EBIO

Students Make Climate Change Films Thanks to ASSETT Development Award

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 06:00:00 +0000

Students Make Climate Change Films Thanks to ASSETT Development Award Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/17/2015 - 00:00

Evolutionary and Ecological Biology Associate Professor Rebecca Safran used an ASSETT Development Award last year to purchase and refurbish equipment for her Film and Climate Change class at ��񱦵�.

Safran's students created an online exhibit project in their Film and Climate Change class. In the course, students are asked to present their views on climate change in several five minute short films. Her students learn about the science of climate change and receive an introduction to filmmaking and storyboarding editing. Each student makes two to four short films each semester. Safran spoke about how her students engage the challenges of communicating abstract and overwhelming science concepts:

Having to translate science into story so [that] other people can consume it and think about ... A lot of students get a lot of out of that process of writing something for a broader audience ... to get people more engaged in the issue ... I try to get the students to think about a personal story ... [or ] personal narrative, and ... give them enough science [background] to give them solid footing.

The course was created several years ago as part of the Inside the Greenhouse climate change communication program at CU. Safran says that she first taught this course in 2009 without audio equipment. That's when Safran applied for her first ASSETT Development Award, with which she purchased audio and video equipment for her students. Last year, Safran received her second ASSETT Development Award. This time, she purchased additional high to mid end audio equipment for students to use to record interviews and perform voiceovers for their films, as well as a DLSR camera, tripods, batteries, and HD cards. Safran was also able to refurbish many pieces of equipment that she had purchased with her first ASSETT Development Award that she received a few years ago. "We’re going into our seventh year," she said.

"Through the ASSETT grant, I’ve been able to build up stockpile of audio," says Safran. She says that with better equipment, she has noticed improvements in terms of the students' films' production quality.

Students vote on their favorite films of the class, and those films are entered into a film festival. Some students used stop motion animation in their films, like the most recent winner about a canary in a coal mine did. The student who made this film did not have prior filmmaking experience.

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Using Technology to Appeal to Different Learning Styles

Anonymous — Wed, 22 May 2013 06:00:00 +0000

Using Technology to Appeal to Different Learning Styles Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/22/2013 - 00:00

Dr. Robert Buchwald of the Biology department sees in technology the opportunity to reach his students. “Different people learn different ways and it’s very complex material,” he says. Whenever Buchwald introduces a new process or concept, he gives a verbal description, reviews it with an image pulled from the textbook or Google, and then shows a video or animation from YouTube.

This repetition of material allows all students to grasp the difficult biological concepts that Buchwald teaches. “It came from a realization during teaching that some ways I was presenting material clicked for some people and didn’t click for others,” Buchwald explains. Buchwald uses the reiteration to cover his bases.

Buchwald also designs his own website which he uploads to D2L and uses to share lecture slides, videos, relevant pictures, and news. “Then when it comes time for finals, students can go back to the other weeks and pull the slides or watch the movies and use them to study,” Buchwald says.

Utilizing the forum section of D2L, Buchwald has also encouraged dialogue outside the classroom by posting videos or relevant articles for his class to see. “It was a good opportunity to talk about things that were on the periphery of what the main syllabus [was] supposed to be covering but [were] really cool or really interesting.”

Technology has played an important role in how Buchwald teaches his courses. “It’s paramount. I think I couldn’t teach the class without technology because it’s 2013. By not taking advantage of technology, you’re missing out on an important way that people think today, especially students.” Technology also grants access to materials that were harder to find in the past. “The proliferation of technology has gotten to the point where there is just so many resource out there, and most of them are free, why not take advantage of that?” Buchwald posits.

When new professors are trying out technology, Buchwald says it’s important to know that technology isn’t necessarily difficult, but it can be intimidating. Buchwald points out, however, that one not need learn everything there is to know about technology. “All you need to figure out is your way… How you’re going to use technology.”

While Buchwald reiterated that technology was critical to view certain microscopic processes, videos and slides can’t always replace the experience of being in a lab. “There is still something to be said for touching the real thing,” he says. “It’s just a whole other level of wow.”

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Professor Andrew Martin's evolutionary biology course featured in national Higher Ed magazine

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Professor Andrew Martin's evolutionary biology course featured in national Higher Ed magazine Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/01/2012 - 00:00

A Chronicle of Education article on 'flipping' college lecture courses highlights Professor Martin's evolutionary biology course.

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A Microscopic Problem With a Technological Solution

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

A Microscopic Problem With a Technological Solution Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/06/2010 - 00:00

One step into the biology classroom of senior EBIO instructor Stephanie Mayer and you will find posters of magnified cells and plants lining the white walls. Taken by students with digital cameras attached to microscopes, Mayer says the process of capturing an image with only a small LCD instructor as a guide can be tedious.

“You just have a static situation, so what I have been trying to do for years is figure out a way to get a live-image capture, which I think would just be wonderful for teaching,” she said. “With [a] static [image]you have a picture, and you can’t really do anything with it. It’s just a snapshot in time, and you can’t manipulate it at all.”

Researching the company who supplies her current microscope fleet, Mayer found a digital camera capable of producing live imaging she plans to use for her upper-level biology courses. Called the Zeiss Axiocam, it houses a still camera capable of live-image capture in addition to still-image capture.

“I think it will be a great teaching tool; I think it will enhance what we have,” said Professor Mayer.

Professor Mayer found her opportunity to acquire one of these state-of-the-art cameras with the help of the ASSETT Developmental Award. Presently, her classroom houses 20 microscopes, all of which she one day aspires to install with Axiocams.

“So my hope is that if we really like this Zeiss camera, that we are trying out through ASSETT, that we can slowly accumulate a classroom full of them, but it’s going to take a while.”

Although the Axiocam does not record video, its capability of real-time image capture draws Professor Mayer’s attention as a tool for her biology classes.

“I think it will make it easier to talk about to students and demonstrate to one student or even a group of students some issue or some question, some structure they are trying to look at…,” Mayer explained.

Professor Mayer also believes the tool will lead to increased interactions between students and TA’s. This type of relationship between students and TA’s helps foster a social but educational learning environment. While students enjoy the excitement of using a sophisticated piece of equipment, TA’s also gain a practical teaching experience.

Mayer repeatedly stressed how the Axiocam allows for a heightened sense of visual connection between the students and the object they view. Students may find this very visually satisfying.

“I think it’ll be so much more of a dynamic tool for teaching,” she explained. “I mean we get along just fine with static tools, but I really think it’ll add another dimension to students appreciation and understand of what they are looking at under the microscope.”

Apart from helping her students gain a valuable resource for their learning, Professor Mayer believes the addition of the Axiocam could change the nature of pedagogy in her discipline.

“If we have live image capture,” she said, “we may be able to come up with some innovative ways of approaching the subject material.”

-Written by Esteban L. Hernandez, CU' 12, ASSETT Reporter

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