p120a070081-07b - mseip fy 2007 interim performance report...mar 31, 2008 · with camstudio and...

P120A070081-07B - MSEIP FY 2007 Interim Performance Report Florida A&M University, Edward L. Jones, PI II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY a) MSEIP program goal(s) your grant will affect

A. Effect long-range improvements in science and engineering education at

predominantly minority institutions. b) What is the target number of MINORITY students your program will impact to increase the

participation in STEM fields?

At project completion, over 4000 undergraduate STEM students enrolled in courses impacted by the project. (See Table 2, section C.2 in proposal.)

c) Grant Type: Special Project

d) What grant activities have been carried out during this reporting period? What goals were

met? Provide reasons why established goals were not met, if appropriate.

Equipment Starting 2007 October 1, six (6) tablet PCs and four (4) laptop computers were purchased for PIs, the graduate student and Help Desk undergraduate students. We also purchase additional peripherals needed for recording captured learning resources (CLRs): document camera, microphones (wireless, conventional).

Staff Staring 2007 October 1, one graduate student was hired to explore technology for CLR capture; 2 undergraduate students were hired to master recording techniques using CamStudio software, and to support faculty recordings; the administrative assistant was hired to process requisitions and payroll.

Faculty Starting January 2008 (spring semester), three faculty were given release time to perform the planned tasks defined in the proposal. To date, we have evaluated existing capture technology (CamStudio) and identified enhancements required to make the technology user friendly (almost zero effort) for non computing faculty; a prototype of the enhanced features will be completed summer 2008.

Production and use of CLRs, to date

Co-PIs Stephens uses CLRS in three math courses – linear algebra, calculus I/II, not for entire lectures, but problem solving, impacting 60 students. The learning curve for CLR capture using CamStudio included setting resolution of video/audio to minimize size of CLRs. Student feedback occurred spontaneously when co-PI stopped posting CLRs on the FAMU Blackboard system: the student response was “When are we getting more of those?” and ”Can we have notes for the entire course?”

Innovation Co-PI Nowicki is proposing to create a software system to support the

Prepared March 31, 2008 of 14

P120A070081-07B - MSEIP FY 2007 Interim Performance Report Florida A&M University, Edward L. Jones, PI

needs of the project, primarily ease of use for faculty, and automated indexing and hosting of CLRs on the university Blackboard system. The system will be built from open source components. We believe the resulting system will represent a significant Intellectual Property that has application to other education institutions, including K12.

Pleasant Surprise!!

Another potential use of CLRs is for students to record their attempt to solve a problem (e.g, in math), and to transmit the recording to the teacher or tutor for feedback. The teacher is better able to diagnose student problems by watching them go through the solution steps, than is possible by analyzing a completed solution recorded on paper. (This potential use was not anticipated when the proposal was submitted!)

Web Site The FAMLEARNS MSEIP website has been created, and is evolving. The link is http://www.cis.famu.edu/~mseip.

Summary The project is on schedule overall, and ahead of schedule with respect to the development of the software infrastructure.

e) Tell us about any challenges that you have had during this reporting period or that you anticipate in the coming year, which may affect your ability to meet the goals of your grant.

No challenges were identified during this period that impacted progress.

Future dissemination of the technology to other department may be hampered by the lack of computer-projection and networking equipment in certain classrooms. To mitigate, all PIs will be supplied adequate technology to utilize and demonstrate FAMLEARNS within their work environment.

f) Describe any significant changes to your budget resulting from modifications of project

activities. Provide an explanation if you are NOT expending funds at the expected rate.

No significant changes were required to the budget. All proposed activities for the reporting period have been initiated as planned.

g) Describe any personnel changes related to this grant. Provide reasons for these changes.

Two Co-PIs identified in the proposal are no longer with the university, one from Biology, the other from CIS. There was no impact to the project during this period.

Biology faculty member (Brook-Walter), scheduled to come aboard during year 2, will be replaced at that time by another Biology faculty member. The workload of CIS faculty member (Dustegor) was absorbed by PIs Moore and Jones.


P120A070081-07B - MSEIP FY 2007 Interim Performance Report Florida A&M University, Edward L. Jones, PI III. PROJECT STATUS

The objectives of this project are (1) to improve student learning and performance in critical and difficult formative STEM courses, and (2) to stimulate the adoption of educational technology by STEM faculty. The project will be conducted in three one-year phases, as shown in Table 1; progress is reported for Phase-I milestones.

