2012-2013+Mtg+Highlights


 * Tuesday March 12th, 2013 **

With the end of semester approaching and exams looming, the topic of review session was discussed. How can review sessions be conducted to effectively engage the students, especially since many students will attend final review sessions without preparation or participation? (Here is an article on the subject from Faculty Focus.) One way of conducting review sessions, especially for large classes where exams are largely based on multiple choice questions is to pose a set of representative clicker questions. Those that are answered well by the class need little discussion, whereas those that are not answered well can be taken up and discussed. Another suggestion for involving students more in review sessions is to encourage them to submit practice questions with answers to build a bank of student questions. This idea extends beyond simply final exam review and can be used for regular course review. One tool to facilitate this is a website called Peerwise (@http://peerwise.cs.auckland.ac.nz/). Another possible approach to preparing review sessions is to ask students (either using a clicker poll or informally) in advance to identify parts of the course they would like to see covered in the review session. This reflection by students can prompt them to be more aware of areas they will need to focus their efforts.
 * Class Review Sessions before the Final Exam**

**Identification of Learning Styles** The last point above led into a discussion of student learning styles and student awareness of their own learning style preferences. Many students, especially at the first year level, have not developed their learning skills sufficiently for university and are unaware of how they learn effectively. Using questionnaires such as www.vark-learn.com may help students identify their learning style. Indeed, encouraging students to fill out this questionnaire can be a useful tool for their own study practices. Questionnaires like this may be incorporated into MyLearningSpace quizzes to encourage students to fill it out. Different types of courses may be better suited to certain learning styles than others, so the challenge remains for students to find study practices that work for them for their different courses.

**Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes in First Year Classes** Finally, we discussed the relationship between large introductory classes and second year (and higher level) courses. Sometimes there can be a disconnect between the intro courses and upper year in terms of content as well as program objectives. The importance of having well defined program objectives and mapping courses onto these was discussed, as well as the importance of communication at a program or departmental level about the role of the large introductory courses and what those teaching upper year courses expect students to know. This dialog should take place on a regular basis. One challenge is that some of the large introductory courses have a substantial service component, so it can be difficult to meet the needs of a diverse set of students.


 * Tuesday February 12th, 2013 **


 * MyLearningSpace Problems**

This week's meeting began with a discussion of how to deal with problems such as the recent MyLearningSpace down time. Many of us rely on MLS to distribute course material, communicate with students, and for online assessments. This is especially true for large classes. It is up to the instructor to take into account technology problems such as these and adapt deadlines as necessary. To communicate to students how class work will be affected by problems like these, a few options were presented:1. From LORIS, one can send an email to all students in the course (with instructions or necessary course materials)2. Posting materials and information on one's one website. This may be especially important for distributing course notes, etc. This strategy is only effective if students know to check the instructor's website, something that can be put into the course syllabus and highlighted in the course introduction.Having a strategy and contingency plans in place can minimize disruption to the course. **Follow up to previous discussion: Count down timers in class** Last meeting we discussed strategies for getting the attention of the class after some kind of group activity, or a break. Several people use a timer of some kind as a cue to students that the lecture is going to resume. One such timer is found online and can be displayed on the screen in class: @http://www.online-stopwatch.com/

A question was raised about how to encourage student participation in language classes where practice speaking the language is important for learning. Achieving this can be a challenge for large classes. Ideas suggested included having students prepare short videos which could be posted and subjected to peer review (although peer review has to be approached carefully to make sure it is effective). Another idea was to take a blended approach that would allow more time for in-class activities.
 * Engaging Students in Interactive Learning in Large Language Classes**

