Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences for this project include : 1. University of Guam students 2. University of Guam faculty 3. Landscapers in Guam and Micronesia 4. Foresters in Micronesia The audiences were reached through formal classroom instruction and through using the curriculum developed using innovative teaching methodologies. The main LMS for delivery was Moodle. In addition to the University of Guam Moodle platform, Moodle for Ubuntu was installed on various small computers such as Raspberry Pis and Nuc computers. The small computers functioned as portable Moodle servers to conduct classes in locations where there was insufficient internet bandwidth for course delivery. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project activities were connected with training and professional development. Faculty were given technical support that helped resolve issues faculty were experiencing while preparing course materials. Faculty learned about the availability of companies offering at-home lab kits and lab simulations that could be incorporated into courses. The pros and cons of synchronous and asynchronous delivery were discussed and options for delivery were demonstrated to instructors. Software tools were demonstrated and support for developing the materials was made available to faculty. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of this project were presented to University of Guam faculty working groups and individual faculty that were working on course materials for online delivery. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This proposal addressed four objectives for the above goals: 1. Develop curricula for online delivery. AG 102 Introduction to Plant Science was revised for the new edition of the textbook. The course continues to be delivered asynchronously with scheduled sessions to address any support students need. A custom lab kit from Hands-On-Labs was utilized for students to do at-home lab activities. The number of lab activities was reduced as a response to feedback from students. The lab kits included on-line lab manuals that included reporting on the activities. The gain in knowledge was assessed as part of the on-line manual through answering and describing the concepts and activities. 2. Develop a portable LMS/Moodle server. After evaluating various models of Raspberry Pi computers, Mac mini, and Intel Nuc computers, the Raspberry Pi 3b model was found to be the most economical, portable, and compatible with the Ubuntu operating system. Earlier model Raspberry Pi computers relied on an external wifi router that utilized the USB port. The 3b model had an internal wifi server. The 3b is easy to set up and send to remote locations. 3. Assisting Online Science and Math Course Development. Instructors were assisted in resolving technical issues they experienced while developing course materials. This included identifying ways to work with math equations in moodle. Subscriptions to Softchalk and Adobe Captivate were used to assist in developing the instructional materials in ways that made the course lectures and activities more interactive. 4. Support teaching students and teachers about technology in the classroom. Lynda.com was made available for instructors and students to assist in learning about technology. The subscription was maintained and was used by a few faculty and students in classes.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences for this project include : 1. University of Guam students 2. University of Guam faculty 3. Landscapers in Guam and Micronesia 4. Foresters in Guam and Micronesia Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?There were demonstrations of software tools presented to faculty interested in developing online course materials. Individual assistance was given when faculty contacted technical support. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The availability of technical support for developing online courses was announced at Program and College meetings and presented at sessions of University Presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Develop curricula for online delivery. Courses for delivery in Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology and Agriculture, and Life Sciences were developed through this project. 2. Develop a portable LMS/Moodle server. The Raspberry Pi 3b computer was found to work as a Moodle server using the Ubuntu Operating System. 3. Identify a workflow using a portable LMS server and the internet to enhance course delivery. The course materials were developed in Adobe Captivate and uploaded into Moodle. The schedule and structure for the course were set up in Moodle. Once the course was developed, it was copied among the Raspberry Pi servers. 4. Increase the number of science and math courses available for online delivery in the US Insular Institutions. The technical support was given to faculty in the College of Natural and Applied Sciences at the University of Guam. This support included faculty in the Math, Chemistry, Biology and Agriculture and Life Sciences academic programs.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences for this project include : 1. University of Guam Students 2. University of Guam Faculty 3. Landscapers in Guam and Micronesia 4. Foresters in Micronesia The audiences were reached through formal classroom instruction and through using curriculum developed using development of curriculum or innovative teaching methodologies. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Videos were prodcued to be accessed by faculty Lynda.com. The improve internment access improved the capacity to access information online. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?University of Guam Moodle Moot Keynote Presentation to Faculty. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?A Research Associate will assist with lab activities and revisions to the labs for AG102. We will incorporate a hydroponics system with automatic lighting into the labs. These activities will be developed for use in several courses in addition to AG102 for the recently approved Agriculture and Life Sciences Major. Students in nutrition courses will grow various plants in this system at home.We will develop arborist course materials supported by a grant from the US Forest Service.