| Popis: |
Transitioning from high school to university can be a difficult time for students. A significant element in this transition is related to heightened selfresponsibility and self-regulation for one’s own learning. A series of eight online screencasts (consisting of narrated video with activities and quiz questions) was created and introduced at the University of British Columbia in 2018 as a pilot project. The goal was to help first year engineering students with their academic transition by providing evidence-based principles of effective study strategies and attitudes. Materials were delivered in the academic setting, rather than through traditional orientation and support channels, as a way to elevate this content and to reach as many students as possible. Materials were optional but a small grade incentive was included. Students appear to have found the resources beneficial as roughly half of the class viewed at least half of the screencasts. The opportunity to earn a small course bonus mark was cited as a key incentive, but approximately half of students identified academic and university transition benefits as their primary reasons for viewing. A course survey conducted five months after the final screencast in the series revealed positive student attitudes towards the materials, with approximately 70% of students identifying the materials as helpful or very helpful. In addition, students who had viewed a particular screencast gave significantly more favourable responses in prompts regarding perceptions of effective study practices. Finally, a positive correlation was observed between the number of screencasts viewed and course final exam grade (+0.8% on the final per screencast viewed). Overall, the results of this pilot suggest the use of online screencast materials to aid students in the transition to university is effective. |
