Sandra, et al., the ABT issue to which I referred came to my home within the
last week, so I would guess it's the most recent issue, either Feb. or
March, 2001. It was an issue very heavy into technology.
I gave it -- the idea that a professor might want to "stop the students from
drawing -- some thought after reading the article. (And actually the article
really was about storing images that they otherwise do not have access to.)
I am as guilty as heck of "giving" my students images to assist them in
their study. In fact, I'm co-author on three photo atlases and a lab manual
filled with pretty pictures, so I feel in some respects I have contributed
to the problem. And text books are now loaded with absolutely stunning
illustrations, both photographic and artist-rendered.
When I took my intro biology courses (1966, so figure it out you young
folks), we did a lot of drawing, and their were very few aids, such as photo
atlases. I still have my Wilson and Loomis botany book, and it's almost
exclusively line drawings.
So I started asking myself how some of the modern technology could be linked
with a means to really increase learning. My thought, articulated with my
team-teaching spouse, was that no matter how pretty my and other pictures
are, they are not the same as what students are seeing. I selected the best
specimens to photograph, and I really know how to set up a light microscope
to give the best images.
We've asked students to do their own drawings, but of course, they pretty
much copy what they seen in their books.
So my thoughts are, what about if they were able to take a digital picture
of THEIR slide or specimen, print it (color = $) and then label it, and
describe in writing what the differences are between what they have seen and
what's in their book?
Do you think this would cause them to look more closely at their own
specimens and would it increase the learning experience? They like
technology, so would this play into our hands without them realizing it?
jim
-----Original Message-----
From: sjohnson at mtsu.edu [mailto:sjohnson at mtsu.edu]
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2001 8:09 AM
To: jperry at uwc.edu
Cc: plant-ed at hgmp.mrc.ac.uk
Subject: Re: Web-based examinations
jim.
do you remember in which issue of ABT the "no draw" article
appeared? i'm interested to read it to understand why they think
that not drawing would benefit students. i've been teaching for < 3
yrs now & am increasingly having my students draw. i find that the
pretty transparencies don't help them get a "feel" for the organism
of structure. now mostly we draw (me too!) and then i show the
pretty color transp to compare our work against a more
professional rendition. some of my students don't bother to draw
their own - but then there are those who don't take notes either. i
don't have any hard evidence, but i agree with you that putting
pencil to paper helps.
sandra
>> A recent article in American Biology Teacher prompts me to post this
> message. The article is about "stopping your students from making drawings
> in class by using a digital camera attached to a microscope." My first
> reaction was to fire off a nasty letter about the authors not realizing
the
> value of putting a pencil to paper. But I digress and show my prejudice.
>> I'm wondering if there is a piece of software that would allow a prof to
> place images on a web site, and have students take exams (lab practicals?)
> sitting at a computer. I use Blackboard to a limited extent, but I don't
> think it will do what I want. Ideally, the prof would not need be a
> programmer or spend as much time figuring out how to do this as s/he did
> doing a graduate degree. It seems to me that this might be a means to give
> some exams without the problem of setting up a room full of apparatus and
> microscopes.
>> Does any of the incredible expertise out there have any suggestions>
>> jim
>> James W. Perry, Ph.D.
> CEO/Campus Dean
> Professor of Biological Sciences
> University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley
> 1478 Midway Road
> Menasha, WI 54852-1297
> 920.832.2610 (voice)
> 920.832.2674 (FAX)
> www.uwfox.uwc.edu
>>
*************
Sandra L. Johnson, Ph.D.
Plant Physiological Ecologist
Middle Tennessee State University
Biology Department PO Box 60
Murfreesboro, TN 31732
Phone: (615) 898-2021
FAX: (615) 898-5093
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