NameSchoolDepartment

JUST IN TIME TEACHINGA 21ST CENTURY TEACHING TECHNIQUE@ TEACHER-SCHOLAR FORUM 2013

DR. JEFF LOATSDEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

THE EVIDENCE STANDARD2

Teachers can feel bombarded…

I strive to be a scholarly teacher …

Common (evidence-based) themes:

• Focus and attention

• Using emotions appropriately

• Repetition and practice

• Feedback

In what area have you studied/taught?

A) Humanities

B) Natural sciences & mathematics

C) Professions & applied sciences

D)Social sciences

E) Teacher education

…no surer way…

3

In your teaching do you have a method for holding students accountable for preparing for class?A) I don’t, but I ask/threaten really well.B) I use a paper method (quiz, journal,

others?)C) I use a digital method (clickers,

others?)D) I use Just in Time Teaching.E) I have some other method.

4

OVERVIEW5

1. Motivation for change

2. Basics of Just in Time Teaching

3. Mock example

4. Evidence for effectiveness

5. Summaries

FEEDBACK THAT WORKS6

“Improvement of performance is actually a function of two perceptual processes. The individual’s perception of the standards of performance, and her/his perception of his/her own performance.” The Feedback Fallacy – Steve Falkenberg (via Linda Nilson)

7PHYSICS EDUCATION REVOLUTIONEric Mazur, Physicist at Harvard:

8“ALL SIMILARLY (IN)EFFECTIVE…”

9

University of Washington

University of Colorado

University of Illinois

at Urbana-Champaign

TECHNIQUE & TECHNOLOGY10

Technique:Just in Time Teaching

Technology:Online question & response tools

Learner

Teacher

JUST IN TIME TEACHING11

Online pre-class assignments (“WarmUps”)

First half - Students

• Conceptual questions, answered in sentences

• Graded on thoughtful effort

Second half - Instructor

• Responses are read “just in time”

• Instructor modifies that day’s plan accordingly.

• Aggregate and individual (anonymous) responses are displayed in class.

WHAT JITT IS NOT…12

JiTT is not about… online courses or distance learning.… computer-graded homework.… delivering content via the web.

Goals of JiTT:• Student preparation• Obvious communication loop• Student ownership and buy-in• Create a community effort towards

learning

Consider a typical day in your class. What fraction of students did their preparatory work before coming to class?

A) 0% - 20%

B) 20% - 40%

C) 40% - 60%

D)60% - 80%

E) 80% - 100%

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WARMUP QUESTIONS14

• Every-day language• Occasional simple comprehension

question• Mostly higher level questions (a la

Bloom)• Perhaps any question is better than

noneConnections to evidence:–Pre-class work reduces working

memory load during class.–Multimodal practice (not learning

styles):JiTT brings reading, writing and discussion as modes of practice.

METACOGNITION15

Two questions end every WarmUp:

“What aspect of the material did you find the most difficult or interesting.”

“How much time did you spend on the pre-class work for tomorrow?”

Connections to evidence:

–Forced practice at metacognition: Students regularly evaluate their own interaction with the material.

CLOSING THE LOOP16

Student responses:

• Graded on thoughtful effort

• Sampled and categorized for display

• Quoted anonymously

Closing the loop:

• Respond to some students digitally

• Class time shifts to active engagement.

EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK17

Faulkenberg’s criteria for feedback:

• Feedback doesn’t work if students don’t correctly perceive the performance standards.

• Feedback doesn’t work if students cannot correctly evaluate their own performance.

JiTT feedback loop:

Clarify standards in low-stakes situations.

Allows students to judge whether they have correctly evaluated their own performance.

MOCK WARMUP QUESTION18

Students have developed a robot dog and a robot cat, both of which can run at 8 mph and walk at 4 mph.

A the end of the term, there is a race!

The robot cat must run for half of its racing time, then walk.

The robot dog must run for half the race distance, then walk.

Which one wins the race? Explain!

WRITE A QUESTION AND SHARE...

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Imagine an introductory course in your discipline.

Imagine a topic you discuss early in that course.

Pick ONE type, write a question:

– A “low level” question (remember, understand):Terms: “Define, repeat” or “describe, explain”

– A “higher level” question (apply, analyze, evaluate)Terms: “Sketch, use” or “compare, estimate”

Write for a few minutes, then to trade and answer your neighbor’s.

WHAT TOOLS TO USE?20

• Course management systems (Blackboard)(Ready to use, tools are imperfect to awful)

• Free service from JiTTDL.org.(Designed just for JiTT, but extra login, and the site has not been improved in ~4 years)

• Email (No setup, very direct, but tends to be overwhelming and discouraging)

• Blogging tools (WordPress)?• Top Hat Monocle?

21

MAZUR AFTER 1 YEAR

22

ELSEWHERE?

STUDIED EFFECTIVENESS23

Used at hundreds of institutions

Dozens of studies/articles, in many disciplines:Bio, Art Hist., Econ., Math, Psych., Chem., etc.

– Increase in content knowledge

– Improved student preparation for class

– Improved use of out-of-class time

– Increased attendance & engagement in class

– Improvement in affective measures

STUDENT FEEDBACK ON JITT315 students in 7 classes over 4 terms (roughly ±6%)

The WarmUps have…Agreed or Strongly Agreed

…helped me to be more prepared for class than I would otherwise be.

70%

…helped me to be more engaged in class than I would otherwise be. 

80%

…helped me to learn the material better than I otherwise would

64%

…been worth the time they required to complete 57%

WHAT MIGHT STOP YOU?25

In terms of the technique:Time, coverage, not doing your part, pushback…

In terms of the technology:Learning curve, tech. failures, perfectionism…

In any reform of your teaching:Reinventing, no support, too much at once…

MY SUMMARY26

JiTT may be among the easiest research-based instructional strategies that you can consistently integrate into your teaching.

From an evidence-based perspective, JiTT addresses often-neglected areas.

As with all reforms, be prepared to find that students know less than we might hope.

YOUR SUMMARY27

For yourself… or to share?

What part of JiTT concept/process is the fuzziest for you after this talk?

What is the biggest reason you might not give JiTT a try in one course next term?

You can find these slides at www.slideshare.net/jeffloats