The lecture series «Pharmazeutische Fallbeispiele» [Pharmaceutical Case Studies] is a compilation of seven 2-hour sessions for around 75 students of the BSc Pharmaceutical Sciences. Surrounded by lectures and lab work on basic science and pharmacotherapy in the third year of studies, our autumn series aims to showcase the complexity of and our fascination for later pharmacy practice issues, giving the students a new perspective on all the other courses’ material as well.
One of our primary learning objectives states that students should be able to analyse simple case studies from pharmacy practice and present, explain, and discuss them in plenary, based on their current pharmaceutical knowledge. To let students achieve this objective, we had already included group work and presentations, where they discuss their thoughts on a given case study with our and their own literature resources (e.g., which drug class is most appropriate for which kind of nausea).
In 2019, we realized that student participation dropped towards the end of the semester when the big exams of the other courses approached. The sessions were mainly visited by the presenting student groups, whilst their peers focused on learning for ECTS.
2020 challenged us to go digital. This simultaneously provided the opportunity to have Moodle supporting us in our different teaching elements. The Moodle group selection allowed our students to choose their own peers. Folders, surrounded by explanatory text, helped us in embedding the asynchronous learning material (i.e., preparatory reading).
Most importantly, however, we created a simple quiz with four questions for each of the seven 2-hour sessions, focusing on the day’s learning objectives. We specifically aimed to include questions on the preparatory reading, our frontal inputs, the presentations by their peers, and one additional pharmacy practice issue. Moodle badges allowed for a simple gamification of the quiz. We shortened our lessons and offered the time to complete the quizzes during the two hours to not increase the overall student workload.
Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive: They appreciated our efforts concerning the Moodle course, liked the variation with peer presentations, stated having fun completing our quizzes, and were happy about the interactive segments. There were still fewer students present live towards the end of the semester, but the completed quizzes suggest a shift towards asynchronous learning by watching the recordings when taking a break from learning for ECTS.
We will most certainly keep our Moodle course even when going back to physically present teaching. The students seemed to be engaged in the course material by asking us interested follow-up questions concerning the preparatory reading and even our quizzes. The administrative work for setting up the course was hefty, but well worth it. One advise to my previous self: Cramped shoulders won’t help you in troubleshooting issues in the Moodle group selector faster.
Blind person using computer with braille computer display and a computer keyboard.
Accessibility is an important topic for ETH, also in the institution’s teaching. ETH’s projectin this area comprises 14 sub-projects. In the first interview below, project manager Romila Storjohann describes the central points of the project with regard to teaching. The physical givens (rooms, access possibilities, etc.) are of course crucial to accessibility, but adapting electronic information is also important. LET has invested much time and energy in this topic, and has since January been working with a project coordinator for accessible teaching and teaching materials, Anton Bolfing. He describes his initial focus in the second interview below. LET is currently drafting various measures and identifying “quick wins”; for example, Mathjax formulas can be read aloud. LET organised an Accessible Teaching Day on 3 February 2020.
Accessibility is also an Innovedum focal point theme. Projects in this area are very welcome. Taking accessibility into account in teaching platforms and documents can provide improved semantics, better-structured, more flexibly displayed content and thus better usability in general. This benefits all users and also improves searchability.
Interview with Romila Storjohann, project manager “Barrier-free at ETH Zurich”
What do you see as the long-term goals for accessibility in the area of teaching?
Seen in the long term, the goal is to offer barrier-free, inclusive teaching at ETH Zurich. This involves, on the one hand, the alteration of existing teaching materials and technologies, and on the other the readiness of teaching staff to make their teaching as accessible as possible so that all students may better take part.
What concrete links are there between ETH teaching and the three accessibility project categories “Construction”, “Technology” and “Organisation”?
The project “Barrier-free at ETH Zurich” comprises 14 sub-projects in total: nine under the category “Construction”, one under “Organisation” and four under “Technology”.
Sub-project 13, “Barrier-free teaching materials”, to commence in February 2021 at LET, is in the “Technology” category. Besides technical alterations (e.g. the subtitling of video recordings), non-technical measures will also be involved, such as as the drawing up of training concepts for teaching faculty.
Naturally measures in the “Construction” category will also contribute to barrier-free teaching by ensuring barrier-free access to seminar rooms, lecture halls and other ETH teaching locations.
