IMPALA Informal Mobile Podcasting and Learning Adaptation

Description of Work and Methodology

IMPALA4T builds not only on IMPALA (impala.ac.uk) but also on work at GENIE (Genetics Education Networking for Innovation and Excellence), a Centre of Excellence for Teaching and Learning (CETL) at the University of Leicester (le.ac.uk/genetics/genie/), on using learning technologies for supporting students’ transition into HE. GENIE provides a valuable test-bed for IMPALA4T, because science is often perceived by A-level students to be ‘black and white’, a misperception that can result in these students’ poor transition into HE. Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry is a critical friend to the project, validating the project outputs in its disciplines. UoL’s IMPALA partners will help to pilot, evaluate and refine the deliverables.

IMPALA4T outputs and deliverables will be reported and disseminated in usable formats to facilitate transferability and further research. The models and exemplar podcasts for improving transition into HE and the first year will be available across the sector.

Methodology

IMPALA4T will be carried out in two phases (Tables 1 and 2). Phase 1 has started: a learning technologist from BDRA, funded by GENIE, is creating Type A podcasts with 15 students from Levels 1 and 2 (see Table 1). The podcasts are available to students via the GENIE website and iTunes. Phase 2 will study these podcasts’ impact on 150 Level 1 Biological Sciences students while also developing and evaluating the impact of Type B podcasts later in the academic year.

Phase	Phase-1	Phase-2
Duration	May–Aug 08	Sep 08–May 09
Main objective and summary of activities	Development and delivery of student-generated podcasts to support transition from schools/colleges to HE (Type A podcasts); 16 to be released weekly from June 08.	Development and delivery of student-generated podcasts to support transition within Level 1 (Type B podcasts); 12 to be produced for each semester; weekly release Researching (questionnaire surveys and cognitive mapping) the impact of Type-A and B podcasts Sustainability and integration workshops with academic staff Pedagogical model building and other project outputs Dissemination

IMPALA4T will be evaluated by a) questionnaire surveys of the podcast users’ experience and satisfaction, and b) cognitive mapping to gather evidence of the podcasts’ benefits to first-year students (via focus groups and personal interviews), student contributors and academic staff. Cognitive mapping creates unique ‘maps’ for analysing individuals’ and groups’ changing views, feelings and experiences. It is richer, more accessible, transparent and useful in investigating the effectiveness of interventions than conventional interviews alone.