1. Name
School
Department
JUST IN TIME TEACHING
A 21ST CENTURY LEARNING TECHNIQUE
DR. JEFF LOATS
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
@ COLTT 2013

2. THE EVIDENCE STANDARD
2
Teachers can feel bombarded…
I strive to be a scholarly teacher …
Common (evidence-based) themes:
• Focus and attention
• Using emotions appropriately
• Repetition and practice
• Feedback

3. In your teaching do you have a method for
holding students accountable for preparing for
class?
Previous iClicker poll results (compiled):
~24% → I don’t, but I ask/threaten really well.
~44% → I use a paper method (quiz, journal…)
~7% → I use a digital method (clickers, etc.)
~7% → I use Just inTimeTeaching.
~17% → I have some other method.
3

4. OVERVIEW
4
1. Motivation for change
2. Basics of Just inTimeTeaching
3. Mock example
4. Evidence for effectiveness
5. Summaries

5. PHYSICS EDUCATION REVOLUTION
Eric Mazur, Physicist at Harvard:
5

6. 6
“ALL SIMILARLY (IN)EFFECTIVE…”

7. 7
University of Washington
CU Boulder
University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign

8. FEEDBACK THAT WORKS
8
“Improvement of performance is actually a
function of two perceptual processes.The
individual’s perception of the standards of
performance, and her/his perception of his/her
own performance.”
The Feedback Fallacy – Steve Falkenberg (via Linda Nilson)

9. TECHNIQUE &TECHNOLOGY
9
Technique:
Just inTimeTeaching
Technology:
Online question & response tools
Learner Teacher

10. JUST IN TIME TEACHING
Online pre-class assignments
(“WarmUps”)
First half:
• Conceptual questions, answered in sentences
• Graded on thoughtful effort
Second half:
• Responses are read “just in time”
• Instructor modifies the plan accordingly
• Aggregate and individual (anonymous)
responses are displayed in class.
Learner Teacher
10

11. JUST IN TIME TEACHING
A different student role:
• Actively prepare for class
(not just reading/watching)
• Actively engage in class
• Compare your progress & plan accordingly
A different instructor role:
• Actively prepare for class with you
(not just going over last year’s notes )
• Modify class accordingly
• Create interactive engagement opportunities
Learner Teacher
11

12. 24%
36%
24%
11%
7%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
0-20% 20-40% 40-60% 60-80% 80-100%
Consider a typical day in your class.What fraction
of students did their preparatory work before
coming to class?
Previous iClicker poll results (compiled):
12
N = 73

13. WARMUP QUESTIONS
13
• Every-day language
• Occasional simple comprehension question
• Mostly higher level questions (a la Bloom)
• Perhaps any question is better than none
Connections to evidence:
–Pre-class work reduces working memory load
during class.
–Multimodal practice (not learning styles):
JiTT brings reading, writing and discussion as
modes of practice.

14. METACOGNITION
14
Two questions in everyWarmUp:
First: “What aspect of the material did you find
the most difficult or interesting.”
Last: “How much time did you spend on the pre-
class work for tomorrow?”
Connections to evidence:
–Forced practice at metacognition:
Students regularly evaluate their own
interaction with the material.

15. CLOSING THE LOOP
15
Student responses:
• Graded on thoughtful effort
• Sampled and categorized for display
• Quoted anonymously
Closing the loop:
• Respond to some students digitally
• Class time shifts to active engagement.

16. EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK
16
Faulkenberg’s criteria for feedback:
• Feedback doesn’t work if students don’t
correctly perceive the performance standards.
• Feedback doesn’t work if students cannot
correctly evaluate their own performance.
JiTT feedback loop:
Clarify standards in low-stakes situations.
Allows students to judge whether they have
correctly evaluated their own performance.

