1. st
21
Century Teaching:
Three Technology-Enhanced
Techniques
Name
School
Department
@ TLT Symposium 2013
Dr. Jeff Loats
Department of Physics

2. 2
In what (rough) area do you teach?
A) Humanities
B) Natural sciences & mathematics
C) Professions & applied sciences
D) Social sciences
E) Teacher education
…no surer way to offend…

3. 3
Outline
Confession of purpose
The evidence standard
Three 21st-century teaching techniques:
• Flipped teaching
• Just in Time Teaching
• Active engagement with classroom response
systems

4. Blended Learning Initiative
(2013)
Common:
Target intro courses with large enrollments
(instructors teaching First Year Success courses)
Offer small incentive/acknowledgement (laptop)
Perhaps uncommon:
Invite potential participants (vs. them applying)
Offer a small “menu” of teaching techniques
Sustained support - 6-8 “meetings”
1-on-1, small-group meetings, workshops.

5. 5
The Evidence Standard
Teachers can feel bombarded…
I strive to be a scholarly teacher …

6. 6
In a typical day in your class, what fractionof class
time is spent on lecture-based delivery of content?
0%
2%
8%
44%
46%
(others)
A) 0% - 20%
B) 20% - 40%
C) 40% - 60%
D) 60% - 80%
E) 80% - 100%

7. 7
Flipped Teaching
"the Flipped Classroom isn't a methodology. It's
an ideology.“ – Brian Bennet
“Lecture at home, homework in class”
Take the passive delivery portions of traditional
teaching and move them online.
Online videos are often “screencasts”, or may be
small snippets of recorded lectures.
Students held responsible, directly or indirectly

8. Flipped Teaching vs. Lecture
Capture
My take:
Capturing an entire lecture has limited benefits. It
somewhat extends a passive technique.
The goals of the flipped classroom video conflict
with the results of capturing traditional lecture.
8

9. 9
Flipped Teaching
Students held responsible for viewing:
• Directly: JiTT, preparation quiz, notes check…
• Indirectly: Prep. Material is not repeated,
value of prep work is made apparent.
Class time is dedicated to problem solving,
discussions, applying skills, etc.

10. 10
Clickers: Very Well Studied
When used well…
• Quick/easy attendance in large class sizes.
• Everyone participates and retains anonymity
• Encourages active learning
• Improved concentration
• Improved exam scores
• Improved learning and retention
• Efficient use of class time
• Engages students in metacognition.

11. 11
Technologies vs. Techniques
Hands
Colored cards
Hardware “clickers”
Virtual response tools
Peer Instruction
Factual recall
Polling/survey
Poll-Teach-Poll
Thought Questions
Teach-Test-Retest

12. 12
Peer Instruction
Multiple choice questions
– Conceptual
– Hard
1.
2.
3.
4.
Students answer Individually
Discussion with peers
Students answer post-discussion
Class-wide discussion

13. 13
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
racing distance, then walk.
Which one wins the race?
A) Robot cat B) Robot dog
C) They tie

14. 14
In your teaching do you have a method for holding
students accountable for preparing for class?
19% A)I don’t, but I ask/threaten really well.
48% B) I use a paper method (quiz, journal, others?)
10% C) I use a digital method (clickers, others?)
3% D)I use Just in Time Teaching.
20% E) I have some other method.
(others)

15. 15
Just in Time Teaching
Online pre-class assignments
(“WarmUps”)
Learner
First half:
• Conceptual questions, answered in sentences
• Graded on thoughtful effort
Teacher

16. 16
Just in Time Teaching
Online pre-class assignments
(“WarmUps”)
Learner
Teacher
First half:
• Conceptual questions, answered in sentences
• Graded on thoughtful effort
Second half:
• Responses are read “just in time”
• Instructor modifies the plan accordingly
• Aggregate and individual (anonymous) responses
are displayed in class.

