Motivating Students Beyond the Classroom:Science/Medicine/Mathematics

Dr. Scott ReversPGA IAPP 2012University of Warwick

Learning Outcomes:

•By the end of this session you should be able to:

•1) Identify and evaluate methods for motivating students beyond the classroom

•2) Consider appropriate strategies to encourage this within your own specific teaching situations

Brain storming Activity:• Key questions:

• Why is learning outside the classroom important?

• How might this be achieved?

• Consider in this regard: What helped you learn?

Motivating Students• Students who actively prepare outside of the

classroom before coming to class are generally more motivated, better informed, and more confident in producing good work…

• They are also more likely to be more directed in relation to their concerns (whether towards the production of research, employment, etc.)

• Nevertheless, many students arrive in class under-prepared.

Why is learning outside the classroom important?• Understanding the broader context in which

problems are to be assessed and understood.• Development of critical and creative faculties(These are crucial in developing research skills)• Development of abilities to express knowledge at

different levels of engagement.• The latter ability is crucial in future social and

employment related situations.

Assessing Motivation in the lab.

Qu.What are the problems for students in laboratory exercises?

Problems include:• 1) The ‘cookbook approach’ by some

students

• What are the problems with this?• …the difference between following directions

and understanding why a particular sequence of steps produces the desired result?

• They operate as technicians driven by directions rather than by concept-driven enquiry or understanding.

Why does this happen?

•Students are given too much information in a short time just before the exercise.

•Students are not required to do anything in preparation for lab. work.

What to aim for:

•(i) to motivate students to acquire the necessary basic knowledge before the laboratory exercises;

•(ii) to shift the time burden from post-laboratory to pre-laboratory work;

•(iii) to improve student performance at the final exam;

•All of these should be achieved with no extra time burden for students and teaching assistants.

How to Improve Motivation:

•Getting the students to think about the experiment prior to entering into class.

•How might this be done?

Motivation: Carrot or stick?

Improving Motivation: Suggestions•Setting questions in advance•Getting students to work in small groups

together on problems outside of class•…then selecting at random student groups

to write the answers to these problems on the board in front of the class.

•This kind of approach has been applied to chemistry classes and mathematics classes.

Motivation: Reward Strategies

•Also where possible:•creating reward strategies •By awarding points to students for

successful completion of tasks that go towards their overall mark or

• for asking relevant and valuable questions in class.

Things to also attend to…•Helping students to think about why they are

doing what they are doing – its relevance.•Understanding the bigger picture!• In other words consider the importance of

context dependent memory for students

•Use of Questions: Why an experiment works? What if it were applied in the same way to different criteria? How might a concept or problem be otherwise understood or applied?

Things to also attend to…•The relationship of the lectures to the

demonstrations or support classes •Be clear on thematic coherence and

consistency!

•Thematic coherence is key to helping students grasp the conceptual background and relevance of the practicals.

•Contact with the course leader/lecturer is important here…

‘Where there is a will…’

•These strategies often may require discussion with course leader but remember:

•Courses are not simply fixed and often encourage teaching innovation;

•Enthusiasm and success in pursuing new approaches can provide a positive reference with regard to your own CV!

Tips: What’s happening elsewhere?

•Also look at courses run in the same area as your own at other institutions.

•See what other people are doing and critically assess how this might work in your own situation…

Tips: What’s happening elsewhere?• For example:

• “Laboratory throws away cookbooks in pursuit of discovery”

• “At Vanderbilt’s alternative introductory biology laboratory students are asked to design experiments as well as to conduct them.”

• This is indicative of an increasing feature of research-led teaching…

• http://blogs.vanderbilt.edu/research/2011/05/laboratory-throws-away-cookbooks-in-pursuit-of-discovery/

A Study: What happens when some of these ideas are implemented?

Let’s Consider a Study on Implementation of Strategies for Increasing Learning Outside Classroom…(see Appendix)

•The Study*:• Pre-laboratory exercises were prepared and handed

to students a week prior to the relevant exercise.• The students were asked to return answers 3 days

later.• Students were free to seek assistance where required

of tutors, fellow students in answering questions.• The answers were graded and returned to students at

the beginning of the relevant laboratory class.• * Barnes, R. and Thornton, B. (1998) Preparing for Laboratory Work. In Black, B. and Stanley, N. (Eds),

Teaching and Learning in Changing Times, 28-3.

Study Example:

•Model answers were made available to students after they had handed in their answers.

•The answers were discussed in the pre-laboratory lecture.

•Any prevailing misconceptions from students answers would also be addressed.

Survey Results of the study showed:

•1) It helped them understand relevance of what they were working on in lab.

•2) Have better understanding pre-lab. demonstration

•3) They felt more confident in the lab.•4) Made writing the lab report easier. •5) It also highlighted that it resulted for

students in a more positive attitude towards lab. work.

What does this highlight?

•That preparation outside of the classroom is key to:

•1) Enhancing student understanding•2) It provides a contextual horizon that

serves as platform for potentiating their critical awareness

•3) It also increases their enthusiasm towards their work

Remember:

•The balance between increased workloads and supplying tools to help students is a fine one.

•However, studies have shown that where students understand the benefits of introducing tasks for them to work on outside the classroom they respond well!

Final Thoughts• 1) Make sure of coherence of your classes with the

lecturer – be in touch with the course leader.• 2) Ask students questions that stimulate them to

understand the bigger picture, the contextual horizon of a problem.

• 3) Provide questions to prep them for the next class.• 4) Stimulate them into working in groups outside of

class where possible.• 5) Where possible provide rewards for their

preparation outside of class• 6) Also in this regard be aware of the value of peer

pressure as a motivation.

Conclusion

•Creating an active and engaged learner outside of the classroom produces a more reflective, more engaged and enthusiastic learner inside the classroom!

•For consideration:•What other practical examples can we

think of to promote student engagement?

Appendix: Useful Web References

• Barnes, R. and Thornton, B. (1998) Preparing for Laboratory Work. In Black, B. and Stanley, N. (Eds), Teaching and Learning in Changing Times, 28-3.

• Pogacnik, L. and Cigic, B. (2006) How To Motivate Students To Study before They Enter the Lab. , Journal of Chemical Education, 83, 1094–1098.

• O’Brien, G., and Melanie Cameron, M., (2008) Pre-laboratory Activities to Enhance the Laboratory Learning Experience, Uniserve Science.

• McKelvy, G. M., (2000) Preparing for the Chemistry Laboratory:An Internet Presentation and Assessment Tool, University Chemistry Education, 4, (2).

Appendix: Research-led teaching• Chang, H., (2005) Turning an Undergraduate Class into a

Professional Research Community, Teaching in Higher Education, Vol. 10, No. 3, 387/394.

• Examples of research-led teaching depts. see:• King’s College, London, Biohealth research teaching.• Russell International Excellence Group,Summary

of Research-led Learning