We discussed briefly the broader issue of students entering university without adequate background knowledge and skills, and how to address this problem. Some ‘big’ ideas included a system much like the CEGEP system in Quebec, standardized admissions tests, and the suggestion that some students aren’t well suited to university. Students shouldn’t necessarily be pressure to attend university other options such as college programs and skilled trades are important alternatives to consider, and should not be viewed as a less desirable. Some interesting books that touch on some of these issues and other challenges facing universities are: //Ivory Tower Blues//, by James Côté and Anton Allahar (check this link out: @http://www.ivorytowerblues.com/) and //Campus Confidential//, by Ken Coates and Bill Morrison
 * First Year Students Not Prepared for University**


 * Tuesday January 15th, 2013 **

Welcome back! The first meeting of 2013 began with a discussion of ‘crowd control’ in large classes. How do you keep student chatter down and avoid disruption of the class? Several ideas were mentioned, including: -outlining clear expectations of classroom conduct (focusing on respecting fellow students who are in class to learn, or even having students contribute to this discussion) -circulating in the aisles (when the classroom layout permits) -making eye contact with disruptive students and calling on them to answer questions -asking disruptive students to leave the class. Some faculty members questioned whether this type of confrontation would be effective, or whether we even have the right to ask students to leave. Jeanette pointed out that disruption of class activities is a form of nonacademic misconduct according to University Policies: Section 12.2 | Subsection 3: Non-Academic Misconduct | Item 4 While this section references non-academic areas, I think we can apply and make reference to it for classroom teaching purposes. "Obstruction or disruption of university activities or services. University activities and services include but are not limited to teaching, research, administration, studying, student events, meetings and public services." @http://www.wlu.ca/page.php?grp_id=2505&p=11452
 * Student Code of Conduct**

Class and Laboratory Attendance (undergraduate calendar) Any student who, in the opinion of instructors, is absent too frequently from lectures or laboratory periods will be reported to the dean of the faculty. On the recommendation of the department concerned, such a student after due warning by the dean shall be **debarred from taking the final examination** in that course. From here, discussion turned to the challenge of maintaining student attention during 3 hour lectures, and indeed whether 3-hour lectures were effective for student learning. The timing and length of breaks during these long classes was discussed. While some opt for short breaks (and finish class early), others find that students need longer breaks because they often buy food/drinks during the break. Several faculty members will change modes of delivery through the lecture to break up the time. Finally, the ** use of teaching evaluations for improving courses and empowering students ** was briefly discussed. For some more information on course evaluations (including formative evaluations), check out the following article from the Faculty Focus Newsletter.
 * Attendance Policy**


 * Tuesday, December 11, 2012 **

At this meeting, guest speaker Hannah Holmes from McMaster University shared some of the research she carried out as exploring the effects of class size and various teaching technologies on student final exam performance for her large first year microeconomics class (the abstract is below, as well as a copy of the presentation graciously provided by Hannah). Interestingly, she found no correlation between class size and exam performance. However, there are several plausible explanations for this that came up during discussion: 1. The variability of the data is quite large (the data was treated using individual test results and was not pooled by classes), 2. As class size was increased, other teaching strategies and techniques (Powerpoint and podcasts) may have compensated for the larger class size. This is supported by multiple linear regression, which shows that class size //is// negatively correlated with exam performance, while other factors are positively correlated. 3. Most of the classes were larger than 150 students, arguably an already large class. Perhaps further increases in class sizes beyond this point do not have an impact on the learning environment of the classroom.

Another interesting observation was that in-class quizzes were negatively correlated with final exam grade. This result is surprising since one might expect the extra practice and the need to keep on top of the course material might lead to improved learning. During the discussion, it was suggested that the time taken for the quizzes may have had an impact on the pace of the lectures, which may have had a negative impact on learning. Alternatively, it may be that students feel the quiz grades provides them more security or a false sense of confidence, which means they do not spend as much time preparing for the final exam.

Overall, it was an interesting discussion and an example of how student grades (data) can be used to establish what teaching strategies are effective. This is something many of us do, although perhaps less formally.