17. 17
Just in Time Teaching
A different student role:
Learner
• Actively prepare for class
(not just reading/watching)
• Actively engage in class
• Compare your progress & plan accordingly
A different instructor role:
• Actively prepare for class with you
(not just going over last year’s notes )
• Modify class accordingly
• Create interactive engagement opportunities
Teacher

18. 18
Consider a typical day in your class. What fraction
of students did their preparatory work before
coming to class?
28%
33%
21%
11%
7%
(others)
A) 0% - 20%
B) 20% - 40%
C) 40% - 60%
D) 60% - 80%
E) 80% - 100%

19. 19
Student Feedback
315 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%

20. 20
More on JiTT!
Much more information to be had:
• Theoretical basis for effectiveness
• Empirical evidence for effectiveness
• Writing good questions
• Best and worst implementation tools
• Practical questions and pitfalls

21. 21
My Summary
These three technology-enhanced teaching
techniques are:
• Applicable to any discipline
• Compatible with nearly any teaching style
• Evidence based
• Worth your consideration!

22. 22
Your Summary
For yourself… or to share next time
What was the biggest shift in your thinking
during this discussion?
What is the biggest question you are left with?
Contact Dr. Loats: Jeff.Loats@gmail.com
Today’s slides: www.slideshare.net/JeffLoats

23. 23
JiTT References & Resources
Simkins, Scott and Maier, Mark (Eds.) (2010) Just in Time Teaching: Across the Disciplines, Across the Academy, Stylus Publishing.
Gregor M. Novak, Andrew Gavrini, Wolfgang Christian, Evelyn Patterson (1999) Just-in-Time Teaching: Blending Active Learning with
Web Technology. Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River NJ.
K. A. Marrs, and G. Novak. (2004). Just-in-Time Teaching in Biology: Creating an Active Learner Classroom Using the Internet. Cell
Biology Education, v. 3, p. 49-61.
Jay R. Howard (2004). Just-in-Time Teaching in Sociology or How I Convinced My Students to Actually Read the
Assignment. Teaching Sociology, Vol. 32 (No. 4 ). pp. 385-390. Published by: American Sociological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3649666
S. Linneman, T. Plake (2006). Searching for the Difference: A Controlled Test of Just-in-Time Teaching for Large-Enrollment
Introductory Geology Courses. Journal of Geoscience Education, Vol. 54 (No. 1)
Stable URL:http://www.nagt.org/nagt/jge/abstracts/jan06.html#v54p18

24. Clicker References &
Resources
Banks, D. A. (Ed.). (2006). Audience response systems in higher
education: Applications and cases. Hershey, PA: Information
Science Publishing.
Hinde, K., & Hunt, A. (2006). Using the personal response
system to enhance student learning: Some evidence from
teaching economics. In Banks, D. A. (Ed.), Audience Response
Systems in Higher Education: Applications and Cases. Hershey,
PA: Information Science Publishing.
Martyn, M. (2007). Clickers in the classroom: An active learning
approach. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 30(2), 71-74.
(http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQM0729.pdf)
Moreau, N. A. (2010). Do clickers open minds? Use of a
questioning strategy in developmental mathematics, CAPELLA
UNIVERSITY, 2010, 157 pages; 3389211
Poirier, C. R., & Feldman, R. S. (2007). Promoting active
learning using individual response technology in large
introductory psychology classes. Teaching of Psychology, 34(3),
194-196.
Mazur, E. 2004 ”Introduction to Peer Instruction” talk presented
at New Physics & Astronomy Faculty Workshop, 2004, UMD.
Hake, R.R. 1998a. “Interactive-engagement vs traditional
methods: A six thousand-student survey of mechanics test data
for introductory physics courses,” Am. J. Phys. 66(1): 64-74;
(www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi/ajpv3i.pdf)
Anderson, L., Healy, A., Kole, J., & Bourne, L. (2011).
Conserving time in the classroom: the clicker technique. The
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64(8): 14571462.
Thought Questions: A New Approach to Using Clickers
CU Science Education Initiative & UBC Science Education
Initiative
(http://www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/files/CUSEI_Thought_Questions.pdf)
Clicker Resource Guide from the CU Science Education
Initiative & UBC Science Education Initiative
(http://www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/files/Clicker_guide_CWSEI
_CU-SEI_04-08.pdf)
Duncan, D. (2009). Tips for Successful “Clicker” Use. Retrieved
January 31, 2009.
(http://www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/files/Tips_for_Successful_Cl
icker_Use_Duncan.pdf)
Why Are Clicker Questions Hard To Create?
Blog post by Ian Beatty, Science Education Researcher and
Professor of Physics at the University of North Carolina at
Greensboro
(http://ianbeatty.com/blog/archives/100)
Good resource list at Carleton College’s website:
http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/classresponse/index.html
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