> [!summary]+ Summary > This page describes the executed program and outcomes of the Science Education Initiative — [[2021, Science Education Initiative]]. Key notes on success and challenges are noted, and 4 example outcomes are provided of what the program produced. # GW-Adobe Science Education Initiative (SEI) Program This was an important program in my efforts to upskill faculty digital literacy at George Washington University (GWU). The SEI Program was conceived by myself and Sylvain Guiriec, a faculty member in the Physics department, and was funded by an Adobe grant for $25,000. (See [[CV#Funded grants]].) Our goal in this program was to teach faculty how to utilize Adobe Creative Cloud tools to support Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education. As the central library leader for this program, I actively informed the community about the opportunity and recruited faculty to join. One of the key selling points were the staff from my team and those I could bring in from other teams. These included Multimedia Producers, Instructional Designers, and Educational Developers. Additionally, I offered faculty a stipend for their time and participation. ## Program success Overall the program had decent success. The COVID-19 pandemic and financial struggles within GWU significantly shifted the floor in the pursuit of digital fluency. The outcomes of the program are shown below across 4 different lesson plans. (Multimedia are not provided because the participating faculty own those.) These were novel applications of Adobe Creative Cloud tools, but demonstrated how the tools could be used as part of doing science. Participating faculty were very grateful and became excellent partners afterwards. And creative staff in particular loved the program. It allowed them to help faculty in ways they did not think they could, as well as expand their skills. ## 2023, SEI Cohort ### Design of a Virtual Reality Learning Experience <u>Faculty</u>: Hurriyet Ok, Ph.D. <u>Domain</u>: Computer Science and Engineering The purpose of this lesson was to teach students how to build a VR application on [Meta platforms](https://www.meta.com/quest/?srsltid=AfmBOooyVs-NORrkS8dVhaOGXPH4ypRR5_07jMheeVwIou_JtopxxEIS) for teaching a scientific concept. Following a series of steps and activities, students would create a virtual environment. (Note: While the team pursued the use of [Adobe Aero](https://www.adobe.com/products/aero.html), there were technical limitations that led to the use of [Unity](https://unity.com/solutions/xr).) <div class="container"><iframe class="responsive-iframe-pdf-port" src="https://1drv.ms/b/c/13829E5D2EB238DE/IQQmaJseZ_ywT7cyLqGZ0OIpAQQoKMgWkkj8QlmBAiGgidU" width="100%" height="550" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></div> ## 2022, SEI Cohort ### Creating a calibration curve with Adobe Photoshop <u>Faculty</u>: LaKeisha McClary, Ph.D. <u>Domain</u>: Chemistry The purpose of this lesson was to teach students how to use Adobe Photoshop (or GIMP) as part of an at-home lab design. Following a series of steps, students would create a [calibration curve](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00483) to conduct pH measurements. This innovative lesson, was an outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic and shut-down of campus facilities. <div class="container"><iframe class="responsive-iframe-pdf-port" src="https://1drv.ms/b/c/13829E5D2EB238DE/IQTyBEUJthExQ5lc3lgRzjuoAXYfiuaNpg6RR9Z5H7G8Ij8" width="100%" height="550" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></div> ### Lesson on pKa and Weak Acid <u>Faculty</u>: Michael Massiah, Ph.D. <u>Domain</u>: Chemistry The purpose of this lesson was to teach students the concept of pH, pKa, and buffering. The faculty recognized that students struggled to conceptualize this and wanted an interactive illustration for demonstration and student use. This project resulted in an interactive animation that taught the concept. [Adobe Animate](https://www.adobe.com/products/animate.html) and [Adobe Illustrator](https://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator.html) were used. <div class="container"><iframe class="responsive-iframe-pdf" src="https://1drv.ms/b/c/13829E5D2EB238DE/IQS2fL0YS_pnR42k_6OSdzc7ASdHJa7v6sPgy1U8g9pqnf8" width="100%" height="550" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></div> #### Interactive animation <u>URL</u>: [pKa and Weak Acid interactive](https://gwu-sdli.github.io/SEI22-MM.github.io/) To use this, first drag the slider on the left to adjust the pKa, then click the "plot" button. Afterwards, you can drag the intersecting point on the pH OH chart and see how pH adjusts. Notice too how the beaker on the right changes color and describes 'buffering.' ### Psychopharmacology and the Nervous System: Telling a digital story with animation <u>Faculty</u>: Olga Dergacheva, PhD. <u>Domain</u>: Neurology and Nursing The purpose of this lesson was to teach students about the adverse impacts of various drugs on the human nervous system. The faculty wanted to demonstrate the concept, as well as allow students a creative avenue to show their understanding of the concept given different drugs. The result was a short animation created with [Adobe Animate](https://www.adobe.com/products/animate.html). <div class="container"><iframe class="responsive-iframe-pdf-port" src="https://1drv.ms/b/c/13829E5D2EB238DE/IQRLi0z7NFSnSop94ktWT2l0Ae-gZ8VHZBEZdNr0M0NX5gQ" width="100%" height="550" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></div> ## Program challenges Some of the challenges that this program faced were as follows: 1. **General faculty resistance to *digital learning* post-pandemic** — Reasonably so, faculty were tired of anything digital. By and large, they were forced into online learning and utilizing digital tools, and just had little motivation come fall 2021 when we returned to 'normal'. 2. **Perception that Adobe Creative Cloud tools are difficult to use** — This is a common and old perception that was hard to crack. I/we tried with team support, one-on-one consultations, and direction to Adobe resources. 3. **Loud voices for open-source** — A number of faculty opposed GWU working with Adobe on grounds of cost and preference for open-source tools. With a bottom-line argument for equity, they were not open to persuasion. 4. **Organizational cost cutting** — By fall 2022 the Adobe contract was up for renewal. We returned to campus in August 2021 and with the contract 50% completed, Adobe Creative Campus status never had an official launch, GWIT had not widely advertised Adobe tool access, and the university poor financial footing from the pandemic. These challenges came down to ==a combination of unfortunate and uncontrollable events==. Additionally, by January 2023 it was clear the generative Artificial Intelligence (genAI) would be my assigned focus going forward. This too played into decision-making on the future of this program. ## References - George Washington University, Libraries and Academic Innovation, Center for Teaching Excellence — [Example Showcase](https://library.gwu.edu/example-showcase) - [Design of a Virtual Reality Learning Experience](https://library.gwu.edu/design-virtual-reality-learning-experience) - [Creating a calibration curve with Adobe Photoshop](https://library.gwu.edu/creating-calibration-curve-adobe-photoshop) - [Lesson on pKa and Weak Acid](https://library.gwu.edu/lesson-pka-and-weak-acid) - [Psychopharmacology and the Nervous System: Telling a digital story with animation](https://library.gwu.edu/psychopharmacology-and-nervous-system-telling-digital-story-animation)