Practical approaches aimed at freeing up precious lecture time David Read

Alternative title… Adventures in pursuit of the Flipped Classroom My frustration and my philosophy Getting lectures online Some flipped teaching Student engagement with online resources What to do with freed up lecture time… Final thought: Socratic lectures

Appointed as School Teacher Fellow in May 2007 with funding from Chemistry for our Future (RSC). Part of role was to work with academics to support students in transition/ acclimatisation. Academics (and recently TFs) are in charge of courses and teaching approaches. = Frustration! Context of my role at Southampton

Moving lecture content online Anything that can go online should go online! Didactic lecturing Worked examples Generic feedback on assessments Outline of course/module Tutorial on using Blackboard Introduction to exam system Recap of course/module Safety lecture

Baby steps: Recorded lectures Andrews, C. J., Brown, R. C., Harrison, C. K., Read, D. and Roach, P. L., New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Sciences, 2010, 6, p.56.

Baby steps: Recorded lectures

18 Organic chemistry lectures were recorded in Semester 1. 5 students were unable to attend lectures full stop. All students were given access for revision. What we did in 2009/10 ~ 20 lectures received >2000 hits from ~100 students

Do recorded lectures foster independent learning? vs

18 Organic chemistry lectures were recorded in Semester 1. 5 students were unable to attend lectures full stop. All students were given access for revision. Conclusion: recorded lectures are a viable substitute for the real thing Excellent! Lets start flipping… What we did in 2009/10 ~ 20 lectures received >2000 hits from ~100 students Panopto system now adopted by the university

Is lecture capture software used at your institution? A.I use it B.Yes – in my dept C.Yes – in other depts D.No

How do you know theyll look at it? Im not confident enough to do just in time teaching. They wont turn up to classes. I spent the whole summer preparing my lecture slides! What do you do if they dont understand the work? The students are too lazy! Im too much of a control freak. I havent got time to plan anything new. Students cant learn independently! Are you flippin mad? You cant do that!

The flipped classroom needs to be populated by independent learners

If you flipped your teaching, what % of students do you think would engage effectively? A.~100% B.>75% C.>50% D.>25% E.<25% Actually, evidence from local schools and colleges suggests that engagement levels are very high when teaching is flipped.

A case study in flipped teaching Prof Phil Gale found that his 3 rd year lecture course was not popular in 11/12 (students didnt engage with the research element). Phil recorded his lectures for 12/13 and made them available prior to the timetabled slots. The timetabled slots were then used as workshop sessions (class of ~40). ~50% of students watched the videos the night before or earlier.

Do students really engage with online material?

Worked example videos produced as part of an initiative aimed at boosting performance in organic chem. To ensure active engagement by students, the videos were produced as video mark schemes for a vacation homework exercise. Students completed self- assessment of their own work, and reported feedback and reflections back to us. A case study: Turning worked examples into self-assessment exercises

This part of the display is captured from the screen of a Tablet PC The tutor is captured using a camcorder or webcam. The tutor models the process of constructing an answer to the problem, explaining the key concepts along the way. An index aids navigation Students manage the pace of delivery using these controls

Semi-quantitative analysis Comment on usefulness: Very positive e.g. very useful, excellent Positive e.g. useful, good Neutral e.g. OK Negative Occurrences in responses to Q Occurrences in responses to Q Question 1: How useful were the resources that we made available over the Easter? We need your feedback to help us decide if we should produce more of these resources. Question 2: Has this been a useful exercise for you? Please explain why you think this (whether you have a positive view or a negative one). We need your feedback so we can decide if we should do more of this sort of thing.

Evidence of success, and of reflection …it is good to be able to think about where the electrons are going rather than just trying to memorise arrow positions. …explanation of the mechanisms…is invaluable in that we can also see the train of thought we should practise in approaching mechanisms. Learning the method of approaching the mechanism is just as valuable as knowing the chemistry outright. …the reasons why (the mechanism) happened a certain way were explained so I understood more clearly what my mistakes were.

Some positive feedback A brilliant exercise in covering things I had already understood, whilst simultaneously highlighting things I'd clearly managed to remember or even learn wrong in the first place. This has been a brilliant exercise, if Im honest…a good insight into how exams will be marked. I wholeheartedly look forward to doing more of these sorts of exercises. I believe that this type of exercise will make a significant difference to the overall score of the class.

Impact on attainment Cohort Average net change in organic exam score Jan June Students completing the exercise * * +6.1% Students not completing the exercise-0.6%

Read, D. and Lancaster, S. J., Education in Chemistry, 2012, 49, p.13.

What could you do with the time youve freed up?

Making better use of precious contact time Voting pads Debates Demonstrations Open Q & A Peer assessment activities PBL/CBL activities Presentations

Which of the following are used in timetabled teaching slots in your department? A.Voting pads B.PBL/CBL activities C.Debates D.Demonstrations E.Student Presentations F.Open Q&A G.Peer assessment activities

Ive been giving talks on biofuels in local schools and colleges since At Farnborough College, they got the students to watch a video Id produced for homework prior to the session. I then introduced an element of debate into the talk. Plus a few demos... The biofuels debate

And finally… The Socratic Method Obenland, C. A., Munson, A. H. and Hutchinson, J. S., Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2012, 33, DOI /c2rp20055d.. a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with opposing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas.

Theres plenty in the literature on active learning In this study, students were given reading assignments prior to lectures. In a 50 min lecture, ~40 questions were posed to students. Students verbally express logic and reasoning. Concepts and models are built via reasoning and discussion. Active learning in the lecture hall Obenland, C. A., Munson, A. H. and Hutchinson, J. S., Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2012, 33, DOI /c2rp20055d

Electrophilic substitution of phenol The …………………… group strongly activates the benzene ring, as one of the ……….. pairs of electrons on the oxygen atom can be donated into the delocalised electron system. This makes the benzene ring more susceptible to attack by …………………………... Bromination of phenol Benzene will not undergo electrophilic substitution reactions with halogens in the absence of a ……………………………. However, the ……………………… effect of the O-H group means that phenol will undergo such reactions e.g. with bromine: The use of phenol as a precursor in synthetic chemistry: Chlorination:Nitration: Sulphonation: Video

a) Cyclohexene reacts readily with bromine, but benzene will only undergo reaction with bromine in the presence of a catalyst. Explain why this is the case. (3) b) Under what conditions will benzene react with bromine? Write a mechanism to show the different steps of the reaction, including the generation of the electrophile. (4)

Thanks for your attention! Adventures in pursuit of the Flipped Classroom My frustration and my philosophy Getting lectures online Some flipped teaching Student engagement with online resources What to do with freed up lecture time… Final thought: Socratic lectures