1. Eventually, Billy came to dread his father’s lectures over all other forms of punishment.

2. Interactive Teaching Methods for Large Classes
Tim Slater
University of Wyoming
Excellence in Higher Education Endowed Professor of Science Education
Cognition in Astronomy, Physics, and Earth sciences Research (CAPER) Team
Hi Tim-
We are putting together the program for the Teaching Introductory Geoscience workshop at AGU.   It is on Sunday before AGU.  We are wondering if you would like to come give a 15 minute presentation on interactive methods for large lecture classes.  We are thinking about things like Think -Pair -Share, clickers, minute papers.  We thought you might be able to weave this in with a little bit about why they work and how they can help assessment --- all in 15 minutes.  There would be discussion both after your talk and then after the set of 4 talks. 
I don't have anything to offer you other than an audience.  Were you planning to come for the beginning of AGU?  If this is an inconvenience or not of interest, please don't hesitate to say no.  But if this is just the thing you need to spice up your weekend before AGU we'd be delighted if you could help us.  We would be pleased to have you attend as much of the workshop as you would like, as a resident expert.  
Cathy
Dr. Cathryn A Manduca Director, Science Education Resource Center
Executive Director, National Association of Geoscience Teachers
Carleton College
Northfield, MN  55057
serc.carleton.edu
AGU Preconference Workshop on Teaching GEO December 14, 2008

3. GOAL: Keep students sitting quietly in their seats, taking notes
I need someone well versed in the art of torture, do you know PowerPoint?

4. GOAL: Keep students sitting quietly in their seats, taking notes
Teach us,
oh Great One!
I love teaching graduate level courses.

5. GOAL: Keep students sitting quietly in their seats, taking notes
Actually, is there anything you can do to AVOID students sitting quietly in their seats?

6. Some classic research results
Verner & Dickinson (1967) found only 66% of students showed signs of attention to lectures after 18 minutes and no students were completely attentive after 35 minutes
Trenaman (in McLeish, 1968) found students to assimilate appreciably less after the first fifteen minutes, and after thirty minutes either ceased to take in anything further or forgot what they had memorized earlier.
Lloyd (1968) found the number of facts taken down by students in their notes to decline steadily until the last ten minutes.
Johnston and Calhoun (1969) found the middle of a talk less well remembered than the beginning and end.
Bassey M (1968) Learning methods in tertiary education, Nottingham Regional College of Technology.
Bligh D (1972) What's the use of lectures? Penguin.
Bloom B S (1953) Thought processes in lectures and discussions Journal of General Education Vol. 7 p
Cowan L (1981) Suggestions for a modified lecture programme Educational Methods Unit Occasional Paper. Oxford Polytechnic
Crawford C C (1925) The correlation between lecture notes and quiz papers. Journal of Educational Research 12 p
Crombag H G M (1978) On defining quality of education. In Warren Piper (Ed) The efficiency and effectiveness of teaching in higher education. University of London Teaching Methods Unit 1978
Eisner S & Rohde P (1959) Note taking behaviour during or after the lecture. Journal of Educational Psychology 50 p
Elton L R B (1979) The use of duplicated lecture notes and self-test in University teaching. In Bajpal and Leedham (Eds) Aspects of Educational Technology Vol. iv London. Pitman
Harley J & Cameron A Some observations on the efficiency of lecturing. (1967) Educational Review 20 p
Howe M J A & Godfrey Student Note-Taking as an Aid to Learning. (1978) Exeter University Teaching Services.
Johnston J O & Calhoun The serial position effect in lecture material. T A P (1969) Journal of Educational Research Vol. 62 No.6 p
Lloyd D M (1968) A concept of improvement of learning response in the taught lesson. Visual Education. October p
Macmanaway L A (1968) Using lecture scripts University Quarterly. June p
Macmanaway L A (1970) Teaching methods in higher education, innovation and research Universities Quarterly. Vol 24. No. 3 p
Mcclendon P (1958) An experimental study of the relationship between the note-taking practices and listening comprehension of college freshmen during expository lectures. Speech Monographs 25 p
Mckay R (1978) Effectiveness of Learning: the place of study. In Warren Piper (Ed) The efficiency and effectiveness in Higher Education. University of London Teaching Methods Unit.
Mcleish J (1968) The Lecture Method. Cambridge Monographs on Teaching Methods No. 1 Cambridge Institute of Education
Mcleish J (1970) Student attitudes and College Environments. Cambridge Monographic on Teaching Methods No. 3 Cambridge Institute of Education.
Perry W G (1970) Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years: a scheme. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Peters D L (1972) Effects of Note-taking and rate of presentation on short-term objective test performance. Journal of Educational Psychology 63. p
Ramsden P & Entwistle N J Effects of academic department on students' approaches to studying. British Journal of Educational Psychology (In press).
Thomas E J (1972) The variation of memory with time information appearing during a lecture. Studies in Adult Education, 1. p
Unsworth P J (1978) The Keller Plan: Cost and benefits of self-paced self-study. In Warren Piper (Ed) The efficiency and effectiveness of teaching in Higher Education. University of London Teaching Methods Unit.
Warren - Piper D (1978) Flexibility with control: an example of classroom contact and some other attempts to increase effectiveness. In Warren Piper (Ed) The efficiency and effectiveness of teaching in Higher Education. University of London Teaching Methods Unit.

