Project Report

Open Source Courseware Animation Repository

Submitted to PRSG constituted by MHRD `

Investigators Prof. Sridhar Iyer Department of Computer Science and Engg.

Prof. Sahana Murthy IDP in Educational Technology

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

CONTENTS PAGE NO. I. Preamble 2 II. Executive Summary 3 III. LO Creation Process 5 IV. Instructional Design – Template and Workshop 8 V. Learning Objects - Features and Classification 11 VI. LO Repository - Website 16 VII. LO Use and Evaluation 17 VIII. Blender :Training workshops, tutorials, repository of models 19 IX. Overall Contributions of Project OSCAR 21 X. Project Completion Plan 22

Appendix A : LO list 23 Appendix B: Blender Spoken-Tutorial list 30 Appendix C : Research papers 31 Appendix D : Pilot phase statistics 32 Appendix E : IDD template slides 33 Appendix F : Project OSCAR staff members 36 Appendix G: Utilization Certificate 37

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I. Preamble: The main aim of Project OSCAR is to develop high quality interactive animations and simulation (Learning Objects (LOs)) for college level Science and Engineering courses. In Project OSCAR, the LOs are based on L’Allier’s definition which states: A Learning Object is an independent structural experience that contains an objective, a learning activity and an assessment1. Figure 1 shows the structure of an LO.

Figure 1: Sample OSCAR LO A brief timeline of the project is as follows: Date Activity 24 Feb 2009 Pilot proposal submitted to NMEICT 31 Mar 2009 Pilot sanction received 20 Feb 2010 Pilot project completed 20 Feb 2010 Main phase DPR submitted to NMEICT standing committee Feb – Apr 2010 Review comments received 28 May 2010 Revised Main phase DPR submitted 24 Jan 2011 Main phase sanction received – First installment 26 Nov 2011 Review presentation made to NMEICT standing committee 03 Jan 2012 Second installment received 31 Mar 2012 Summary report submitted 11 Apr 2012 All NMEICT projects extended till June 2012 05 Jul 2012 All NMEICT projects extended till December 2012 29 Jul 2012 PRSG constituted 03 Oct 2012 First PRSG meeting 31 Dec 2012 Project closure date as given by NMEICT 1 [1] L'Allier, James J. (1997) Frame of Reference: NETg's Map to the Products, Their Structure and Core Beliefs.

Animation Demo

Learning objectives

Glossary of keywords

References for further reading Glossary of keywords

Self-assessment questionnaire

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The project documents are uploaded at: www.it.iitb.ac.in/oscar/reports.html This site has the following:

• Pilot Report • Main Phase DPR (after revision based on reviewer comments) • Intermediate Reports sent to MHRD so far • ID Templates and other documents generated • Report and presentation for this PRSG meeting • Video presentations for PRSG members attending remotely

Our goal during the pilot phase of this project was to come up with a mechanism to quickly develop high quality LOs on a large-scale, for college level Science and Engineering courses. We experimented with 5 different production models (See pilot phase report for details) and settled down on what we call the ‘Domain Owner Model’ for implementation in the Main phase. A summary process chart of this model is given in Section III. The completed LOs are uploaded at: http://oscar.iitb.ac.in . II. Executive Summary A. What is a Learning Object (LO)? There are various definitions of Learning Objects (LO). An OSCAR LO is an animation or simulation having the following properties: • Learning objectives • Interactivity: Ranging from basic (pace control and navigation control) to advanced (multiple

variable manipulation) • Text: Explanation of the concept and Glossary of terms • Self-Assessment: Questions and feedback on responses • Audio narration and transcript (available as per user’s choice) • Playing time (time to simply click through the LO): Ranging from 5 to 15 minutes. • Learning time (time to work through the LO activities): Ranging from 20 to 60 minutes. B. Deliverables The main deliverables that were approved and sanctioned for Project OSCAR are: • 300 Instructional Design (ID) Documents to be created • 300 Learning Objects to be developed. • 12 workshops to be conducted – 4 ID, 8 Blender • 600 people to be trained • Research papers and reports on evaluation and quality assessment to be written

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C. Budget Status

Budget Amount (Rupees)

Remarks

Budget requested 3,74,00,000 Amount Sanctioned 3,00,00,000 Funds Received 1,50,00,000 Rs. 90,00,000 (1st installment)

Rs. 60,00,000 (2nd installment) Payments (A) 1,06,98,903 IDD creation, LO development, workshops, manpower Blocked (B) 13,56,311 Pending payments, manpower Commitments (C) 19,00,000 Pending LO development, manpower, travel Net Expenditure (A + B +C)

1,39,55,214 Till January 2013

Funds remaining 10,44,786 Funds requested – next installment Nil

D. Activities Completed The deliverables achieved in the main phase from March 2010 till September 2012 are divided into 3 components: content generated, training activities conducted and research. The status of each of these is presented below. •••• Content generated

Table 1: Content Generated – ID Documents and Learning Objects Content Developed Under

Development To be developed

Total

IDD 247 31 - 278 LO 92 100 55 247

Appendix A contains the complete list of LOs .

Table 2: Content Generated – Blender spoken tutorials Content Completed Total

Blender Spoken-Tutorials

15 (script-writing, video capture, audio dub) 15

Appendix B contains the complete list of the Blender Spoken-Tutorials. •••• Training Activities

Table 3: Workshops Conducted Sr. No.

Workshop type

No. of workshops conducted

Skills taught Target audience No. of people trained

1 Instructional Design

4 • Principles and application of instructional design

• Visual communication principles

Faculty and P.G. students of IITB and other science and engineering colleges, OSCAR team members

236

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2 Blender Training and awareness

7 • Creating Blender 3D animations

• Awareness of Blender as open source 3-D animation tool

Faculty, UG and PG students of IITB and engineering colleges

196 (Blender skills) +

779 (Blender awareness)

TOTAL 975

• Research activities

5 research papers were presented in national and international conferences. The papers addressed various aspects of OSCAR LOs including production model, Blender repository creations and use of OSCAR LOs. The complete list of papers is given in Appendix C.