Interview with Anton Bolfing, LET project coordinator for “Barrier-free teaching” since January 2021
My area of responsibility is the accessibility of electronic user interfaces. Here the main focus is on teaching and learning materials.
What do you see as the core themes for barrier-free teaching at ETH?
We envision an ETH where it goes without saying that accessibility is considered in all products and digital creations. Here information being digital is a prerequisite for its accessibility: print is not accessible!
What are your priorities?
In terms of existing accessibility issues, I see the most need for action in learning platforms and documents. Accessible teaching guarantees students access to all relevant information and systems irrespective of any physical, sensory or mental limitations. This involves not only the classical learning platforms, but also communication and information platforms and classical websites. Just as important are documents, including textbooks and lecture notes. Examinations must also become accessible.
It is clear to me that the road to our vision will be a long one. Therefore my first priorities are communication and the development of aids. All parties involved must be convinced of the need for accessible teaching.
Concretely, what will be altered on learning platforms and in documents?
Briefly summarised, there are two main points here:
Improved flexibility in the display of screen content (responsivity, various monitors, text enlargement, colour schemes etc.) and flexibility in the use of input devices (pointing devices such as mouse, joystick, eye-tracker etc. and serial input devices such as switches and keyboard)
Compatibility with assistive technologies (screenreader, language input)
How will the corona situation influence your efforts in 2021?
The corona situation is showing a broader public how important information and communication technologies are in the knowledge and service economy: think working from home. We are noticing how much we depend on these technologies. Many people with disabilities knew this even before the corona pandemic and will continue to know it afterwards. For them it is therefore even more important that these technologies are accessible.
Virtual labs with Labster – Practical experience in food chemistry
Interview with Dr. Melanie Erzinger, responsible for the food chemistry practical course at D-HEST.
The food chemistry practical course at D-HEST uses the virtual laboratory simulations of Labster. Virtual labs allow students to complete laboratory experiments online and explore concepts and theories without stepping into a physical science lab. Especially now in times of Corona, this is a valuable alternative. There are many kinds of virtual lab simulations, from simple video animations to immersive 3D interactive learning environments. Other courses and departments might benefit from these options as well, mainly biology and chemistry.
What effects did Labster have on the practical course in food chemistry?
The use of virtual laboratories with Labster had positive effects on the practical course in food chemistry. They are now an integral part of the practical course and they were appreciated by the teachers and students. The fact that they are only available in English was accepted due to the clear added value. They have been in use there since 2017, in 2020 already in their fourth run. All 60 students received their own, fee-based semester licence.
The Labster
activities enabled students to prepare for real laboratory experiments in a
better and more exciting way than if they had only read an introductory
document. Now they had to actively deal with a problem. This proved to be an
excellent way of introducing them to methods.
What is the relationship between virtual and
real world labs?
The virtual
labs were never intended to replace the real labs, they are meant as an
addition – to understand, practice and repeat more deeply. A three-stage
setting was established which was successful because it formed a common thread:
1. preparations with Labster. 2. dealing with the topics in the Labster labs
and doing the practical training in real life. 3. follow-up and repetitions
with Labster. During the corona crisis, the practical middle part was replaced
by virtual laboratories and so it was still possible to give the students good
insights and knowledge.
What other advantages does Labster bring?
Another
advantage is that Labster allows additional experiments to be carried out that
would not be possible in real life. There are three reasons for this: It would
take too long, the devices are very expensive and used by the researchers or the
experiments would be too dangerous.
The technology has improved greatly over the years and today there are no longer any technical problems, as long as the students’ computers meet minimal and common technical standards and the technical support provided is used. With a detailed briefing at the beginning of the semester, the practical use of virtual labs works well and the Labster helpdesk is also working properly.
How could the use of Labster be expanded at
ETH?
Other
courses and departments would also benefit from virtual labs in certain areas
(biology and chemistry, e.g. toxicology or molecular biology), and Labster has
many topics and laboratories that would be a good addition. However, in courses
with a low proportion of practical training, selective use of virtual labs
would not really justify the expenditure of time and money, since – unlike in
pure practical training – they would not be essential for the learning
objectives.
More information about the use of labster at ETH can also be found here under “virtual labs”.
