Alternatives to Lecture

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

CTD WEEKLY WORKSHOPS:
ALTERNATIVES TO LECTURE

Peter Newbury
Center for Teaching Development,
University of California, San Diego
pnewbury@ucsd.edu @polarisdotca
ctd.ucsd.edu #ctducsd

Tuesday, April 16, 2013 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Center Hall, Room 316

Key Finding 1
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’ Instruction must be
pre-existing student-centered.
understandings.

2 Alternatives to Lecture

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 Instructors need to
characteristics of give students
opportunities to be
expertize 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.


traditional lecture student-centered instruction

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.)
(Wikimedia Commons CC)

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.


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 instructor does this
 check it contains key events before class
 anticipate key events instructor does this unconsciously,
 recognize key events the “curse” of expertise
 interpret key events This is what you want to do in class!
 relate key events to Anticipate & recognize are
class concepts 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
C
A ball is rolling around B D
the inside of a circular A E
track. The ball
leaves the track
at point P.
P

Which path
does the ball
follow? (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.


In effective peer instruction
 students teach each other while students learn
they may still hold or remember and practice
their novice misconceptions how to think,
 students discuss the concepts in their communicate
own language like experts

 the instructor finds out what the students know (and
don’t know) and reacts


Effective peer instruction requires
1. identifying key concepts, misconceptions
before
2. creating multiple-choice questions that
class
require deeper thinking and learning

3. facilitating peer instruction episodes that
spark student discussion during
class
4. resolving the misconceptions
Watch for our peer instruction workshops:
April 23: Intro to peer instruction with clickers
April 30: Writing good clicker questions


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.


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