Engaging a Class of a Thousand Students Jason Harlow, David Harrison and Tony Key University of Toronto - Physics Department

1
Engaging a Class of a Thousand StudentsJason
Harlow,David Harrison and Tony KeyUniversity of
Toronto - Physics Department
Inside Convocation Hall at the University of
Toronto
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Talk outline

• What we are doing to teach Physics to the masses
• How we try to engage and motivate students in a
  course they hate
• A Mini-Physics Lecture!
• Results of student surveys
• Future Plans, ideas

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Who we are

• Jason Harlow (me) Teaching-Stream Lecturer,
  hired August 2004. I teach 2 or 3 physics
  courses per year.
• David Harrison Senior Lecturer, has taught
  physics at U of T since 1972
• Tony Key retired Professor, continues to teach
  Communication for scientists and introductory
  Physics

All are members of the Physics Education group at
U of T
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What we teach

• Physics for the Life Sciences, annual enrolment
  of 900-1100 students.
• 26 weeks from September through April.
• One-hour lectures are held twice per week in
  Convocation Hall, an auditorium with 2000 seats
• Four professors take turns lecturing for about 6
  weeks each (4 quarters).
• Before 2003/04, this class was split into five
  200-student sections

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Outside Lecture

• Bi-weekly 3-hour laboratories StudentTA
  ratio15
• Weekly 1-hour tutorials run by graduate students.
  StudentTA ratio25.
• Department-run Tutor Drop-In Centre
• Extensive Course web-site, with course schedule,
  assignments, lecture notes and access to
  individual student marks
• University-run message-board and chat-room for
  Life Sciences students (http//biome.utoronto.ca)

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zzz
Tablet PC projected on big screen
zzz
PowerPoint
zzz
Whiteboard or Chalkboard
zzz
In-class discussions!
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Sample Lecture

• Reading for todays lecture Chapter 12
  Newtons Theory of Gravity
• Results from Chapter 12 WebCT Pre-quiz
• 90 of students answered all 3 questions
• Average mark 85
• Correct answers on course web-page for todays
  lecture

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Sample Lecture

• In-class Quiz Question Two balls, initially at
  rest, are dropped simultaneously. The large ball
  weighs twice as much as the small ball. Which do
  you predict?

1. The large ball will fall at least twice as
fast as the small ball.
2. The large ball will fall slightly faster than
the small ball.
3. Both balls will fall at the same rate.
4. The small ball will fall slightly faster than
the large ball.
5. The small ball will fall at least twice as
fast as the large ball.
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Sample Lecture

• Galileo said When air friction is very small,
  all objects fall with the same acceleration.
• Two masses connected by spider silk should fall
  at the same rate as either mass.
• Galileo was convicted of heresy, died under house
  arrest in 1642

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Other things we tried

• Video cameras were pointed at demonstrations on
  stage, and a live image was projected on the main
  screen.
• We paid a runner to wander in lectures, collect
  written questions in class and pass them to the
  professor.
• The audio-component of lectures were recorded and
  posted on the course web-site in audio-streaming
  and .mp3 format.

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Other things we tried

• Tablet-PC notes were posted on the web after
  class, along with PowerPoint slides. (- this
  resulted in a mention on the front page of the
  Toronto Star!!)
• Representative Assemblies
• a.k.a. Student Management Teams
• weekly meetings with pizza
• 10 students and professor
• discussion limited to issues of communication and
  facilities only no discussion of course content

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Student Survey Results

• Two surveys were done in 2004/05 about our
  teaching techniques. Surveys were done during
  tutorials.
• 669 students responded in October, 311
  students responded in March
• For all questions, students chose a number from1
  to 7 where
• 1 means totally useless
• 4 means neutral
• 7 means an invaluable aid to my learning

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Student Survey Results

• Tablet PC The main content of the classes was
  delivered using the Journal program on a Tablet
  PC, with some PowerPoint slides and other
  information on the side screens. How effective
  was the use of the Tablet PC for your education?

When Mean Summary Comment
Fall 2004 4.08 51 neutral With the exception of the 3rd quarter, the Tablet PC is used as an electronic blackboard
Spring 2005 4.96 65 positive projected onto the main screen in Con Hall
Spring Histogram
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Student Survey Results

• Demonstrations Often we did demonstrations in
  class, sometimes in conjunction with In-Class
  Questions and small group discussions. In
  general, are demonstrations useful?

When Mean Summary Comment
Fall 2004 5.33 74 positive Students like demonstrations..
Spring 2005 4.59 62 neutral But do they learn anything from them?
Spring Histogram
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Student Survey Results

• Pre-Class Quizzes Almost every week you did a
  short quiz on the textbook readings for the next
  2 classes. How useful were the Pre-Class Quizzes?

When Mean Summary Comment
Fall 2004 3.71 53 neutral Despite the students relatively low opinion, we believe it is very important that the
Spring 2005 4.14 54 neutral students read the text before class.
Spring Histogram
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Student Survey Results

• In-Class Questions In class many times I asked
  the class a question and asked for a vote of what
  you thought was the correct answer. How useful
  were these questions?

When Mean Summary Comment
Fall 2004 5.32 76 positive In mid-October we switched from raising hands to coloured cardboard squares.
Spring 2005 5.15 69 positive Except for 3rd quarter, these were continued in almost every class.
Spring Histogram
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Student Survey Results

• Small Group Discussion When there was
  disagreement on the right answer to an In-Class
  Question, often you broke up into small groups to
  discuss it. How useful were these small group
  discussions?

When Mean Summary Comment
Fall 2004 3.87 58 neutral The relatively poor evaluation may be due to the nature of the in-class questions..
Spring 2005 3.33 53 negative Perhaps the questions were too easy, so discussion was often unnecessary.
Spring Histogram
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Future Plans

• We will continue to teach the section of 1000
  students together in one big room. U of T has
  distant plans to build a large lecture room.
• Radio Frequency Personal Response Systems to
  replace voting cards.
• More difficult in-class questions (CINQ database)
  
• More TA-training, different format for labs and
  tutorials.

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Thank You!

• Please take the time to fill out the feedback
  form!

• Jason Harlow
• jharlow_at_physics.utoronto.ca
• University of Toronto Physics
• http//www.physics.utoronto.ca/jharlow