Spinning (Digital) Stories in STEM

Abstract

Stories are inherently part of human nature. Its one of the most natural ways in which we communicate and continue to used it in various informal settings. Unfortunately the use of storytelling does not seem to have made the transition to contemporary learning and teaching settings, likely due to the massification of education and familiarity or lack of on the part of the educators. A novel storytelling assessment was implemented with two higher education STEM courses at two different universities in Australia. A mix methods case approach using current and former students’ perceptions about their experiences was used to evaluate its appropriateness through its influence on student engage, transferable skills and academic integrity. Teaching staff were also interviewed about their experiences with this mode of assessment. Results indicate storytelling implemented through digital technologies is relevant for contemporary education settings and has a positive influence of students learning experiences. Students indicated that they felt more engaged with their learning and the teaching staff felt a lot less concerned about academic integrity issues. This paper will discuss details about the ‘Digital Storybook’ assessment including the evaluation methodology and results. It will be of interest to other educators interested in diversifying their assessment approaches in higher education STEM disciplines.