Enhancing Engagement and Learning Retention in a Blended Programming Module: Strategies for Master's and PhD Students
- Programming
- Master's Students
- PhD Students
This case study describes the process and strategies adopted to improve students’ engagement and enrich their experience while attending a blended learning module. The module has a major focus on programming and is attended by part-time and full-time master’s students, and PhD students. Some of these students are already working in the software development industry and have a busy routine, appreciating the flexibility provided by a blended learning approach. However, some of them might find it challenging to feel part of a group. This case study describes activities that encourage students’ active participation. The results of a multiple-choice questions assessment indicate that, due to the complexity of the module, some students find it challenging to retain knowledge. This case study describes the implementation of live interactive quizzes and a collaborative dictionary as strategies to increase class interaction and content retention.
Context
Over the last few years, the lecturer of the module described in this case study has been adding a number of strategies to blend computer science modules. The current case study will describe a specific case that took place at the Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin), in the Programming for Big Data, a module offered to postgraduate students. The module is optional and picked by the student from a list of modules related to the course area. Students are expected to work independently and have the necessary programming (Java, Python, etc.) and technical skills (working with Virtual Machines, Linux, etc.) for this module. The assessment is 100% based on continuous assignments, and the final mark combines two hands-on assignments and a multiple-choice quiz. In previous years, students did not perform well on the quiz, hence the activities described in this case study also have a focus on helping them to retain content.
The module has a high drop-out rate, especially after the first assignment. Due to the busy routine graduate students have, especially those working in the industry, this module is offered in a blended learning approach, with most of the classes being offered online. Access to the Internet is essential, but if the student cannot attend the class due to a lack of an Internet connection or other commitments, class recordings are made available, making it possible to follow the course without attending the live sessions.
Online classes can make it challenging for some students to engage. This case study describes using resources such as a collaborative dictionary and interactive quizzes implemented to increase students’ engagement, improve their learning experience, and learn and retain essential terms from each topic covered in the module.
People Involved
This case study describes strategies adopted in a blended-learning programming module for graduate students at the School of Computer Science, TU Dublin. The teacher in charge of the Programming for Big Data module has vast experience in teaching programming to graduate students. Besides, they have also adopted some blended learning strategies even for entirely in-person courses, such as video tutorials that were pre-recorded and edited, being available online to the students. The content is available on Brightspace, the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) adopted by the university. This VLE also includes a platform for online classes. Previous versions of the course took place in person and were shared with other teachers – however, the current lecturer is the only person currently teaching the module.
The class comprises around 20 students, including full and part-time master’s and PhD students. The age range goes from around 22 to 35 years old. The full-time master’s students are usually the youngest and shyer than the older students. The part-time and PhD students are older and are motivated to join the module to improve their knowledge in an area they are already working on. Students are primarily proficient in English (the language used to teach the classes) and have enough digital/technology proficiency.
Personas:
Fictional Name: Jane Demographics: 22-25 Irish | | Fictional Name: Andrei Demographics: 30-35 Non-native speaker
| |
Profession: Full time student (master’s degree) | Motivation for joining the course: Secure a job as a software developer | Profession: Part-time master’s student | Motivation for joining the course: Works as a software engineer for a technology company; joined the course aiming to learn more and secure a promotion |
Their challenges as a student:
| Their challenges as a student: – Has a busy routine between work and personal life | ||
How did the transformation help them: – Can review the recordings of the classes even after attending live sessions | How did the transformation help them:
| ||
Before the transformation
Before the transformation, the module described in this case study took place fully in person and the teaching was shared by different lecturers. The approach was mostly focused on teacher’s presentation. Once the blended learning was implemented, now by one teacher only, a need for new teaching strategies to increase students’ engagement and knowledge retention came up. This document describes the process of using and integrating interactive tools into the existing weekly structure.
Part of the attendees are mostly part-time master’s students who already work in the industry as software engineers and bring their experience into the course. Therefore, these students attend this course to improve their knowledge in the area and tend to have a higher level of engagement. They benefit from a blended approach due to its flexibility. For example, students can access the recordings/material available if they cannot attend the live class. Still, another part of the class is composed of full-time students who struggle connecting with their peers in the online environment.
The problem being addressed in this document is the adoption of tools that might increase students’ engagement and, consequently, their learning. The tools described also focus on helping students on building their knowledge about the main topics covered in the module, besides retaining that learning to improve their marks on the multiple-choice quiz.
The transformation
The module Programming for Big Data includes teacher’ online presentations and hands-on online sessions, where students can practice what they learned, and the teacher is available to support them. The whole module is taught once per week over 13 weeks. The assessment includes two assignments and one multiple-choice questions quiz available on the VLE. The lecturer provides feedback on each assignment submission.
Online live sessions
The lecture sessions were broadcasted online using the VLE adopted by the university. During these sessions, students could interact using their microphones, cameras, and the chat available on the platform. Interactive live quizzes and group activities also occur during those sessions (see description below).
