Grad V.S. Undergrad Clickers V.S. Non-clickers Ting Yan Project for the Teaching Seminar 2008, Spring

Motivation At first, I taught a 1010 lab using the same way as I give a presentation in a seminar. Sometimes things messed up.  Grad. V.S. undergrad I am surprised by the new techniques used in into-level classes, especially clickers.  Clickers V.S. Non-clickers

Observation and Interview Observed one intro-level, non-clicker class, taught by an instructor whose grad level class I took before. Interviewed the instructor. Observed one grad-level class, taught by an instructor whose intro-level, clicker class I was TAing for. Interviewed the instructor.

Observation Interview Science Education Initiative Classroom Observation Protocol Interview What’s the course goal? Did you apply the course goal during your class? What’s the biggest problem you found and solved during teaching for both classes? What would you do if you couldn’t/could use clickers in your intro-level class? …

Grad Undergrad Course goals Emphasized more on knowledge Emphasized more on scientific thinking Challenge Pre-class preparation In-class organization Questions Mostly open questions Lots of derivation-related questions

Grad V.S. Undergrad: Similarities Course goals have to be emphasized on homework assignments and exams. Feedbacks are important. Both in-class feedback and overall feedback (e.g. giving a poll) How to accommodate a large range of students with different backgrounds and abilities.

Clickers Non-clickers Attendance 70-90% 50-70% Participation Students from rear rows get involved. Clicker questions usually draw students’ attention back to class. Students have more questions after clicker questions. Almost only a couple of students from front rows answer and ask questions. When there is a long time discussion between the instructor and some students, ~1/3 other students listen, ~1/3 discuss with their neighbors or chat, ~1/3 don’t pay attention and start doing something else.

How to effectively use clickers: Consensus: Clickers are good for large lecture class. Instructors would choose to use clickers if available. How to effectively use clickers: Ask more upper-level questions which can lead to a discuss. Ask questions to help switch the topic.