Abstract: Increasingly, large class sizes at the post-secondary level, especially in first year courses, have generated much debate. The general consensus is that teaching and learning are negatively impacted in "large" classes of over 50 students. What about large classes of over 500 students? In my time-series study of over 11,000 first year microeconomics students from 2006 - 2012, I evaluated the impact on student outcomes when class sizes increased from 200 to 600 students. I further assessed the impact of different classroom technologies such as the use of PowerPoint lecture slides, podcasts, and online versus in-class testing on students' exam grades. The results are surprising.
 * The Impact of Class Size and Teaching Technology on Student Learning Outcomes: Research Findings**

A Copy of Hannah's presentation slides is available.

Presenter Biography Hannah Holmes is an Assistant Professor, Teaching Track in the Department of Economics at McMaster University. She has an MA Economics from McMaster (1993) and an MA in Politics from Brock University (1996). Ms. Holmes has been at McMaster since 2005; prior to that she worked at Brock from 1996 - 2004. At McMaster, she is responsible for Level 1 Microeconomics - about 1200 students each term. Her research focus is primarily in teaching and learning, specifically in researching how to encourage student engagement to enhance student outcomes.


 * Wednesday, November 14, 2012 **

Maria DiCenzo from English was new to the group and was looking for some insights in anticipation of returning to teach first year students in the English Program. We spent some time talking about classroom dynamics and management, including electronic devices. We really liked her positioning of the student / faculty role when it came to classroom behaviour. Maria said that she saw her role as "modeling professional behaviour" in the classroom and the students' role as "learning professional behaviour". The group thought this take was positive versus punitive and framed expectations in a way that related to their anticipated career/professional world. We also talked about our personal styles and approaches to setting the tone and dealing with disruptive students. Here we thought it was important to know yourself and do what felt right and comfortable for you, following the motto of "be true to yourself". We also discussed strategies for engaging students with their readings One concern is that students may not do the required readings, or if they do the readings, they are not reflecting or analyzing the content at the level that is required. Solutions discussed included having the readings tied to assessment, and providing students with a clear framework for approaching and analyzing readings (i.e. making expectations clear). The idea of providing a framework for readings and assignments is especially important for first year students who may not have an idea where to start or what is expected of them.


 * Tuesday, October 16, 2012 **

We discussed the technology available in the media consoles of most large classes. Tristan Long described how he uses the **document camera** in the classroom media consoles to conduct demonstrations, and to annotate notes and handouts. Related to this, Ken described how he uses his tablet laptop to annotate incomplete powerpoint slides. If students are provided incomplete notes or handouts in advance, they can follow along with the annotations made using either the document camera or tablet. However, the document camera has the versatility of allowing demonstrations and the advantage of being available in many of the classrooms. To get a better idea of how fellow faculty members use class time and the technology in class, some faculty will open their classrooms to their colleagues. This program was coordinated by Educational Development, and will hopefully start again in the new year.
 * Technology in the classroom**

We also discussed approaches for mid-semester student feedback. The mid-semester feedback can be facilitated by Educational Development, who will conduct the evaluation and provide a summary of results. Alternatively, several faculty members routinely conduct their own informal mid-semester evaluations. These can range from “Start, Stop, Continue” feedback on sheets of blank paper, to online evaluations using MyLearningSpace. Ken makes use of a multi-question survey at mid-semester using MyLearningSpace. To ensure students participate, he releases midterm review material only when the survey is completed.
 * Mid-semester Student Feedback**

Several people expressed that they would like to try to learn student names (even in a large class). One tip that emerged is that the OneCard Office can provide a class list with photos.
 * Learning Students’ Names**

-Getting Students to Read: Fourteen Tips, by E. H. Hobson (this ties back to our previous meeting where we discussed ways to get students to come to class prepared) -Burchfield, C.M. & Sappington, J. (2000). Compliance with required reading assignments. Teaching of Psychology, 27(1), 58-60. -Howard, J.R. (2004). Just in time teaching in sociology or how I convinced my students to actually read the assignment. //Teaching Sociology//, 32, 385-90.
 * Resources Shared:**


