Stephanie Carmac Center for Teaching Development, UCSD ctd.ucsd.edu April 23, 2014

1. Alternatives to Lecture1
What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
impaled by Yersinia on flickr CC-BY-NC-SA
CTD Weekly Workshop: Alternatives to Lecture

2. Stephanie Carmac
Ph.D. candidate, Psychology
resources: ctd.ucsd.edu/programs/weekly-workshops-spring-2014/
April 23, 2014
12:00 – 12:50 pm
Center Hall, Rm 316
Unless otherwise noted, content
is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Non Commercial 3.0 License.
CTD WEEKLY WORKSHOP:
ALTERNATIVES
TO LECTURE please
sign in

3. Scholarly approach to teaching:
Learning Outcomes3
Carl Wieman
Science Education Initiative
cwsei.ubc.ca
What should
students
learn?
What are
students
learning?
What instructional
approaches
help students
learn?
learning
outcomes
(Apr 16)
assessment
(Apr 30)
alt to lecture
(Apr 23)
peer instruction,
(May 7, 14)

4. Key Finding 1
Alternatives to Lecture4
Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about
how the world works. If their initial understanding is not
engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and
information that are taught, or they may learn them for
the purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions
outside of the classroom.
(How People Learn [1], p. 14)
Instructors must
draw out students’
pre-existing
understandings.
Instruction must be
student-centered.

5. Key Finding 2
Alternatives to Lecture5
To develop competence in an area, students must:
a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge,
b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a
conceptual framework, and
c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate
retrieval and application.
(How People Learn [1], p. 16)
These are
characteristics of
expertize
Instructors need to
give students
opportunities to be
more expert-like.

6. Key Finding 3
Alternatives to Lecture6
A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help
students learn to take control of their own learning by
defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in
achieving them.
(How People Learn [1], p. 18)
Instructors need to
provide opportunities
for students to practice
being metacognitive
Metacognition:
that voice in your
head that checks
if you understand

7. Constructivist theory of learning
Alternatives to Lecture7
Students need to construct their own understanding of
the concepts, where
 each student assimilates new material into his/her
own framework of initial understanding and
preconception
 each student confronts his/her (mis)understanding of
the concepts
A traditional, one-way lecture doesn’t give students an
opportunity to “try, fail, receive feedback and try
again, before facing a summative evaluation.” [2]

8. Alternatives to Lecture8
student-centered instructiontraditional lecture

9. Alternatives to Lecture
Alternatives to Lecture9
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
worksheets
discussions
videos
What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
student-centered instruction

10. Clicker Question
10
The molecules making up the dry mass of wood that
forms during the growth of a tree largely come from
A) sunlight.
B) the air.
C) the seed.
D) the soil.
Question credit: Bill Wood
Alternatives to Lecture

11. Typical Episode of Peer Instruction
Alternatives to Lecture11
1. Instructor poses a conceptually-challenging
multiple-choice question.
2. Students think about question on their own and vote
using clickers, colored ABCD cards, smartphones,…
3. The instructor asks students to turn to their neighbors
and “convince them you’re right.”
4. After that “peer instruction”, the students vote again
and the instructor leads a class-wide discussion
concluding with why the right answer(s) is right and
the wrong answers are wrong.

12. In effective peer instruction
Alternatives to Lecture12
 students teach each other while
they may still hold or remember
their novice preconceptions
 students discuss the concepts in their
own (novice) language
 each student finds out what s/he does(n’t) know
 the instructor finds out what the students know (and
don’t know) and reacts, building on their initial
understanding and preconceptions.
students learn
and practice
how to think,
communicate
like experts

13. Effective peer instruction requires
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)13
1. identifying key concepts, misconceptions
2. creating multiple-choice questions that
require deeper thinking and learning
3. facilitating peer instruction episodes that
spark and support student discussion
4. leading a class-wide discussion to clarify
the concept, resolve the misconception
5. reflecting on the question: note how they
voted, curious conversations you overheard
so next year’s question will be better
before
class
during
class
after
class

14. Effective peer instruction requires
Alternatives to Lecture
1. identifying key concepts, misconceptions
2. creating multiple-choice questions that
require deeper thinking and learning
3. facilitating peer instruction episodes that
spark student discussion
4. resolving the misconceptions
before
class
during
class
14

15. Upcoming Weekly Workshops at the CTD:
To register, look for the
Teaching and Learning Weekly Workshops
at ctd.ucsd.edu
To learn more about peer instruction
Alternatives to Lecture15
May 7 Peer Instruction 1: Writing Good Peer Instruction (“Clicker”)
Questions A good episode of peer instruction requires a good
question. In this session, we’ll see a variety of questions and contrast
good vs bad questions, that you can adapt to your discipline
May 14 Peer Instruction 2: Best Practices for Running Peer Instruction with
Clickers In this session, we’ll discuss best practices for choreographing
an episode of peer instruction in your class including how to pose the
question, when to open and close the poll, how many votes, and how
to get the most out of the class-wide discussion.