• Completed pilot phase objectives (till February 2010) are given in Appendix D.

III. LO Creation Process A typical LO creation process involves several team members, each playing their role at various stages of the process. The team members include:

• SME – Subject Matter Expert – provides the raw content • ID – Instruction Designer – takes the raw content, incorporates pedagogy and multimedia

design principles, and creates the detailed storyboard for the LO (which we call IDD) • GD - Graphic designer – incorporates visual design principles in the IDD so that the

corresponding LO has high usability • Animator – takes the IDD and programs the LO

Successful creation of high quality LOs requires frequent face-to face interactions between the team members. Usually there is synchronous discussion among all team members and the entire team is stationed at the same place. This makes it difficult to scale the production – that is, rapid creation of a large number of LOs is difficult in the above process. In the pilot phase, we experimented with various models of LO creation:

I. Online Model II. Individually Contacting Faculty

III. Tendering Model IV. Using Instructional Designers

See pilot phase report for details. The model of LO development we finalized for the current (main) phase is the ‘Domain Owner’ model, that we devised to scale production of LOs. The Domain Owner model minimizes the SME time involvement as well as interaction between ID and Animator, and allows scaling at low cost. We have found this process of LO development to be successful to scale production of LOs across a wide range of domains in Science and Engineering. Figure 2 shows an overview of the Domain Owner Model.

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Figure 2: Overview of “Domain Owner” model for the process of LO creation The ‘Domain Owner’ model is an asynchronous model of LO development. In order to scale up the production, the team comprising of SME, ID, Designer and Animator/Programmer could be geographically dispersed. The process of seamless integration of all the sub-processes into a coherent whole was achieved as outlined below – Stage 1: Concept Specification We conduct 2-hour workshops to find faculty interested in using LOs for their courses. We train the participating faculty to identify ideas that are suitable for LO creation, using a concept proposal form (CPF). Some of these faculty become domain owners (SME for a set of related topics). The domain owner identifies a set of concepts for which LOs will be useful to students. For each concept, the domain owner fills a ‘Concept Proposal Form’ (CPF) which has guidelines to clearly define the objective of the LO. Review: The CPF is reviewed by OSCAR team to confirm that there is no existing open-source LO already available for that concept. Stage 2: Content specifications in form of Instruction Design Document (IDD) The ID writers are typically post-graduate students or research assistants of the domain owner. We conduct 2-day workshops to train these ID writers in pedagogy, instructional design and visual communication, so that they keep both the animator’s and learner's requirements in mind. We provide them with an ID Template which has guidelines and checklists to help them with the detailed content specification for each concept. The product at this stage is the ‘Instructional Design Document’ (IDD). Review: The IDD is first reviewed by the domain owner to ensure that the content is correct, adequate and authentic. An ‘IDD Review Form’ provides a checklist of points that tend to be weak in such IDDs in general. Then the IDD comes to OSCAR team for review. Pedagogy

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experts review the IDD further to check if appropriate instructional design principles have been followed, such as sequencing and chunking the content, introducing analogy (if required), interactivity to promote active learning for the learner and assessment activities aligned to higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. After a few iterations of review, the IDD is finalized. Stage 3: Interface Design For some IDDs, we create the LOs in-house. For other IDDs, we create a tender for inviting bids from LO creation companies, and identify a suitable vendor. We provide visual communication guidelines (Graphic, Animation, Multimedia and Interaction design) for Graphic Designer (GD). For each IDD, the GD writer (either in-house or at vendor location) creates a ‘Storyboard’ to be used for programming the LO. The Storyboard specifies the user interface for the content, screen by screen, based on the instructions given in the IDD. Review: Visual Communication experts in the OSCAR team review the Storyboard, based on a ‘Design Review Checklist’. After a few iterations of review, the Storyboard is finalized. Stage 4: Implementation The Developers (either in-house or at the vendor location) now develop the LO based on the Storyboard. They communicate with the ID writer or SME once or twice, in asynchronous mode. Review: The LO is reviewed by the ID writer and the Domain Owner based on review checklists and LO review forms. Often the Domain Owner also gets the LO peer reviewed. Any refinement hence suggested is then incorporated by the developer. The final approved LO is uploaded in the OSCAR repository where the source code is also available for the open source community to develop further. We are documenting this process in detail so that it may be useful to other similar projects. Figure 3 shows a view of the LO production process from the perspective of the well-known software development V-Model.

Figure 3: Detailed ‘Domain Owner’ Production Process

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IV. Instructional Design for OSCAR LOs The instructional design stage of the LO development process is bridge between the subject matter expert (SME) and animator. It is a challenging stage from the LO production perspective, since the goal is to create materials (such as the Instructional Design document (IDD) and storyboard) which capture the domain knowledge of the SME, contain details of the instructional concept to be visualized in the LO and integrate suitable learning strategies. This knowledge and expertise needs to be entirely present in the materials so that the animator, who is not a domain expert, can develop the corresponding LO (often without interacting with the SME). Creating high quality ID documents is key to the achieving LOs with high effectiveness and usability. Typical LO production efforts have professionally trained instructional designers who create the IDD. Also, as described in Section III (LO creation process), in typical processes there is frequent face-to-face interaction of the instructional designer with the SME, graphic designer and animators. This interaction is minimal or absent in our process. The instructional designers in OSCAR are usually post-graduate students of the SME, who do not have professional expertise in ID. Hence, we have a two-fold goal for the ID stage of OSCAR LOs:

1. Create a template for writing ID documents that automatically incorporate some ID and multimedia design principles

2. Conduct ID workshops to train OSCAR IDD writers in principles of ID and multimedia design

(Henceforth we shall refer to the instructional design documents and storyboards as the ‘IDD’). A. Template for Instructional Design Documents We created a template for instructional designers to develop IDDs containing features to promote effectiveness and usability of the LOs created from the IDDs. The template is in the form of presentation slides that alternate instructions with blank areas that instructional designers can fill out as a worksheet. Figure 4 shows some slides of the OSCAR IDD template. Appendix E contains the entire IDD template. Use of IDD Template by instructional Designers After communicating with the SME, the instructional designer decides the pedagogical steps and strategies for the treatment of the LO topic. The instructional designer then explains the detailed steps and strategies, along with images, using the template. . The template offers scaffolding to the instructional designer in the form of prompts to include features based on ID principles. For example, the template contains a prompt to include learning objectives, and provides the stem of the learning objective statement: “After interacting with this LO, the learner will be able to …”. Other prompts in the template based on ID principles are : explaining the concept using analogies, including interactivity options (instructional designer is given a choice of slider bar, drop-down menu etc), and writing self-assessment questions. In the LO production process, the completed IDD is to be passed on to the animator, who needs to create the LO – a primarily visual object. To aid the animator comprehend the IDD and create

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appropriate visuals (including animation) for the LO, the template offers prompts to include images and details of motion.

Figure 4: Sample slides from OSCAR IDD template

IDD Template creation: We created the IDD template using a design-based research methodology. This is an iterative research and development process in which the product (here, the IDD template) is created using design principles, and its effectiveness is evaluated in each iteration with various stakeholders. In the OSCAR LO creation process, the important stakeholders for the IDD template are the instructional designer who uses the template to write the IDD, and the animator who uses the IDD to develop the LO. The template was iteratively revised over three cycles. In each iteration, we refined the IDD template based on results of user evaluation (for example, how usable is the IDD template by a novice instructional designer? how comprehensible is the IDD to the animator?). In addition, the SME and the student are stakeholders for the LO created from the IDD. Hence the LO created from the IDD (created from the template) is tested for SME review and student perception. Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of the design based research methodology applied to the creation of the IDD template.

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Figure 5. Get diagram of DBR applied to OSCAR IDD template from Sameer. B. Instructional Design Training Workshops The goals of the ID workshop are:

i. to create awareness about ID principles and its importance ii. to train participants to develop IDDs that incorporate ID principles, contain precise

information for the animator on the steps of the LO (for example, what exactly has to be shown in the LO, for how long and in what sequence)

We have conducted 2-day ID workshops for post-graduate students and faculty from science/engineering colleges and IITB We have conducted 4 such workshops which are summarized in Table 4.

Table 4: ID Workshop Statistics Workshop Venues IIT Bombay; NMIMS, Mumbai; MS University, Baroda No. of ID workshops conducted 4 No. of faculty participants 74 No. of post-graduate students 162 Total no. of participants 236

Workshop details The workshop was conducted by OSCAR team members who collectively had expertise in instructional design, visual communication and animation. The workshop roadmap contained mini-presentations interspersed with discussions and hands-on activities to promote active learning.

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The workshop topics include:

• What are the different stages of ADDIE model • How to write Learning Objectives • How to choose concepts for animation • What features are required in a good learning object • How to write learning objectives • How to chunk content for presentation • What are the types of interactivity possible • Integrate interactivity while explaining the concept • Present the concept in a form understandable to the animator • Include Visual Communication principles • Frame questions that support the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy such as

Application, Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation. We consciously placed all examples and activities in the workshop in the context of subjects for which the participants of the particular workshops were domain experts. Since it is often difficult for subject matter experts to give instructions without technical jargon, we brought in experienced animators to give constructive feedback on which instructions they did not understand in the IDDs written by the participants. The activities in the workshop include:

• Worksheets to practice application of ID principles such as worksheets on performing need analysis, context analysis and learner analysis

• Think-pair-share activities to analyze and compare LOs on the basis of ID principles • Group activities to apply pedagogical principles for LO design

- choosing appropriate topic for visualization - deciding visuals and animation - incorporating appropriate interactivity - writing self-assessment questions and feedback

• Writing IDDs using OSCAR IDD template for chosen topic • Peer-review of IDDs created in the workshop • Revising IDD based on feedback given by OSCAR animators

Appendix F describes the detailed roadmap and activities in the ID workshops. V. Classification and Features of LOs A. Domains represented by OSCAR LOs We have successfully used the Domain Owner model to develop LOs in various domains of science and engineering. Each of the domains represented in Table 5, except for Civil and Environmental Engineering had a ‘Domain Owner’ who proposed the concepts, guided the IDD development and reviewed the LOs. We have used Flash, Java and Blender to animate OSCAR LOs. 32 out of the 247 main phase LOs were developed in Java, 5 in Blender and 210 in Flash.

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Table 5: Domains Represented in OSCAR LOs and IDDs Domains Learning Objects (LOs) Instructional design Documents (IDDs)

Bioscience & Engg. 48 98 Mechanical Engg. 01 01 Electrical Engg. 32 32 Chemistry 03 17 Physics - 21 Computer Science 03 12 Earth Science 02 27 Material Science 01 24 Chemical Engg. - 13 Civil Engg. 01 01 Environmental Sc. 01 01 Total 92 247

B. LO features OSCAR LOs have been designed based on pedagogical principles. They contain a range of features that have been known to promote learning. All OSCAR LOs contain:

• Learning Objectives stated at the beginning of the LO • Visualization as an animation or simulation of a scientific concept, process or principle • Multiple representations (visuals, graphs, text, equations) • Scaffolding through a glossary for keywords • References to websites and books for further information • Self-assessment via multiple choice questions and feedback to user’s responses • Varying levels of user interactivity (see sub-section C) to allow students to explore concepts

We have applied principles multimedia design of educational material, which lead to the following features:

• Chunking and segmenting of content • Audio narration through human voice (user controlled option) • Availability of audio transcript

Figures 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d show screenshots of a typical LO and its features.

