This good practice post explores how specific in class technologies can be used to improve active learning in your course. Lets look at some of the terms:
Active learning is the participation of students in teaching activities, in contrast with the traditional lectures where students passively receive information from the instructor. Research has shown that introducing activities into the lecture can ‘significantly improve recall and improve student engagement‘1. In one of the key articles in this area Chickering and Gamson state the following.
“Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just by 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, apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.”2
This post also links with the concept of inclusive learning cultures. Inclusivity recognises that diversity is fundamental to university education as it seeks to “reflect and shape community aspirations by ensuring social justice and equity for all members of society.”3 This requires full participation by students with any (self-defined) impairment or disability.
‘In-class’ technology refers to any technology that can be used to enhance the teaching and learning experience for staff and students.
Powerpoint
Let’s start with Powerpoint! It’s one of the most frequently used tools for designing presentations, and you’ve probably made them available for your students to access in your Canvas course. Some students may find it difficult to read or view your slides – not all disabilities are declared. Here are some tips to improve the accessibility of your slides:
- Limit the amount of information on each slide and avoid long sentences. Write no more on each slide than you would on a postcard or using a more up-to-date reference a tweet (280 characters). Allow approximately two minutes per slide. For people who have dyslexia or have low vision, reducing the reading load and providing ample white space between sentences and paragraphs is really beneficial.
- Use the ‘slide design’ options built into PowerPoint: this will keep the text accessible. Use a sans-serif font, preferably Arial or Verdana at point 24. Make sure there is a sharp contrast between text and background. Dark blue text on a cream background is particularly easy to see. Be careful not to use colour to make meaningful distinctions.
- Avoid using text in images as the sole method of conveying important information. If you must use an image with text in it, repeat that text in the presentation notes or provide a link to a source that describes the image in more detail. This is to allow those with visual impairments to access the slides.
- Make the structure of each session obvious to the students, perhaps in visual form (on a slide, or in a handout, or on the board); recap from time to time (and at the end), and mark transition points clearly. This helps all students to understand how the various concepts are linked together
- Learning retention can be enhanced with the simple inclusion of questions and allowing students time to think these through, and then going on to answer them.4 As you show each slide you can encourage note taking or questions from students by withholding some of the information during the presentation.
- Make the powerpoints available for students to download 24 hours before the session. It is also recommended that you help students understand what these notes are for and how they can be used to help them create their own lecturer notes rather than a complete substitute for them. See here for information on How to Take Notes in Class.
Active learning using quizzes or discussions
One of the most useful and influential tools to support in-class learning has been voting systems. A recent literature review of 66 studies of electronic classroom voting found that these tools can positively influence students’ actual performance, student perceived performance, attendance and participation (beyond just voting). 5
Vevox (meetoo) facilitates classroom voting as well as additional functionality. Here are some examples.
- “4-5 revision questions at the end of a lecture in L4 and L5, fewer in L6.” (Fatima Perez De Heredia Benedicte – Natural Sciences).
- “Pose some deliberately controversial questions. It gets the views of the less outspoken students and their voice gets heard and then debate the response.” (Richard Carr – Policing Studies)
- “The word cloud function in Meetoo helps me co-create knowledge with my students. E.g. I ask my students to define a concept from their perspective. From the word cloud result, we (both I and the students) can deduce which keywords are important to that definition.” (Olatunde Durowoju – Liverpool Business School).6
Voice Reinforcement
Your voice is a powerful expressive device, to allow for its full range in larger rooms it needs to be amplified. Some of your students are listening to you in their second language, and all of them will benefit from hearing the intonations in your voice. This is the reason why many of the larger lecture rooms are fitted with wireless microphones. Here’s some feedback from LJMU staff who have used this system:
The Mic was useful, I actually forgot I have it on, I asked the students and they said they heard all of the presentation and it was clear, it enabled me to move around the stage and engage with the student groups.
In the literature, there is much on ‘physical performance’, such as: maintaining eye contact with students rather than fixing attention to notes or materials; having a relaxed posture; moving around while presenting. Research in the area of ‘teacher immediacy’, connect these actions with behaviours, such as openness, attentiveness, enthusiasm – it shows that the presence of the teacher can affect the student in many subtle ways. For instance, Burroughs7, Pogue and Ahyun8 and Valezand Cano9 posit that students feel prepared in taking direction, are likely to engage, and to work with one another with more ‘immediate’ teachers.
Whiteboards and Visualisers
Students can struggle to see written information on a whiteboard, particularly if they are in a larger room. A visualiser (available in every room) can be used with a piece of white A4 paper and a pen to clearly illustrate a point to all the students via the projector screen.
Recording an aspect of delivery for student review
For many of your students, English may be their second language or they may have particular impairments such as dyslexia. Your delivery, particularly for complex concepts is key to them being able to understand and succeed in their chosen subject. To provide extra support – parts of the session could be recorded in order to allow them to review and revise more successfully.
Mobile Devices
Mobile phones can be a distraction but they can also be used as useful learning tools. Clear expectations on their use in class should be articulated, but it should also be recognised that some students use them to take lecture notes. An active learning approach would capitalise on the access many students have to the web and use this as a tool to extend understanding. “Mal Ashall (Built Environment) actively encourages students to fact find and review sources during lectures on their smartphones, tablets, etc. These are used in discussions around the reliability of information used in later assessments.
References
1 Prince, M. (2004), Does Active Learning Work? A Review of the Research. Journal of Engineering Education, 93: 223-231. doi
2 Chickering, A. W.; Gamson, Z. F. (1987) Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education.
3 Claiborne, L., Cornforth, S., Gibson, A. & Smith, A. (2011) Supporting students with impairments in higher education: social inclusion or cold comfort?, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 15:5, 513-527, DOI: 10.1080/13603110903131747
4 Gier, V. S., & Kreiner, D. S. (2009). Incorporating Active Learning with PowerPoint-Based Lectures Using Content-Based Questions. Teaching of Psychology, 36(2), 134–139.
5 Keough, S.M., 2012. Clickers in the Classroom: A Review and a Replication. Journal of Management Education, 36(6), pp.822-847.
6 Good Practice Post: Active Learning with Vevox
7 Burroughs, N.F. (2007) ‘A reinvestigation of the relationship of teacher nonverbal immediacy and student compliance-resistance with learning’ in Communication Education, 56 (4): 453-475
8 Pogue, L.L. and Ahyun, K. (2006) ‘The effect of teacher nonverbal immediacy and credibility on student motivation and affective learning’ in Communication Education, 55 (3): 331-344
9 Velez, J.J. and Cano, J. (2008) ‘The relationship between teacher immediacy and student motivation’ in Journal of Agricultural Education, 49 (3): 76-78