Labster-Website – to see the library of available simulations
Case Study – Peer Review Mastering Digital Business Models
As part of a series of case studies, staff
at LET sat down to have a conversation with Prof. Elgar Fleisch, Johannes
Hübner and Dominik Bilgeri from the Department of Management, Technology, and
Economics (D-MTEC) to discuss their Mastering Digital Business Model (MDBM)
course.
What is the project about?
In this Mastering Digital Business Model
(MDBM) course, Prof. Elgar Fleisch, Dominik Bilgeri, George Boateng and Johannes
Huebner teach Master’s level students a theory- and practice-based
understanding of how today’s information technologies enable new digital
business models and transform existing ones. The course contains a novel examination
mode, a video group project is introduced as a core element contributing to the
overall course grade. In addition, students are asked to participate in a
peer-to-peer review of the videos produced by other student groups, which is
independent of the grading and is geared towards giving students insights in
how other groups solved the challenge. The best-rated videos are then shared
with the entire class in the end of the semester.
As part of this newly created examination element, course participants (in teams of two to three students) explain one of the major lecture topics (theoretical lenses) in the first half of their video.Then they apply the same lens by analysing a company, aiming to better understand its underlying business model. Companies are pre-selected and allocated to students for fairness reasons. Every year, we choose a pool of interesting companies in the context of digital transformation, the Internet of Things, Blockchain, e-health, etc.
What
motivated you to initiate the project?
The core idea was to improve students’
learning success by using an examination format that not only requires learners
to reiterate theoretical contents, but also apply the theory in a practical
context. The students have different backgrounds, and do not necessarily have a
strong business focus, which means that many of the concepts taught in class
may be rather abstract. We used the video format and specific companies as case
studies, because we think this is a good way to trigger curiosity, show
concrete examples of modern companies in a compact form, and force students to
reflect deeply upon theoretical frameworks compared to other examination
formats.
How
did you do it?
Aside from the weekly input lectures, we
ask students to form groups in the beginning of the semester. We then provide a
list of theoretical core topics from which each group can choose one. In
addition, we randomly assign each group to a case company. The theoretical
topic then first needs to be explained in the first half of the video, and then
be applied to the case company in the second half. Here we thus used a prosumer
approach, where students become part of the course because they create a small
section of the content. The best videos are shared with the class, and can be
reused as additional learning materials for future cohorts. This set-up generally
resulted in high-quality videos, perhaps also since students knew their videos
will be used again.
Students also had to review the video
projects of five other groups. They had to clearly describe whether and how
their peers used certain perspectives (called “lenses” in the course) which played
a role in the video and in their feedback. In this way they analysed once more how
the newly learned concepts were visible in other companies – a positive side
effect being that they also honed their reflection and feedback skills.
Did
you have the support you needed for the project? Is there additional support
you wish you had had to help you to achieve your goals?
We asked two students from previous cohorts
to join us as tutors, and support this year’s groups primarily with technical
questions about video-making (e.g. tools, quality considerations etc.). In
addition, we designed one of the lecture slots as a coaching session during
which we would further support student groups with their questions. In total,
this approach allowed us to provide the students with high-quality supervision
with reasonable effort.
Please
describe some of the key outcomes of the project
To most students, the task of creating a
video was new. We received feedback that while the initial effort for learning
how to make a video was higher compared to other examination formats, it was also
fun and very helpful to really understand and apply the new concepts. They said
that they learned things more deeply and more sustainably because they had to
consider all details and aspects – compared to the practical exercises they are
familiar with in other courses. By carefully phrasing their arguments in giving
feedback on peer videos, students became more aware of their own thinking and
argumentation.
We observed that the questions asked by
students once they start creating videos were different and went deeper, i.e. their
reflections were based on many concrete examples of companies, and the concepts
were put into perspective. The same sub-concepts have a different meaning in
another context, and students now see the overarching principles better and can
argue more precisely about theoretical aspects. Without these concrete
examples, it would have been harder to concretely grasp the theoretical
aspects.
How
did the project impact learners or the way in which you teach?
We were surprised by the high quality of the
best student videos. The teaching team is now really motivated to continue
innovating on our approaches in other courses. We saw clearly that when
students are very active we get better results, deeper learning and better
reflection.
What
lessons learned do you want to share with your colleagues?
