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….
LengthyEndlessContinuousTorture withUnendingRepetition ofExplanations
Lecture Advantages
Cultural normEfficient coverageReasonable preparation timeLarge group friendlyNon-threatening to learnersInspirational (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 summaryInterspersed tasksIntegrated quizzesAssessment-based learningParticipant controlTeamworkDebriefing
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 minutesStop and pause 30 secondsRandomly choose student to
manufacture an interruptionDeck of cardsNames 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
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 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