Interactive Lecturing

Lecture Disadvantages Can be dull, boring, repetitive Transfer- rather than application- of information is typically focus Passive learning leads to forgotten concepts Goals often not met: What we want to tell vs. What they want to know No useful, timely feedback

Here’s your sign…. Lengthy Endless Continuous Torture with Unending Repetition of Explanations

Lecture Advantages What are they?

Lecture Advantages Cultural norm Efficient coverage Reasonable preparation time Large group friendly Non-threatening to learners Inspirational (hopefully!) to listeners

What is an interactive lecture? Class in which the instructor breaks the lecture so that… Students participate in an activity work directly with the material allow students to apply what they have learned, or give them a context for upcoming lecture material.

Here’s your sign…

Brevity: A common feature Lecture no more than minutes at a stretch……

Interactive Lecture Strategies Active review and summary Interspersed tasks Integrated quizzes Assessment-based learning Participant control Teamwork Debriefing

Best Summaries Lecture for minutes Learners summarize on cards (3 minutes) Form groups and choose best summaries Entire group votes on best summary Repeat or use different approach Can be anonymous or not Post summaries to block website

Intelligent Interruptions Lecture for no more than minutes Stop and pause 30 seconds Randomly choose student to manufacture an interruption Deck of cards Names in a hat The interruption….

Intelligent Interruptions Apply (e.g., [L]: “how would you treat this patient?”) Disagree (e.g., [S]: “I would measure TSH before T 4 because…”) Illustrate (e.g., [S]: we would observe smaller vessel diameter in a patient with a plaque, and that would effect blood pressure…) Paraphrase (e.g., [S]: “..so it seems the main point to consider in diagnosing stenosis vs. regurgitation is…”) Personalize (e.g., [S]: “I always remember that concept by Roy G. Biv…”) Question (e.g., [S]:“ I see that the T-wave is inverted, but can you tell me why it is only in certain leads?”)

30 second warning

Intelligent Interruptions Apply (e.g., [L]: “how would you treat this patient?”) Disagree (e.g., [S]: “I would measure TSH before T 4 because…”) Illustrate (e.g., [S]: we would observe smaller vessel diameter in a patient with a plaque, and that would effect blood pressure…) Paraphrase (e.g., [S]: “..so it seems the main point to consider in diagnosing stenosis vs. regurgitation is…”) Personalize (e.g., [S]: “I always remember that concept by Roy G. Biv…”) Question (e.g., [S]:“ I see that the T-wave is inverted, but can you tell me why it is only in certain leads?”)

Intelligent Interruptions: A Variation Roving microphone(s) Lecturer simply asks student with microphone “what do you think of that?” “can you summarize that in a way we all can understand?” Microphone continues to be passed around

Think-Pair-Share 1.Complete a lecture portion (10-15 minutes) 2.Ask students to get together in pairs. 3. It's important to have small groups so that each student can talk. 4. Ask a question. (Open-ended questions are more likely to generate more discussion). 5. Give students a minute to two (longer for more complicated questions) to discuss the question and work out an answer. 6. Ask for responses from some or all of the pairs. 7. Repeat Alternative: Write-Pair-Share

ConcepTests Conceptual multiple-choice questions that focus on a single concept Can't be solved using equations Have good multiple-choice answers Are clearly worded Are of intermediate difficulty Assessment with ConcepTests generally short useful for immediate quantitative assessment of student understanding. Enhancing ConcepTests with Peer Instruction Combine with post-hoc Think-Pair-Share for example

Conceptest Variations Power Poll TM Anonymous responses, immediate feedback Large colored letters Identified responses, feedback “survey” Individual note cards to be turned in Graded or not Important post-hoc peer explanations

Odds and Ends Seventh inning stretch Effective imagery Hard candy bonus questions One-minute paper v = Q/A !

Resources: A Beginning Interactive Lectures, S. Thiagarajan. ASTD Press, lectures.html lectures.html ve/whatis.html ve/whatis.html