It can really pay off to try things and to
experiment. We think that nowadays the classic format of passive lectures and
final exams may not always be the best choice. We believe the improved outcomes
through students who were actively engaged by the video assignment justified
the investment in developing new approaches and tools.
When considering videos as an examination
format, you should define the entire course/project very clearly. When
describing what production options students have for videos, you should be very
precise. Offering too many options can be counterproductive. It is better to
present 3-4 crystal-clear examples and stick to them.
Also, we would recommend managing students’
expectations clearly in the beginning of the semester, and highlighting both
the benefits and challenges of this examination format. Of course, this becomes
easier after the first year, when you can draw from the experience of the first
cohort, and also provide examples of prior videos to illustrate what is
expected of the groups. Because the students are co-creators you get new and
relevant content which enriches the course and can serve to motivate both
students and teachers.
What
are the future plans for this work? How do you plan to sustain what you have
created through the project?
We plan to optimize some details of this
course, and to go even more in the direction of a flipped classroom to use this
teaching approach in other courses. We will create a library of the student
videos to provide it as additional learning materials in future editions of the
course.
Student feedback
By MDBM Student Cristina Mercandetti (mercandc@student.ethz.ch)
Your opinion about this course and the peer
review & video production process – how has it influenced your learning
process? Cristina Mercandetti: I really enjoyed both the
course and the video production process. I think they complemented each other
very well and we were able to directly apply the theoretical knowledge learned
in the course to work on our project. It helped me to think more critically
about the course content, and really dive into some of the lenses and models
presented. I don’t think this would have been possible without the video
production, so it definitely improved my learning process.
Do
you think this approach could be used in other courses?
Cristina Mercandetti: Yes, I think this approach could easily be used in other
classes. However, I think part of the fun in this class was that the video
production was something very new and refreshing (a side effect was that I
learned how to cut a short movie). I imagine that if several classes introduced
this it would lose some of its novelty and could be stressful, as it took a lot
of time.
Final remarks about the course Cristina Mercandetti: I really enjoyed the whole
class, and heard a lot of good things from other students too.
As part of a series of case studies, staff
at LET sat down to have a conversation with Prof. Volker Hoffmann (SusTec, the Group for
Sustainability and Technology) and Erik Jentges (Educational
Developer) from the Department of Management, Technology and Economics (D-MTEC)
to discuss their corporate sustainability project.
What
is the project about?
The course “Corporate Sustainability” aims to enable students to become advocates of sustainable business practices in their later careers. Each year it attracts 150-200 students with diverse disciplinary backgrounds and different educational levels (BSc, MSc, and MAS). We adapted the Six Sentence Argument (6SA) method for this course. The method focuses on enhancing critical thinking skills through structured writing and guided, double-blind peer-review.
What
motivated you to initiate the project?
We wanted students to get a clearer picture
of what sustainability really is. In the course, they develop not only a deeper
understanding of corporate sustainability but also the skills to give and
receive feedback.
How
did you do it?
At the core are four topics that relate to
the sustainability of corporations. These are assessment, strategy, technology,
and finance. We developed digital learning modules (videos, some with
interactive elements) that explain key concepts to support the most relevant and difficult
parts of the lecture. Also, we want to develop students’
critical thinking skills. In e-modules, students learn to formulate concise and
short arguments with the 6SA method. The core idea builds on the
assumption that writing is thinking.
In the e-modules, students face a decision
(a micro case based on the lecture content) and argue for their preferred
course of action using a logical structure of exactly six sentences. Each
sentence fulfils a specific function in the overall argument and has a 20-word
limit. A clear grading rubric enables students to assess 6SAs in double-blind
peer reviews. These have been continuously adapted and improved since 2015. The
specialized online tool “peergrade” also helped us to conduct a smooth process
– for both students and teachers.
Through the peer assessment, students engage
critically with their peers’ arguments and receive constructive feedback on
their own arguments. With the 6SA exercise, students learn to argue with
clarity, and it helps them to reflect on the way they and others think.
During the second half of the semester,
students work in diverse teams to prepare mock debates, consulting strategies,
economic models and campaign videos. In this phase, they are coached by several
postdoctoral and doctoral researchers from SusTec, the Group for Sustainability and Technology. The students then present their projects and display their skills in
a group puzzle session and are debriefed in the following final lecture
session. Students receive grades for both individual and group performance and
can earn a bonus on their exam grade when completing the critical thinking
exercises.
