SGTS Theory 4 - Alternatives to Lecture

Summer Graduate Teaching Scholars
May 16, 2013
Theory 4: Alternatives to Lecture

Key Finding 3
SGTS Theory Stream - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu
2
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. (How People Learn [1], p. 18)
Instructors need to provide
opportunities for students to
practice being metacognitive –
thinking about their own thinking

Key Finding 2
3
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. (How People Learn [1], p. 16)
These are characteristics of
expertize
(together with metacognition)

Key Finding 1
4
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.

Learning requires interaction [2]
5

Alternatives to Lecture
6
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
worksheets
simulations
discussions
videos
student-centered instruction

Archimedes’ Principle
7
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)

Videos in class
8
In your opinion, the Paul Hewitt video
A) is engaging
B) is entertaining
C) is interactive
D) stimulates deep thinking

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
Videos in class
9
instructor does this
before class
instructor does this unconsciously,
the “curse” of expertise
This is what you want to discuss
in class! Anticipate & recognize
are pre-requisites.

Videos: implications for instructors
10
 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.

Try it, yourself…
11
Get into pairs
 (“instructor”) one person with video they might show
their class
 (“student”) one person to watch it
Instructor, play (critical few min of) video, thinking aloud.
Student, take notes.
Together, debrief and write your introduction to the
video where you coach your students.

12
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
worksheets
simulations
discussions
videos

In-class demonstrations
13
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

Interactive Lecture Demos (ILD) [3]
14
To engage students and focus their attention on the key
event, get students to make a prediction (using clickers,
for example)

Clicker question
15
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)SGTS Theory Stream - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

Interactive Lecture Demos (ILD) [3]
16
After the 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)

17
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
worksheets
simulations
discussions
videos

In-class worksheets
18
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)

19

20

21

In-class worksheets
22
 carefully-designed sequence of questions guide
students through the exploration of a concept
 first few questions may be trivial – checks students
read intro paragraph, gives them confidence
 give formative feedback along the way
 most effective when done collaboratively (group
reaches consensus before answering)
 long, evidence-based history via “Washington
Tutorials” and “Lecture Tutorials for introductory
astronomy” (interactive activities in Prather et al. [2]
is primarily lecture-tutorials + peer instruction)

In-class worksheet assessment
23
 don’t “go over” the worksheet
 that only encourages students to
sit and wait for your solutions
 don’t post solutions later
 again, encourages non-participation
 students bring last year’s sol’ns to class
 good alternative: ask a clicker question(s)
 if students get the question right, they can be
confident they successfully completed the worksheet
force students
to self-assess
their answers:
metacognition

Clicker question
24
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 different ages but at the same distance from you.
C) The person that is closer to you is the older of the two people.
D) The person that is farther from you is the older of the two people.
(Prather et. al [4])

25
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
worksheets
simulations
discussions
videos

Student-centered instruction takes time
26
Five minutes of peer instruction every 15 minutes means
25% of class time is spent on interactive, students-
centered instruction.
Where does that time come from?

Traditional classroom
27
1. Transfer: first exposure to material is in class, content
is transmitted from instructor to student
2. Assimilate: learning occurs later when student
struggles alone to complete homework, essay, project
1. learn easy
stuff together
2. learn hard
stuff alone
(Mazur [6])

Flipped classroom
28
1. Transfer: student learns easy content at home:
definitions, basis skills, simple examples.
2. Assimilate: students come to class prepared to tackle
challenging concepts in class, with immediate
feedback from peers, instructor.
2. learn hard
stuff together
1. learn easy
stuff alone
(Mazur [6])

Flipped Classroom requires…
29
1. Clear description of what students need to do to
prepare for class.
 “Read Chapter 3”
 “Read pages 107 – 116, paying attention to the roles
of A and B / the definitions of X, Y, Z. Look carefully
at Figure 2.3 and find C and D / noticing the scaling
of the axes. Work through Example 2.7. Follow
footnote [4].
Give students “guided practice” [5]
at reading the material like an expert does.

Reading Quizzes
30
If you ask students to do work before class, you should
reward their effort. Reading quizzes:
 questions which are answers in the pre-reading,
without requiring higher-order Bloom’s effort (that’s
what you’ll do in class) [Matthew’s red questions]
 can be in-class (with clickers) or online ahead of time
(especially good if you look at results before class, to
guide your presentation: Just-in-time Teaching (JITT)
 ensures students come prepared to engage: take
advantage of the precious, in-person contact

31
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
worksheets
simulations
discussions
videos

Is there a skill they need to practice?
32
pro’s con’s
homework time for more in-depth practice untimely feedback
chart paper immediate, in-class practice and
feedback
students hesitant to mess up
paper with mistakes
conversation goes on before
anything is written
cost of equipment
whiteboards immediate, in-class practice and
feedback
conversation goes on while
students scribble, erase, re-write
(one pen per student)
cost of equipment
hard to scale to large classes

References
33
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. Prather, E.E, Rudolph, A.L., Brissenden, G., & Schlingman, W.M. (2009). A
national study assessing the teaching and learning of introductory
astronomy. Part I. The effect of interactive instruction. Am. J. Phys. 77, 4,
320-330.
3. Get the full story of 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.
5. Talbert, R. (13 March 2013) Inside the inverted proofs class: Guided
Practice holds it together [blog post]. Retrieved from
http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/castingoutnines/2013/03/13/inside-
the-inverted-proofs-class-guided-practice-holds-it-together/

SGTS Theory 4 - Alternatives to Lecture

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