Effective online resources (Ashley Fraser)
Last semester I taught mathematics to Masters students in Information Security, many of whom had very limited previous exposure to mathematics. The aim was to help them to understand some of the basic mathematical concepts underlying cryptography. To achieve this aim, the class is based around demonstrated examples and plenty of time for students to work through examples in a supportive environment where they can ask for help if needed.
I also provide opportunities for students to practise their skills outside the classroom. After all, practice helps with both information retrieval and retention (Brown, Roediger & McDaniel, 2014). Therefore, I made a number of extra problem sheets available on Moodle (with solutions) and encouraged students to try these problems in their free time. However, I have found that students do not engage with these activities and so students fail to develop the skills that they need. I also find that students are unable to tell me which aspects of the course material they are struggling with, which makes it difficult to support student learning.
I hope to teach this course again next year and, to combat this problem, I want to develop a more interactive activity for students to engage with. In particular, I plan to develop online, formative quizzes and make these available on Moodle. Quizzes are known to help with retention (Roediger & Pyc, 2012), and it is believed that students enjoy the ability to self-test (Exley & Dennick, 2004). I hope that online quizzes will help students to engage with the course material and be able to better identify any problem areas. Feedback from quizzes will also help me to identify common areas of difficulty and address this in class. I look forward to finding out whether this does aid student learning.
References:
Brown, Peter C., Roediger, Henry L. and McDaniel, Mark A. “Make it stick: the science of successful learning.” Harvard University Press, 2014.
Exley, K. and Dennick, R., Small group teaching: tutorials, seminars and beyond.” Routledge, 2004.
Roediger, H., and Pyc, M. (2012). Inexpensive techniques to improve education: Applying cognitive psychology to enhance educational practice. Journal of Applied Research in Memory And Cognition, 1(4), 242-248.
Response:
I like the idea of including a quiz session as it will check the student learning and will evaluate their understanding. Quiz will also bring a fun element and motivate students to regularly read. The introduction of interactive and discussion segment will enable students who are struggling to learn from their pairs and such knowledge seems to last. (Salim Ayomaya, Earth Sciences)
Response:
I agree with you that practice is essential for retaining information and improving techniques. Quizzes are a nice way for students to check that they have understood the basic concepts, so I think that using quizzes will help deepen their knowledge. However, I am not convinced that the students will voluntarily undertake the quizzes, as you have stated that they are reluctant to tell you where they are struggling. It may be possible to structure the Moodle page such that completion of a quiz (regardless of result) will open up future material; this should increase participation. (Darren Banfield, Mathematics)
Online Learning and Student Needs (Maria Bada)
Online teaching has been practised for a number of years, however, during last year it became a necessity at an international level. An effective learning experience is one that would combine both the theoretical as well as the practical aspects. Accomplishing this at an online environment has been a challenge. That is because changing one variable, can change the entire experience for students.
This is why it is important to consider factors such as personality and how that can impact learning online (Faria, et al., 2015, Varela, et al., 2012). For example, extroverts tend to get their energy from social interaction and introverts gain energy from thinking and reflecting alone. Therefore, when a class is mainly focused on group work, large or small group discussions online, introverted students might lose their motivation to participate, while extroverts might thrive (Bruso, et al., 2020). The opposite can happen when a class or project is focused on individual work. Introverts can then thrive and extroverts might feel lost.
My teaching experience last year, while teaching Information Security and Cybercrime, clearly projected these considerations. It was obvious that for some students social interaction online was easier than for others, who preferred to use the chat function to post questions or comments. The approach I took was to follow the different needs of students. Students had the choice to use tools such as Kahoot or Padlet to communicate during class or ask questions live or in the chat.
Students react better when provided with tools and options so that they can adjust their online learning experience based on their needs. In addition, active learning empowers students to take some of the control on the learning environment (Gleason, et al., 2011). This is why attention should be given to these factors that may affect the online student experience. An enhanced learning experience online with new tools can lead to enhanced learning outcomes as well as student satisfaction (Milheim, 2012).
References
Bruso, J., Stefaniak, J. and Bol, L., (2020). An examination of personality traits as a predictor of the use of self-regulated learning strategies and considerations for online instruction. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(5), 2659-2683.
Faria, A.R., Almeida, A., Martins, C., Gonçalves, R. and Figueiredo, L., (2015). Personality traits, learning preferences and emotions. In Proceedings of the Eighth International C* Conference on Computer Science & Software Engineering (pp.63-69).