Did
you have the support you needed for the project? Is there additional support
you wish you had had to help you to achieve your goals?
The project received funding from different
sources. This helped us to hire academic staff to assist the development of new
teaching approaches and the production of high-quality videos. In addition, we
received specialist guidance in the instructional design and production of
videos.
Please
describe some of the key outcomes of the project
With regard to our feedback modules, we think
that the quality of the argumentation and peer reviews has increased over the
years. For example, we learned that the effective design of such peer
assessment exercises for students requires training on how to give constructive
feedback and that it should involve several feedback loops to support the
development and refinement of critical thinking skills. Overall, the course now
integrates many innovative teaching elements and was a finalist in the 2018 ETH
KITE award.
How
did the project impact learners or the way in which you teach?
When students are able to write better and concise
arguments that convince critical readers, and if they can give constructive
feedback to arguments that are being made to justify strategic decisions, then
they are able to actively shape good decisions in a company setting – they can
be change-makers for corporate sustainability. The students were motivated by
the new teaching approaches such as the supporting videos, interactive
questions inside the videos, and the critical thinking exercises. Peer
assessment is “homework” for the students, but they know that they can earn a
bonus on their exam grade – and they are already rehearsing for some parts of
the final exam.
With regard to students’ learning, the peer
review process itself is convincing. What is unique to our teaching situation is
the incredible diversity in the classroom. A 19-year-old Swiss environmental
science student may be sitting next to a 25-year-old Chinese student who is pursuing
a master’s degree in management, who in turn sits next to a 35-year-old
American part-time student with a PhD in chemistry and a management position
with responsibilities for 20 employees in a multinational company. Peer
feedback is a powerful solution to bridge these gaps of different levels of
experience and cultural backgrounds. It allows younger students to write a
creative and brilliant argument without being intimidated by more senior
students. It allows a shy and quiet student to gain confidence by formulating a
convincing argument whose strengths are recognized in their peers’ feedback. It
creates a space for older students to learn how to coach younger classmates with
constructive feedback to improve their reasoning.
That is why at D-MTEC, we use peer feedback
in other courses as well. Students learn more when actually giving feedback
compared to when only submitting an assignment.
What
lessons learned do you want to share with your colleagues?
At the beginning, it was a lot of work and many
people were involved, but it was worth it. Today, with regard to the critical
thinking exercises, we have continuously refined our processes. Every student writes
three reviews, thereby ensuring that everyone also receives much more feedback
than a single lecturer could provide. The main work for lecturers is providing
an overview of the themes in the arguments and summarizing the activity for all
students. This lets them know that their individual contribution becomes part
of a collective intelligence. There are always truly smart and innovative
solutions that need to be shared with the whole class. Also, there is little
effort involved in re-grading/moderating student questions about feedback,
because we train students to write helpful and considerate feedback and make them
aware of that they also have to learn how to receive feedback, especially if it
is feedback that they don’t want to, but need to hear.
For the production of videos, we recommend planning enough time and engaging with video experts and instructional designers early on. Especially writing a concise script for a short video requires a surprising amount of time until it effectively conveys your key points.
If you are interested in applying these concepts in your own courses please contact LET.
Note: The project received funding from different sources (Innovedum, Emil Halter Foundation, ETH Critical Thinking Initiative).
Additional
resources and comments
Article: Kölbel, J., & Jentges, E. (2018). The Six-Sentence Argument: Training Critical Thinking Skills Using Peer Review. Management Teaching Review, 3(2), 118–128. https://doi.org/10.1177/2379298117739856
Case study – Peer Review Food Chemistry Laboratory – Writing reports
As part of a series of case studies, staff at LET sat down to have a conversation with Prof. Laura Nyström and Dr. Melanie Erzinger from the Department of Health Sciences and Technology to discuss their food chemistry laboratory project.
What
is the project about?
We introduced a new way to write lab reports,
combined with a peer review method to foster collaboration and critical
thinking skills among students. In the past students did not have clear
criteria as to what makes a good report. Assistants also needed too much time
to read the reports and give repeated feedback. Thus we looked for a way to
help assistants spend less time on the review process.
