Effective teaching by addressing students’ misconceptions with Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) and Peer In-struction (PI): Develop your own JiTT and PI lesson.

Elmar Junker, Claudia Schäfle, Silke Stanzel

FH Rosenheim, Germany

Abstract

How can I motivate my students to prepare for class in advance and work continuously throughout the se-mester? Which are the main difficulties my students encounter when studying the topic? Is there a chance to support both: students with lower and those with more advanced prior knowledge?

The active learning methods Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) and Peer Instruction (PI) can offer solutions to these questions. In JiTT students are asked to read a relevant text, answer an online quizz and pose a ques-tion before class. Subsequently the lecturers adapt their teaching according to the students‘ questions and difficulties. In the lessons PI-questions addressing conceptual difficulties are answered by the students preferably with clickers (electronical voting system). In a second round the students are asked to discuss the answer with their neighbour and to reconsider their choice. 

Although developed almost two decades ago, these methods haven’t been spread widely in larger areas of Europe. Even though Physics Education Research shows that the learning outcomes are significantly higher with active learning methods, in many countries the majority of university teachers keep on using traditional lecture formats.

After a short introduction you will have the opportunity to develop active learning JiTT/ PI-material for your own course in this workshop. You can benefit from the practical experience and the support of three physics professors, who have been implementing, adapting and using these methods successfully throughout the semester for six years in physics courses for engineer freshmen. 

Format:
-    Workshop, 2 hours.
-    Learning by experience cannot be replaced by something else. Therefore, the workshop itself will be conducted in the JiTT- and PI -format. The participants are invited to read a text in advance and do an online quizz before the workshop as well as posing questions to the instructors.

Collaborative Activities for a Student-Centered Learning Environment

Gerald Feldman, George Washington University - USA

Guillaume Schiltz, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

Abstract

Introductory physics classes at George Washington University initiated a collaborative group-learning pedagogical approach in 2008.  Since 2013, all introductory courses are exclusively taught in this mode, eliminating the “standard” lecture format. This approach was also implemented on a trial basis at ETH Zürich in the Spring 2017 semester for Environmental Engineering students.  

This innovative pedagogy often arouses the curiosity of STEM faculty, who wonder how the small-group format is organized and what activities constitute a typical class session.  This workshop will answer these questions and will provide examples that can be implemented in your own classrooms.  

We will describe our adoption (and adaptation) of the collaborative approach, and then we will participate together in various hands-on (and minds-on) exercises to illustrate the possible range of activities in this group-learning environment.  The focus will be on the delivery of the exercises and the pedagogical value of the collaborative activities.  Our objective is to have participants experience this from the student perspective, which is necessary to appreciate the benefits of interactive engagement.  

Workshop activities will include:
•  Clicker questions using an electronic response system
•  Whiteboard exercises comprising conceptual or numerical problems
•  Group quizzes using “lottery ticket” scratch-off cards
•  Short hands-on exercises involving tangible manipulation

Along the way, there will be time for questions and discussions, which are highly encouraged in an active-learning environment.  The workshop will be flexible, and the emphasis can vary depending upon the preferences of the participants.