Author: Karin Bowie, k.bowie@history.arts.gla.ac.uk

Author: Dauvit Broun, d.brown@history.arts.gla.ac.uk

JISC e-Learning Activity Area: Technology-enhanced Learning Environments

Higher Education Academy Subject Centre: History, Classics and Archaeology

This case study illustrates...an effect on learning, an effect on exam results, an effect on student personal development, student satisfaction with e-learning, innovation in learning and teaching, an influence on educational research, staff satisfaction with e-learning, staff personal development, a positive effect on recruitment, a positive effect on retention, an influence on policy, use of resources, modifications to learning spaces, management of learning assets, an effect on social equality

Further Evidence

In Scottish History Level 1, the introduction of e-learning coincided with an overhaul of the course, so the specific role of e-learning in improved results is impossible to quantify. Results have been transformed, however: the proportion of students who finished with an A grade overall leapt from 1% to 15%, while the number of 'fails' (less than D) fell from 12% to 5%.

There was limited training on offer for Moodle. The university offered voluntary training which one lecturer in Scottish History Level 1 took up but found of limited use as it was not discipline-specific. Others struggled to fit the courses into their schedules. Peer training proved most helpful: as one lecturer commented, 'My training, as the History member of staff involved in these courses, consisted of a couple of lunchtime sessions with members of the Celtic department showing me what to do. I found this quite straightforward, once I got the hang of it! I feel quite confident that, should I wish to expand into more advanced applications - I'm particularly interested in group work - I could get the necessary bite-sized training at my keyboard from one of my more advanced colleagues.'