 * Wednesday September 19, 2012 **

- //Faculty Focus Newsletter// - free online teaching and learning blog - sign-up to receive via emial ([|www.facultyfocus.com]) - //Faculty Focus Special Reports//**:** free downloadable reports (must create account) on teaching and learning (e.g., getting students to do the readings, teaching large classes) [] - Karpicke, J.D., & Roediger, H.L. (2007). Repeated retrieval during learning is the key to long-term retention. //Journal of Memory and Language//, 57, 151-162. (Article highlights: 1 - repeated retrieval (via testing) is key to enhancing later retention, 2 - techniques that make __initial learning__ slower or more effortful enhance long-term retention, 3 - repeated testing (and retrieving) while learning is key to long-term retention) - thanks Carolyn for the reference
 * Resources Shared:**

- signal to students how much time they have to complete a task or come back from a break - regular use creates an expectation and understanding of student behaviour (avoid "the mean" factor altogether) - options: i>clicker countdown clock (chat with EdTech if you need help), [] (lots of options)
 * Online Stop Watch (or cow bell)**

- options: (1) if less than 70% of students get answer correct, don't show bar graph with right answer, rather have students discuss the problem, revisit course materials, and respond again. Then show bar graph and discuss further if needed, (2) use to assess what students know/don't know when introducing a new topic, and (3) test attitudes and perceptions anonymously
 * Clickers**
 * -** consensus that one needs to assign a minimum of 10% of grade to clicker use (e.g., 5% participation, 5% for getting answer right) or any graded component for that matter, otherwise, students don't take it seriously

- make a strong rationale for preparedness at start of term and stick to your guns - communicate to students that you are assuming they have done the reading/prep work and have built your lesson accordingly (in - use stick/carrot approach (incentives) by connecting student prep work with an assignment/activity (e.g., reading reflection) other words, if they don't come prepared they are not going to benefit from what's planned for the class) - incorporate graded pre-lecture quizzes - an incentive for students, but more importantly a source of feedback for you on how students are doing and what you may or may not need to re/address in class (NB: recommendation: focus quiz content on basic/foundational material that can be built upon in class - tell students this is your approach) - design your course in such a way that it requires students to do/submit something each week - create an expectation - resource: Faculty Focus Report - "11 strategies for getting students to read what is assigned"
 * Getting Students to Come Prepared to Class** (e.g., done readings/watched a film)

- make connections between course components and student learning tasks/activities - provide data to back-up where you are coming from and how what you do is in their best interests (e.g., research results, student performance data from previous years) - most important to have a sound rationale to ask students to do something or purchase learning materials that controvene the ancillary fee policy set by the Ministry
 * Teaching and Learning Rationale**
 * -** situate what you do and why, and what you ask students to do and why - provide context/big picture (how does it help them?)

- ask students to submit X number of submissions, but explicity communicate ahead of time that you will randomly pick two to mark; keeps pressure on students to stay on task and reduces marking load (i.e., how much and when); good for discussion postings, reading summaries, lab summaries, etc. - lower stakes assignments - provide alternative or bonus assignments for students to complete before the end of term to help bump up their marks from say a 79% to 80% (NB: you might add the provision that if students haven't completed all course components in full or in part that the option is not available to them) - ask students to complete X number of assignments or submissions and drop their two lowest grades; if students submit only four out of six possible assignments then they use up their two "freebies" right off the top - use a simple checkmark system - check minus (0 points), check (1/2 point), check plus (one point) on each grading criteria (e.g., if five criteria, grade is out of a total of five); criteria could include: identify three points from lesson/reading/lab keeping in mind importance, originality, relevance, specificity, generalizable). See for example what Terry Sturtevant asks his students to do for lab summaries. []. A copy of the checklist can be found
 * Grading Management Options**