17. EXAMPLE:WHIRLING BUCKET
17
A bucket of water can be whirled in a
vertical circle without the water falling
out, even at the top of the circle when
the bucket is upside down. Explain…
~15% → An outward force holds it in
~30% → An inward force holds it in
~20% → Talked (correctly!) about
acceleration & velocity… but
didn't really answer.
~10% → Nailed it! (or close enough)

18. EXAMPLE:WHIRLING BUCKET
18
“The water doesn't come out because you
twirling the bucket is applying the force of
spinning, and the water just kind of
counteracts that motion.”
“Because the water naturally wants to keep
traveling in the same direction its being
whirled around in the water attempts to
continue going up in a straight line but the
bottom of the bucket forces it to stay in the
bucket, like when you are pushed by the door
of a car while making a turn.”

19. WHAT TOOLS TO USE?
19
• CMS/LMS (Blackboard, D2L, Moodle, etc.)
Ready to use, tools… imperfect awful
• Free service from JiTTDL.org.
Designed just for JiTT, but extra login, and
the site has not been improved in ~5 years
• Students email responses
Easy! usually overwhelming and awful
• Blogging tools (WordPress)?
• New tools (TopHat, Learning Catalytics)?

20. MAZUR AFTER 1YEAR
20

21. ELSEWHERE?
21

22. STUDIED EFFECTIVENESS
22
Used at hundreds of institutions
Dozens of studies/articles, in many disciplines:
Bio, Art Hist., Econ., Math, Psych., Chem., etc.
–Increase in content knowledge
–Improved student preparation for class
–Improved use of out-of-class time
–Increased attendance & engagement in class
–Improvement in affective measures

23. STUDENT FEEDBACK ON JITT
315 students in 7 classes over 4 terms (roughly ±6%)
The WarmUps have…
Agreed or
Strongly Agreed
…helped me to be more prepared
for class than I would otherwise be.
70%
…helped me to be more engaged in
class than I would otherwise be.
80%
…helped me to learn the material
better than I otherwise would
64%
…been worth the time they
required to complete
57%

24. WHAT MIGHT STOPYOU?
24
In terms of the technique:
Time, coverage, not doing your part, pushback…
In terms of the technology:
Learning curve, tech. failures, perfectionism…
In any reform of your teaching:
Reinventing, no support, too much at once…

25. MY SUMMARY
25
JiTT may be among the easiest research-based
instructional strategies that you can
consistently integrate into your teaching.
From an evidence-based perspective, JiTT
addresses often-neglected areas.
Be prepared to find that students know less than
we might hope. (Perhaps freeing?)

26. YOUR SUMMARY
26
What part of JiTT concept/process is the fuzziest
for you after this talk?
What is the biggest reason you might not give
JiTT a try in one course next term?
Contact Jeff: Jeff.Loats@gmail.com
Slides: www.slideshare.net/JeffLoats
I love talking and working with faculty,
don’t hesitate to get in touch.

27. JITT REFERENCES & RESOURCES
27
Simkins, Scott and Maier, Mark (Eds.) (2010) Just inTimeTeaching:Across the Disciplines, Across the Academy, Stylus Publishing.
Gregor M. Novak, AndrewGavrini,Wolfgang Christian, Evelyn Patterson (1999) Just-in-TimeTeaching: BlendingActive Learning with
WebTechnology. Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River NJ.
K.A. Marrs, and G. Novak. (2004). Just-in-TimeTeaching in Biology: Creating an Active LearnerClassroom Using the Internet. Cell
Biology Education, v. 3, p. 49-61.
Jay R. Howard (2004). Just-in-TimeTeaching in Sociology or How I Convinced My Students toActually Read the Assignment. Teaching
Sociology,Vol. 32 (No. 4 ). pp. 385-390. Published by:American SociologicalAssociation
StableURL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3649666
S. Linneman,T. Plake (2006). Searching for the Difference:A ControlledTest of Just-in-TimeTeaching for Large-Enrollment
IntroductoryGeologyCourses. Journal of Geoscience Education,Vol. 54 (No. 1)
StableURL:http://www.nagt.org/nagt/jge/abstracts/jan06.html#v54p18