Changing spaces: using technologies to enhance student and teacher engagement through effective pre-lecture engagement (EPLE)

Many leading innovators in higher education are seeking to change the nature and purpose of face-to-face (f2f) sessions, aiming to morph the traditional university lecture into something that is more interactive and student driven. Underpinning this changing lecture dynamic is a focus on the learning that students are required to achieve in order to be best prepared for, and thus gain maximum benefit from, the f2f session. This project team has been successfully carrying out a range of effective pre-lecture engagement activities (EPLE) through the use of learning technologies, with attested improvement in student outcomes and progression rates, across two different disciplines. Both student and teacher engagement has been enhanced through the development of ‘interactive online learning modules’ (IOLMs) in Oral Health that are completed prior to the scheduled f2f session, and ‘crash courses’ (CCs) in Civil Engineering that are conducted in class within the first 10 minutes of the f2f.