The FAMLEARNS project will employ multimedia technology to produce captured learning resources (CLRs) such as recorded lectures, instructions for using scientific instruments, problem solving examples, etc. FAMLEARNS will be highly user friendly, automating instructor features like capture, indexing, uploading to Blackboard, etc.

Measurable student outcomes include (1) lower failure rates in the formative courses; (2) higher retention in the chosen academic disciplines; and (3) increased progression through the chosen STEM major.

Measurable faculty outcomes include (1) increased adoption rates for educational technology, and (2) increased educational innovation.

Table 1. Phases and Milestones of the FAMLEARNS Project Phase Major Milestones for Phase Phase I - Development

• Acquire FAMLEARNS technology to be evaluated and implemented. • Develop initial software infrastructure, automated upload to Blackboard • Conduct small scale usability studies within CIS. • Create and train the Help Desk. • Note: Other departments may shadow CIS efforts, but are not officially “on

the clock” until year 2.

Phase II - Deployment

• Host FAMLEARNS session in 2008 Faculty Development Conference to promote use in non-STEM disciplines.

• Support infrastructure in place for external adoption, including Help Desk and CIS faculty mentors.

• Deploy FAMLEARNS in STEM departments: Math, Biology, Mech.Eng. • Develop infrastructure for content indexing, host on project server. • Conduct project evaluation; propose improvements based on data. • Identify new discipline-specific FAMLEARNS requirements.

Phase II - Diffusion

• Implement subject-specific FAMLEARNS requirements from phase II. • Host FAMLEARNS session in 2009 Faculty Development Conference to

promote use by university staff. • Promote use of FAMLEARNS by multiple faculty on additional courses in

each STEM department: Math, Biology, Mech.Eng., Chemistry. • Train FAMLEARNS Help Desk for each adopting department. • Develop infrastructure for universal access. • Conduct project evaluation for final report; recommend improvements. • Develop migration plan from project server to university computing.


P120A070081-07B - MSEIP FY 2007 Interim Performance Report Florida A&M University, Edward L. Jones, PI Objective 1: To improve student learning and performance in critical and difficult formative STEM courses.

A) Progress In Meeting Objective

According to the proposed schedule (see Table 1), the project is on schedule in

meeting Phase I (year one) milestones. NOTE: the evaluation of student outcomes begins

during year two, after FAMLEARNS has been developed and used in targeted courses.

B) Examples Of Meeting The Objective

Examples of progress towards meeting this objective follow.

PI Stephens, in Mathematics, has begun to create captured learning resources

(CLRs) for three of his spring 2008 courses, Calculus I and II, and Linear Algebra, with

total enrollment of 60 students. According to Dr. Stephens,

“The lecture notes developed for linear algebra using Journal Writer and CamStudio were very well received. I have approximately 20 students in this class and used these lecture notes for the first 3 weeks as we covered material that was not found in their textbooks. Overwhelmingly, the feedback for the notes/video materials was positive and the students are now requesting and have suggested that these notes be completed for the entire course.”

PI Nowicki, in CIS, created captured learning resources (CLRs) for three of his fall

2007 courses, CDA 4503 Data Communications (15 students), CIS 4932 C# (20 students)

and COP2221 C Programming (20 students), with total enrollment of 60 students. The

CLRs were posted on course websites or the course Blackboard account (C

Programming). Nowicki is producing CLRs for his spring 2008 COP 3710 Database

course (15 students). All together, nearly 75 students have been impacted through CIS

courses since the start of the project.

C) % Completion Of This Objective

This objective is 50% complete with respect to year one project plans. Completion

of this objective is measured in terms of progress to date towards the year-one milestones

given in Table 1.



Table 2. Progress Towards Year-One Milestone

Duration Started Ends Milestone % complete

11-2007 8-2008 Acquire FAMLEARNS technology to be evaluated and implemented. 80%

11-2007 10-2008 Develop initial software infrastructure, automated upload to Blackboard

40%

5-2008 9-2008 Conduct small scale usability studies within CIS. n/a

11-2007 8-2008 Create and train the Help Desk. 50%

The Appendix contains a detailed discussion of the progress to date towards

reaching each of these milestones.

D) Problems

To date, no problems have been encountered.

E) Corrective action

No corrective actions are required at this time.