Click for Glossary

Click for self-assesment

Click for further reading

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Figure 6a: Learning Objectives and other features of a typical OSCAR LO

Figure 6b: Multiple choice questions and feedback

Figure 6c: Simulation with user controlled variable manipulation. The different representations – graph, text explanation, equations are dynamically updated based on users’ choice of variables.

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Figure 6d: Glossary

C. Classification of LOs by Interactivity Level OSCAR LOs have been classified into three levels of interactivity: Basic, Intermediate and Advanced. Table 6 describes the various interactivity levels.. Figures 7a and 7b show examples of Intermediate and Advanced interactivity level.

Table 6: LO classification – Interactivity Types

LO Type Interactivity Features Number Example

Basic • Animation with play- pause • Audio option • Human voice as audio

narration • Audio transcript provided • Multiple choice questions for

self- assessment with feedback

107 (43%) Functions of DNA http://oscar.iitb.ac.in/onsiteDocumentsDirectory/Functions%20of%20DNA/Functions%20of%20DNA/index.html

Intermediate Features of Basic + Variable manipulation from given set (radio buttons, drag-drop)

102 (41%) Ensemble Averaging http://oscar.iitb.ac.in/onsiteDocumentsDirectory/Ensemble%20Averaging/Ensemble%20Averaging/shell.html

Advanced Features of Intermediate + User- defined variable manipulation (slider, input boxes)

38 (16%) 2R Manipulator http://oscar.iitb.ac.in/onsiteDocumentsDirectory/2R_Manipulator/2R_Manipulator/shell.html

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Figure 7a: Intermediate interactivity - Variable manipulation from drop-down menu

Figure 7b: Advanced Interactivity OSCAR LO

D. Classification of LOs by Animation Effort During the production stage, OSCAR LOs have been classified according to the estimate of the production complexity of the LO (programming time and expertise required of animator). Table 7 presents different levels of animation effort : Simple, Medium, Complex.

User –defined variable manipulation through slider bars or by moving the link arm through mouse

Output values

Drop-down menu for user to choose

Graph depending on user’s choice

Output values depending on user’s choice

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Table 7: LO classification – Animation Effort LO Type Definition Number

of LOs Simple Time taken to develop = 3 days

Expertise required = Basic programming for play and pause + multiple choice questions

158 (64%)

Medium Time taken to develop = 6 days Expertise required = Programming knowledge for Simple + drag-drop/drop-down menu/ radio buttons for variable manipulation

63 (25%)

Complex Time taken to develop = 12 days Expertise required = Expert knowledge of programming to execute user-defined variable manipulation through slider bars, input boxes which is represented visually.

26 (11%)

VI. LO Repository and OSCAR Website The IDDs and LOs are uploaded at: oscar.iitb.ac.in . These are classified according to subject. Users can search for individual LOs within specific subjects or browse the repository. Users also have the option of downloading all the LOs for a given subject. Figure 8 shows screenshots of the website.

Figure 8 : Screenshots of OSCAR LO repository

The backend is developed in Struts platform with Apache Tomcat 5.5 as the web-server and Postgres as the database. The technologies used are Java, JSP and Netbeans. The approximate size of the LOs uploaded so far is 25GB and that of the backend code written is 20GB.

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VII. Evaluation of OSCAR LOs OSCAR LOs have been evaluated in a number of ways using implicit (evaluation based on usage data of the LOs from the repository) and explicit evaluation methods (direct feedback from various users). Implicit Evaluation The view count and download count of each LO is captured on the OSCAR website www.oscar.iitb.ac.in . Figure 9 shows a screenshot of the view and download counts of LOs from electrical engineering.

Figure 9: Screenshot of Download and View counts of Electrical Engineering LOs

Table 8 shows the number of visits to the OSCAR website from various countries.

Table 8: Visits to OSCAR websites from various countries Country Visits India 15936

USA 334

Dominican Republic 142

United Kingdom 79

Brazil 62

Singapore 50

Saudi Arabia 37

Canada 33

Spain 31

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Explicit evaluation Direct feedback was obtained from three stakeholders:

i) Subject-matter experts giving a peer-review of LOs in their domain ii) Teachers who have used LOs in their teaching iii) Students who have interacted with LOs as part of their classroom learning

i) Peer review from SMEs 20 OSCAR LOs have been peer-reviewed based on an analytical rubric with both qualitative and quantitative descriptors that has been developed and published by CEMCA2. One more LO evaluation rubric, LORI 3 was also used simultaneously to record peer-reviews. Both instruments were used since none of them individually covered all of OSCAR’s goals. The number of peer-reviewers involved in this evaluation process was 42 faculty members from IITB as well as other engineering colleges of Mumbai. Overall 98% of faculty members were satisfied with the accuracy of the content and the pedagogy in the LOs. ii) Feedback from teacher-users We have received feedback on 61 OSCAR LOs that have been used in classroom teaching in IIT Bombay and other engineering colleges in various domains like Bioscience, Earth Science, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. We conducted interviews of 12 teacher-users and observed 2 teachers in the classroom during use of LOs. Instructors used LOs in different instructional settings such as classroom, in the laboratory as a pre-lab activity, for distance education (included in NPTEL videos) and as homework activities (given as reference with assignment). iii) Student review We created an evaluation instrument to determine students’ perceptions of OSCAR LOs. Our questionnaire was based on LITE and LOESS questionnaires4. We tested our instrument for robustness, and have obtained high reliability and validity scores. The sample size of students covered in the evaluation study was 320. Students were studying in undergraduate programs in domains of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from IITB and engineering colleges in Mumbai. Table 9 shows the results on some items of the questionnaire.

