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Interactive TeachingDr Emma Kennedy
Centre for Academic and
Professional Development
Queen Mary, University of
London
Active Learning
Student-centred & requires students to participate
“Tell me and I forget; teach me and I may
remember; involve me and I will learn” –
(attributed to Benjamin Franklin).
“anything that involves students in doing things and thinking about the things they are doing" (Bonwell & Eison, 1991,
p. 2).
"anything course-related that all
students in a class session are called
upon to do other than simply watching,
listening and taking notes“ (Felder & Brent,
2009, p. 2).
“requires students to do meaningful learning
activities and think about what they are
doing” (Prince, 2004, p. 1).
Why Interactive teaching?
Keep students engaged &
involved
Check students’
understanding
Learn from students!
Help students
learn
What does active learning look
and feel like?
In tables– draw on the whiteboard if you like, and/or describe
a) Words/images to describe active learning.
b) Words/images to describe passive learning
What are they doing in class?
What do they do before and after class?
How do they interact with their peers? 10 minutes in groups
(then feed back)
Keeping students motivated &
involved Benefits
to attending
(What’s in it for me?)
“Students in […]co-operative learning classes not only performed at
a level above their peers [who had lectures] but they also were more
positive about their learning experience.” (Anderson et al, 2005).
Thaman et al (2013) positive feedback from students: “Analysis of […] student feedback revealed that most of the students agreed that active learning strategies
helped them to create interest (89.4%) and better understanding (94.1%) about the subject.”
Help students learn more
effectively
“Years ago Donald Bligh (1972) reviewed nearly 100 studies comparing lecturing with other methods, mostly group discussions or
reading. He found the following:
1 Lectures are relatively effective for presenting information, but unsupervised reading is more effective. Accessing information using search engines is now
much easier still.
2 Lectures are quite ineffective for stimulating higher order thinking.
3 Lectures cannot be relied on to inspire or to change students’ attitudes favourably, although many lecturers believe their own lectures do.
4 Students like really good lectures; otherwise they prefer well-conducted group work.” (Biggs & Tang 2011, 136)
Check students’ understanding
Asking for student responses allows you to correct any misconceptions – either immediately or at the start of the next
session.
“Students […] have a twofold problem: of following what they are hearing and of writing notes for later reference. They can’t do both simultaneously so they alternate between listening and
writing. But while they are writing the gist down, the lecturer is sentences ahead. Their notes are therefore a random sample of a fraction of what the teacher was saying. And with only a
fraction of the trees, they have to reconstruct the whole wood” (Biggs & Tang, 2011, 143)
As experts in our subject, we forget the sheer number of ways in which students may misunderstand our subject, the number of
“silly” mistakes they might make in their thinking.
Teacher learns from students
Thaman et al (2013): “There was also a very positive feedback from
the faculty of the department and some of
the other faculty in the institute.” – active learning
strategies may require more preparation but they
are also more enjoyable for teachers.
Expose students to the most up-to-date research – and get their views on it. How do they respond to ideas that are relatively new to the field; how do
they integrate those ideas into what they have
already learned?
Is active/interactive teaching more enjoyable
than just lecturing?
Interactive teaching – small groups
Where do we go wrong?
Discussion is not interactive by its very nature: Michael (2006), “active learning doesn't just happen; it occurs in the classroom when the teacher creates a learning environment that makes it more likely to occur”.
Foster (1981) study of tutorials: tutor talk = 86 %; student-student interaction = 8% of the session.
How can we get better?
Encourage peer interaction, small-group discussion within the group and give responsibility to students.
Avoid tutor takeover: be comfortable with silence, ask questions and allow students time to reflect.
What could you do in your small-group teaching?
Interactive teaching – large groups
Where do we go wrong?
“Sustained and unchanging low-level activity requires concentration. Sitting listening to a lecture is such an activity. Yet it requires concentrated effort to follow lecture content. […] The low-level outcomes usually gained from the lecture are in large part due to the unbroken activities of listening and note-taking”(Biggs, 2011, 137)
How can we get better?
Prince (2004) pp. 3-4: introducing even small amounts of activity to the standard lecture improves retention of information & engagement.
Stop the ‘unbroken’ note-taking activity and give students a chance to reflect and understand what they have just written down, & to check their understanding
These two graphs show the
changing performance of
students during a 90 minute
lecture: without
questions/breaks (L) & with
questions every 15 min (R).
(Biggs & Tang 2011, 137)
How interactive is your teaching?
10 minutes in pairs or 3s – come up with a couple of points for each person’s own practice.
Review your current practice in terms of interactivity: do you lecture students too much, talk too much in small-group
activity? Or did you do this in the past? Why might you have done this, and what is the effect?
Techniques
Audience Response Systems or
technology such as Kahoot
Student-led seminars
Debates Quizzes/competition
Problem-solvingArrange furniture if
possibleQuestions to answer
before the class
Questions to answer after the class –
hand in or keep?
Help with note taking: regular
pauses to check comprehension?
Learning partners/informal discussion breaks
Minute papers: 60 seconds to answer
a question
Group swaps/syndicated
learning
How could you make your
teaching more interactive?Look at the techniques on the previous slide. How would you integrate some of these into your own teaching practice in the future? What might be the effect? How would you measure that effect (assessment, student feedback, observation)?
15 minutes in pairs/3s: come up with at least one technique for each of you to integrate in the future.
What do you hope the result will be? How will you know if it has worked?
References Anderson et al (2005). Comparison of student performance in cooperative learning
and traditional lecture-based biochemistry classes. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 33: 6, pp. 387-393.
Biggs, J & Tang, C. (1999, 2011) Teaching for Quality Learning at University. Open University Press.
Bonwell, C. C., & Eison, J. A. (1991). Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom (ASHE–ERIC Higher Education Rep. No. 1). Washington, DC: The George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development.
Freeman et al (2014). ‘Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics’. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 111:23, 8410-8415.
Michael, J. (2006). ‘Where’s the evidence that active learning works?’ Advances in Physiology Education 30:4, 159-167.
Prince (2004). ‘Does active learning work? A Review of the Research’ Journal of Engineering Education 93: 3, 223-231.
Thaman et al (2013). ‘Promoting Active Learning in Respiratory Physiology’ National Journal of Physiology, Pharmacy & Pharmacology 3: 1, 27 – 34.
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