P120A070081-07B - MSEIP FY 2007 Interim Performance Report Florida A&M University, Edward L. Jones, PI Objective 2: To stimulate the adoption of educational technology by STEM faculty.

A) Progress In Meeting Objective

According to the proposed schedule (see Table 1), the project is on schedule in

meeting Phase I (year one) milestones. NOTE: the year-one schedule included

preliminary use of multimedia capture for courses in CIS; PIs from other departments

were assigned tablet PCs with CamStudio, and encouraged to explore the capabilities of

CamStudio for CLR capture and to determine how CLRs can be used in their courses.

We have created a Help Desk staffed by undergraduate students in order to facilitate

the adoption of FAMLEARNS by non-project faculty. Services of the Help Desk

included training faculty to use video capture, setting up peripherals such as

microphones, scientific instrument cameras and document cameras. Post-recording

services include video editing and indexing. We believe that adoption by faculty requires

six-sigma quality of service and user-friendliness.

A commitment has been made by one non-project CIS faculty (Jason Black) to use

the FAMLEARNS technology staring in the fall 2008 term.

B) Examples Of Meeting The Objective

The strategy for faculty adoption is to begin with the project PIs. To date, PIs

Nowicki and Stephens have begun recording and posting CLRs for some of their courses.

As detailed in the discussion for Objective 1, to date 135 students have had access to

captured learning resources.

C) % Completion Of This Objective

This objective is 50% complete with respect to year-one project plans.

All PIs received tablet PCs with CamStudio installed. They were to become familiar

with CamStudio and were encouraged to investigate informally how to capture CLRs and

to explore their use in courses they were teaching. During years 2-3, these faculty will be

the change agents within their departments, encouraging fellow faculty to adopt


P120A070081-07B - MSEIP FY 2007 Interim Performance Report Florida A&M University, Edward L. Jones, PI FAMLEARNS. For the remainder of the project year, we will continue to produce and

use CLRs for CIS and Mathematics courses.

By the end of the2008 summer term, the project PIs will hold a workshop on using

FAMLEARNS, to ensure that all PIs can begin using the technology for the Fall 2008

term; the workshop will be open to additional interested faculty.

D) Problems

To date, no problems have been encountered.

E) Corrective action

No corrective actions are required at this time.


P120A070081-07B - MSEIP FY 2007 Interim Performance Report Florida A&M University, Edward L. Jones, PI IV. BUDGET

A) Grant Funds awards for FY 2007

$ 157,612.00 in funds were awarded.

B) Grant Funds DRAWDOWNS FROM GAPS (10/01/07 – 03/31/08)

$27,030.04 have been drawn down.

C) % DRAWDOWNS FROM GAPS

17.1% of grant funds awarded have been drawn down.

D) Funds ENCUMBERED (PENDING AND NOT DRAWDOWN)

$29,928 have been encumbered.

E) % Funds ENCUMBERED

18.9% of grant funds awarded have been encumbered.

Explain if not expended at expected rate Explain any modifications due to the modification of project activities Provide any anticipated changes in the operational budget for the next budget

period (10/1/2008 – 9/30/2009)


P120A070081-07B - MSEIP FY 2007 Interim Performance Report Florida A&M University, Edward L. Jones, PI V. SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

A) Changes to Grant Performance Objectives and Activities

There have been no changes to grant performance objectives and activities, to date.

None are participated.

B) Status of Project

The project on track.

C) Unanticipated Outcomes/Benefits

There have been no unexpected outcomes or benefits, to date.



APPENDIX - NARRATIVES OF PROGRESS TOWARDS YEAR ONE MILESTONES

This appendix contains a detailed discussion of progress Project Status

Milestone 1: Acquire FAMLEARNS technology to be evaluated and implemented

FAMLEARNS technology includes tablet PCs, web cameras, microphones, document cameras and scientific instrument cameras (years 2-3). Stating in October 2007, we began purchasing the technology. To date, we have purchased a document camera, six (6) tablet PCs and four (4) laptops, and a number of peripherals – microphones, optical pens, etc. We have also installed the open source CamStudio software, which provides the ability to capture computer projected video overlaid with audio, into a movie format like QuickTime.

The technology evaluation task includes investigating issues related to capture, storage and replay of CLRs. These issues can be resolved only by trial usage under varying conditions. The set of issues being investigated include the following:

• At what resolution should the capture of video and audio be made to balance storage requirements and A/V quality upon replay?

