Developing Interactive Lectures Preparing for an Academic Career

Developing Interactive Lectures Preparing for an Academic Career Workshop June 2011 Robyn Wright Dunbar Stanford University Katryn Wiese City College of San Francisco http: //serc. carleton. edu/introgeo/interactive/index. html (or http: //serc. carleton. edu/ in general)

Why make lectures interactive? Students taught key concepts using one of four methods. Student learning assessed by proportion of correct answers to open ended questions on same concepts on final exam Teaching method No demonstration % correct answers 61 Observation of demonstration w/explanation 70* Prediction prior to demo with a conceptest 77* Prediction prior to demonstration using discussion & a later conceptest 82* n = 158 -297; * = statistically significant result vs. no demonstration Crouch, C. H. , Fagen, A. P. , Callan, J. P. , & Mazur, E. , 2004. American Journal of Physics, v. 72 #6, p. 835 -838. Slide from David Steer

Group brainstorm: What indicators would you observe/measure to determine if a lecture is successfully interactive?

What is some evidence that a lecture is “Interactive”? • • • Students are talking with each other and teaching one another Students are offering up answers and ideas Students are engaged in thinking through concepts Students are getting hands-on experiences with concepts Students are collaborating with each other – brainstorming Students are engaging with the material in multiple ways and instructors are assessing understanding in multiple ways at multiple levels.

Interactive Lecture Toolbox Think-pair-share • Concept Tests • Demonstrations, predictive demonstrations, interactive demonstrations • One-minute papers • • Muddiest point, most important point Wall walk • Small group work • • Discussions, gallery walks, jigsaws Big group brainstorming • Other • http: //serc. carleton. edu/introgeo/interactive/index. html

Think-Pair-Share • • • Instructor asks a question related to an image, graph, or prediction Students think (write, calculate) a response In pairs (or small groups), students discuss their responses Solicit pair or group response Instructor can use to guide instruction Satellite measurements of ozone concentration above Antarctica, 1979 -1992

Think-Pair. Share EXAMPLE Individuals think about a THINK-PAIR-SHARE question you would ask a group of students about this picture. • Discuss your example with a partner • Share ideas with larger group •

Concept Tests Multiple choice questions embedded in the lecture Focus attention on key concepts • Frequently include peer instruction • Formative exercises during class used to assess student understanding and progress • Frequently used with an electronic Personal Response System (PRS) “clicker” http: //serc. carleton. edu/sp/library/interactive/conctest. html Mc. Connell, D. A. , Steer, D. N. , & Owens, K. , 2003, Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 51, #2, p. 174 -183. Slide from David Steer

Which of these sedimentary textures tell us the rocks were formed originally as sand dunes? A E B C D Concept Tests: An Example

http: //serc. carleton. edu/introgeo/interactive/conctest. html

Demonstrations • Ask first: What do you expect? Why? • RUN DEMONSTRATION / ACTIVTY • Review: Did it occur as you expected? Why or why not? Do you want to run any follow-up experiments? http: //serc. carleton. edu/introgeo/demonstrations/index. html

Which is denser: Pepsi or Diet Pepsi? Why? Which is denser: Orange or Peeled Orange? Why? Demonstrations Example

Interactive Demonstration Example: Photo by Howard Edin, American Meteor Society The heat of accretion that caused early Earth to melt…

Jigsaw Small group work where students work on related concepts and teach one another. • Each team prepares a different assignment. • Teach information to others in mixed groups. • Mixed group addresses a more complex problem that is best, or only, solvable with input from each member. From B. Tewksbury at: http: //serc. carleton. edu/NAGTWorkshops/coursedesign/tutorial/jigsaw. html

Jigsaw Example – Mineral properties Everyone gets one of 5 minerals. Your goal: find all the other people in the room with the same mineral and group yourselves together. Once everyone has found each other – review in your group all the things that make your mineral samples the same (is it color? shape? etc. ) One person from each group takes mineral and joins a mixed group to teach their mineral – explaining its special traits and answering questions. Finally, the mixed group solves a challenge only solvable using their combined expertise (e. g. identify which unknown rocks contain their minerals, etc. )

Wall Walk • Focus attention on key concepts • Used to stimulate class discussions On 4 walls of the class, place signs: Agree, Disagree, Strongly Agree, Strongly Disagree Do not let students stand in the middle (make them “take a stand”) Establish rules (can change where you are standing, be courteous, raise hand, will be called upon, etc…) Project a (controversial) statement about a class topic • • From Steer and Trujillo

Gallery Walk Example Set up posters around the room with different prompts. Teams circulate to each poster for review, discussion, and note making. Every ~5 minutes, teams move to the next poster, engaging the pre-existing comments and enriching the “discussion, ” until back at original location. Final groups review comments, discuss, and then choose spokesperson to report out key points to larger group. SUGGEST E(A modified Gallery Walk would do this by circulating papers among seated groups instead of circulating the people. ) EXAMPLE PROMPTS: Identify and briefly describe some interactive lecture strategies. What concerns might someone have about making lectures more interactive? What resources are available to help make interactive lectures?

ON YOUR OWN YOU HAVE ~5 MINUTES TO WORK ON THIS: Think about and design an interactive demonstration, concept test, brainstorm, wall walk, jigsaw, gallery walk, or think-pair-share for one of your courses on one topic.

WITH A PARTNER YOU HAVE ~5 MINUTES TO WORK ON THIS (each person gets 2 -3 minutes): Discuss your activity with your partner – ask questions – elicit feedback.

“One-minute” papers Paper topics The muddiest point of today’s class The most important point(s) you learned from today’s class A classroom assessment technique Involves students in their own learning, promotes metacognition Can show class-wide trends Makes a natural starting point for the next class From Macdonald

For More Information… Think-Pair-Share: http: //serc. carleton. edu/introgeo/interactive/tpshare. html Conceptest: http: //serc. carleton. edu/introgeo/interactive/conctest. html Predictive/Interactive Demo: http: //serc. carleton. edu/introgeo/demonstrations/index. html