alternatives to lecture

CTD WEEKLY WORKSHOPS:

ALTERNATIVES TO LECTURE

Peter Newbury

Center for Teaching Development,

University of California, San Diego

[email protected] @polarisdotca

ctd.ucsd.edu #ctducsd

slides and resources: http://tinyurl.com/Alt2LecSp2013

Tuesday, April 16, 2013 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Center Hall, Room 316

Key Finding 1

Alternatives to Lecture 2

Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that are taught, or they may learn them for the purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside of the classroom.

(How People Learn [1], p. 14)

Instructors must

draw out students’

pre-existing

understandings.

Instruction must be

student-centered.

Key Finding 2


To develop competence in an area, students must:

a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge,

b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and

c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.


These are

characteristics of

expertize

Instructors need to

give students

opportunities to be

more expert-like.

Key Finding 3


A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them.


Instructors need to provide

opportunities for students to

practice being metacognitive –

thinking about their own thinking

Constructivist theory of learning


Students need to construct their own understanding of

the concepts, where

each student assimilates new material into his/her

own framework of initial understanding and

preconception

each student confronts their understanding of the

concepts (metacognition)

A traditional, one-way lecture doesn’t give students an

opportunity to construct their own knowledge, practice a

skill or receive formative feedback.


student-centered instruction traditional lecture

Alternatives to Lecture


peer instruction w clickers

worksheets

interactive demonstrations

videos

surveys of opinions

reading quizzes

discussions

In-class worksheets


Before beginning an in-class worksheet, be sure the students are properly prepared:

Looking at Distant Objects

Recall that a light-year (ly) is a distance, the distance light travels in one year (about 9.5 trillion km.)

In groups of 2 or 3, work on the worksheet. Try to ensure everyone in your group agrees on the answer to each question before you write it down.

(Wikimedia Commons CC)

Clicker question


Imagine that you simultaneously receive two pictures of two people that live on planets orbiting two different stars. Each picture shows the people at their 21st birthday parties.

Which of the following do you think is the most plausible interpretation?

A) Both people are the same age but at different distances from you.

B) The people are actually different ages but at the same distance from you.

C) The person that is closer to you is actually the older of the two people.

D) The person that is farther from you is actually the older of the two people.

(Prather et. al [4])

In-class worksheets


Worksheets guide students through a concept

students can learn from the worksheet, not just practice

a skill

Do not “go over” the worksheet afterwards

encourages students to not do the work and just wait for

the answers

Assess their work by, for example, asking a follow-up

clicker question

successful on worksheet successful on clicker question

(not successful on clicker q not successful on worksheet)

In-class worksheets: structure


Worksheet is “stand-alone” and complete.

students can complete it later, do it again when studying

easier to integrate into lessons

First questions are “trivial”

check that student read intro, understands context

gives them confidence to proceed

Last question is the “zinger”

questions build towards the deep question, each one

building the skill needed to answer next question

Plenty of opportunity for formative feedback

In-class worksheet: resources


Washington Tutorials (physics)

www.phys.washington.edu/groups/peg/tut.html

Lecture-Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy

astronomy101.jpl.nasa.gov/teachingstrategies/teachingdetails/?StrategyID=9

Format and structure can be adapted to other fields:

(use the astronomy Lecture-Tutorials as a template)




worksheets


videos

surveys of opinions

reading quizzes

discussions

Showing video in class


There are times when a video is the perfect resource.

Archimedes’ Principle

In today’s Physics class, we’re

going to study buoyancy and

Archimedes’ Principle.

http://tinyurl.com/TCCdemo

(Paul Hewitt video)

(Image: Wikimedia Commons – public domain)

Opinion: Videos in class


In your opinion, the Paul Hewitt video

is engaging?

is entertaining?

is interactive?

stimulates deep thinking?

