Engaging Learners During Lectures

Beverly P Wood MD, PhD

Dr Wood does not have any disclosures.

The power of the first minutesOn your index card:

1. Write one question you have related to this session.

2. Write a fact you know about the topic3. Form a trio or quartet: Introduce

yourself.4. Share your question and fact.

How can you engage learners to enhance their learning?

AttentionHow well do listeners retain

information?

Retain 70% of first 10 minutes

AttentionHow well do listeners retain

information?

Retain 20% of last 10 minutes

Rickard et al, 1988 Teaching of Psychology 15,151-152

AttentionLe

vel o

f pe

rfor

man

ce

Time

LectureLectureeffectivenesseffectiveness

Students

Lecturer

Adapted from DH Lloyd

Visual Education,1968

5 min. 50 min.

Students’ Heart Rates in Class

Bea

ts/m

inut

e

70

80

90

Minutes

0 25 50 60 90

Lecture Discussion

Student question

Adapted from DH Lloyd

Visual Education,1968

Break

Your brain asks questions about incoming information.

Have I heard or seen this before?

Where does this information fit?

What can I do with it?

Is this the same idea I had?

Why your brain needs to be “on”

Link what being taught-----------> What already know

To save the information----->test, recap, explain, use in activity

The ‘Pause’ Procedure

Instructor paused for 2 minutes x 3 during lectures.

Intervals of 12-15 minutes between pauses.

Students discussed and reworked their notes

Students in the ‘pause’ class did significantly better on free recall and comprehension testing.

Ruhl, Hughes, SchlossUsing the pause procedure to enhance lecture recallTeacher education and special education 10: 14-18, 1987

Learning is enhanced if learners do something with

information….1. State the information in their own words2. Give examples 3. Recognize the info in different guises or

circumstances4. See connections5. Make use of info in various ways6. Foresee some consequences7. State the opposite or converse

John Holt, 1967How Children Learn

Foster Engagement & Student success

Curriculum

Student involvement:

Student/student, student/faculty interaction

Clarity, organization

Expressiveness, enthusiasm

Alexander Astin, 1997Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005Cooper & Cuseo, 1988

Quickies…ways to improve a lecture

Build interestInvolve

students during lecture

Maximize understanding

and retentionReinforce the

lecture

Preparing a Lecture: think engagement

Small Group Instruction in Higher EducationCooper, Robinson, Ball 2003 Chapter 14: Active thinking tasks in lecture

Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the ClassroomBonwell & Eison 1991

The Ten-Minute Trainer—150 Ways to Teach it Quick & Make it StickSharon BowmanPfeiffer, 2005

Segmenting Each Hour of Lecture

Connect

1-3 minutes

Deliver new info & check for understanding

Apply & Practice

Close

5-10 minutes

-Activity

-Brief overview

-Mini-lectures of 9-20 minutes each.

-After each mini-lecture, 1-2 minute “check for understanding”

-Activities that encourage application and transfer of learning

-next steps

-additional resources

-Ask learners to summarize session

‘Quick Thinks’

Susan Johnston

QT

“Support a statement”

Analysis of the research literature indicates that students mustdo more than just listen:…………..

Activity: Support and complete the statement, think of 1-2 behaviorsthat occur during active learning.Work in pairs for 2 minutes

QT

Active learning is more than listening:

ReadWrite

Discuss

Solve problems

Apply learning

Students

Analyze

Synthesize

Evaluate

Select the best response

How does the basic principle of Open access to peer-reviewed research articles and their prints benefit users?

A. Literature is available for all usesB. Permissible use of the literature falls

under “fair use” principlesC. Literature is available free of charge,

copyright and licensing restrictions D. Availability of access is delayed, but it is

then without restrictionE. Copyright holders waive rights

QT

Compare or contrast (pairs-trios)Identify 3 parallel elementsFocus on similarities

QT

Pollock Miro

Contrast the two casesHow are they different?

Support/complete a statement(in pairs)

A major issue of concern when industry reps or device manufacturers design CME is ……..

QT

Reorder the steps

Choose a procedure. Mix up the steps; students reorder them.

Why is this a useful exercise?

When might you want to use it?

QT

Reach a conclusion

In a review of published papers related to the outcomes of trials of an antidepressant, 37 with positive results were published, and 3 with negative or questionable results were published.

What is the potential effect on healthcare?

QT

Turner, Matthews, Linardatos, et alSelective Publication of Antidepressant Trials and its

influence on apparent efficacy. NEJM 2008;358:252-60.

Use questions

Our brains like challenges…

Information

pathways

Questions aid memory and deep learning

Ask, wonder, discover Start with known Mine for gold Tap other contributors Vary techniques Visualize questions Open ended--- Capstone (create closure, draw conclusions)

Ellen Weber 1999NTLF Vol 8(6),5-6

Paraphrase a conceptWe hope you have learned during this

session and that you can state in one sentence the essence of what you learned.

• Can you distill the session down into <12 words? Try it.

• Can you distill the session down into <5 words? Try it.

QT