16. Alternatives to Lecture
Alternatives to Lecture16
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
worksheets
discussions
videos
What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
student-centered instruction

17. Alternatives to Lecture17
Chemistry Day 4 by pennstatenews on flickr CC-BY-NC

18. In-class demonstrations
Alternatives to Lecture18
1. Instructor (meticulously) sets up the equipment, flicks
a switch, “Taa-daaah!
2. Students
 don’t know where to look
 don’t know when to look, miss “the moment”
 don’t recognize the significance of the event amongst
too many distractions
To engage students and focus their attention on the key
event, get students to make a prediction (using clickers,
for example)

19. Clicker question
Alternatives to Lecture19
A ball is rolling around
the inside of a circular
track. The ball
leaves the track
at point P.
Which path
does the ball
follow?
P
A
B
C
D
E
(Mazur)

20. Interactive Lecture Demos (ILD) [3]
Alternatives to Lecture20
By making a prediction, each student
 cares about the outcome (“Did I get it right?”)
 knows when to look (can anticipate phenomenon)
 knows where to look (sees phenomenon occur)
 gets immediate feedback about his/her
understanding of the concept
 is prepared for your explanation

21. Alternatives to Lecture
Alternatives to Lecture21
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
worksheets
discussions
videos
What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
student-centered instruction

22. Alternatives to Lecture22
What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
impaled by Yersinia on flickr CC-BY-NC-SA

23. Start teaching before the bell rings
Alternatives to Lecture23
Students arrive, ready to engage with you, your content:
 Project a picture related to today’s lesson
 Add prompts:
“What do you notice? What do you wonder?” [4]
 Spend first few minutes leading a discussion:
 every student can contribute
 you learn their pre-existing knowledge
 activates concepts in their memories
 Don’t let their enthusiasm slip away!

24. Alternatives to Lecture
Alternatives to Lecture24
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
worksheets
discussions
videos
What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
student-centered instruction

25. What do you see?
Alternatives to Lecture25
A) old lady
B) young woman
 If you’re studying human
behavior, let your students
generate authentic data
 Clickers can be set to
“anonymous”

26. Alternatives to Lecture
Alternatives to Lecture26
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
worksheets
discussions
videos
What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
student-centered instruction

27. Showing video in class
Alternatives to Lecture27
There are times when a video is the perfect resource.
Archimedes’ Principle
In today’s Physics class, we’re
going to study buoyancy and
Archimedes’ Principle.
http://tinyurl.com/TCCdemo
(Paul Hewitt video)
(Image: Wikimedia Commons – public domain)

28. Videos in class
Alternatives to Lecture28
Unlike you, the students do not
 select the video
 check it contains key events
 anticipate key events
 recognize key events
 interpret key events
 relate key events to
class concepts
instructor does this
before class
instructor does this unconsciously,
the “curse” of expertise
This is what you want to do in class!
Anticipate & recognize are
pre-requisites.

29. Videos: implications for instructors
Alternatives to Lecture29
 Coach the students how to watch the video like an
expert:
As you watch this video, try to…
watch for when the A starts to B.
count how often the C does D.
watch the needles on the scales as water drains.
 Don’t “give away” the key event (Notice the buoyant
force is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced.)
That’s what the follow-up discussion is for: help the
students get prepared for that discussion.

30. Is Lecture Dead?
Alternatives to Lecture30
No! There is still a time and place for lecture. You can
lecture (for 10-15 minutes) when the students are
prepared to learn:
 the alt-to-lecture activities have activated the
concepts in their memories
 they’ve tried, failed, received feedback, tried again
and are waiting for confirmation
 they’re prepared to intellectually appreciate the
expertise you’re about to share with them

31. Alternatives to Lecture
Alternatives to Lecture31
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
worksheets
discussions
videos
What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
To enhance
students learning and
retention, some instruction must
be interactive and student-centered.
That’s how people learn.

32. Scholarly approach to teaching:
Learning Outcomes32
Carl Wieman
Science Education Initiative
cwsei.ubc.ca
What should
students
learn?
What are
students
learning?
What instructional
approaches
help students
learn?
learning
outcomes
(Apr 16)
assessment
(Apr 30)
this room
alt to lecture
(Apr 23)
peer instruction,
(May 7, 14)

33. References
Alternatives to Lecture33
1. National Research Council (2000). How People Learn: Brain,
Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition. J.D.
Bransford, A.L Brown & R.R. Cocking (Eds.),Washington, DC:
The National Academies Press.
2. Bain, K (2004). What the best college teachers do.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
3. Get the full story of interactive lecture demos (ILDs) at
serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/demonstrations/index.html
4. Read more about “What do you notice? What do you
wonder” at ctd.ucsd.edu/2013/08/you-dont-have-to-wait-
for-the-clock-to-strike-to-start-teaching/