Driving Course Engagement Through Multimodal Strategic Technologies

This paper describes the development of a new second-year level undergraduate Physics course at the University of Newcastle, comprising three four-week modules (encompassing Special Relativity, Nuclear and Particle Physics) for a combined roster of both Newcastle and James Cook students. A series of multimodal digital learning technology platforms were employed to see if they could maximise student engagement. Specifically, a flipped classroom system was trialled whereby students were tasked with creating their own lecture notes from online videos (created using Lightboard and PowerPoint). This approach resulted in 90% of the class actively engaging with the lecture content. Weekly online tutorial workshops consistently achieved an attendance rate of approximately 85% and included an online quiz based on embedded questions within the lecture videos. In addition, innovative STEM laboratory workshops exploited active engagement strategies including purely online worksheets to blended and remote experiments. The inclusion of a Slack-based project management hub enabled students to work seamlessly under constantly changing COVID-19 restrictions while exposing them to planning, management and Python control coding, under the visage of "embracing technology and best practice to deliver the greatest possible student experience”. A review of students' view of the Lightboard and PowerPoint lecture content was conducted with Lightboard being the student's outright preference.

Remote Learning Facilitated by MyScope Explore.

In response to the requirements imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, we developed a remote learning undergraduate workshop for 44 students at the University of Newcastle by embedding scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of Maratus (Peacock) spiders into the MyScope Explore environment. The workshop session had two main components: 1) to use the online MyScope Explore tool to virtually image scales with structural color and pigmented color on Maratus spiders; 2) to join a live SEM session via Zoom to image an actual Maratus spider. In previous years, the undergraduate university students attending this annual workshop would enter the Microscopy Facility at the University of Newcastle to image specimens with SEM; however, in 2020 the Microscopy Facility was closed to student visitors, and this virtual activity was developed in order to proceed with the educational event. The program was highly successful and constitutes a platform that can be used in the future by universities for teaching microscopy remotely.