Slides from two workshops given during visit to UKZN 16th-20th May 2011. Presented by: Simon Bates, Lorne Wolfe

1. Innovative Teaching Methods for Large
Undergraduate Classes
Simon Bates Lorne Wolfe
Edinburgh University, UK Georgia Southern University, USA
May 2011
Sunday, 22 May 2011

2. Who am I?
• BSc – McGill; MSc – Toronto; PhD – Illinois
• Postdocs: California (UCSB);
! ! Hebrew University (Israel)
• GSU (1995) – diverse student body (like UKZN)
• UKZN (Sabbatical 2007)
• Research: Evolutionary Ecology
• Teach:
– Biology majors and graduate students
– Non-majors (core): Environmental Biology
Sunday, 22 May 2011

3. Who am I?
BA (Cambridge) PhD (Manchester)
Postdocs in the Netherlands & England
Academic posts in
Edinburgh (Chemistry) 97-98
Dublin (Chemistry and Physics) 98-99
Edinburgh (Physics) 2000-
Research:
* Physics Education Research
* Atomistic simulation of materials / liquids
Teaching (currently):
* Year 1 ‘Foundations of Physics’ course
* Year 4 projects / education projects
Admin / management:
DoT (2006-9) DoLT (2010-)
Sunday, 22 May 2011

4. Group discussion:
You set the agenda by telling us what you think are
the key challenges for teaching large classes.
(Break into groups of 4-5, mixed disciplines
5 minutes discussion then feedback in plenary)
Sunday, 22 May 2011

5. Feedback points – Durban
Language issue (1) – not unique to language (poor skills)
Passive student – don’t ask questions
Students don’t take responsibility for own learning
Lecture notes – provide? How detailed? When provided?
Technology – good, bad and ugly
Laptops in lecture
Attendance? (no)
How to break into small groups? Venues not conducive.
Sunday, 22 May 2011

6. Feedback points – Durban
How to motivate students in dry subject
Student:Lecture ratio (needs Tas)
Resources for additional time students need
Variation in the level of interest in course
Venues (size, climate); Demonstrators
Admin and Logistics of assessment (MCQ)
Crowd control
stop and wait till they shut up, split up the talkers
threaten to leave, identify student, respond by talking softer
settling down time (constant distraction)
Sunday, 22 May 2011

7. Feedback points: Pietermaritzburg
Administration and organisation of large classes. Field trips.
“Teaching them is the easy part”
Student attitudes to learning; making it relevant (L)
Short attention span. Distraction / multimedia, but can / should
capitalize on that? (Multimode lectures: S )
Asking / encouraging questions. Cultural? (S)
•Differentiation in mixed ability classes
•Assessment and feedback; impracticalities in large classes
•Language and comprehension: including native speakers
•Expectations of studying / life at university
•‘Knowing your students’ How to do this in a large course
Sunday, 22 May 2011

8. May
4,
2011
Sunday, 22 May 2011

9. More is not Better
Skills > Content
Sunday, 22 May 2011

10. Content Coverage vs. Mastery
Amount retained Students retain ~ 5% of
the material in a course
after the final exam
Amount of material presented
Identify key concepts!! Less is more.
Sunday, 22 May 2011

11. The Large Class Becomes Small
Engaging 300 like 50
Sunday, 22 May 2011

12. A Successful Lecture
1. Relevant
2. Informative
3. Dynamic
4. Challenging
5. Entertaining
Sunday, 22 May 2011

13. Big Class Dynamics
1. There really is no difference between a large
and small classroom if you approach it
properly.
– Do the same things as you do in small class
• Start with ‘Good Morning’
• They will automatically be actively engaged
• Move around the classroom
• Group discussions: you visit groups - give
them tips and challenge them
Sunday, 22 May 2011

14. Get to know individual students
Connect with individuals and the group will follow.
Before class, each do go to a different part of the room.
“Good morning. What’s your name? How are things going?
Sunday, 22 May 2011

15. But there is no way I can
remember more than 3 names!
Sunday, 22 May 2011

16. Extra-Credit Discussions
• Pose a thought question
– What goes into making the pair of jeans you are wearing?
– What is the relationship between a revolution in Libya and how
much you pay for a liter of gasoline?
– Would you prefer to live next to a coal-burning power plant or a
nuclear plant?
Sunday, 22 May 2011

17. Think - Pair - Share
Debrief
Sunday, 22 May 2011

18. Extra-Credit Discussions
• Group discussion: 4-5 students; 5 minutes
• Write answer on sheet with all names
• Whole class discussion (with microphone)
• Each student present receives 1 point
Sunday, 22 May 2011

19. Using
the
Data!
Sunday, 22 May 2011

20. UKZN Challenges
1. Very large classes
2. Students vary in ability
3. Diverse cultural and demographic body
4. English not first language
5. Therefore, variable preparedness for
university
6. Home life separate from science
• Must make it relevant
Sunday, 22 May 2011

21. The Role of the 1st Year Course
1. To prepare students for upper level courses
2. The conundrum: tools vs. details
• Details can be googled
• Tools are for life
• Requires setting learning outcomes for the
entire curriculum.
• What do you expect students to know coming out of
the freshman class for your upper level course?
• Requires faculty-wide agreement on goals and
strategies.
• Need honest evaluation of what is and what is
Sunday, 22 May 2011

