ASELL  Project:  How  do  we  know  that  learning  in  laboratories  is  worthwhile?    

Assoc/Prof  Manjula  Sharma    The  University  of  Sydney  

       

ASELL:  Advancing  Science  by  Enhancing  Learning  in  the  Laboratory  

ASELL  SNAPSHOT  •  APCELL,  ACELL,  ASELL  Universi?es  1999  -­‐  ongoing  ▫   Focus  on  educa?onal  and  pedagogical  aspects  for  science  academics  ▫  Uptake  interna?onally  from  2007  ▫  Funded  by  OLT  predecessors,  ACDS  

•  ASELL  Schools,    2012  -­‐  ongoing  ▫  Focus  on  inquiry  …  ▫  Will  develop  other  focuses  ▫  Successful  funding  of  $2M    

ASELL Universities > 30,000 students > 300 academics Deans

ASELL  UniversiCes  >  30,000  students  ~300  academics  

ASELL Schools ~ 150 teachers ~ 50 students

TOOLS,TECHNIQUES  

•  APCELL,  ACELL,  ASELL  Universi?es  1999  -­‐  ongoing  ▫   Focus  on  educa?onal  and  pedagogical  aspects  for  science  academics  ▫  Uptake  interna?onally  from  2007  ▫  Funded  by  OLT  predecessors,  ACDS    

•  ASELL  Schools,    2012  -­‐  ongoing  ▫  Focus  on  inquiry  …  ▫  Will  develop  other  focuses  ▫  Successful  funding  of  $2M    

TOOLS  and  TECHNIQUES  

Four  ObjecCves  of  ASELL  Database    Make  available  a  database  of  scien?fically  and  educa?onally  sound  experiments,  that  have  been  tested  by  both  academics/teachers  and  students  including  all  resources.    

Professional  Development    Provide  for  the  professional  development  of  academics/teachers  by  expanding  their  understanding  of  issues  surrounding  student  learning  in  the  laboratory.    

Community  of  PracCce    Facilitate  the  development  of  a  community  of  prac?ce  around  learning  via  experiments  and  inves?ga?ons.    

Science  Ed.  Research    Undertake  original  research  into  student  learning  in  the  laboratory.  

ASELL  objecCve  -­‐  database  Database    Make  available  a  database  of  scien?fically  and  educa?onally  sound  experiments,  that  have  been  tested  by  both  academics  and  students  including  all  resources.    

Sound accurate science & good pedagogy

works reliably safe

transferrable

•  3rd  party  tes?ng  -­‐  away  from  “home”  lab;  •  Tested  by  staff  and  students  ~50:50;  •  Tested  under  as  realis?c  condi?ons  as  possible;  •  Extensive  feedback–  both  formal  and  informal.  

•   July,  2000  (Canberra)  •   Feb,  2001    (Sydney)*  •   Feb,  2002  (Christchurch)  •   Nov,  2002  (Melbourne)*  •   Feb,  2004  (Hobart)*  •   July,  2005  (Sydney)  •   Feb,  2006  (Sydney)*  •   Jan,  2007  (Adelaide)*  •   July,  2007  (Auckland)  •   Nov,  2007  (Sydney,  physics)*  •   Apr,  2008  (Adelaide,  biology)*  •   July,  2009  (Sydney)*  •   April,  2010  (Adelaide,  Science)*  •   June,  2011  (Sydney,  Science)*  •   July,  2011  (Brisbane,  Biology)*  •   July,  2011  (Melbourne,  Biology)*  • April,  2013  (Sydney,  Science)*  • July,    2014  (Perth,  Bio/chem)*  

*  Experien?al  workshop  

UNIVERSITY   SCHOOLS •  June, 2012 (Sydney, High School Science)* •  July, 2012 (Adelaide, High School Science)* •   May, 2013 (Sydney, High School Science)* • July,  2013  (Melbourne,  High  School  Science)*  •   Nov,  2013  (Melbourne,  High  School  Science)*  •   April,  2014  (Melbourne,  High  School  Science)*  • July 2014 (Perth, ECU) *

Conference  workshops  •  July, 2013 (Melbourne, CONASTA)* •  Nov, 2013 (Melbourne, CONASTA)* •  July, 2014 (Adelaide, CONASTA)*  

Similarities and differences

www.asell.org

ASELL  objecCve  -­‐  PD  Professional  Development    Provide  for  the  professional  development  of  academics/teachers  by  expanding  their  understanding  of  issues  surrounding  student  learning  in  the  laboratory.    

•  Facilitated  through  ▫  The  Educa?onal  Template  ▫  Validated survey instruments  ▫  New  instruments  being  developed.    

•  Recogni?on  of  the  poten?al  in  this  area  evolved  over  ?me  

Wide  range  of  learning  experiences  

Q14:    Overall,  as  a  learning  experience,  I  would  rate  this  experiment  as:    

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

Outstanding VeryValuable

Worthwhile Of LittleValue

Worthless

Students, (n = 23)

score = -0.39

A B C D E

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Outstanding VeryValuable

Worthwhile Of LittleValue

Worthless

Students, (n = 28)

score = +1.14

A B C D E Excellent

Excellent Very Poor

Very Poor

Student  and  staff  dataset    The  student  dataset:  •  54  experiments  (49  chemistry,  5  physics)  •  surveyed  in  19  different  universi?es  (same  instrument)  •  42  General  Chemistry  (1st  year),  12  higher  years  •  paper  +  web  surveys  •  combina?on  of  ASELL  workshopped  and  “other”  experiments  •  >3100  responses  overall  (min  =  13,  max  =  143,  avg  =  47)  The  staff  dataset:  •  ~300  academics  across  chemistry,  physics,  biology  and  biochemistry  •  US,  UK,  Australia  

ASELL  Objec?ve  -­‐  CoP  

Community  of  PracCce    Facilitate  the  development  of  a  community  of  prac?ce  in  science  educa?on.    

ASELL  Objec?ve  -­‐  research  

Science  EducaCon  Research    Undertake  original  research  into  student  learning  in  the  laboratory.  

•  Providing  an  evidence  base  for  strategic  planning  •   Curriculum  development/changes  

Return w/s

surveys

Return student

data

Recycle

Published ASELL

workshop In-semester

data collection Peer

review Analysis &

write up

Reanalyse/ rewrite Retired Retired

2 years max 2 years max 0.5 - 3 yrs typical

4 wks 3 months

15 published in the Australian Journal of Education in Chemistry 2 published in Chemistry Education Research and Practice

1 published in European Journal of Physics

TOOLS,TECHNIQUES  

•  APCELL,  ACELL,  ASELL  Universi?es  1999  -­‐  ongoing  ▫   Focus  on  educa?onal  and  pedagogical  aspects  for  science  academics  ▫  Uptake  interna?onally  from  2007  ▫  Funded  by  OLT  predecessors,  ACDS    

•  ASELL  Schools,    2012  -­‐  ongoing  ▫  Focus  on  inquiry  …  ▫  Will  develop  other  focuses  ▫  Successful  funding  of  $2M    

Four  ObjecCves  of  ASELL  

Acknowledgements  

•  Staff  and  student  delegates  •  Deans  for  support  &  leadership  •  HREC  at  the  University  of  Sydney    

Funding Agencies AMSPP

Universities