Building Strong Communities through Scenario-Based Learning: A Case Study

1. “SBL Interactive At The Coal Face: Experiences From Across The Ditch” Terry M Stewart CADeL, Massey University, Palmerston North

2. Massey University

3. My (new) role in 2009 • A 50% teaching position (plant protection) in the Institute of Natural Resources • A 50% position in our Centre for Academic Development and e-Learning • Build a “community of interest” in scenario-based learning (primarily using SBLi) • Maintain the SBLi software at Massey • Conduct research/publish where possible

4. The move to Moodle (Stream)

5. Building a Community of Interest • Informal lunchtime meetings • Publicised to those who had attended a training workshop • Ten meetings on a diverse range of topics, publicised to those who had undertaken an SBLi training workshop • Relevant research in scenario-based learning • “Show and tell” • Guest speakers • Research tips • Other tools for scenario-based learning • Publishing tips

6. Community resources maintained by a Stream site

7. Building a Community of Interest (cont...) • Developer’s group • A small group which met once a fortnight to develop their teaching scenarios as a team • Training workshops • Three of these held • Informal consultancies • Liaison with our Flexible Learning Teaching Consultants • Occasional meetings • Weekly blog postings • Support Websites • Internal and external

8. Results • Higher profile for SBLi and scenario-based teaching generally • Thirty six scenarios over nine courses were used in 2009 • Scenarios for at least four other courses are being developed • A series of CD ROM-based Food Microbiology ones being planned • Some research papers published

9. Nursing Courses

10. Virtual Vet Hospital

11. Food Microbiology

12. Plant Diagnosis

13. Orchard Management

14. Nutrition Science

15. Ethics

16. Distance Course Evaluation

17. Education Technology

18. Reflections on 2009 • Lunchtime meeting worked, although numbers small. “They were an excellent opportunity for showcasing, problem solving, and sharing ideas and inspiration.  This sort of work is at a frontier of tertiary education where the informal forums are essential for development, innovation, and continued motivation” • Developer group, less successful as far as outcomes • Research, and my own experiences, shows academics need support to develop e-lessons using advanced paradigms

19. Introducing new paradigms is not easy. From the literature... • Blin, F. and Munro, M. (2008). Why hasn’t technology disrupted academics’ teaching practices? Understanding resistance to change through the lens of activity theory. Computers & Education 50: 475–490 • Zibrowski, E. M, Weston, W.W. and Goldszmidt M.A. (2008). 'I don’t have time’: issues of fragmentation, prioritisation and motivation for education scholarship among medical faculty. Medical Education 42: 872–878 • Kirkwood, A. (2009). "E-learning: you don't always get what you hope for." Technology, Pedagogy and Education 18(2): 107 - 121. • Georgina, D.A. and Olson, M.R. (2008). Integration of technology in higher education: A review of faculty self-perceptions. Internet and Higher Education 11 (1) : 1–8

20. 2010 SBLi/STREAM integration