We transformed the format of our Food
Chemistry Laboratory Course (Food Science, BSc level, 4th semester)
from a classical lecture format with lab exercises to a blended learning
format. With new videos, we can achieve better coverage of basic knowledge
(i.e. security, handling of equipment).
What
motivated you to initiate the project?
Student numbers have increased over the
past 10 years and we have been losing too much time in covering basic knowledge
repeatedly. Using concept videos, students will be able to review key topics on
their own. Overall, we also wanted to make the entire course more attractive. A
key intention was to develop student skills in report writing and improve
report quality.
How
did you do it?
We defined additional, clear quality
criteria for a good report. During a first round students give each other
feedback, such that final review by teaching assistants and lecturer approval involve
less effort. For each experiment, every student has to review another student’s
report. In total, each reviews four reports over the semester.
Students don’t get a grade for the peer review (semester performance in the lab course is also ungraded). They have one week for each of the four peer reviews, and must complete each by the respective set deadline. They answer various questions related to the quality of the respective report (these involve five aspects plus overall feedback; see the annex at the end of this case study). Students do not “grade” the reports, but give feedback in their own words.
Assistants are aware of what is asked in
the reports and are therefore able to provide targeted and helpful feedback in
the lab which addresses the quality criteria for reports.
We provide the students with online material on how to write reports (short videos, documents etc.). Previously we had a short lecture with examples. Until now, however, we did not train them in conducting proper peer reviews. We have now realised that we need to do this (especially for Bachelor’s degree students), and will include peer review training with the short lecture next year.
Did
you have the support you needed for the project? Is there additional support
you wish you had had to help you to achieve your goals?
We learned about a module inside our LMS for
administering the peer-review process (“workshop module” in Moodle). It would
have been helpful to have had practical tips from others, but apparently not
many lecturers have used this tool. Although the general instructions were
useful, it took quite some time to learn all the aspects of the tool.
Please
describe some of the key outcomes of the project.
Various things changed for the better. Students learned a lot by reading and reviewing the reports of their peers. They gained important input for their own reports. For many it was the first time they had had to give feedback in such a structured way. They also had to find a way to critique something in a good, constructive manner. Overall, students were introduced to a new way of critical thinking and took important first steps in this skill, which is important for their later careers.
We can say clearly that through the new
review method we were able to improve the quality of reports and reduce the
time needed by lecturers to grade them.
How
did the project impact learners or the way in which you teach?
In general the peer review method was well received in the BSc course, and we used the same approach in an MSc-level course. We therefore realised that Bachelor’s degree students need more help and training in peer review than Master’s students.
Overall we saw that the blended learning
approach and the peer review methods work to improve our courses, addressing
the above-mentioned challenges of lack of student preparation and the need to
constantly repeat basic knowledge. Students themselves clearly realised the
value and potential of better collaboration, peer feedback and critical
thinking skills.
What
lessons learned do you want to share with your colleagues?
Not every cohort is the same. While things worked quite well in 2017, in 2018 fewer students adhered to the schedule and deadlines – even though everything was communicated and documented in the same way as in the previous year.
What
are your future plans for this work? How do you plan to sustain what you have
created through the project?
More and more assistants will become competent in providing full reviews of the already peer-reviewed reports. Currently lecturers still have to do this. Lecturers will thus gain more time to be present in the labs and to give 1:1 feedback to students in the lab and online.
We will definitely create some training
material for assistants for this purpose, but it is not available yet. We also want
to create a short, ready-to-use document about giving feedback in our specific
context: what is constructive feedback, what are the do’s and don’ts? Students,
assistants and fellow instructors can use it.
We are interested in learning whether other
lab courses at ETH do something similar, and how. We also need to improve the
support situation with the Moodle review tool “workshop module”. We will
continue to work with it, but it is a bit tricky sometimes.
One additional idea is to make the videos
interactive. Students will see in-built questions in the videos which they have
to answer right away.
Additional
notes regarding resources and tools used.
We used a programme called Labster to create virtual labs in some cases to extend the experience to experiments which were not doable in reality in our labs.
We learned from other courses and departments regarding effective feedback (ETH “Foundations of Teaching and Learning” course).
To conduct the peer review we work with the “workshop module” in Moodle.
