Podcasting+in+Food+Technology+2

=Project information=


 * Project title: || Using Podcasting to facilitate large class teaching and learning in the Food Technology Department - focus on constructive alignment ||
 * Project owner: || Cindy Hunlun ||
 * Collaborators: ||  ||
 * Department: || Food Technology ||
 * Course title: || ND. Food Technology ||
 * Course level: || 2nd year undergraduate ||
 * Number of students: || 88 ||

=Project design= The Food Technology 2 students have weekly food production practicals. Each student has an opportunity to be a "supervisor" with the accompanying responsibilities twice per semester. Their dusties include preparation, organisation, designation of duties and execution of the practical whilst managing the "labour force" the remainder of the students. A typical practical session will consist of 9-10 supervisors and 31-30 labourers. There are morning and afternoon sessions to accommodate 80 odd students. The supervisors typically write a report which adheres to scientific writing and conforms to a specific format where the discuss the results of the practical which is then graded. However, an opportunity for the supervisors to reflect (self-evaluate), critically evaluate the processes and methods of the day and identify what skills they acquired are not normally afforded.

Thus, it is proposed to use Podcasts and create: (i). a practical preparation podcast summarising the practical activities and learning outcomes by the lecturer which is compulsory for each individual attending the practical (not only the supervisors). (ii). The "supervisor" students need to record a podcast reflecting on their experience. All students to comment on podcasts (iii). formative feedback podcast by the lecturer reflecting on the "supervisors" reflection. All students to comment on podcasts

Therefore, each student will be afforded to reflect on their experience twice in the semester.

Rationale for using podcasting / problems addressed with podcasting
why do you want to use podcasting? what challenges are you facing in your teaching? with your students? do you have enough information about your students? is there anything you would like to investigate concerning your students? how will podcasting help?

The Food Technology 2 students are exposed to 18 months of theoretical teaching before they have to complete 12 months of experiential learning (Work Intergrated Learning or WIL). During their WIL period it is expected of the students to perform supervisory roles and many employees expect students to be able to solve problems, communicate well and critically evaluate their own contribution to the company and basically operate as a young professional. (My personal view is that it is unreasonable to expect all these things from a second year student, BUT...). In an atempt to keep high standards and to bridge the gap between industry requirements and academia there is a need to instill and or culture these abilities during the Food Technology 2 course just before the students go into industry. Therefore, podcasting can be used to facilitate the acquisition of technical and more importantly interpersonal skills to the benefit of the student and industry whilst facilitating constructive alignment in teaching and learning activities in the Food Technology 2 Practical component.

The challenges that currently influence the above is first of all large classes. The number of students have grown from approximately 40 first year students in 2008 to over a100 students in 2012 and the number needs to be increased every year. Additionally, the time allocated to cover the content of the subject affects the rate at which new concepts are introduced, while students facing language issues struggle to keep up with the load. Not to mention other abilities that they need to acquire throughout the semester. This has ultimately resulted in finding alternative methods to facilitate teaching and learning in the same amount of time.

It has been mentioned that the Food Technology 2 students are diverse with many international students as well as national students which have language issues due to their disadvantaged background. Furthermore, many students did not apply to study Food Technology as their first choice course. All of the stated facts affect their motivation and inevitably their pass rate. Thus, the purpose is to use podcasting as an aid to motivate students through their own experiences and words - see "Students Podcast". The students will be able to self-evaluate and bench mark their learning experience against their peers.

Ways of using podcasting in Teaching and Learning
how are you going to implement podcasting? when will you start to use podcasting? for how long?

__**Proposed podcastings (March - May) - third term of the first semester in 2012**__ Practical Preparation Podcasts: Summary of processes (since it is production orientated), methods and outcomes of the practical - number of views will be tracked to assign a mark for preparedness and participation in the practical. Make it compulsory for students to "comment" on SoundCloud on the Prac Prep Podcast. This will be made available one week before the practical. There are weekly Practicals.

Student Podcasts: Students' reflection of what was experienced during their practical session focusing on critical evaluation of their role (self-evaluation) in the practical session which either contributed to the success and or failure of the practical session. This will be recorder one or two days after the practical occurred to provide students time to collect thoughts and reflect.

Formative feedback Podcasts: Lecturer responding to the findings in the Student Podcast in order to demonstrate critical evaluation skills / reflection process. This will be made available at minimum one week after the practical occurred.

Software and hardware used
how will you create your podcasts? where are planning to upload them? how do you expect will students listen to them? where will they download them to? what devices do they own?

Podcasts will be recorded and edited using Audacity software. The Podcasts will be uploaded to Blackboard and or SoundCloud. Students will hopefully download and distribute the podcasts using their cellphones. Alternatively, they will make us of the IT centre at CPUT to access Blackboard or SoundCloud.

Research questions
are there any specific research questions that you would like to investigate? when do you think is a good time for collecting data from your students?

Do podcasts improve teaching and learning during Food Technology 2 practical activities. What skills were exchanged and acquired during the practical due to the impact of podcasts (making students conscious about the learning outcomes).

Personal reflection
At the moment I feel overwhelmed due to the endless use of Podcasting! Which teaching and learning issue(s) to attempt to address first? My challenge: "Doing a small thing that will have a big impact" - Dr. D. Ng'ambi (Centre for e-learning) - Podcasting workshop 13 March 2012.

This afternoon I really feel enthused and can not wait to start...I hope the feeling lasts!