Teaching Big 2012

Engaging Students In and Beyonda 400 Seat Freshman Lecture

Charles A. LucyDepartment of Chemistry

University of Alberta

Teaching Big 2012

Lucy’s Big Lectures

• 150-200 students for 2nd year quantitative analysis

• 240-400 students for 1st year general chemistry

Student issues:

isolation

engagement

diverse students

motivation

Engagement in 1st year Engagement in upper years

Teaching Big 2012

In Class Engagement

• Isolation and anonymity

- create a supportive & respectful atmosphere- humour

* Ron Berk, “Professors are from Mars, Students are from Snickers, Mendota Press, 1998.

student world anecdotes

Teaching Big 2012

In Class Engagement

• Isolation and anonymity

- create a supportive & respectful atmosphere

- be present

- be dynamic- be adaptive

Poor contrast slides filled with lots of text that require the lights to be off are a sure way to literally put your students to sleep. Put your hand up when you are done reading this slide.

Teaching Big 2012

In Class Engagement

• Isolation and anonymity

- create a supportive & respectful atmosphere

- learn student names

Joan Middendorf, Indiana Univ., www.ntlf.com/html/lib/bib/names.htm

Dr. Lucy learned everyone’s name, which was nice because you no longer felt like a number, but an individual. Also, it formed a more personal relationship, which made it easier to talk to him & ask questions.

Chem 213 Winter 2010

Teaching Big 2012

In Class Engagement

• engagement

- demos

Initiate… …and step back

Room temperature 100 oC

Flash bang Student worlddemos

The demonstrations were also great and really helpful. They kept me coming to class.

Chem 102 Winter 2012

Teaching Big 2012

In Class Engagement

• engagement

- show and share

Bringing props to class is definitely a bonus and really helps to explain the machines.

Chem 213 Winter 2007

Teaching Big 2012

In Class Engagement

• Isolation & anonymity • engagement

Teaching Big 2012

In Class Engagement

• Isolation & anonymity • engagement

Angelika Kerr, Teaching and Learning in Large Classes at Ontario Universities: An Exploratory Study, Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO), 2011.

Appendix D Selected Sample Strategies (pg 28-56)

Brock 2nd year psycho: audio recordings of common exam question errors

Lakehead 1st yr geology: students write one paragraph personal introduction

McMaster 1st yr economics: online homework and experiments

McMaster 1st yr chemistry: clickers and live skit demonstrations

Teaching Big 2012

In Class Engagement

• engagement

- demos

Initiate… …and step back

Room temperature 100 oC

Flash bang Student worlddemos

The demonstrations were also great and really helpful. They kept me coming to class.

Chem 102 Winter 2012

Teaching Big 2012

Beyond Class Engagement

• engagement

- demos

I was wondering if we have any access to your demos that were video taped? I'd like to show them to my family and friends.

Chem 102 Winter 2012

Teaching Big 2012

Beyond Class Engagement

• engagement

- student world examples

Following today's lecture I became intrigued by the new concept of how a kg of steel weighs more than a kg of feathers, because my dad used to bug me with this question (assuming it's a dumb question of kg=kg) when I was younger. Could you try to explain it again? I'll show him that even my prof says the same as me, and I'll win the argument! …Chem 211 is turning out even more interesting than I expected…

Chem 211 Fall 2010 e-mail

sample

air

weightstd

air

obstrue

d

d

d

d

ww

1

1.

Buoyancy effect

Teaching Big 2012

Beyond Class Engagement

• engagement

- spamming

Students sign up for class e-mail list (News Forum)- typically two thirds of students participate

Any student e-mail question - Strip question of identifiers - Send answer to all students on e-mail list - Complex questions discussed in class

Teaching Big 2012

Best but also most annoying, every Q&A email he receives he forwards to all.

Teaching Big 2012

Teaching Big 2012

Beyond Class Engagement

• isolation & anonymity

Teaching Big 2012

Engaging Students In and Beyonda 400 Seat Freshman Lecture

Charles A. LucyDepartment of Chemistry

University of Alberta