7. Some classic research results
Verner & Dickinson (1967) found only 66% of students showed signs of attention to lectures after 18 minutes and no students were completely attentive after 35 minutes
Trenaman (in McLeish, 1968) found students to assimilate appreciably less after the first fifteen minutes, and after thirty minutes either ceased to take in anything further or forgot what they had memorized earlier.
Lloyd (1968) found the number of facts taken down by students in their notes to decline steadily until the last ten minutes.
Johnston and Calhoun (1969) found the middle of a talk less well remembered than the beginning and end.
Bassey M (1968) Learning methods in tertiary education, Nottingham Regional College of Technology.
Bligh D (1972) What's the use of lectures? Penguin.
Bloom B S (1953) Thought processes in lectures and discussions Journal of General Education Vol. 7 p
Cowan L (1981) Suggestions for a modified lecture programme Educational Methods Unit Occasional Paper. Oxford Polytechnic
Crawford C C (1925) The correlation between lecture notes and quiz papers. Journal of Educational Research 12 p
Crombag H G M (1978) On defining quality of education. In Warren Piper (Ed) The efficiency and effectiveness of teaching in higher education. University of London Teaching Methods Unit 1978
Eisner S & Rohde P (1959) Note taking behaviour during or after the lecture. Journal of Educational Psychology 50 p
Elton L R B (1979) The use of duplicated lecture notes and self-test in University teaching. In Bajpal and Leedham (Eds) Aspects of Educational Technology Vol. iv London. Pitman
Harley J & Cameron A Some observations on the efficiency of lecturing. (1967) Educational Review 20 p
Howe M J A & Godfrey Student Note-Taking as an Aid to Learning. (1978) Exeter University Teaching Services.
Johnston J O & Calhoun The serial position effect in lecture material. T A P (1969) Journal of Educational Research Vol. 62 No.6 p
Lloyd D M (1968) A concept of improvement of learning response in the taught lesson. Visual Education. October p
Macmanaway L A (1968) Using lecture scripts University Quarterly. June p
Macmanaway L A (1970) Teaching methods in higher education, innovation and research Universities Quarterly. Vol 24. No. 3 p
Mcclendon P (1958) An experimental study of the relationship between the note-taking practices and listening comprehension of college freshmen during expository lectures. Speech Monographs 25 p
Mckay R (1978) Effectiveness of Learning: the place of study. In Warren Piper (Ed) The efficiency and effectiveness in Higher Education. University of London Teaching Methods Unit.
Mcleish J (1968) The Lecture Method. Cambridge Monographs on Teaching Methods No. 1 Cambridge Institute of Education
Mcleish J (1970) Student attitudes and College Environments. Cambridge Monographic on Teaching Methods No. 3 Cambridge Institute of Education.
Perry W G (1970) Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years: a scheme. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Peters D L (1972) Effects of Note-taking and rate of presentation on short-term objective test performance. Journal of Educational Psychology 63. p
Ramsden P & Entwistle N J Effects of academic department on students' approaches to studying. British Journal of Educational Psychology (In press).
Thomas E J (1972) The variation of memory with time information appearing during a lecture. Studies in Adult Education, 1. p
Unsworth P J (1978) The Keller Plan: Cost and benefits of self-paced self-study. In Warren Piper (Ed) The efficiency and effectiveness of teaching in Higher Education. University of London Teaching Methods Unit.
Warren - Piper D (1978) Flexibility with control: an example of classroom contact and some other attempts to increase effectiveness. In Warren Piper (Ed) The efficiency and effectiveness of teaching in Higher Education. University of London Teaching Methods Unit.