To make the videos interactive we will work with the new Moodle “interactive video suite” plugin.
Student voices:
What is your opinion about this course and the peer review
process (lab reports). How has it influenced your learning process?
Robert Spiess: I think peer-reviewing was a great way to see other students’ work. It gave me the opportunity to experience and compare different ways of writing. I could always detect things that I wanted to include in my reports. At the same time, I could see in which points my reports were better, where my advantages were.
I think this procedure is particularly useful when writing.
But the reports should not be too long, because, otherwise, students have to
spend too much time on their own report and neglect, as a consequence, the
peer-reviewing of someone else’s report. Other courses usually required longer
reports. But if the reports were shortened, the method could also be applied in
other laboratory courses (such as in the food processing or in the
biotechnology lab course).
Aline Candrian: I’m glad I did the course, I think it gives students a first impression of laboratory work. The lab report writing is an essential part of the course to understand the experiment and the obtained data. The peer review approach was fine, even though nobody was eager to do them. VERY little time was invested into peer review by most groups, as far as I’m concerned. Of course, sometimes you could benefit from your peer’s feedback but most of the times we didn’t act on them. That’s probably because it was our first time writing (semi-) real reports. We didn’t really know what we were doing and you mostly think you know better than others, especially if someone reviewed your report who you rate less familiar with chemistry.
At the same time you’re well aware that you know nothing
about report writing, so how can you evaluate someone else’s work?
Additionally, motivation was minimal since you were just
glad to be done with writing your report. Having to assess another report and
then correct your own report again was just another ‘burden’. So, altogether, I
would say report-writing was a crucial part of the course but peer review not
so much since we had no experience at all. I think peer review makes more sense
in the courses in our last semester.
Making the students just do a peer review on the last report
might work. They’ll see how it works, they’ll have had written a few reports
(and got more familiar with it) and might be more confident in providing
feedback. But I’m not an expert, it may not work the way I envision it, what do
I know 🙂
Case study: Molegram Explorer – A mixed-reality framework for teaching drug design
As part of a series of case studies, staff at LET sat down to have a conversation with Prof. Gisbert Schneider and Dr. Jan Hiss from the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences to discuss their mixed-reality project.
What is the project about?
The Molegram Explorer project provides a mixed-reality framework to facilitate and broaden students’ understanding of molecular structure. It is part of the Computer-Assisted Drug Design course run by Gisbert Schneider, professor in the field of the same name.
At the core of the project is the innovative hardware device “HoloLens” (comprising special glasses with 3D projection, motion sensor and environment scanning, produced by Microsoft). Users of the HoloLens see not only (real) furniture and people present in the room, but also a hologram. In our case, the virtual object is a protein that the students can explore, investigate and even walk through. They literally immerse themselves in the world of molecules.
This innovative concept presents a new way of perceiving molecular structure and facilitates new approaches to chemical structure analysis and design via human-machine interaction.
What motivated you to initiate the project?
This innovative project originated in answer to a call for projects on the use of the HoloLens in ETH teaching. Because we faced a teaching challenge where a 3D representation gave a very good use case, it was a perfect opportunity to apply for a pilot project using HoloLenses.
The idea underpinning our work is that this new technology can help our students to understand certain important principles of molecular structure which traditional teaching methods and media struggle to clarify. To identify or design a suitable drug molecule (the ligand) students must understand the protein’s surface, and particularly the cavities suitable for accommodating the ligand. The HoloLens device helps them visualise the regions of a protein that are accessible to the ligand.
How did you do it? Three groups collaborated on this project. First, Gisbert Schneider and Jan Hiss delivered the scientific content. Guided by specific learning objectives, ETH Zurich’s Educational Development and Technology (LET) unit helped organise and facilitate the development process and provided the required hardware. Finally, a specialised software company (afca) implemented the learning app software.
The HoloLenses are used in a two-week practical course in which students experience a condensed version of early-stage drug discovery. They learn how to computationally screen a catalogue of millions of molecules to identify those that might favourably interact with a particular protein. The students perform a computational analysis and select one or two molecules from the top-ranking candidates. Then they synthesise these compounds and test their activity in the laboratory.
An important basic aspect of protein-ligand interaction is the “solvent-accessible surface”. For beginners, this molecular representation often remains an abstract concept without suitable visualization. By using the HoloLens students can now create surface representations of a protein, interact with the holographic model, and simultaneously discuss it with peers and instructors.
