Active Learning In Large Classes

A discussion

Leonhard Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Education

Introduction/Purpose

Today we willDefine Active LearningBrainstorm ideasChallengesManagement in the classroomReferences from the literature

Active Learning is…

… anything that involves students in doing things and thinking about the things they are doing”

Bonwell & Eison (1991)

Think-Pair-Share Activity

Think about the challenges of using active learning in large classes.

Discuss and compare with your partner.Share with the group and let’s see what we

come up with.

Myth #1 – Using Active Learning is Risky

To prepare students for problem solving, use an ice breaker warm up activity that helps them experience imaginative thinking.

Check Your I.Q (Imagination Quotient) Activity, The Winning Trainer, “Defining a Problem”, Appendix 24

Myth #2 – If I do active learning I will not have enough class time to cover the syllabus

Take the opportunity at the beginning of the semester to integrate activities into lessons.

Why do we need to consider teaching with active learning methods?

Consider attention spans of students.Students will retain more if they are actively

engaged in doing something.

Felder & Brent, (1999) (2002)

Heat Transfer – Hot air balloon

Taryn Bayles: Active Learning for Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)

Use a video to visualize a concept“I was explicitly working out some examples related to the

application of the conservation of momentum to commonly encountered systems in the students’ lives, starting from the basics and slowly arriving at the appropriate form of the conservation law by using pertinent assumptions.

Myth #3 – Using active learning takes more time to prepare for class

“The purpose of the video was to verify whether a grown man can be knocked over by a water jet. So we (the class) approximated the jet by a nozzle with a particular flow rate and diameter. We worked out the pressure being exerted by the water jet. Then we compared it with pressures exerted by heavyweight boxers when they punch people (with data collected from the web). And it turned out to be possible if the water jet had a high enough velocity, it could knock people over….I also cited the movie “Rocky III” in which Rocky fights the Russian, Ivan Drago, which people seemed to enjoy recalling.”

Arin Chowdhury, Graduate Teaching Fellow, ME

Myth #4 – Using Active Learning is difficult in a large class

Embed short break out activities into the lecture. Lecture for a short period of time, stop and in groups of 2 or 4, ask students to do something, for an allotted amount of time.

“Turn to the person on your left and describe a concept that you typically deliver in lecture. Then ask he/she to summarize this back to you. You have 3 minutes.”

Conceptual Questioning

Create a multiple choice question about a concept. Have the distractors reflect common student misconceptions. Have the students get into pairs to come to consensus on their responses. Poll the students.

Use show of hands, students hold up their answers, use clickers, or come to the board to put stickies on the answers.

Gather the answers and assess.

Mazur (2009)

Problem Solving – VisuallyIdentical balls are launched at the same time with the same

velocity from the left front end of the two-track gizmo photographed below. (Because this is a physics problem, there is no friction.) A race of the balls will then ensue. The ball on the flat track clearly proceeds across the track at a constant speed. The ball on the dipped track goes for a while at that same speed, goes faster while it is in the dipped part of the track, then returns to its original speed for the final segment of the track. Note that it also travels further.

.

Physics Question of the Week- What will happen?A.The ball on the straight track will reach the

end firstB.The ball on the track with the dip will reach

the end firstC.The race will end in a tie

Physics Dept., U. of Maryland

The answer is (b); the ball on the dipped track gets to the end first and wins the race. The two balls go along together for the first part of the race. As the ball on the dipped track goes down, its horizontal velocity increases, so it gets ahead. When it returns to its original level, it slows down to its original horizontal speed, but in so doing it never goes slower than the ball on the flat track, so it never gets behind the other ball or even allows the flat track ball to catch up. The two balls then move along at the same speed with the dipped track ball remaining ahead of the straight track ball by a constant amount.

Lecture Road MapWhat do you want to accomplish in this lecture?

Lecture (15 minutes)Pair/Share exercise (discussion)

Lecture (15 minutes)Fill in the blank slidesShow a video to illustrateDo a demonstration

Lecture (15 minutes)Small group activity (problem solving)Minute Paper

Application Exercise

Take one of the methods that you learned today and think how you can apply it to a lesson.

Mix it up

“If a lecture includes even a few minutes of relevant activity – a minute here, 3 seconds there – the students will be awake and with you for the remaining time in a way that never happens in a traditional lecture, most will retain far more of what happens in those few minutes than of what you say or do in the rest of the session.

Felder & Brent (2009)

Mix it up

“If you do this in every course session, at the end of the semester, you’ll see evidence of high-level learning unlike anything you’ve seen before.”

Felder & Brent (2009)

When and how to use active learning?

What is it that I want to accomplish in a class period?

What do I want my students to know?What can they do in an activity that will help them

learn?

The Minute Paper

What is the most important idea you learned today?

What question was not answered?

Teaching Large Classes

Teaching Large Classes, Graham Gibbs, The Open University, U.K.Active Learning with Richard Felder

Newton’s First Law – impossible to curve a bullet

Movie “Wanted” Mythbusters: Curve a bullet

Felder, R., Brent, R., (2009), “Active Learning: An Introduction”, ASQ Higher Education Brief, 2 (4), August 2009

Felder, R., Brent, R., (1999), “FAQs. II, (a) Active Learning vs. Covering the Syllabus; (b) Dealing With Large Classes”, Chemical Engineering Education, 33 (4), pp. 276-277; accessed from the Internet 3/15/2020 - http://wwwr.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Columns/FAQs-2.html.

Sheppard, S., Macatangay, K., Colby, A., Sullivan, W., (2009), Educating Engineers: Designing for the Future of the Field.

Prince, M., (2004), “Does Active Learning Work? A Review of the Research”, Journal of Engineering Education, July 2004, pp1-9.

Mc Keachie, (2006), Teaching Tips, “Teaching Large Classes”, Ch. 19, p. 254-265.

Huba, M. E., Feed, J. E., (2000), Learner-Centered Assessment on College Campuses: Shifting the Focus from Teaching to Learning, “Using Rubrics to Provide Feedback to Students: The Role of Feeback in Student Learning” Definition of active learning, Ch. 6, p. 153.

Weimer, M. E., (2002), Learner-Centered Teaching, Ch. 3, The Function of Content, pp. 52-53; Appendix C, Good Books on Active Learning, pp. 225-226

Hiler, W., Paul, R., (2002), The Miniature Guide: Practical Ways to Promote Active & Cooperative Learning, The Foundation for Critical Thinking

Angelo, T., Cross, K. (1993), Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers

Eitington, Julius E., (2002), The Wining Trainer: Winning Ways to Involve People in Learning, 4 th Edition

References