2 Quality Assurance of Multimedia Learning Materials. Developed by the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia, Commonwealth of Learning (CoL) http://www.cemca.org/Qualityassurance.htm 3 Nesbit, J. C., Belfer, K. & Leacock, T. (2003). Learning object review instrument (LORI). E-Learning Research and Assessment Network. 4 Kay R. and Knaack L. (2009), “Assessing Learning, Quality, and Engagement in Learning Objects: The Learning Object Evaluation Scale for Students (LOES-S),” ETR&D, vol. 57, no 2, pp. 147-168, 2009

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Table 9: Result of Quality Evaluation of OSCAR LOs with students Questionnaire Item Agree Neutral Disagree

The graphics and animations from the learning object helped me learn

84.2% 14.6% 1.2%

The instructions in the LO were easy to follow 82.2% 16.2% 1.5% The learning object was easy to use 83.8% 13.1% 3.1% The learning object was well organized 84.9% 14% 1.2% Overall, the learning object helped me learn 85.8% 12.7% 1.6%

VIII. Blender: Training, Tutorials and Repository of Models Blender is open-source 3D animation software especially suited to create educational animations of topics where 3-dimensional visualization is required. For example, cross section of a machine with fluid flowing inside, or concepts such as chirality which intrinsically need 3D visualization. Blender contains a complete 3D animation suite. It can be used to create 3D models, animate them and add interactivity. Blender is able to match the technical and aesthetic expectations of animation creators, and is comparable to proprietary tools. It is becoming increasingly popular in the entertainment domain, but its use for eLearning purposes has been on the rise worldwide. This has been showcased in for biology, medical, molecular and other visualizations. BioBlender (www.bioblender.org) is one such example. A. Workshops for Blender training and outreach While Blender can be a powerful tool for educational animations, it is primarily being used in the entertainment industry and is not being exploited for the education domain. A main reason is the lack of training programs. Hence Blender training is vital to build awareness about how blender can be used to model objects and develop 3D animations. It will also help in enhancing skills of the student community and professionals. We conducted two types of Blender workshops within Project OSCAR: 1) Blender Awareness and Outreach Talks The goal of these talks (2-4 hrs) is to raise awareness about Blender as an open-source 3D animation software with a wide toolset available, that enables it to define a complete pipeline (from modeling to sequence editing). The talks were conducted for different target audiences such as, faculty members, engineering students, fine arts students, and open source enthusiasts. 2) Training in creating Blender 3D models In these 5-day workshops, participants get hands-on training to create basic 3D models in Blender. They also gain programming experience in developing 3D animation using Blender models. Participants learn topics of modeling, texturing, lighting and rendering. The workshops are conducted via drill exercises, activities and assignments at appropriate stages to help participants obtain practice.

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The workshops were conducted in various parts of Maharshtra - IIT Bombay; PICT,Pune; WCE,Sangli; DJ Sanghvi,Mumbai; DonBosco,Mumbai; VJTI,Mumbai; J.J.School of arts, Mumbai. Table 10 summarizes the number of workshops conducted and the number of people trained in the workshops.

i Table 10: Blender workshop statistics

Expertise No. of workshops conducted

No. of people (faculty & students) trained

Blender (3-D) Basics 4 196 Blender awareness 3 779

Total 7 975

B. Blender Video Tutorials We created videos to teach the basics of Blender. The learning materials are in the form of Spoken-Tutorials which include screencasts of the software with running audio commentary. The tutorials contain the recording of a computer session where the use of Blender software to create models and animation is demonstrated in a step-by-step manner, with visuals and audio. These tutorials can be easily used for self-learning, as well as to conduct training workshops by facilitators. We created 15 tutorials on various basic topics (see Appendix B for a detailed list of topics). Tutorials on advanced topics are available from Blender site http://www.blender.org/education-help/tutorials/. C. Repository of Blender models We devised a methodology for creating Blender 3D models to use in animations (see item 4 in Appendix C – Research papers: “Creating Open Source Repository of 3D Models of Laboratory Equipments using Blender” for details). We created 40 models of 3D objects used in Physics and Chemistry domains, such as Vernier Callipers, ammeters and voltmeters, graduated glass beakers and flasks. The models are available on a repository of virtual laboratory components at http://oscar.iitb.ac.in/blenderrepository.do. We have created 25 animations using Blender models from this repository, for example: Distillation Column and SN1 reactions . Figure 10 shows samples of 3D models created using Blender.

Figure 10: Blender Models

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IX. Total Project Contributions We have been able to achieve the goal of scaling up production of high quality LOs to a national level. We have been successful in achieving effective asynchronous communication between SMEs, instructional designers, graphic designers and animators/programmers via the OSCAR developed IDD Template. Project OSCAR has resulted in the creation of different types of instructional material, all of which are freely available as open-source educational resources. OSCAR LOs are based on principles of pedagogy, multimedia design and graphic design. Their quality has been evaluated with students and peer-reviewers. A wide range of domains in college level engineering and science have been covered. The Spoken-Tutorials in Blender that we have created can be used by novice and intermediate animators intending to create 3D animation. Table 11 summarizes the instructional material developed via Project OSCAR. Project OSCAR has contributed to the development of human resources in terms of personnel trained in instructional design and Blender animation. Through various workshops and talks, several hundred students and teachers are now aware of the role of animation and Learning Objects in effective instruction. Table 12 summarizes the training programs and workshops conducted within Project OSCAR. In addition, 20-25 BE students have been trained via projects related to OSCAR. Project OSCAR has provided a platform for conducting research in learning and teaching. Ph.D. research scholars and other researchers are investigating educational problems such as, the design of effective e-learning material, integration of animations and simulations in teaching, and effectiveness evaluation of learning objects. Current research studies have resulted in the publication of articles, which are listed in Appendix C.