Class and tutorial recordings
The live sessions were recorded, allowing students who could not attend the live class to catch up with the content. The videos were available on the VLE for students who wanted to review the content or those who could not attend the session.
Interactive quizzes
The lecture live sessions included interactive quizzes using tools such as Kahoot! and Vevox. These were introduced to engage students and help them to practice their knowledge on the topics covered. The questions included in the live quiz come from a bank of questions created by the lecturer. 58 of these questions are used in the final graded quiz, which is part of the students’ assessment, so the live quizzes give them an opportunity to retain content that is covered in their assignment. To avoid students feeling anxious due to the competitive component of this type of activity, the participants were allowed to join with nicknames instead of their real names, as their results would be exposed to the rest of the class.
The game was an opportunity for students to review the content, clarify queries and interact with their colleagues.
Dictionary
Every week, the group of students was split into online breakout rooms with 3 students in each room. During 10 minutes, these groups worked on a shared document prepopulated with keywords/terms/phrases for the students to create their own definitions, helping them to retain knowledge and practice the content. The topics added to the dictionary to be filled out by the students were selected by the lecturer based on the previous week class content. This activity was also expected to increase their engagement, stimulating more interaction with their peers.
After the transformation
Informal feedback was collected each week based on students’ engagement with dictionary exercises and informal discussions. The weekly live quizzes also allowed us to check if students understood the content covered during the classes.
Initially, the students were supposed to work on the dictionary every week. Still, they informed the workload became too much, and the lecturer decided to adopt that activity every two weeks.
The students seem to appreciate the live quizzes due to their level of interaction. They thought it was a good way to see how much they remembered from the previous week’s content and a good strategy to identify the areas they needed to go back and review. This activity will be carried out again in the future.
The students were not as enthusiastic about the dictionary due to the workload involved (reviewing the content and doing extra research to define the topics. For the future, it can be highlighted that the dictionary activity can result in a takeaway document they can use to study the main concepts of the module.
Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;} Technologies Employed
Bongo is a solution integrated into the VLE adopted by the university. It provides an environment where the lecturer can broadcast their classes, record the sessions, and interact with the students via web chat.
Kahoot! is a quiz-based platform where the teacher can add quizzes, and students can join a gameplay session using their devices. This platform helps students to practice the content learned in a fun, relaxing environment. The tool also helps the teacher to identify misconceptions students might have had and clarify those in real-time. The students also used this activity to share any queries or clarify concepts they needed help understanding. As their participation was anonymous, students felt comfortable participating in this activity as there would not be much peer pressure if they provided an incorrect answer.
Vevox is a platform similar to Kahoot! – however, the university has a premium license to access this platform, allowing the participation of bigger groups of students.
Before the BLITT Bridging Course, Karolina primarily used a simple PowerPoint
presentation and relied on physical textbooks displayed via Zoom. During the
course, she became acquainted with new tools like Canva and Genially, which she
subsequently incorporated into her classes. These tools enhanced engagement,
improved the presentation of topics, and introduced elements of gamification,
including activities facilitated by Kahoot. The course structure remained
consistent; only the materials used were modified. Although the initial
adaptation of materials required substantial effort, it ultimately resulted in
significant improvements in her digital skills.
The platform was used to create a shared document where students could define prepopulated topics related to the content covered in the previous week.
Reflections
Challenges Faced
In the first couple of weeks, some students did not engage well during the dictionary activity and left the breakout rooms, leaving their colleagues working by themselves. In the future, the dictionaries can be organised as a takeaway from the module students can use as a reference/guide for studying.
The live quizzes seem to have increased engagement during the lecture sessions, besides supporting students in identifying possible topics they need to review. By accessing the recorded classes, students could review the concepts covered during the class and use the dictionary to review the main topics covered.
What went well?
Alternatives
Even though the live quizzes seem to improve students' interaction and engagement, those who cannot attend the live classes end up missing this activity. In the future, using an asynchronous quiz platform could also be an interesting approach for students who only follow the classes through the recordings.
Costs
No financial cost was involved in the blending of this module. The university provides the structure needed, offering the VLE that includes a virtual classroom platform, besides a subscription to the live quiz platform and shared document used for both interactive quizzes and dictionary activities. Although a considerable amount of time was spent preparing the tutorial recordings and the questions for the quizzes, all the assets can be re-used in further teaching.
Effectiveness
The transformation contributed to achieving the learning outcomes. Considering the busy routine of these students, those who would have missed the live lecture could follow the recordings. The live quizzes and the live quizzes appear to have increased students’ engagement. Using the quiz also allows them to get some familiarity with the type of questions before the graded multiple-choice quiz.
The lecturer of the module described in this case study recorded many tutorial videos for a number of modules taught in the past. Initially, a lot of time was spent editing those videos. Currently, with more experience, the lecturer decided to record the videos with no edits, more similar to a live class. Students said they feel motivated to attend the classes after watching the videos as they want to learn more about the topic. Working on these videos was also an exercise/learning process for this lecturer.