8. Lectures have an important role
You can communicate your enthusiasm for the subject
You can emphasize the important points from the textbook to help frame and guide students’ reading
You can share the stunning images that astronomy affords.
You can present the newest, cutting-edge discoveries and dilemmas.
You can emphasize the human nature of the enterprise
Students can learn a tremendous amount from lecture when they have a need to hear it

9. Eventually, Billy came to dread his father’s lectures over all other forms of punishment.

10. Ancient Chinese Saying
Tell me and I forget
Show me and I remember
Involve me and I understand

11. WHAT ELSE CAN I DO BESIDES LECTURE?
Think-Pair-Share
Answer first by yourself without talking to anyone, then I’ll ask you to confer with a peer before asking you to vote again.
How do I more fully intellectually engage my students?
1. Lecture more loudly with greater enthusiasm
2. Ask them questions to see if they are paying attention
3. Ask them to create examples of how a concept relates to their real lives
4. Tell them to talk amongst themselves to see if they have questions
5. Stop lecturing now and again and give them practice test questions

12. Personal Response Devices
What are responders?
IR or Radio wireless voting device
Sometimes referred to as Classroom Communication Systems (CCS), “clickers”, etc.

13. Class Response System – Low TechB D

14. Class Response System – Organic


15. WHAT ELSE CAN I DO BESIDES LECTURE?
Think-Pair-Share
Answer first by yourself without talking to anyone, then I’ll ask you to confer with a peer before asking you to vote again.
How do I more fully intellectually engage my students?
1. Lecture more loudly with greater enthusiasm
2. Ask them questions to see if they are paying attention
3. Ask them to create examples of how a concept relates to their real lives
4. Tell them to talk amongst themselves to see if they have questions
5. Stop lecturing now and again and give them practice test questions

16. What else can I do besides lecture on and on for 50 minutes every day?
Answer first by yourself, then with a partner:
If you breathe in O2 and out CO2, why does mouth-to-mouth CPR work?
1. Humans can convert CO2 to needed O2
2. It’s the physical breathing action, not the O2 that mouth-to-mouth actually does
3. You exhale CO2 AND O2
4. Mouth-to-mouth doesn’t actually work except on TV

17. WHAT ARE THE ATTRIBUTES OF A GOOD QUESTION?
Who wrote Of Mice and Men? 1. John Wiley 2. John Steinbeck 3. John Hancock 4. John Quincy-Adams

18. Given that a seed grows into a massive tree, where does most of the mass of the tree come from?
1. From water
2. From dirt and soil
3. From the air
4. Its already in the seed.

19. Super heroine Wonder Woman’s most useful tool was:
Lasso of truth
Invisible jet
Flying boots
X-ray vision

20. Some Ideas from the Trenches
Interrupt your lecture by engaging your students in a purposeful conversation about the topics at hand…
Think-pair-share voting questions
Groups propose test questions (and answers)
Mini-case studies
Structured debates
Minute-Papers

21. Consider a Case Study
Sara is two years away from applying for tenure. Her teaching evaluations in introductory environmental science are well above the department average, and her students score quite well on her tests, which students perceive as long and difficult.
However, Sara has recently had the opportunity to discuss the subject matter of her course in greater detail with some of her more interested and enthusiastic students. She has been discouraged to discover that these students really don’t understand nearly as much as she thought they did.
Their ability to answer her test questions correctly masked confusion about some fundamental concepts, casting considerable doubt on the effectiveness of her teaching.
Question: As a colleague, how would you advise Sara to respond to this?

22. Some Ideas from the Trenches
Turn test questions (or textbook examples) into “He-said, She-said Debates!
You overhear the following conversation between two students. Which student do you agree with, if either? Why?
He says: The Sun rises directly in the East each morning and sets directly in the West each evening, day after day.
She says: I disagree. In the summer, the Sun rises north of East and takes a long time to move across the sky. Its opposite in the winter.

23. Some Ideas from the Trenches
Turn test questions (or textbook examples) into “Pat-said, Chris-said Debates!
You overhear the following conversation between two students. Which student do you agree with, if either? Why?
Pat says: The Sun rises directly in the East each morning and sets directly in the West each evening, day after day.
Chris says: I disagree. In the summer, the Sun rises north of East and takes a long time to move across the sky. Its opposite in the winter.

24. END OF CLASS - Minute papers
INSTRUCTIONS: Please write 3-5 sentences on the following and drop your paper in the box by the door on your way out:
e.g. 1: What was today’s most important idea? OR
e.g. 2: What do you still not fully understand after today’s class?

25. Tim Slater University of Wyoming tslater@uwyo.edu
Talking  Teaching
Any more than
Listening  Learning
A focus on frequent feedback moves everyone toward more intellectual engagement
Tim Slater University of Wyoming