Gleason, B.L., Peeters, M.J., Resman-Targoff, B.H., Karr, S., McBane, S., Kelley, K. et al. (2011). An active-learning strategies primer for achieving ability-based educational outcomes. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 75(9),186.
Milheim, K. L. (2012). Towards a better experience: Examining student needs in the online classroom through Maslow's hierarchy of needs model. Journal of online learning and teaching, 8(2),159.
Varela, O.E., Cater, J.J. and Michel, N., (2012). Online learning in management education: an empirical study of the role of personality traits. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 24(3), 209-225.
More effective engagement with literature (Joseph Da Silva)
Digital forms of literature are prevalent, and represent the predominant medium through which students will engage with prior knowledge. However, the use of digital texts has implications on comprehension (Overstreet, 2022, Rodrigue, 2017a, Rodrigue, 2017b), which may also impact on engagement. I advise students to explore the use of digital annotation tools, whether through simple features in PDF editors, more advanced software applications such as LiquidText (LiquidText, n.d.), or browser-based software such as Mindstone (Mindstone, n.d.). Being conscious of diverse needs, I also articulate alternatives to these, such as printed forms and audio recordings, as well as social annotation (Sievers, 2021).
I have also begun using prompts in my teaching to encourage students to critically examine texts and their own experiences, including in group discussions, particularly with regard to aspects of inclusivity and bias that they may not have considered previously (Gordon, 2020). This is important to ensure that not only are diverse viewpoints introduced to the students, but also that they are encouraged to reflect on the roles they may inadvertently play in maintaining power structures, particularly in relation to the cyber-security industry. This includes understanding the context of cyber security in relation to broader concepts of security, and its history (Neocleous, 2008).
References
Gordon, G.M., 2020. How to Teach Gender to Students Who Didn’t Know They Had One. Pedagogy 20, 115–126. https://doi.org/10.1215/15314200-7879103
LiquidText - “PDF Editor with Superpowers” FastCompany [WWW Document], n.d. . LiquidText. URL https://www.liquidtext.net (accessed 5.6.22).
Mindstone - Insights [WWW Document], n.d. URL https://www.mindstone.com/ (accessed 5.6.22).
Neocleous, M., 2008. Critique of security. Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
Overstreet, M., 2022. Writing as extended mind: Recentering cognition, rethinking tool use. Computers and Composition 63, 102700. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2022.102700
Rodrigue, T.K., 2017a. Digital Reading: Genre Awareness as a Tool for Reading Comprehension. Pedagogy 17, 235–257.
Rodrigue, T.K., 2017b. The Digital Reader, The Alphabetic Writer, and The Space Between: A Study in Digital Reading and Source-Based Writing. Computers and Composition 46, 4–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2017.09.005
Sievers, J., 2021. Writing between the Lines: Teaching Digital Reading with Social Annotation in an Introductory Literature Course. Pedagogy 21, 427–453. https://doi.org/10.1215/15314200-9131828
Response:
I found your comment quite interesting, as I have often found that critical engagement with literature and sources is difficult to encourage, especially for students at BA/pre-BA level. As many students now will be using digital texts, the suggestion to encourage usage of digital annotation tools is very valuable. Also at MSc level, prompts to reflect on their own position, history and experiences are needed to help understand their own inherent bias and perspective towards information, but also re-emphasise the need to critically examine for bias in secondary sources. So thanks for raising these points and adding the sources, very helpful. (Caroline Moeckel, Information Security)
Providing Security Education to a Diverse Student Population (Caroline Moeckel)
Information Security as a field has seen enormous growth over recent decades, with the number of higher education courses in the field increasing steadily. Learners in this field come from a diverse set of backgrounds: from young students to mature learners and career changers, technical knowledge and understanding will largely vary as will the motivations to move into this industry. As I have taught on such courses at both MSc and foundation level for some years now, I want to share some experiences that helped make these courses as accessible as possible.
First, offering online or hybrid formats of teaching with offering in and out-of-classroom activities ('flipped classroom'; Akçayır & Akçayır, 2018) enables students with professional and other commitments to attend at times convenient for them ('asynchronous learning', Edmonds & Pusch, 2022). Alternative methods of engagement also need to be found - as group discussions or collaborative work may be hindered in these environments (Dumford & Miller, 2018) - interactive course elements such as games or quizzes have proved useful in my experience and are evidenced in security literature (‘gamification’; Scholefield & Shepherd, 2019; Beltran et al., 2018). For hybrid environments with some direct teacher-student interaction, technology can help even if this takes place remotely ('breakout rooms' or individual feedback to students with some class involvement). Lastly, assessment methods may need to be altered – student journals, portfolios or individually marked project work throughout the course may support or replace exams in some instances (Looney & Santibañez, 2021).
