The Gazette

Issue date: 10/31/07 Section: News

Dr. John Coleman explains how his

Do you remember when, sooner or later, every student had to "go to the blackboard" to work a math problem or diagram a sentence? Well, Langston students and others across the nation may never have to get their hands dirty with chalk again thanks to the efforts of Dr. John Coleman.

Coleman, chair of the chemistry department, has created an innovative and highly technological program that focuses on improving analytical thought and problem solving while merging technology, learning principles, and performance measurement. He has named the program CPR-L (competency performance recording for learning). CPR-L utilizes a three step problem solving process: articulate, assess, and ascertain the solution.

"We call it 'CPR'-L because this method really resuscitates their learning," Coleman said.

CPR-L combines the use of tablet PCs, smart boards, wireless projectors, and rubrics to help students in science and math courses have a better understanding of the material being covered. It allows the student to record an audible running narration of the problem being solved. The PC records the voice and each stroke of the pen as the student writes on the tablet's writing surface. The recorded session can be easily re-recorded and replayed until there is complete conceptual understanding.

Then CPR-L enables the student to wirelessly project an assignment onto a large board for classroom viewing in one of two ways. In what can be described as an "instant replay" mode, the experience is very much like watching a video of the homework completion exercise, except the student's physical form is not included. Instead, it is as if an invisible hand writes across the board as the student's voice narrates the recorded process. If this is not preferred, the student may narrate the demonstration "live."

Mistakes in the assigned homework problem can be easily identified because the problems are to be solved according to a specified rubric. Observing the mistakes create opportunities for discussion and a new level of understanding.

Thanks to a grant from the National Science Foundation's HBCU-UP Program, Coleman was able develop CPR-L through Digital Village, an online digital media resource and meeting place for science, technology, engineering and math majors that he is also improving.

Although it is too early to formally assess the qualitative and quantitative impacts of CPR-L, Coleman does have anecdotal feedback.

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