Table 11: Instructional material created Instructional item Number Learning Objects(Los) 316 Instructional Design Documents(IDDs) 347 Blender Spoken Tutorials 15

Table 12: Workshops conducted

Workshop type Number No. of people trained

Instructional Design 7 322 Blender training -cum-awareness 8 1025 LO skills 9 213 Flash 2 14 Total 26 1574

Project OSCAR has contributed know-how and material beyond the stated DPR deliverables. These can be used by other project teams which intend to create LOs for education. Available materials are:

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• 15 Blender video tutorials • Documents related to LO creation process • Template for ID document creation • Checklists for quality assurance of IDDs and LOs • ID Workshop materials • Outreach activities

X. Project Completion Plan A. Completion of remaining work (expected March 2013) We expect to complete final review upload 100 LOs which are already under development with animation vendors. In addition, we currently have 55 approved IDDs in stock which will be tendered out for development into LOs (expected date of tender October 15). 31 IDDs are being written by our Domain owners from the domains of Chemistry and Metallurgical Engineering. These 31 IDDs are expected to be in approved state by January, 2013. We also plan to conduct a workshop using the Blender spoken tutorials developed.

Table 13: Work remaining Deliverables Number Instructional Design Documents (IDDs) 31 Learning Objects(LOs) 55 Blender workshop based on Spoken-tutorials

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PRSG approval is sought for no-cost extension of completion date from 31st Dec 2012 to 31st March 2013. B. Project Closure We do not seek release of further funds (Rs. 1.5 Crores have been received out of the sanctioned Rs. 3 crores). We intend to close the project closure upon completion of above mentioned work. We request PRSG approval for the above.

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APPENDIX A

LIST OF OSCAR LEARNING OBJECTS (available on OSCAR website)

LO TOPIC COURSE INTERACTIVITY

DOMAIN BIOSCIENCE

Amino Acids: Building Blocks of Proteins Molecular & Cell biology Basic

Bacterial Transposons Microbial Genetics Basic

Carbohydrates Molecular & Cell biology Basic

Enzymes Basic Concepts and Kinetics Molecular & Cell biology Basic

Enzymes Catalytic and Regulatory Strategies Molecular & Cell biology Basic

Functions of DNA Molecular & Cell biology Basic

Fundamentals of Gene Regulation Molecular & Cell biology Basic

Genomics Molecular & Cell biology Basic

Genomics to Proteomics Molecular & Cell biology Intermediate

Hemoglobin Molecular & Cell biology Basic

Lipids and Biological Membranes Molecular & Cell biology Basic

Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes Molecular & Cell biology Intermediate

Protein Folding and Misfolding Molecular & Cell biology Intermediate

Recombinant DNA Technology Molecular & Cell biology Intermediate

RNA structure and function Molecular & Cell biology Basic

Structural levels of proteins Molecular & Cell biology Basic

Structure of DNA Molecular & Cell biology Basic

Transcriptomics Molecular & Cell biology Basic

2-DE Gel Analysis Proteomics Basic

Advanced Protein Electrophoresis Proteomics Basic

Application of Nanotechniques in Proteomics Proteomics Basic

Applications of Cell-free Expressed Protein Microarrays Proteomics Basic

Bioinformatics and Protein Database Concepts Proteomics Intermediate

Bioinformatics and Protein Sequence Analysis Proteomics Intermediate

Bioinformatics and Protein Structural Analysis Proteomics Intermediate

Cell free Expression Systems Proteomics Basic

Cell-Free Expression Microarrays Proteomics Intermediate

Electrophoresis Techniques-SDS and BN-PAGE Proteomics Basic

Fundamentals of Mass Spectrometry Proteomics Basic

Genome Databases and Analysis Proteomics Intermediate

Interactomics Proteomics Intermediate

Label Based Detection Techniques Proteomics Basic

Label-free Detection Techniques Proteomics Intermediate

Liquid chromatography-Mass spectroscopy Proteomics Basic

Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight (MALDI TOF) Proteomics Intermediate

24

MS Data Analysis for Proteomics Studies Proteomics Basic

Nanotechniques in Proteomics Proteomics Basic

Post-translational Modifications Proteomics Basic

Protein Microarray Applications Proteomics Basic

Preamble to Proteomics Proteomics Intermediate

Protein Microarrays Proteomics Basic

Proteomics Proteomics Intermediate

Quantitative Proteomics - ICAT Proteomics Basic

Quantitative Proteomics - iTRAQ Proteomics Basic

Quantitative Proteomics - SILAC Proteomics Basic

Recombinational Cloning Proteomics Basic

Systems Biology Proteomics Basic

Systems biology visualization Proteomics Intermediate

DOMAIN: CHEMISTRY

Identification of Symmetry Elements Stereochemistry Basic

Point Symmetry Stereochemistry Basic

Tetrahedral Crystal Field Splitting Inorganic Basic

Well Logging Petroleum Geoscience Intermediate

Siesmic Waves Geophysics Basic

DOMAIN: COMPUTER SCIENCE

Merge Sort Data Structures Advanced

Quick Sort Data Structures Advanced

Selection Sort Data Structures Advanced

DOMAIN: ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

Binary Symmetric Channel Communication Theory Intermediate

Distance vector routing protocol Communication Theory Intermediate

Binary Exponential Backoff Computer Networks Advanced

A5/1 Stream Cipher Cryptography Basic

Line coding scheme Data Communications Intermediate

Maze Routing Data Structures Intermediate

Heap Sort Data Structures Intermediate

Huffman Tree Digital Communication Advanced

Boundary Extraction Digital Image Processing Intermediate

Closing Digital Image Processing Intermediate

Dilation Digital Image Processing Intermediate

Erosion Digital Image Processing Intermediate

Gaussian Smoothing Digital Image Processing Advanced

Histogram Equalization of Grey Scale Images Digital Image Processing Basic

Image Sharpening using Laplacian Digital Image Processing Intermediate

Image Thresholding Digital Image Processing Intermediate

25

Laplacian of Gaussian Digital Image Processing Advanced

Logical operations on images Digital Image Processing Intermediate

Median Filtering Digital Image Processing Intermediate

High Boost Filtering Digital Image Processing Intermediate

Image Averaging Digital Image Processing Intermediate

Lempel-Ziv-Welch Compression Digital Image Processing Advanced

Opening Digital Image Processing Intermediate

Convolution coding Error correction codes Advance

Hamming Code Error correction codes Intermediate

Syndrome Decoding of Linear Block Code Error correction codes Advanced

The Party Problem Graph Theory Advanced

Priority queue and its Application in logic simulation Information Theory Advanced

