During my graduate career, I served in several teaching assistant and instructor roles for introductory as well as upper division biology courses. The framework below is based upon these experiences and represent what I consider to be a feasible integration of a long-term project for Biology majors.
the plan
Digital projects (digital storytelling and multimodal projects) or project-based learning (PBL) are high-impact practices that can truly deepen student learning if well-implemented into the fabric of the course. Digital projects refer to assignments that tackle a challenging problem or question and often culminate in a public product that is based on student research, choice and reflection. For example, digital projects might be represented by a semester-long blog that showcases independent exploration and reflection with lecture content or a 5-minute digital story-telling video that examine the historical context of cultural art. The digital platform itself can vary extensively depending on the discipline or topic but the major impetus for PBL is that it enables sustained, student-driven inquiry while providing an opportunity to develop new skill-sets (website design, screen casting, Camtasia video, mapping, data visualization) that make students more competitive in the modern workplace.
As a brief recap, digital projects have the potential to promote:
visual and public demonstration of learning,
independent identification as an academic scholar,
development of 21st century skills and competencies (multimodal literacy), and
reflection of learning process centered around a complex, applied question
Here, I provide an example framework that university biology courses can use to implement digital projects into their teaching:
Course: Upper Division Biology elective (Conservation Biology or discipline-specific (Icthyology or Mammalogy))
Learning Outcome: Critically evaluate, visualize and critique scientific management action (e.g. federal and state agencies, academic research labs, non-profits, tribal members) regarding a species or ecosystem of conservation concern and provide a thoroughly reviewed and well-justified argument for continued or alternative approaches.
EdTech Tool: A StoryMap project using Esri StoryMaps and ArcGIS Online (~1/2 a semester, ~6-8 weeks).
For this digital project, I would ask students to independently conduct a meta-analysis or literature review centered around management and conservation of a species of concern. Using peer-reviewed manuscripts, personal interviews with persons of interest (agency managers, academic researchers, tribal leaders, etc.), and official IUCN Red List data as the basis, students would create an up-to-date status report for each of these species that includes an understanding of life history, ecology, disturbance history, and contemporary management action similar to the example here. Students would be required to assess the success of current management programs and argue for continued or alternative action to be taken through development of a well-constructed thesis statement.
By independently designing and generating a story map (like the example below), students would gain 21st century skills and competencies in data visualization by producing interpretable maps and figures based on publicly available data. In addition, students would increase experience in creating a reader-friendly online platform (e.g. public product) and develop their concise and technical writing skills for an online audience. Through this sustained inquiry, I think students would get a more authentic sense of the complexities associated with species management plans—specifically, the balance between competing stakeholder interests, limited funding, state and federal mandates as well as the importance of public support.
implementation
These story map projects would be scaffolded within higher order Bloom’s taxonomy objectives and would require assessment of both the process and the product. To address these challenges, I would create bimonthly progress checks with each student through the Canvas conferencing tool or Google forms to make sure students are progressing appropriately. I would devote time during lecture for students to work together or meet with me. In addition, I would be interested in establishing a weekly “walk-in lab” with UNR @One or in conjunction with graduate TAs so that students can access technical help or outsider feedback. To increase the real-world impact of this project, I would explore ways to host these story maps perhaps on a course website (divided into separate cohort pages) or by offering these story map resources (with student permission and authorship attached) to agencies or non-profits working to manage these species.
There are many critical and unique challenges associated with implementing digital projects into a course syllabus and instructors should make sure to account for:
PRIVACY: FERPA, copyright law and permissions for sharing ePortfolios. Since students are creating work that can be viewed and accessed by anyone on the internet, it might be worthwhile to avoid “publishing” student websites until a thoroughly vetted peer review process has taken place (perhaps, halfway in after 4 blog posts). In addition, class time will need to be set aside to review website building, protocols for citing references, use of images, language and website settings for an online audience.
COPYRIGHT: making students aware of the need to consider ownership and acquire permission to share or use images or other content created by others
ASSESSMENT: there are many options for assessment of digital projects (e.g. concept maps, polling tools) however I detail two suggested options in more detail below (rubrics and reflections)
TECHNOLOGY: many digital and budget-friendly (free) tools exist to enable collaboration (e.g. Google Docs/Canvas Collaboration tool,) data visualization and mapping (e.g. Google Maps), audio/video and website design (Weekly, Wix) therefore some lecture time may need to be devoted to reviewing these options with students
ACCESSIBILITY: online content needs to be constructed and developed so that individuals with disabilities are independently able to access the same content (e.g. text, photos, and videos) within the same time-frame and ease of use (https://www.unr.edu/accessibility)
assessment using Canvas/WebCampus Outcomes tool
One option for determining whether this new approach (i.e. digital project) significantly impacts student learning is through Canvas/WebCampus tools that provide a platform for effective assessment and feedback at varying time steps throughout the semester. The ultimate goal of assessment should be to inform teaching and promote learning rather than just mere evaluation. Formative assessments focus on evaluating students regarding their own progress through activities such as polling tools, concept maps, or 1 min papers compared to summative assessments which act as a culminative evaluation of learning (e.g. midterm exam, semester-long project).
The Canvas Outcomes tool enables an instructor to create assignment-specific rubrics with criteria defined within a point range or individual point value. In addition, the ease of LMS integration allows rubrics to be saved, shared and transferred to new courses. As an assessment and feedback technique, rubrics explicitly detail the criteria and standards required for written assignments (e.g. paper summaries), lab experiments and/or discussion boards. To check student comprehension of assignment requirements, it may be useful to:
involve students in the process of rubric construction itself,
ask students to rewrite and revise rubric criteria in their own language, and/or
check the integrity of my rubrics using a meta-rubric that closely examines each of the dimensions, descriptions and scale.
To demonstrate the potential utility of this approach, I have created a draft of a staged rubric for this digital project using the Canvas/WebCampus Outcomes tool, take a look below!
assessment using digital reflections
A second option for determining whether this new approach (i.e. digital project) significantly impacts students learning is through engaging students in an extra post-assessment step by asking them to critically consider the value of what they are learning and perhaps, inspire their desire to deepen that comprehension on their own. Self-regulated learning promotes the skills necessary for life-long engagement in material while digital reflection tools provide a platform to document that knowledge progression. In addition to allowing students to track and synthesize their learning, by generating a public product, students may also be more competitive in internship or job applications where they can visually display their academic and learning achievements as well as new 21st century competencies developed in the process (e.g. building and maintain a website). At the departmental and university levels, the ability to showcase student digital reflections (e.g. ePortfolios) within the concept of metacognition and student-centered learning can be powerful examples of successful curriculum implementation and/or areas in need of improvement. Finally, by assigning a peer review component to digital projects, students can participate in collaborative assessment of each other's StoryMaps and improve their products prior to submission just by being able to view another student's interpretation and digital style.
To evaluate whether digital reflections are effective in helping students to “connect the dots” in their own learning process, other EdTech options for tracking assessment and feedback across a semester may be: