Teaching with CAT How to Build an Effortless

Teaching with CAT How to Build an Effortless Course with Quantifiable, Built-In Evaluations Hannah Tasker Educational Support Services

Lectures: Why the Hate? • A lecture is “more or less continuous exposition by a speaker who wants the audience to learn something. ” – - Donald Bligh, What’s the Use of Lectures? • Summarizing the research literature: • Lectures are as good as other methods at transmitting information, but lectures are generally not effective at promoting thought, changing attitudes, inspiring interest, or teaching skills. 2

Lectures: Why the Hate? • Teaching according to a ‘ballistic’ lesson plan: designing a plan for an entire class meeting, ‘launching’ the plan, hoping that it hits reasonably close to its target, and waiting for the next exam to know for certain. ’ - Beatty et al. (2006) Continuous assessment is important. 3

What’s CAT? • Classroom Assessment Techniques – Typically low-stakes – Related to key lecture points – Designed to be more interactive than traditional quizzing assessments 4

How to Set Up Effective CATs with i. Clicker 5

Five Suggestions for a Successful Start 1. If a Classroom Assessment Technique does not appeal to your intuition and professional judgment as a teacher, don’t use it. 2. Don’t make Classroom Assessment into a self-inflicted chore or burden. 3. Don’t ask your students to use any Classroom Assessment Technique you haven’t previously tried on yourself. 4. Allow for more time than you think you will need to carry out and respond to the assessment. 5. Make sure to ‘close the loop’. Let students know what you learn from their feedback and how you and they can use that information to improve learning. Angelo, T. A. . , Cross, K. Patricia. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: a handbook for college teachers. 2 nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. 6

Reflection: Teaching Goals Inventory “The type of assessment most likely to improve teaching and learning is that conducted by faculty to answer questions they themselves have formulated in response to issues or problems in their own teaching. ” -‘What is Classroom Assessment? ’ Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers 7

Reflection: Teaching Goals Inventory What are trends you’ve noticed in your year or years teaching this course? How have students historically performed on exams? Are you able to identify any ‘problem spots’ in your course? Take the next five minutes to jot down your notes. 8

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Assessment in Large Classes with i. Clicker: A Case Study¹ • n=210 • Measuring attendance and test performance/learning with PRS • 30% attendance increase (80% total rate) • External and internal validity controls • Costs and benefits of scoring/not scoring PRS • Importance of relationship between PRS questions and assessment items • How to assess consistently? ¹Shapiro, A. (2009, January). An Empirical Study of Personal Response Technology for Improving Attendance and Learning in a Large Class. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 9(1), 13 -26. 10

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ARE CLICKERS WORTH THE EFFORT? • PRS did not enhance attendance more than paper-based pop quizzes – Benefit: Net Time Saved • PRS effects were more profound than attendance alone • Though all the PRS questions in this case study were factual, higher scores were seen for both factual and conceptual test questions. • Theories: instant feedback, attain ‘performance majority’, testing effect 15

CAVEATS • PRS effects do not transfer to untargeted information. • Study success depends on carefully matching PRS questions to assessment questions. • PRS questions in this study were all factual in nature • How varied can multiplechoice questions REALLY be? 16

EXPANDING YOUR ARSENAL CAT Questions and Activities Scaled for Large Classes Hannah Tasker Educational Support Services

Reflection • Which types of questions or activities listed on the sheet most appeal to your teaching goals and teaching style? 18

In Action: Peer Instruction/Think Pair Share • Diversification of teaching channels keep students engaged • Students are able to see multiple ways to get to a solution • Creates a dynamic classroom atmosphere • Engages passive students 19

Peer Instruction: Think-Pair-Share 20

Peer Instruction: Think-Pair-Share 21

Class discussion: Avoiding Vocal Minority • Have students share their reasoning • Make sure to hear from students about each of the more popular answer choices • If no student volunteers to defend or explain a particular answer choice, instructors might step in and suggest some reasons for that choice • Encourage students to respond to and challenge each other’s comments during the discussion 22

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Reading List • Shapiro, A. (2009, January). An Empirical Study of Personal Response Technology for Improving Attendance and Learning in a Large Class. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 9(1), 13 -26. Retrieved July 8, 2016 • Angelo, T. A. . , Cross, K. Patricia. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: a handbook for college teachers. 2 nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey. Bass Publishers. • Glass, A. L. , & Sinha, N. (2013, November). Multiple-Choice Questioning Is an Efficient Instructional Methodology That May Be Widely Implemented in Academic Courses to Improve Exam Performance. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(6), 471 -477. doi: 10. 1177/0963721413495870 • Herr, K. (1984). Improving Teaching and Learning in Large Classes: A Practical Manual. [S. l. ]: Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse. • Keller, C. , Finkelstein, N. , Perkins, K. , Pollock, S. , Turpen, C. , Dubson, M. , … Mc. Cullough, L. (2007). Research-based Practices For Effective Clicker Use. AIP Conference Proceedings, 128– 131. doi: 10. 1063/1. 2820913 Web Resources • vanderbilt. edu/cft/crs. htm • ‘Agile Learning: Derek Bruff’s Blog on Teaching and Technology’ derekbruff. org

Writing Multiple Choice How to Assess Meaningfully and Efficiently with MCQs Hannah Tasker Educational Support Services

Writing MCQs • Advantages of multiple choice – Versatility – Reliability – Validity • These advantages only apply if the question is well-written Full guide at: https: //cft. vanderbilt. edu/guides-sub-pages/writing-good-multiple-choice-test-questions/ 26

Writing MCQs • Constructing an effective stem – The stem should be meaningful by itself – The stem should not contain irrelevant material • Constructing effective alternatives – Avoid implausible alternatives – Alternative should be stated clearly and concisely