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from the issue of December 1, 2005
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Honors project melds podcasting into chemistry curriculum
Ntune
BY TROY FEDDERSON, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
After a night of study for an exam, a UNL freshman rolls out of bed and reviews her notes one final time.
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| | | PODCASTERS - Bill McLaughlin listens as students Elizabeth Buehler and Brady Brabec record a podlab on Nov. 18. Buehler, a freshman honors student from South Sioux City, writes and is the voice of podlab and podpuzzler. Brabec, a senior from Lincoln, records and posts the podcast to the Chemistry 109 webpage.
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While preparing for class, her computer downloads a file onto a digital audio player. Out the door, she presses play and - instead of stepping out of Schramm Hall to the beat of a favorite song - walks to class listening to a test review session she was unable to attend.
Twenty minutes later, entering the lecture hall, she sits down and listens to the final few minutes of the review. As the test is handed out, she puts the player away and begins answering questions on topics fresh in her mind.
While not yet a reality, this scenario is expected to play out at UNL in the near future as podcasting has started popping up in UNL lecture halls.
While other instructors are experimenting with the new technology, UNL chemistry professor Bill McLaughlin has started using it in the classroom, allowing students to access a weekly lab review and a summary problem.
"These things are not necessarily designed for educational use, but they are adaptable to it," McLaughlin said. "I remember when they made Harvey (Perlman's) State of the University address available as the first UNL podcast. I thought 'Wow, that's a good trend,' and wondered what we could do to keep it going."
Inspired, McLaughlin started to formulate a plan and, along with lecturer Jason Kautz, applied for an ITLE grant to procure funds to initiate a podcasting project in Chemistry 109. However, while that plan was taking shape, freshman Elizabeth Buehler approached McLaughlin about doing an honors project this semester.
Tapping the computer expertise of UNL senior Brady Brabec - who maintains the Chemistry 109 webpage - McLaughlin asked Buehler if she would lead a pilot program using podcasting.
"I was really interested right away," said Buehler, who plans, writes and is the voice of the podcasts. "Professor McLaughlin talked about the clickers we use in the classroom and how that was once an honors student project and how it has really helped the class. I thought this would be very similar."
Each Friday afternoon, McLaughlin, Buehler and Brabec produce the podcasts - dubbed "podlab" and "podpuzzler" - in McLaughlin's office.
Podlab is an in-depth preview of what students will be doing in lab the next week. McLaughlin said it touches on the primary points of the lab, which are tested for in a prelab exam that students must pass to take part in the lab.
The podpuzzler is a problem that students can work on their own or get the answer to immediately. McLaughlin said the problem covers topics in the upcoming week of lectures.
The podcasts are produced in about half and hour then uploaded to the Chemistry 109 webpage http://www-class.unl.edu/chem109.
McLaughlin said he has not tracked the number of downloads this year. However, the number of hits to the web page has already topped the previous semester record of 17,000 hits.
Liz Hoy, a sophomore journalism student, is taking Chem 109 this semester and said the downloads have been useful.
"I glance over the prelab stuff and think 'OK, I get it,' but then I listen (to podlab) on the way to class and it kind of clicks and becomes clearer," Hoy said. "In general, I learn better by reading so I was surprised that the podcast made it more clear."
McLaughlin said the podcasts are designed to enhance lectures and reading rather than allow students to replace them.
"Some people learn best by hearing, so this is a way I can extend what I do in the classroom beyond the 50 minute period, three times a week," McLaughlin said. "This will never replace lecture and I will never place lectures on as podcasts. Instead, it supplements what we do in the classroom."
McLaughlin polled 750 Chemistry 109 students this fall about their access to digital music players. He said around 50 percent of those students said they either had a player or could get access to the files via a friend's player or on a computer.
"They are very popular, but that percentage was higher than I expected," McLaughlin said. "It also makes this sort of project possible. And, those numbers will go up after Christmas."
In the application for an ITLE grant, McLaughlin and Kautz are asking for $25,000 to purchase iPods - the Apple version of a digital music/video player - for about half the students in Chemistry 109. Students who do not have access to a player would then be able to check one out for a fee that would be refunded at the end of the semester.
If awarded ITLE funds, McLaughlin and Kautz plan to continue the podlab and podpuzzler programs, while expanding the podcasts into a lecture preview, a book review club and virtual office hours.
"What we are doing this semester is a free study into podcasting," McLaughlin said. "It is a useful project, but modest in scale.
"In the future, we will look back on what podcasting is now and remember when it was that primitive. It's kind of like years ago when people would look at that Internet thing and say it looked like there was a lot possible."
GO TO: ISSUE OF DECEMBER 1
NEWS HEADLINES FOR DECEMBER 1
Ntune
Campus shops offer gift variety
Journalism project to premiere at the Ross
Podcasting at UNL
Alumni help fund new calving shed for NCTA
Engineering college name change nears final approval
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Meat store offers cuts, educational opportunities
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