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Peer Instruction and Just in Time Teaching Marion Birch & Niels Walet School of Physics and Astronomy Peer Instruction • Eric Mazur – Harvard University Peer Instruction: A User’s Manual Pearson-Prentice Hall, 1997 • Lecture notes narrative Why Use Peer Instruction? • Traditional lectures – not most effective • • • • way of teaching Transcription of lecturer’s notes Attention fade Two way communication • Small groups - Q & A • Large groups - ? Students teach one another Benefits • Active vs. passive learners • Instantaneous feedback • Anonymous voting • Everyone can participate • Deeper conceptual understanding • Pre-reading - challenge understanding • More responsibility for own learning • Breaks up lecture • Improved attendance • Fun Cons • Cover less material in lecture • More background noise (Ref: Douglas • • Duncan, University of Colorado) Takes time to produce good thought provoking questions – but databanks do exist (Harvard, Edinburgh) Does not meet students’ initial expectations What is Just in Time Teaching? • Developed in the States • Content decided at last minute • Determined by what the students are struggling with • Electronic assignment – submitted a few hours before the class • Feedback Loop Our Approach Tutorials Introductory lecture JIRP Sessions VLE On-Line Assignment Blackboard E-Learning Material Talklets and Physlets On-line Assignments – Mastering Physics http://www.masteringphysics.com Outcomes Successes • Better exam performance • 95% submission of on-line assignments • Favourable feedback re’ talklets Weaknesses Need more choice in the JITT workshops Need to improve targeting of known issues (post-Newtonian thinkers) Engagement with JITT sessions limited to fraction of students Positive Comments • The interactive lecture was a really good idea. It helped to be able to get direct feedback about questions and also to be able to discuss ideas with fellow students. • Clicker questions kept the lecture interesting and helped me to understand material and spot problem areas. • Clickers make lectures more enjoyable and interactive. I find it beneficial and more intellectually stimulating to be able to participate in lectures. • I found the clickers really enhanced my learning as areas that weren’t understood were picked up on. • Clickers were a good idea: they showed how many people understood something; often people won’t put their hands up to show they don’t understand something. This was an anonymous way of doing this. Negative Comments • Clickers waste a lot of time. Could have gone through things in more detail in this time. • A lot of extra work was needed outside of the lecture. • ‘I expected that you would teach me . I didn’t expect to have to learn!’ – Ref: Duncan, Colorado University.