Buffon's Needle Probability Theory Advance

Continuous Time Convolution Signals&Systems Intermediate

Transformation of Continuous Time Signals Signals&Systems Advanced

Discrete Time Convolution Signals&Systems Basic

Diffusion VLSI Technology Basic

DOMAIN: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Clarification Dynamics and Limiting Flux Bioremediation Basic

DOMAIN: MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Stirling Engine Cryogenic Engg. Basic

DOMAIN: METALLURGY AND MATERIAL SCIENCE

Equilibrium Defects Material Basic Learning Objects to be uploaded on OSCAR website by March 2013 (currently in IDD stage, LO being developed) 2D-gel scanning and image analysis_V3 Advanced

Basic instrumentation_V3 Advanced

Basics behind buffer preparation Advanced

Buffer preparation for Western Blot analysis_V3 Intermediate

Coomassie staining_V3 Intermediate

Cyanine dye labeling_V3 Intermediate

DIGE gel analysis_V3 Advanced

DIGE gel scanning_V3 Advanced

Enzyme Assay Advanced

Equilibration of IPG strips_V3 Advanced

Extraction of bacterial protein Intermediate

Extraction of cerebrospinal fluid protein Intermediate

26

Extraction of plant protein Intermediate

Extraction of plasmodium protein Intermediate

Extraction of serum protein Intermediate

Immunohistochemistry Advanced

Immunoprecipitation_V3 Advanced

In gel digestion_V3 Intermediate

In solution digestion_V3 Intermediate

Isoelectric focusing_V3 Advanced

Isotope-coded affinity tags (ICAT) Advanced

LC-MSMS data analysis Advanced

Liquid chromatography - Gel filtration Advanced

Liquid chromatography - Ion exchange Advanced

Liquid phase isoelectric focusing_V3 Advanced

MALDI Molecular weight application_V3 Advanced

MALDI PTM application Advanced

MALDI-TOF data analysis Advanced

MALDI-TOF instrumentation_V3 Advanced

Matrix preparation for MALDI analysis_V3 Intermediate

Passive and Active rehydration_V3 Advanced

Phospho Staining_V3 Intermediate

Protein extraction from human brain tissue Intermediate

Protein quantification_V3 Advanced

Proteomic Profiling Global Advanced

Quantitative estimation of DNA and RNA_V3 Advanced

Removal of abundant proteins in serum Intermediate

Removal of salt by desalting Intermediate

SDS-PAGE gel analysis_V3 Advanced

SDS-PAGE_V3 Intermediate

Second dimension separation of proteins_V3 Intermediate

Silver staining_V3 Intermediate

Spot picking_V3 Advanced

Sub-cellular fractionation Intermediate

Western blot assay_V3 Advanced

DOMAIN: CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Conformation of a single chain IDD Basic

Deformation of network Intermediate

Ductile-brittle Basic

Entanglement Basic

Gelation Intermediate

Lcpolymers Basic

Modified unit cell in polymer crystal Intermediate

Overlap concentration Basic

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Overlap concentration - Part 2 Basic

Polyelectrolyte Intermediate

Tacticity Intermediate

Time temperature superposition Basic

Wormlike micelle Basic

DOMAIN: CHEMISTRY

Cycloaddition reactions Basic

Diels alder Intermediate

Electro cyclic Basic

Felkin-Anh Basic Friedel Crafts Reaction Advanced

FT spectroscopy Basic

Isobaric Intermediate

Isochoric Intermediate

Newmann-Wedgedash Intermediate Phase Transfer Catalyst Basic

P-V Isotherm Intermediate The Sol-Gel Method of Preparation of Silica Intermediate Thin Layer Chromatography Basic

