Showcase Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia 2015

Development and evaluation of a mobile application as an e-learning tool for technical wine assessment (#107)

Kerry Wilkinson 1 , Paul Grbin 1 , Nickolas Falkner 1 , Amanda Able 1 , Leigh Schmidtke 2 , Sonja Needs 3 , Ursula Kennedy 4 , Christopher Rawson 5
  1. The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  2. Charles Sturt University , Wagga Wagga, NWS, Australia
  3. University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  4. University of Southern Queensland , Toowoomba, QLD, Australia
  5. Curtin University, Bentley, WA, Australia

Abstract Content (up to 300 words recommended)

Objective training in technical wine evaluation is a critical component of wine education, because wine appearance, aroma, taste and mouthfeel, i.e. wine sensory attributes, drive wine quality and consumer acceptability. Technical wine evaluation therefore features prominently in wine education programs, including those at the University of Adelaide, where oenology and wine business students alike, learn: (i) to objectively describe the sensory attributes of wine; and (ii) to differentiate wines on the basis of grape variety, style and quality.

Traditionally, technical wine evaluation involves recording detailed observations and perceptions of wines during formal, structured sensory classes. Tasting notes are usually recorded in a diary or journal, but these can be cumbersome, messy and easily lost or damaged. Mobile devices offer convenient, electronic platforms with which highly functional applications can be developed to facilitate learning and teaching. This presentation will describe the development of My Wine World, an iPad/smartphone application specifically designed in response to wine science academics’ need for an educational tool that can be used to both develop and assess the sensory skills and experience of oenology and wine business students.

The presentation represents a case study in the innovative use of technology in learning and teaching. The potential for the App to be used both in and out of the classroom will be discussed, in particular, the use of the App to engage shy and quiet students during class discussions about wine. The App’s impact on student learning, specifically, its ability to (i) teach students to objectively assess wine sensory attributes using formal descriptive language and (ii) assess students’ sensory experience throughout their degrees, will also be presented.

Addressing the theme/s of the Conference (up to 200 words recommended)

 The presentation addresses two key themes of the Conference: (i) 2. Exploiting emerging technology to enable employability, since the My Wine World App can be used by students to evidence their wine sensory skills and experience when seeking employment within the wine industry; and (ii) 3. Assessing, evidencing and evaluating graduate capabilities, a key driver for the development of an e-learning tool for wine sensory evaluation was to enable wine science academics to develop and assess students' wine tasting experience, much of which occurs outside of the classroom, as an evidence-based approach to learning and teaching in the field of wine science.

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