Interactive Lecturing

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 • 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.

Brevity: A common feature • Lecture no more than 10-15 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 10-15 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 10-15 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 T4 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 • Complete a lecture portion (10-15 minutes) • 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 PollTM • 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, 2005 • http://www.thiagi.com/interactive-lectures.html • http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/interactive/whatis.html

Interactive Lecturing