WORRIED ABOUT ENGAGEMENT? HAVE STUDENTS CREATE ‘NEW MEDIA’

Science lecturers are assigning students to create blogs, wikis, video, and podcasts based on course content. Are such assignments a gimmick or a portent of things to come, where the laboratory notebook surrenders to the laptop and video camera? A number of the dozen ‘pioneers ’ whom we have interviewed have stated that they are driven by a concern about student engagement, particularly in service subjects. They seem willing to take a risk on ‘new media ’ assignments because more conventional assignments often appear to lack the ability to ‘engage the disengaged’. Others suggest that they have been painted into a corner by a decline in laboratory space or a lack of funding for the desired number of laboratory sessions They are not blind to the many challenges imagined by the hundred or so lecturers whom we have had in focus groups. Nor are these pioneers daunted. They have been drawn by the attractions identified by these focus groups – engagement, creativity, developing students ’ new media skills and insights, and providing students with practice in teamwork. This paper captures a work in progress by an emerging community of practice. It covers the promise, examples of assignments, inferred impacts, an