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