Wedgedash Newmann Intermediate

DOMAIN: COMPUTER SCIENCE

Bubble Sort Advanced

CSMA/CA Basic

CSMA/CD Basic

GO Back N Basic

GSM Basic

Insertion sort Advanced

I-TCP Basic

Process Scheduling Intermediate

Select repeat ARQ Advanced

DOMAIN: EARTH SCIENCE

Boudinage Basic

Buckle Foild Basic

Copy of coal seam Intermediate

Copy of Listric fault Intermediate

Copy of seath fold Intermediate

Crenulation cleavage Basic

Dominos or Bookself fault Basic

Faults Basic

Fold Mechanism Basic

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FPF Basic

Fracture Basic

Gondwana_breakup Basic

Isostasy Basic

Isostatic rebound Basic

Non Coaxial flow Basic

piggyback thrust sequence Basic

Prophyroblast Basic

Salt dome Basic

Sea floor spreading Basic

Shear Basic

Subduction Mechanism Basic

Tectonic deformation and sedimentary basin Basic

The Himalaya Intermediate

The Wilson cycle Basic

Transform Faults Basic

DOMAIN: METALLURGY AND MATERIAL SCIENCE

Coarsening Basic

Diffusion Basic

Dislocations Basic

Driving force for solidification Basic

Eutectic Phase Diagram Basic

Gibbs-Thomson effect Basic

Homogeneous Nucleation Advanced

IDDCC Clausius Clapeyron Intermediate

Interface coherency Basic

Interfacial-energy Basic

Microscopic state of meta during deformation Intermediate

Nucleation Vs Spinodal Basic

Peritectic Phase diagram Basic

Phase diagrams and microstructure formation Basic

Precipitation Hardening Basic

Simple Phase Diagram Basic

Solid solutions strengthening Basic

Solidification Micro structure Basic

Solution-models Basic

Tensile testing Basic

Types of Equilibrium Intermediate

Work Hardening Intermediate Zone refining Intermediate DOMAIN: PHYSICS

29

Cartesian-polar_2D Advanced

Cartesian-polar_3D Advanced

Conductivity in extrinsic semiconductors Intermediate

Conductivity in intrinsic semiconductors Intermediate

Curl Basic

DC Josephson Effect Intermediate

Divergence Advanced

Energy band gap in intrinsic semiconductor Intermediate

Extrinsic semiconductor n type Intermediate

Extrinsic semiconductor n type Intermediate

Hole current version Basic

Intrinsic semiconductor versions5 Basic

Josephson tunnelling - SIN junction Basic

Josephson tunnelling – SIS junction Basic

Length contraction Intermediate

Meissner effect Basic

Polar-cartesian 2D Advanced

Superconductivity Intermediate

Simultaneity Intermediate

Time Dilation Advanced Vectors 2D Advanced

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APPENDIX B

LIST OF BLENDER VIDEO TUTORIALS

01_Blender Hardware Requirements

02_Blender Installation on Windows

03_Navigation of 3D Cursor

04_Navigation - Moving in 3D Space

05_Navigation - Camera View

06_Basic Description of the Blender interface

07_How To Change Window Types in Blender

08_Types of Windows - the File browser and the Info Panel

09_Types of Windows – the user preferences window

10_Types of windows - the Outliner panel

11_Types of Windows - Properties Part 1

12_Types of Windows - Properties Part 2

13_Types of Windows - Properties Part 3

14_Types of Windows - Properties Part 4

15_Types of Windows - Properties Part 5

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APPENDIX C

RESEARCH PAPERS

1. "Embedding visual communication principles in Instructional Design phase of Learning Object (LO) creation process" . S. Sahasrabudhe, S. Murthy and S. Iyer, Edmedia 2012, Denver, Colorado, USA. June 25-29 2012.

2. “Model for large scale development of learning objects.” Gargi Banerjee and Sahana Murthy. IEEE Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Technology for Education (T4E 2011), Chennai, India. July 14-16, 2011.

3. “Design and Evaluation of OSCAR Physics Learning Objects.” Anura Kenkre and Sahana Murthy. Presented at the Physics Education Research Conference-cum-Workshop, St. Bede’s college, Shimla. May 22-29, 2011.

4. “Creating Open Source Repository of 3D Models of Laboratory Equipments using Blender”. Shruti Dere, Sameer Sahasrabudhe and Sridhar Iyer. 2nd International IEEE Conference on Technology for Education (T4E 2010), Mumbai, India, July 1-3, 2010.

5. “Creating 3D Animations of Laboratory Experiments Using Open Source Tools”. Sameer Sahasrabudhe, Sridhar Iyer. International Conference on e-learning (ICEL), Toronto, Canada, July 2009.

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APPENDIX D

PILOT PHASE STATISTICS, SUBMITTED REPORT FEBRUARY 2010 • Experimented with different models of large scale LO development – finalized on

Domain Owner model

• 74 Instructional Design Documents developed and approved during review process • 69 Learning Objects (LOs) developed • 17 workshops conducted

- 9 Learning Objects awareness workshops for faculty, some faculty identified as Domain Owners through these workshops

- 3 Instructional Design workshops, - 5 LO development workshops (Blender, Flash)

• 322 people participated in workshops - 213 participated in Learning Objects awareness workshops - 59 people trained in Instructional Design workshops - 50 people trained in Blender 3D animation creation - 12 people trained in Flash workshops

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APPENDIX E

OSCAR INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN TEMPLATE

34

35

36

APPENDIX F

PROJECT OSCAR STAFF MEMBERS

Project Manager Malati Baru, C. Vijayalakshmi, Sameer Sahasrabudhe, Gargi Banerjee,

Software Engineer Anjaly C, Aruna Adil, Shruti Dere, Rashmi Madbhavi, Supriya Nanavare, Praveen Pal, P G Putharickal

Animator Nitin Ayer, , Bhanu, Monisha Banerjee, Pooja Bhavar, Pankaja Date, Sneha Deorukhkar, Bhairav Lahotkar, Sucheta Phatak, Amit Vengulekar

System Administrator Swati Patil, Sarika Shivsaran

Research staff Farida Khan, Arun Nair

Web Designer Sandeep Gaikwad, Swati Revandkar

Project Assistant Rekha Kale, Vidhya Chapke, Shalu Pal, Preeti Sharma

Designer Kaumudi Sahasrabudhe

PROJECT OSCAR DOMAIN OWNERS

DOMAIN FACULTY MEMBER

Bioscience Prof. Sanjeeva Srivastava, IIT Bombay

Chemistry Prof. Anindya Dutta, IIT Bombay

Chemical Engineering Prof, Abhijit Deshpande, IIT Madras Prof. Susy Verughese, IIT Madras

Electrical Engineering Prof. Saravanan Vijayakumaran, IIT Bombay Prof. Sachin Patkar, IIT Bombay

Earth Science Prof. Soumyajit Mukherjee, IIT Bombay

Mechanical Engineering Prof. Sai Jaganmohan, BITS Pilani

Metallurgy and Materials Science Prof. M. P. Gururajan, IIT Bombay Prof. Prita Pant, IIT Bombay

Physics Prof. Sahana Murthy, IIT Bombay

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APPENDIX G UTILIZATION CERTIFICATE