Finally, I would also like to add that the individual student characteristic also plays a major role in how successful education can be (Wojciechowski & Palmer, 2005) – as a teacher, it is therefore crucial to spend some time with students to find out how they can be individually supported (Scherer et al., 2021). In my experience, special needs students will often be very knowledgeable about ways they can be supported, while introverted students may prefer simply using the chat over speaking up in a video-based class. Small adjustments can therefore make a difference to overall student success. I will continue to work on this in my teaching and look forward to learning more about how I can support learners in the best way.
References
Akçayır, G. & Akçayır, M., 2018. The flipped classroom: A review of its advantages and challenges. Computers & Education, Volume 126, 334-345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.07.021
Beltrán, M., Calvo, M. and González, S., 2018. Experiences Using Capture The Flag Competitions to Introduce Gamification in Undergraduate Computer Security Labs. 2018 International Conference on Computational Science and Computational Intelligence (CSCI), pp. 574-579, https://doi.org/10.1109/CSCI46756.2018.00116.
Dumford, A.D. & Miller, A.L., 2018. Online learning in higher education: exploring advantages and disadvantages for engagement. J Comput High Educ 30, 452–465. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-018-9179-z
Edmonds, G. & Pusch, R., 2022. Guidance for Designing Asynchronous Learning Experiences for Adult Learners. Region 5 Comprehensive Center.
Looney, J. & Santibañez, B., 2021. Validation of non-formal and informal learning to support disadvantaged learners: Alternative assessments. European Journal of Education, 56, 439– 453. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12469
Scherer, R., Howard, S.K., Tondeur, J. and Siddiq, F., 2021. Profiling teachers' readiness for online teaching and learning in higher education: Who's ready?, Computers in
Human Behavior, Volume 118.
Scholefield, S. & Shepherd, L.A., 2019. Gamification Techniques for Raising Cyber Security Awareness. In: Moallem, A. (eds) HCI for Cybersecurity, Privacy and Trust. HCII 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 11594. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22351-9_13
Wojciechowski, A. & Palmer, L.B., 2005. Individual student characteristics: Can any be predictors of success in online classes? Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 8(2), 13.
Attention span fluctuates over time. Whether attention span during lectures declines after exactly 10-15 minutes seems to be a hotly debated topic with academics disputing academics who quote other academics incorrectly e.g., Wilson disputing McKeachie who quotes Hartley and Davis as saying that attention span decreases after ten minutes whereas Hartley and Davis' study merely says that fewer notes are taken in the last ten minutes of a lecture [1]. However, it is agreed that when attention lapses, less information is retained. Attention lapses can relate to how interesting the subject is, the student’s current frame of mind, how well the subject is presented by the teacher and how engaged the teacher is [2].
To maintain students’ interest and attention I chose a multimedia style of teaching where students learn through games, network diagrams, pictures and videos. Mayer’s multimedia learning theory says that people process visually and aurally simultaneously via different channels, meaning that the cognitive load is not exhausted by all the information being on one channel [3].
At Royal Holloway, I taught Year Nine students during a Smallpeice Trust workshop every year and I gave two lectures on the Information Security MSc course. Since children’s attention span is shorter than adults' [4], I used slides, made an online team quiz and showed a short 90-second video to underline the points already made about security for the Year 9s and “restart the(ir) attention clock” [5].
For the MSc lecture, I made a game and showed a short video of a victim narrating a fraud containing some humour which lightened a difficult subject. The digital matching game uses two projector screens. I asked students to select questions and their matching answers hidden on one screen. The second screen displayed the background and explanation behind each answer. I used the game to keep the audience’s attention, interact with individuals and as a medium for explaining information security concepts.
References
[1] K. Wilson and J. H. Korn, “Attention during lectures: Beyond ten minutes,” Teaching of Psychology, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 85–89, 2007.
[2] N. A. Bradbury, “Attention span during lectures: 8 seconds, 10 minutes, or more?” 2016.
[3] R. E. Mayer, “Based principles for designing multimedia instruction,” Acknowledgments and Dedication, vol. 59, 2014.
[4] N. Cowan, L. D. Nugent, E. M. Elliott, I. Ponomarev, and J. S. Saults, “The role of attention in the development of short-term memory: Age differences in the verbal span of apprehension,” Child Development, vol. 70, no. 5, pp. 1082–1097, 1999.
[5] J. Middendorf and A. Kalish, “The “change-up” in lectures,” vol. 5, no. 2, 1996, pp. 1–5.