Did you have the support you needed for the project? Is there any additional help you wish you had had?
We had excellent help from the company afca who designed a user-friendly app with an elegant interface. LET helped us with the legal aspects and provided the necessary contacts. The 12 ETH HoloLenses are stored at LET. Although we understand that HoloLenses are not easily available due to their comparably high acquisition cost, it would have been helpful to have faster and easier access to this hardware, especially when we needed to try out and check something quickly.
Please describe some of the key outcomes of the project.
The new tool proved to be a valuable addition to our course. It certainly does not replace traditional teaching and discussion, but it is an example of how technology can enhance the understanding of abstract scientific concepts which are otherwise hard to teach. Because students can virtually navigate the molecular hologram they gain a better understanding of the concept of protein structures and surfaces. In the learning sciences this effect is described by the principle of “embodied cognition”. We were also able to increase the attractiveness of our subject matter with this concrete visual experience. It was a kind of scientific marketing. We received several suggestions for additional projects in the context of other practical exercises. The positive feedback and the success of the pilot has driven us to expand the project with enhanced content and to reach out to other disciplines.
How did the project affect learners or the way in which you teach?
We observed that students became more curious, not only about the specific topic of the learning app but in general about many questions related to protein-structure-based drug design. Students certainly appreciate the new tool. The value of technology-enhanced learning apps for teaching of specific aspects in our field is obvious, and we intend to stay on this route.
What lessons learned would you share with your colleagues?
It is not always realistic or meaningful for scientists and teachers to address app programming and didactic concepts. Therefore, it is important to have experts from complementary fields working hand in hand. Experts on the subject matter can contribute the scientific content, and software developers can create user-friendly and visually appealing interfaces and functions. Learning professionals can then connect content with technological functions. They can also advise on how to transpose learning objectives into an appropriate and technology-enhanced learning process.
Overall, we encourage teachers to try out new methods in teaching, and there is much potential for combining proven learning approaches with new technology. In particular, teachers and students should not fear experiments that do not produce immediate success. “Productive failure” should be regarded as a natural part of the development process; it is a great way to learn.
What are your future plans for this work? How do you plan to sustain what you created through the project?
Based on the many positive outcomes, we plan to develop further apps. The ultimate goal is to adapt the work to a professional context by adding scientific content from our subject matter, together with advanced analysis tools. It would also make sense to develop HoloLens learning apps for selected (teaching) topics in medicine, chemistry and biology. HoloLenses are increasingly employed not only by the entertainment industry, but in business and education generally. We would welcome new, broader applications of this technology at ETH – but always with a critical double-check as to whether it actually provides added value for students compared to conventional teaching methods. In the case of Molegram Explorer, we are extremely satisfied with the learning success achieved.
Feedback from PhD students (Tutors)
What is your opinion about this course and the HoloLens process? How has it influenced your learning process?
Cyrill Brunner: Though it has been clear to me before since I have been doing research in that area before, the visualization of proteins by the HoloLens helped in getting a better feeling for 3D structure of a protein. My personal gain was clearly not so much as for the course participants, but that has nothing to do with the process itself, but the chosen protein (carbonic anhydrase II) which I’ve done research in before. I’m positive that application of the HoloLens process on a novel protein would have helped me clearly to get a better understanding of the 3D confirmation.
Dominique Bruns: The HoloLens is a useful next step in the visualisation of molecules. This hands-on experience allows the understanding of molecular properties, their definition and dependencies. In this regard, the application of the surface area visualisation and determination is an ideal showcase.
Do you think this approach could also be used in other courses?
Cyrill Brunner: Yes, indeed. The HoloLens should clearly be put into use in the lab course of medicinal chemistry as students there are already working with a 2D visualization program. A 3D full insight into what they have been studying beforehand would strengthen their understanding.
Dominique Bruns: I appreciate the 3D perspective and interactivity enabled by the HoloLens, a characteristic that might be especially useful for people that find it difficult to see in three-dimensions.
In my opinion, many further examples could be established and used for didactic purposes, e.g. chemical reaction mechanisms or biological folding events of proteins.
To find out more about how ETH teaching staff can start their own HoloLens project, visit theETH website.