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This DEG project supported the development of online and hybrid agricultural science courses. Delivery of online and hybrid courses increased the exposure of students to current issues in agriculture sciences and STEM-related materials effectively. The on-line course, AG102: Introduction to Plant Science includes a lab kit that the students conduct scientific experiments at home. This DEG project also supported the development and delivery of hybrid courses AG494: Climate Change and AG194: Introduction to Science for Educators to attract a broader audience to pursue and gain knowledge in food and agriculture sciences in the Pacific insular areas. The Project obtained supplies and small equipment needed for online course development and delivery. The project had four objectives: Objective 1) to develop courses for online delivery with enhanced interactivity; Objective 2) to create online delivery of course materials for increasing STEM knowledge for elementary school teachers; Objective 3) to identify and obtain needed tools and technical support for online course development and delivery; and Objective 4) to improve networking capability and IT infrastructure to support online delivery. Summary of objective activities: Objective 1: We offered a hybrid course AG494: Special Study-Climate Change and the Pacific Islands (3 credits) during spring semester 2016. After course delivery in 2015, contents and delivery methods were revised and the hybrid course AG494 was offered by Dr. T. Nipp and Dr. H Diambra Odi. In Spring semester 2016, four students registered for the course. Students were from diverse populations of Guam and Micronesia and had experienced first-hand the effects of climate change in their respective islands. Students gave presentations and demonstrated full awareness and understanding the policy challenges and implementations of practices consistent with rising sea levels and the decline of the fishing industry. In addition, students participated in a school-wide survey on climate change, and some participated in the Center for Island Sustainability Conference here on Guam. As a result of the course, a Facebook page has been developed to reach a wider audience for topics related to climate change. Wevised the interactivity in online course AG102: Introduction to Plant Science. The Moodle interface was updated. The lab activities were updated to include more detailed lab instruction and increased number of images to help students understanding of the lab activities. A new forum was used. Students submitted weekly a photo that expressed their current feeling in the course and then explained how the image showed that feeling. The lab report submission and grading procedure was improved, so students received quick feedback on their submitted lab reports using a refined rubric and annotations in the electronic submissions. Lab quizzes were developed for the 12 lab activities using SoftChalk and Adobe Captivate to produce interactive quizzes that helped to evaluate the students gain in knowledge from the lab experiments. Objective 2: We developed and offered a general science course that satisfies the science requirements for elementary school teachers and provides them with proficiency in science to be certified and qualified to teach science. AG194 (4 credits) was developed and trained as a trial in the Spring semester 2016 by Dr. H. Diambra-Odi. Eleven students registered the course. This hybrid course included a laboratory component designed for the home kitchen. The course targets elementary school teachers to gain a broad knowledge in the STEM sciences (physics, chemistry, and biology) and apply the scientific method to science investigations and activities. Students were well engaged and participated enthusiastically to class discussions, research projects, and laboratory activities. The activities led to an improvement in the achievement of teacher certification according to the School of Education. The course was as a lecture and lab course in the Agriculture and Life Sciences Program as AL130 Introduction to Science For Educators. The course was offered in the Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 semesters. Objective 3: Software and license subscription for online course development. A site license for SoftChalk and copies of Adobe Captivate were obtained to use for developing online course materials. We were unable to find an instructional designer as planned in the original proposal. Instead, a multi-user license for a Lynda.com subscription was obtained for use by faculty and students. A license for a one-year subscription to the Online learning Consortium was also obtained. SoftChalk and Captivate were used to develop revised course modules for AG102. A new Arborist course is being developed. Lynda.com distribution was difficult because UOG does not have a server set up for distribution of licenses. This will need to be resolved to make it easier to distribute the licenses. Item 2: Moodle Servers and accessories A raspberry pi, a Mac Mini and an Intel Nuc were obtained to explore the use of portable Moodle servers for making course materials available in areas where the internet speed is not sufficient for conducting a course. The Raspberry Pi did not have the capacity to function as a Moodle server. Moodle was installed and would run, but the CPU became overloaded if more than one device logged into Moodle. The Mac Mini works fine and can manage multiple devices logged into Moodle courses concurrently, but the cost is high per computer. The Intel Nuc is most expensive and is now under evaluation. Objective 4: Improve the networking speed in the Agriculture and Life Sciences Building to enable increased speed in uploading and downloading files for course development and support. The internet wiring, routers, and switches were upgraded allowing a portion of the building with lab and offices and the classrooms to have the capability of achieving speeds up to 700mb/s from a previous speed of 10mb/s. The wireless footprint for the UOG wireless network was expanded to enable student and faculty wireless access throughout the building. Previously this access was limited to the classroom. There is a separate wireless network for faculty access to enable streaming in the classrooms with reduced traffic. As a result of this upgrade, UOG has funded additional hardware to upgrade the entire Agriculture and Life Science Building and the Science Building.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Dr. James McConnell, Dr. Mari Marutani, Jason Andrew, Anthony Balmaceda, Chierel Desamito. Improving the Delivery and Content of an Online Plant Science Lab Course by Assessing Learning Outcomes. NACTA Conference Poster Presentation.
James McConnell.Enhancing the Learning Experience of an Online Plant Science Lab Course Using Moodles Tools and External Applications.American Society for Horticultural Science Poster Presentation
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