Chalk Bored: Implementing Technology to Engage Students and Redesign Teaching

June 26, 2012Associate Instructor Development Series

Summer 2012

Jamiella Brooks Cutcha Risling Baldy

Agenda• Introductions• Icebreakers• Associate Instructor Development Series Nuts & Bolts

– Syllabus– Certificate Series– Wikispaces (ucdaitc.wikispaces.com)

• Philosophy of Technology• Clickers in the Classroom• Creating effective and engaging powerpoint

presentations• Technology outside the classroom

How Do You Feel About…• I am drawn to my quiet students <---------> I am

drawn to my louder/more outgoing students

• It’s more important for me to convey as much information as possible during class time <----> It’s more important for my students to discuss with one another during class time

• I use lots of different kinds of technology in the classroom <----------> I prefer a “bare” classroom.

Website

http://ucdaitc.wikispaces.com/

Syllabus

http://ucdaitc.wikispaces.com/Syllabus

Certificate Series

To receive a certificate, you must attend 5 out of 6 sessions, turn in at least one assignment, and respond to the assignment of at least one peer.

Overachievers are invited and encouraged to go above and beyond this minimum requirement.

Technology in the Classroom

Links to videos

• http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0F8F3DF4B36A9049

• http://chronicle.com/article/Teach-Naked-Effort-Strips/47398/

Discussion

Think-Pair-Share: What do you agree/disagree with in these two videos? What do you think is the role of technology in the classroom?

Clickers in the Classroom

Poll: If you had to eat one odd food, what wou...

Poll: What is your favorite in-classroom techn...

Poll: What is your least favorite in-classroom...

Poll: What do you think about clicker question...

Use of classroom “clickers” to promote acquisition of advanced reasoning skillsGregory A. DeBourghhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1471595307000200

Strong positive ratings were reported for use of the clicker for testing pre-requisite knowledge and comprehension of preparatory textbook readings (85% and 77% very useful or somewhat useful, respectively), for confirming understanding of concepts from class discussion and textbook readings (87% and 71% very or somewhat useful, respectively), and for correcting misconceptions about content from readings and from class sessions (70% and 78% very or somewhat useful, respectively). When clickers were used to provide feedback to students about the accuracy of their thinking and decision-making in case studies, 72% (n = 52) of students found this immediate feedback as very or somewhat useful.

Classroom Questioning with Immediate Electronic Response: Do Clickers Improve Learning?Steven A. Yourstone, Howard S. Kraye, Gerald Albaumhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-4609.2007.00166.x/full

This research quantitatively measured the difference in examination scores between clicker-based classes and non–clicker-based classes in a School of Business. The questions were displayed on an overhead projection screen with typically four possible answers. For each question, the instructor would set a timer in the software to cut off accepting responses from students after a designated period of time.

The findings of this research provide some evidence that the use of immediate feedback using a technology like clickers can have an impact on student learning as measured by test scores. The ability of the students and the instructor to engage in a dialogue around each question seems to be very beneficial. There appears to be much more involvement of the students during the class time.

Creating Effective and Engaging Power Point

Lectures

August 15, 2012

Criticisms of Power Point* • PowerPoint encourages simplistic thinking, with complex

ideas being squashed into bulleted lists. • PowerPoint presentations seem designed to guide and

reassure a presenter, rather than to enlighten the audience.• PowerPoint encourages the use of unhelpfully simplistic tables

and charts, tied to the low resolution of computer displays and the need for text to be readable by a large audience.

• PowerPoint lends itself to poor typography and chart layout.• PowerPoint’s outline format leads presenters to arrange

material in an unnecessary hierarchy. • PowerPoint’s “click-for-next-slide” mentality enforces a linear

progression through the presenters hierarchy of ideas (whereas with handouts, readers could browse and explore items at their leisure);

• Effectiveness of PowerPoint presentations in lectures Robert A. Bartsch & Kristi M. CobernInvestigated whether students liked and learned more from PPT than from transparencies. Students preferred PPT but performed worse on quizzes when PPT included non-text items such as pictures and sound effects, particularly with irrelevant pictures. We conclude that PPT can be beneficial, but material not pertinent to the presentation can be harmful to learning.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131503000277

• Powerpoint versus Traditional Overheads. Which is More Effective for Learning?Christine Ahmed

Data analysis indicated that there was very little difference in test scores when comparing test scores following traditional overheads and Powerpoint presentations. The study suggests that technology is not a magic bullet, and what is most important in the classroom is a good teacher.http://1.usa.gov/MMK6jT

Research on the effectiveness of PPT

The Effect of PowerPoint Presentations on Student Learning and AttitudesHossein Nouri and Abdus Shahid

• Study testing whether using PPT enhances student short-term memory, long-term memory, and attitudes toward class presentation and the instructor

• Surveyed two sections of an accounting course: one which used PPT as a delivery system, another using traditional methods

• Results: PPTs may improve student attitudes toward the instructor and class presentation, however, gives no conclusive evidence that PPTs improve short or long term memory

http://bit.ly/OaLC2K

Research on the effectiveness of PPT

Designing Power Point Presentations*

• Avoid using the presentation as your lecture notes.

• Minimize text• Minimize distractions – Plain is better than

flashy. • Select non-distracting and simple backgrounds• Select simple, easy-to-read fonts (small fonts annoy

audiences)• Select simple and smooth transitions• Don’t include irrelevant illustrations, animations, or

sounds

Designing Power Point Presentations*

• Be strategic• A good picture is worth a thousand words and a bad

one needs explanation.

• Make it yours• Leave room for flexibility, questions, and the

occasional tangent.

Presenting Material in Class*– Cover your backside

• Don’t turn your back on your audience and don’t read directly from the slides.

– Be relevant• Students will write down everything on a slide. To avoid having

them writing down point #3 while ignoring your current lecture on point #1, reveal info on the slide as you speak of it.

– Fade to black (or white)• There are times when you will want student attention away from

the screen and on you or discussion. This can be accomplished by placing a blank slide at relevant points or, by simply hitting your B key (B blackens the screen, B again brings the slideshow back on-screen).

– Experiment

Premise:Both as individuals and as a species, humans are fundamentally social.

CANALS

More immigration from Europe

Chinese

Hispanic colonization

Native removal

Quick Tips• Know Your Audience

– style, level, focus • Limit Your Material

– an absolute max of one slide/minute, less if possible• Text Is Death

– lean and mean slides, avoid complete sentences.• Explain Your Graphics

– why is that screen shot here. Will anybody in the audience even be able to see it clearly enough?

• Define Your Terms – consider your acronyms, buzzwords etc.

• Structure Matters – You presentation should make sense.

Out-of-Classroom Resources

• Facebook

Facebook

Out-of-Classroom Resources

• Facebook• Blogs: Blogger, Wordpress, Livejournal, Tumblr

Blogs

Out-of-Classroom Resources

• Facebook• Blogs: Blogger, Wordpress, Livejournal• Wikis and Sites: Wikispaces, Google Sites,

Out-of-Classroom Resources

• Facebook• Blogs: Blogger, Wordpress, Livejournal• Wikis and Sites: Wikispaces, Google Sites, • Assessment and Student Interaction:

Polleverywhere.com, Google Moderator, Today’s Meet

Google Moderator

Today’s Meet

EITHER develop a draft ppt presentation for a lecture OR create your own Poll Everywhere and a mini lesson plan,

describing how you would implement it in your classroom

Assignment