Professor uses podcasts in lessons to relate to and teach students

When iPods became popular, many teachers found them to be a problem in the classroom but not Dr. Walter Isaac.

The International Conference on College Teaching and Learning honored a GCSU professor with the 2009 Innovative Excellence in Teaching and Learning award.

Dr. Walter Isaac, an associate professor of psychology, was honored with the 2009 Innovative Excellence in Teaching and Learning award for his use of podcasts to help students learn complex brain functions.

The award, given by the International Conference on College Teaching and Learning, recognizes full-time faculty who find creative ways to teach. Isaac was nominated along with 21 other professors from around the country for the award.

“I was truly excited that I just got the nomination,” Isaac said. “But being there and receiving the award was fantastic.”

The conference, in its twentieth year, included high school teachers up to faculty from four-year universities. There were

presentations from students and faculty on things they have tried in the classroom that have worked. The conference is an annual event hosted by Florida Community College in Jacksonville.

Each college or university is allowed to nominate one full-time faculty member. Dr. Deborah Vess, professor of history and recipient of the 2008 award, nominated Isaac for this year’s award.

“Dr. Isaac was in an iPod learning community that I facilitated, and he did a number of very creative, innovative things,” Vess said. “He did some incredible podcasts that teach students how the brain works.”

Isaac credits Dr. Rob Viau and Dr. Hank Edmondson with laying the groundwork for using iPods in the classroom. When video iPods hit the scene, Isaac thought he could use them to help his students. He learned the necessary software, such as Keynote, iMovie and GarageBand, in order to create his podcasts.

“Professor Isaac’s pioneering use of podcasts taps into students who are accustomed to receiving most of their information through electronic avenues of sight and sound that are highly personalized,” said Dr. Lee Gillis, psychology department chair. “His approach builds on this by teaching the ‘iPod generation’ in ways that allow them to more easily absorb deeply complex information.”

Isaac says he went about his first podcasts with a “simplistic approach.” His first videos consisted of him in the brain lab, with a digital camera and a large, purple knitting needle for a pointer. He then used the software to edit, narrate and convert the videos into podcasts. He made between 12 and 14 podcasts this way.

These podcasts were first used in his behavioral neuroscience class in 2006, and Isaac asked Dr. Nolan White to do the same. They gave their students a pre-test, provided them with a video iPod to watch the podcasts and at the end of the semester would give them a post-test. He experimented with the podcasts in his classroom for over a year and a half, but because it did not count for a grade, many students did not utilize them.

Once Isaac made it for a grade, the classes showed improvement and “did wonderfully,” he said. He even saw more discussion in class.

“It allowed me and Dr. White to talk about things that hadn’t been talked about before in class,” Isaac said.

Junior psychology major, Becca Walden, was a student in Isaac’s class when he was first experimenting with the video podcasts.

“They were interesting to watch and definitely put it more into perspective about where things were because the images in the book are artistic renderings,” Walden said.

Once Isaac saw where he could take this idea, he created different types of podcasts. He made a podcast to help psychology students with the American Psychological Association writing style, as well as advising podcasts, in which he breaks down the core curriculum for students.

“I’ve learned more about the software, so I’m more proficient now,” Isaac said.

Isaac did not use his podcasts of the brain this year because he is currently working on improving them for future classes.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on May 1 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry