Early Warning System for FOT150S

One of the elements to ensure an effective learning environment, particularly aimed at promoting student success, is an EWS (early warning system) which focuses on identifying at-risk students (i.e. those who are at risk to fail academically) as early as possible with a view to advise them/implement a course of action that will resolve their problem/s most effectively. This is vital for first-year course such as FOT150S. The LMS retention centre makes this task efficient since I am able to set rules such as access alert, mark alert, missed deadline alert or even activity alert. I have a practice of identifying and notifying these students to alert them that they are at risk (EWS for FOT150S, EWS student response). Appointments are then made with these students and “interviewed” by the Retention officer or sometimes myself to elicit information concerning possible personal and/or socio-economic problems. Should the student battle with such issues, they are referred to our Student Counseling unit where qualified staff are able to advise and assist them. Where the problems are of an academic nature, in the form of a lack of or poor note-taking and/or study skills – again professionals at Student Counseling are available (via scheduled appointments) to assist. Due to the stress or challenges imposed by COVID-19, in 2020 I invited the student counseling to come and share a presentation with my class to create an awareness and support the students (email correspondence with student counselling).

Pre-Practical videos 

In 2020 I was successfully awarded RIFTAL funding for a project to design laboratory videos for students. FST students learning their very first foundational concepts require close integration of analytical skills and rigorous hands-on experience and this is recognized in current courses. However, the student and staff feedback at DFST indicates that there is considerable scope for improvement in the first year laboratory learning experience. Specifically, some issues that may be improved include:

1. variability in laboratory demonstrator expertise and communication skills, which are not always tailored to students’ levels of knowledge,

2.  Student understanding of the correct and effective use of specialized laboratory equipment,

3. The possibility of re-visiting laboratory guidance, particularly fundamental concepts and instructions and

4. Opportunities for self-directed learning. From a student perspective, demonstrator explanations in the laboratory are not persistent (i.e. cannot be reviewed later), and when there is a group of students around a bench, not everything may be visible. 

From a staff perspective, there is inefficiency (demonstrators answering the same question numerous times), a lack of well-developed narrative explaining the close integration between theory and lab, which is a problem identified by student feedback as well, and no opportunity for linking on-campus with off-campus laboratory experiences. Anecdotally, staff often point to the following issues impeding the development of good laboratory skills in first-year FST, namely:

1. Lack of preparedness and understanding of expected outcomes in practicals,

2. Understanding of laboratory equipment, how it operates, and how to make correct and meaningful measurements,

3. Understanding what a good measurement looks like in a typical experiment, and how to interpret it; and

4. Precise comprehensive and professional record-keeping practices in experimental work.

This project aimed to create a suite of high-quality laboratory guidance materials in the form of short digital recordings (videos) to support and enhance student independent learning specifically in first-year food science and technology context. The idea was to move face-to-face class time towards higher value, more interactive and more challenging experiences, with no long-term cost increase. The examples of the videos can be found on these links Sensory evaluation room, Refractometers and Size reduction.