Maximising Student Engagement and Knowledge Transfer in Large Classes

1. Maximising Student Engagement andKnowledge Transfer in Large Classes Teresa Bradley/ Majid Ghanbari LIT Centre of Expertise -MSTL May 25th 2010

2. Challenges for the IoT sector Transition to third level Most students have ordinary level mathematics Maths skills are weak (from diagnostic tests) Students tend to be active learners Large classes, particularly first year

3. Transition to Third level (survey 2000, TB) • Findings included… • 52.2% found lectures difficult to understand • 63% found understanding certain subjects difficult • 45% like practicals • But students had little time to study because • Travel home every weekend (58% live away from home) • Part-time work (58% work part-time) • Social life • 77.6% expect a full time course to be no more than 9.00- 5.00 Monday to Friday

4. Retention linked to LC maths (p < 0.05)

5. Retention linked to ‘Difficulty with certain subjects’ p < 0.00005

6. Diagnostic tests 2008_09 and 2009_10 Some results for STEM courses 2008: n = 382 (complete details) 2009: n = 341 (complete details)

7. Test consists of three sections.. Numeracy, Algebra, Trigonometry 1 mark for correct answer. 0.5 marks for method and no more than one minor mistake. Mark scheme (maximum marks 6 per section ) Marks 5.5 to 6 Inclusive (Green): competent in basic skills – keep it up Marks ranging from 3 but less than 5.5 (Amber): there are serious gaps in basic skills. Marks less than 3 (Black): there are very serious gaps in basic skills..

8. Comparison of average results 08_09 vs. 09_10

9. Data from diagnostic tests 08_09

10. Lower cognitive skills are weak(Blooms Taxonomy) • Remembering… • Understanding • Applying

11. For example, Section 2: Algebra (n = 382) 7.Evaluate 44.04% correct 08 whena = 1, b = - 3 and c = - 4 8. Rearrange the following formula: in the form T =? 44.76% Correct 08 9. Write the following as a single fraction 16.54% Correct 08

12. Learning Styles Profiling (Dr M O’Brien, LIT) • Visual vs. Verbal • Active vs. Reflective. • Sensing vs. Intuitive • Global vs. sequential

13. Different Learning styles Report on Learning Styles Profiling (Dr M O’Brien)

14. Active learning • Getting students to do something course-related other than watching and listening to the instructor (Felder 2008).

15. Active learning • Active learning occurs when the learner organises selected information into coherent mental representations, and integrates it with prior knowledge. (Mayer 1999)

16. Active Learning Good Practice Encourages Active Learning. Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences. • I ask students to present their work in class. • I ask my students to relate outside events or activities to the subjects covered in my courses. • I encourage students to challenge my ideas, the ideas of other students, or those presented in readings or other course materials. • I give my students concrete, real-life situations to analyze. • I encourage students to suggest new readings, projects, or course activities. Chickering and Gamson, "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education," AAHE Bulletin, March 1987

17. Active teaching • Recognize the different learning styles. • ‘Instruction begins when you’ the teacher, learn from the learner. Put yourself in his/her place so that you may understand what her learns and the way s/he understands it (Kierkegaard)

18. Current Initiatives • Practicals • Practical exams constitutes 15%- 30% of many maths courses • Moodle • Learning Support

19. The Challenge of Large Classes- Some active learning techniques TAPPS (thinking aloud pair problem solving)… • Short problems (30 sec to 3 min) • Longer problems… circulate, give hints and check understanding Give handouts with gaps Use of classroom response systems – being researched at present

20. Research in the effective use of ICT • LIT Centre of Expertise in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning (Oct. 2009) • Two post graduate students Majid Ghanbari (Maths) Regina Kelly (Science)

21. …a distributed centre of NCE-MSTL

22. Initial trials on ‘Clickers’ are very positive

23. Project Outlines To develop an innovative classroom engagement technique and use technology for the enhancement of teaching and learning of mathematics with emphasis on IoT sector Majid Ghanbari

24. Educational Goals • To maximise interactivity between lecturers, students and the learning materials • Raising interest and motivation in students • To enhance the learning experience • To establish students’ basic maths skills and challenge them to think critically (Blooms taxonomy) • Maximization of transfer of learning

25. Formative Teaching(Active Teaching) Professor John Hattie showed that feedback had more impact on learning quality than any other single factor. Sadler '89 analysed feedback to show that for learning to take place the learner needs to know: • The Goal • Student’s present position • How to close the gap http://www.teacherstoolbox.co.uk Cambridge Regional College

26. It is a pedagogical strategy that aims to raise the visibility of the key concepts and to promote a more active learning environment. Such questions Good-Questions • stimulate students’ interest and curiosity in mathematics • offer students frequent opportunities to make conjectures and argue about their validity; • reflect the role of students’ prior knowledge and misconceptions in building conceptual understanding • provide instructors with frequent formative assessments of what their student are learning; • support instructors efforts to foster an active learning environment http://www.math.cornell.edu/~GoodQuestions/ Maria Terrell, PI, Robert Connelly Co-PI

27. Good questions build progressively… • Quick check: Designed to quickly check students' basic understanding of the material • Probing: Usually requires some thought and extension beyond basic concepts • Deep: Difficult questions that will usually require instructor intervention to help guide students in the right direction http://www.math.cornell.edu/~GoodQuestions/ Maria Terrell, PI Robert Connelly Co-PI

28. Example of a Quick-check Question equals (a) (b) (c)

29. Example of a probing Question equals (a) (b) (c) (d) Both (a) and (c)

30. Example of a deep Question equals (a) (b) (c) (d) Doesn’t exist

31. Allows for two-way communication between an instructor and students regardless of the size of a class Instructors receive instant feedback on understanding and misconceptions of the whole class instead of relying on responses of few who are willing to speak out Students receive instant feedback regarding their understanding, comparing themselves to the rest of the class and consequently building their confidence Classroom Response Systems (clickers)

32. Q5 Q4 Q5 Instructor’s handset http://www.qwizdom.co.uk

34. Question Types • Multiple Choice -You can have up to 6 choices(A,B,C,D,E,F) • Yes/No • True/False • Numeric • Sequence • Multiple Mark • Rating Scale • Vote (Multiple Mark) • Text Input - This is a text input question, only available for the Q5 remotes, this allows for up to 30 characters in the answer. • Demographic

35. Public Response Graph

36. Excel Report

37. Flash Reports

38. Research to Date • Literature review • Familiarisation with technology • Decided that the clickers satisfy the educational goals and are suitable for large classes • Clickers have been piloted in a 1st year electronics engineering class (app. 80 students)

39. Next..... • Design slides (Good Questions) for selected topics in 1st year engineering maths • Implementation in semester one, 2010 • Evaluation

40. The Independent (UK) 5 January 2009-a study by the KPMG foundation- ‘Numeracy difficulties are linked to … exclusion from school health risks (more likely to suffer from depression) increased involvement with the criminal justice system. Legal costs £164.8m a year…

41. Thank you