Videos in class


Unlike you, the students do not

select the video

check it contains key events

anticipate key events

recognize key events

interpret key events

relate key events to

class concepts

instructor does this

before class

instructor does this unconsciously,

the “curse” of expertise

This is what you want to do in class!

Anticipate & recognize are

pre-requisites.

Videos: implications for instructors


Coach the students how to watch the video like an

expert:

As you watch this video, try to…

watch for when the A starts to B.

count how often the C does D.

watch the needles on the scales as water drains.

Don’t “give away” the key event (Notice the buoyant

force is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced.)

That’s what the follow-up discussion is for: help the

students get prepared for that discussion.




worksheets


videos

surveys of opinions

reading quizzes

discussions

In-class demonstrations


1. Instructor (meticulously) sets up the equipment, flicks

a switch, “Taa-daaah!

2. Students

don’t know where to look

don’t know when to look, miss “the moment”

don’t recognize the significance of the event amongst

too many distractions

To engage students and focus their attention on the key

event, get students to make a prediction (using clickers,

for example)

Clicker question


A ball is rolling around

the inside of a circular

track. The ball

leaves the track

at point P.

Which path

does the ball

follow?

P

A

B C

D

E

(Mazur)

Interactive Lecture Demos (ILD) [3]


By making a prediction, each student

cares about the outcome (“Did I get it right?”)

knows where to look (can anticipate phenomenon)

knows when to look (sees phenomenon occur)

gets immediate feedback about his/her

understanding of the concept

is prepared for your explanation

(don’t be afraid to mess with their heads – inclined

table example)




worksheets


videos

surveys of opinions

reading quizzes

discussions

Clicker question


Melt chocolate over low heat. Remove the chocolate

from the heat. What will happen to the chocolate?

A) It will condense.

B) It will evaporate.

C) It will freeze.

(Question: Sujatha Raghu from Braincandy via LearningCatalytics)

(Image: CIM9926 by number657 on flickr CC)

Typical peer instruction episode


1. Instructor poses a conceptually-challenging

multiple-choice question.

2. Students think about question on their own.

3. Students vote for an answer using clickers,

coloured cards, ABCD voting cards,...

4. The instructor reacts, based on the

distribution of votes.

24

In effective peer instruction


students teach each other while

they may still hold or remember

their novice misconceptions

students discuss the concepts in their

own language

the instructor finds out what the students know (and

don’t know) and reacts

students learn

and practice

how to think,

communicate

like experts

25

Effective peer instruction requires


1. identifying key concepts, misconceptions

2. creating multiple-choice questions that

require deeper thinking and learning

3. facilitating peer instruction episodes that

spark student discussion

4. resolving the misconceptions

before

class

during

class

Watch for our peer instruction workshops:

April 23: Intro to peer instruction with clickers

April 30: Writing good clicker questions

26



To increase learning and retention, some instruction must

be interactive and student-centered:


worksheets


videos

surveys of opinions

reading quizzes

discussions

References


1. National Research Council (2000). How People Learn: Brain,

Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition. J.D.

Bransford, A.L Brown & R.R. Cocking (Eds.),Washington, DC:

The National Academies Press.

2. Hake, R.R. (1998). Interactive-engagement versus traditional

methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test

data for introductory physics courses. Am. J. Phys. 66, 64-74.

3. Get the full story of interactive lecture demos (ILDs) at

serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/demonstrations/index.html

4. Prather, E.E., Slater, T.F., Adams, J.P., & Brissenden, G. (2007).

Lecture Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy. (2e). San

Francisco, CA: Pearson Addison-Wesley.

CTD WEEKLY WORKSHOPS:

ALTERNATIVES TO LECTURE

Peter Newbury

Center for Teaching Development,

University of California, San Diego

[email protected] @polarisdotca

ctd.ucsd.edu #ctducsd

slides and resources: http://tinyurl.com/Alt2LecSp2013

Tuesday, April 16, 2013 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Center Hall, Room 316

alternatives to lecture

Education