• Ways to minimize the steps required for a teacher to produce a CLR (we seek to reduce the steps to pushing a button to start the recording, and another to end the recording); ways to automate the uploading of CLRs into the faculty member’s Blackboard course account;

• What training is required for faculty to become comfortable and productive using FAMLEARNS?

• Which peripheral recording devices work best under various ambient conditions, considering ease of use, quality of recording, and interference (e.g, from cell phones)?

Evaluation of the CamStudio software has led to the conclusion that it is not suitable for the highly automated capture, storage and display of CLRs. In short, CamStudio is designed for hobbyists, whereas FAMLEARNS requires features specifically designed for an educational environment. FAMLEARNS will be designed to provide a streamlined set of features for the instructor, with advanced features for the back-room (e.g, Help Desk).



Milestone 2: Develop initial software infrastructure, automated upload to Blackboard

The original plan called for modifying CamStudio so that it would automatically upload finished movies to a central server instead of storing them on the instructor’s hard drive. At the same time, we would begin to create videos using the CamStudio software, and manually make them accessible to students. We would utilize one master’s and two undergrad students to modify CamStudio and assist professors with recording lectures.

We downloaded the source code of CamStudio and spent about three weeks trying to get it to compile. This, ultimately, proved futile. We then abandoned the idea of modifying Cam Studio and instead designed recording studio from scratch.

As shown in Figure 1, the design for the new software is in several parts. The first part is the Recorder, client software on the professor’s computer that records the videos. Once a complete video has been recorded, it is shipped in pieces to the CLR Assembler, a web service that receives the video pieces and assembles them into a video. The finished video is then sent to the third component, CLR Searcher, a web server where students can search for and watch the videos. The final component, CLR Publisher, takes a copy of the finished video and uploads it automatically to the professor’s course on Blackboard.

Figure 1: FAMLEARNS system for CLR capture, editing, uploading and student use.


P120A070081-07B - MSEIP FY 2007 Interim Performance Report Florida A&M University, Edward L. Jones, PI The Recorder component is completed. It stores the video as a series of still jpeg photos, at a rate of one every four seconds. The audio is also stored in a series of files at a rate of about one 16 kilobyte file every second. The title of the lecture, course, and key words associated with the lecture are stored in a single XML file. Once the instructor indicates that recording is finished, these files are shipped to the web service in background whenever the computer happens to be online. New videos can be filmed before previous ones have been shipped provided there is adequate disk space available. The client component was written in C# by Mr. Nowicki and the grad student, and is currently being tested.

The CLR Assembler component web service is under development. Its job is to receive the pieces of lecture and combine them into a movie in AVI format. The web service can currently receive all of the pieces and reassemble the audio. Combining the audio and the series of still screen shots into a movie is currently in development. This piece is being written in C# by Mr. Nowicki and the grad student.

The last two components, CLR Searcher and CLR Publisher have not been started yet. We expect to have the CLR Searcher component completed by the end of April. Work on the CLR Publisher will then begin, with no firm deadline for completion set as of yet.

The undergraduate students have spent this time familiarizing themselves with the CamStudio software and with some of the peripherals that will be used to assist in recording the lectures. These peripherals include wireless microphones and document cameras.

Milestone 3: Conduct small scale usability studies within CIS

This task is scheduled to begin during the summer 2008 term. The purpose of the task is to begin to get feedback from students on the usability (ease of use, ease of learning, applicability given courses and student learning style) of CLRs and the FAMLEARNS system components. Feedback will be used to refine the FAMLEARNS components and to improve services of the Help Desk (e.g., student tutorials may be required).

Milestone 4: Create and train the FAMLEARNS Help Desk

In order to facilitate adoption of FAMLEARNS by faculty, a Help Desk has been established to ensure that the first experience by faculty is a smooth, positive and successful one. The range of services provided includes the following:

• setting up the instructor’s PC with the recording software,

• demonstrating how to use the software,

• attaching any peripheral needed for recording (e.g, wireless microphone, document camera),



• demonstrating how to start/suspend/stop the recording process.

Post-recording services include

• uploading the recording to a designated destination, editing the recording (or demonstrating to the instructor),

• simple manual indexing to make the recording searchable.

The Help Desk employs two undergraduate students.


p120a070081-07b - mseip fy 2007 interim performance report...mar 31, 2008 · with camstudio and...

Documents