SALMONELLA TYPHI, OH MY!: PODCASTING MEETS MICROBIOLOGY

By Leslie Harris, Instructional Technologist and Meredith Field, Manager of Student Employee Program

Within an academic context, “podcasting” often involves faculty lectures recorded as MP3 files and uploaded to a place such as Blackboard where students can access them. Students can listen to the recordings to review key concepts using a portable device (like an iPod) or a computer. In her Genetics course, Dr. Emily Stowe-Evans has implemented the basic podcasting idea with a pedagogical spin: adapting Frederick Mosteller’s idea from his 1989 article, “The ‘Muddiest Point in the Lecture’ as a Feedback Device,” she asks her students to write down unclear aspects of the lecture. Based on this feedback, she creates five- to ten-minute podcasts, expanding on those points where students requested more information. Podcasts, available in Blackboard at the students’ convenience, provide a supplement to the lecture without using valuable class time. Stowe-Evans estimates that half of her students use the podcasts as a kind of “bridge” between lectures, clarifying the content of one lecture in preparation for subsequent lectures.

In her Microbiology course, Stowe-Evans uses podcasting as a creative assignment, asking student groups to produce short podcasts regarding a “Microbial Friend” and a “Microbial Foe,” thereby highlighting the diversity of microbes that exist. The “Microbial Friend” podcasts discuss beneficial microbes. The “Microbial Foes” describe pathogenic microbes such as Salmonella typhi (typhoid fever), that can cause serious illnesses. After receiving training from Library and IT’s Debra Cook-Balducci, students produced enhanced podcasts using the Macintosh-based software, Garage- Band, which allows users to combine a video track containing still pictures with multiple audio tracks. The enhanced podcasts, viewed in applications such as Quicktime, produce an enjoyable learning aid.

Dr. Stowe-Evans successfully encouraged student investment in the assignment by creating several audiences for the podcasts. All students in the class, as well as students in two other classes, critiqued the podcasts on both entertainment and educational value. She also provided clear criteria for the podcast producers and for the podcast critiques. The podcasts were graded on the accuracy and completeness of the content, “podcast style” or creativity, a one-page podcast summary with citations, and peer critiques. This assignment put the creators in the role of teachers, which tends to produce the most long-lasting understanding of a topic.

Stowe-Evans was pleased with the outcome of the assignment and the amount of energy that the students put into it: “There was one [podcast] that just stuck in my head…I would be trying to go to sleep, and couldn’t stop singing about diphtheria!” She also noted the ease with which she and her students learned to make podcasts after just one training session with Debra Cook-Balducci. Dr. Stowe-Evans welcomes other faculty to speak with her about her experiences with podcasting.

For additional information regarding instructional technology tools, contact any member of the ITEC team at itec@bucknell.edu.