Science academics, we conducted a study into multiple choice questions in FYH exams and found that removal of the least effective distractor made no significant difference to student results. These findings have led to all FYH convenors reducing the number of MCQ responses from five to four. We have analysed the difficulty factor and discrimination index for several thousand responses and have a manuscript in preparation.