RF clicker upgrade report - 14th of September 2009

The College of Science and Engineering has been successfully using clickers for more than five years now. What started as small pilots has now grown into a college-wide initiative with more than 2000 students and about 80 lecturers involved. The recent upgrade to Radiofrequency technology has been a success. It is seen as an improvement by the majority of lecturers, providing more flexibility and reliability. Through the years of experience, lecturers have gained the confidence to use clickers more regularly and frequently in lectures, trying out innovative ways of engaging students and encouraging discussion and interaction, to a point where some lecturers perceive clickers as an essential part of their teaching in first and second year. However, some technical problems persist, especially with the PRS software, which need to be addressed. Full report available here.

RF clicker upgrade poster presented - 26th of August 2009

The RF clicker upgrade poster was presented at the eLearning@ed conference. See poster here.

RF clicker upgrade survey - 15th of August 2009

The clicker support team has sent out questionnaires to staff involved in the RF clicker project, to collect perceptions on the new technology.

Lecture Capturing Pilot Report - 15th of May 2009

The University has been ran a pilot of lecture capture during semester 1 of this academic year. This project is now complete and the report on the project is available from the projects website at:

http://www.projects.ed.ac.uk/areas/itservices/media/APS019/Lecture_Capture_Pilot_Report.pdf

Forum on Feeback' College of Science and Engineering - 31st October 2008

The primary aim is to allow colleagues who are driving improvements to students' experience of feedback, to gain better awareness of the nature of the problem and to share best practice across Schools. We have two internationally recognised experts on feedback presenting.

Click here to download Dr Georgina Fyfe slides on feedback
Click here to download Dai Hounsel handout on 'Whats the problem with feedback?'

Click here to download Dai Hounsel handout on 'How can feedback be best improved?'

ePortfolio presentation at the Telling the Story Conference, Wolverhampton. - 5th June 2008

Daniela Gachago and Victoria Dishon from the College of Science and Engineering present on their ePortfolio experiences at the "Telling ePortfolio Stories 'The Road to Stickiness' Conference 2008". Link to presentation PDF

RF clicker supplier demo. - 3rd of June 2008

Approximately 20 staff members of the University of Edinburgh evaluate RF clicker suppliers invited to demonstrate their product as part of the RF clickers procurement process. A decision is expected by the end of June 2008.

PebblePad demo - 30th of May 2008

Robert Chmielewski from IS eLearning presents PebbelPad, the ePortfolio tool, which will most likely be used next Academic Year at the University of Edinburgh. More information in PebblePad

Clickers in the College of Science and Engineering. Conference Poster. - 25th April 2008

Clicker poster designed for the Improving Feedback via Technology event on Friday 25th of April at the National eScience centre.  Data was obtained on “Clickers - Staff Perception” survey and additional data was used from the course questionnaires distributed by the learning and teaching strategy project. Click here to view PDF

Turnitin presentation at the eLearning@Edinburgh conference. - 25th April 2008

Learning academic referencing – awareness and feedback by using Turnitin self-submissions.
link to presentation

A new electronic voting system in lectures is making a real difference, article in the Independent - 14th Feb 2008

The use of clickers in various UK and Scottish Universities, including the University of Edinburgh
Click here to view the article

Learning and Teaching Strategy Planning Committee - 14th Feb 2008

On the 14th of February the LTS project team will organise a planning event to discuss the future of the Learning and Teaching Strategy over the next five years. Read more

Edinburgh University and Clickers, article in the Scotsman - 12th Feb 2008

"Handsets give students a real buzz from lectures". Article in the Scotsman highlighting the benefits and take up of personal response systems by the University and the College of Science and Engineering. Click here to view the article

Student views on ePortfolios - 21st Jan 2008

The College of Science and Engineering has piloted the ePortfolio in 3 courses across various schools in January 2008. The aim of this pilot is to collect student feedback and with a view to rolling out the ePortfolio to all College students by September 2008.
Read more on ePortfolios in the College of Science and Engineering ...

Supporting PDP and ePortfolio implementation in Scotland Meeting - 29th Nov 2007

Daniela Gachago participated in a meeting organised by the Center for Recording Achievement, the Higher Education Academy and QAA Scotland in Paisley where the new Scottish Guidelines for PDPs were discussed.

Clicker survey on staff perceptions in the CSE launched - 14th Nov 2007

The CSE clicker support team has been asked to conduct a survey on the current clicker usage in the CSE to gain insights on how lecturers are using clickers, what their perceptions on clickers are, what problems they are facing, what additional features they would like to see in a clicker set up and what kind of support is needed to successfully roll out and implement clickers. Results of this survey will inform plans for the roll out of clickers in the College.

Clickers visit the Vets School - 13th Nov 2007

Mairie Frame, from the School of Veterinary Studies , piloted the use of clickers in one of her third year course. With the help of the CSE clicker support team, a mobile clicker kit was set up and clickers distributed to 100 students.

CSE ePortfolio - 25th Oct 2007

The College is currently embarking on the development of a generic College-wide eportfolio, which should be rolled out to first year students by September 2008. The first eportfolio special interest group meeting will take place on Monday, the 28th of October 2007. If you are interested in this project, please contact Daniela Gachago MAIL. More on ePortfolios

Upgrade to RF clickers - 23rd Oct 2007

The University of Edinburgh is embarking in a tendering process, to upgrade the current Infrared clickers with Radiofrequency clickers by the Academic Year 2008/2009. It is hoped that Radiofrequency clickers would give improved functionality within lecture theatres and make it much easier to use the equipment in any location.

Presentation of evaluation results on Academic Year 2006/2007 - 10th Oct 2007

Velda McCune from the Teaching, Learning and Assessment Unit, presented first results of the evaluation she carried out on the Vanguard Courses 2006/2007 to a group of academics from the College of Science and Engineering. Watch the evaluation Video - WEB

Presentation on Vanguard Courses at ALT-C - 6th Sep 2007

Daniela Gachago is presenting on the Vanguard Course Initiative at the ALT-C Beyond Control conference in Nottingham. Title of the presentation: The Vanguard Courses at the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Edinburgh - a model for promoting Responsible Learning? More information WEB