22. Main Goal of 1st Year Course
1. Provide students with ability to become effective
learners
! - to handle information
! - to ask the right questions to inform their own learning
• What skills do they need?
• Basic mathematics
• How to read and understand
• Curiosity and a desire to learn
• Get them excited!
Sunday, 22 May 2011

23. Wolfe Env. Bio. Fall 2002
Total/400 By ExtraCredit
400
350
Total/400
300
250
How
to
improve
200
0 5 10 15
ExtraCredit
20 25
Linear Fit
Linear Fit
Total/400 = 258.782 + 4.83538 ExtraCredit
Extra credit Summary of Fit
RSquare
RSquare Adj
0.273333
0.270227
Root Mean Square Error 34.07154
Mean of Response 313.8559
Observations (or Sum Wgts) 236
– 400 + 20 pts Analysis of Variance
Source DF Sum of Squares Mean Square F Ratio
– attendance data Model
Error
1
234
102177.59
271643.52
102178
1161
88.0181
Prob>F
C Total 235 373821.10 <.0001
Parameter Estimates
Term Estimate Std Error t Ratio Prob>|t|
Intercept 258.7818 6.275314 41.24 <.0001
ExtraCredit 4.8353773 0.5154 9.38 <.0001
Sunday, 22 May 2011

24. Language Challenges
1. Have students pair up with another student or quickly gather into
! small groups to explain concepts or figure out a problem. Peers
! often can find ways to explain things to ESL students that we
! have trouble explaining.
2. Pace your speech. Pauses help students assimilate and understand
! what is being discussed. Short sentences helps as well.
3. Encourage the use of gestures and visuals to illustrate key
! points and concepts.
4. Humor gets lost in translation.
5. If possible, incorporate phrases in students' native language
! to help them connect more with an English word or phrase
6. Record (podcast) the lecture to let non-native speakers review as
Sunday, 22 May they want
2011

25. ATHERTON J S (2010) Learning and
Teaching; Lectures [On-line] UK: Available:
http://www.learningandteaching.info/teaching/
lecture.htm
Sunday, 22 May 2011

26. Sunday, 22 May 2011

27. Interac0vity…the
essen0al
ingredient
“
The
complex
cogni/ve
skills
required
to
understand
Physics
cannot
be
developed
by
listening
to
lectures…
…
any
more
than
one
can
learn
to
play
tennis
by
watching
tennis
matches.”
Hestenes,
D.
Am.
J.
Phys.,
66,
465-­‐7
(1998)
Sunday, 22 May 2011

28. “Lectures (in physics) can be incredibly
passive experiences for students,
particularly dangerous for those who believe
that if they follow the professor, they’ve
mastered the material”
Sunday, 22 May 2011

29. Interactive engagement with clickers
Sunday, 22 May 2011

30. Sunday, 22 May 2011

31. Underpinned College Learning
and Teaching strategy
‘Loanership’ of 3000 handsets
Wide range of disciplines
Science, Eng,Vet. Med.
Sunday, 22 May 2011

32. 34
Sunday, 22 May 2011

33.
Sunday, 22 May 2011

34. Use
scenarios
(3)
• Peer
Instruc0on
– Ques0on
– Individual
poll
– Students
discuss
– Repoll
Sunday, 22 May 2011

35. Sunday, 22 May 2011

36. The Evolution of a Research Talk
at 3 Chinese Universities
Sunday, 22 May 2011

37. The SQ3R
• Survey – overall idea of what you will study before you begin
(roadmap)
• Question – ask yourself questions (what, how, why, when?);
benefit from making up the question and the answer
• Read – don’t just run eyes over text; answer your questions;
attention to tables, graphs, bold/italicized text
• Recite – stop reading, recall what you have read; use your own
words, connect new to old knowledge
• Review-reread notes immediately after and then before next
class; info moves to long-term memory; reduces time needed to
study before exam
Sunday, 22 May 2011

38. We
need
something
‘in
conclusion’
or
to
sum
up.
Sunday, 22 May 2011

39. Sugges0on
Follow
on
discussion
via
email
list
aGer
this
workshop:
enrol
par0cipants,
presenters
share
ideas,
successes,
failures
?
Sunday, 22 May 2011

40. Student Tips to New Prof in Big Class
Imagine you are teaching a class of 10
Get to know the students (on their level).
Talk about what is related to them and could affect them.
Make students feel comfortable. Treat them like family
Make them feel like you care about them
Don’t be afraid to cuss. Just be yourself.
Don’t just stand there and read ppt slides
Don’t be monotone. Act like you want to be there then we will want to
Be entertaining and funny. If college kids are bored we do not learn.
No need to be cookie cutter. Make your course memorable.
Move around and engage students
Do activities students like
Its ok to make us laugh. Talk to us about more than lectures.
Share past life experiences.
Not everyone learns the same so find different ways to make your class interact
Ask questions they can discuss in groups
Get the stick our of your ass and have fun teaching
Sunday, 22 May 2011