Maximising
Student Engagement
and
Knowledge Transfer
in
Large Classes
Teresa Bradley/ Majid Ghanbari
LIT Centre of Expertise -MSTL
May 25th 2010
Challenges for the IoT sector
 Transition to third level
 Most students have ordinary level
mathematics
 Maths skills are weak (from diagnostic tests)
 Students tend to be active learners
 Large classes, particularly first year
Transition to Third level (survey 2000, TB)
 Findings included…
 52.2% found lectures difficult to understand
 63% found understanding certain subjects difficult
 45% like practicals
 But students had little time to study because
 Travel home every weekend (58% live away from home)
 Part-time work (58% work part-time)
 Social life
 77.6% expect a full time course to be no more
than 9.00- 5.00 Monday to Friday
Retention linked to LC maths (p < 0.05)
Table A.4(a): LC_M ATHS * Results (S & A) Crosstab ulation for
cert/diploma/deg ree co urses
Resul ts (S & A)
pass
LC_MATHS
A (pass)
B (pass)
C (pass)
D (pass)
E (pass)
A (hons)
B (hons)
C (hons)
D (hons)
Total
83
84.7%
141
72.3%
103
65.6%
49
67.1%
2
100.0%
3
100.0%
6
75.0%
15
88.2%
18
78.3%
420
72.9%
not pass
7
7.1%
28
14.4%
29
18.5%
15
20.5%
left or did
not sit
8
8.2%
26
13.3%
25
15.9%
9
12.3%
1
12.5%
1
5.9%
2
8.7%
83
14.4%
1
12.5%
1
5.9%
3
13.0%
73
12.7%
Total
98
100.0%
195
100.0%
157
100.0%
73
100.0%
2
100.0%
3
100.0%
8
100.0%
17
100.0%
23
100.0%
576
100.0%
Retention linked to ‘Difficulty with certain
subjects’ p < 0.00005
Table A.8: Difficulty with Certain subj ects * Results (S & A) Crosstabulation
Results (S & A)
Certain
subjects
very difficult
difficult
not difficult
Total
pass
153
63.8%
168
77.4%
219
80.2%
540
74.0%
not pass
47
19.6%
27
12.4%
27
9.9%
101
13.8%
left or did
not sit
40
16.7%
22
10.1%
27
9.9%
89
12.2%
Total
240
100.0%
217
100.0%
273
100.0%
730
100.0%
Diagnostic tests 2008_09 and 2009_10
 Some results for STEM courses
 2008: n = 382 (complete details)
 2009: n = 341 (complete details)
Test consists of three sections..
 Numeracy, Algebra, Trigonometry
 1 mark for correct answer. 0.5 marks for method and no




more than one minor mistake.
Mark scheme (maximum marks 6 per section )
Marks 5.5 to 6 Inclusive (Green): competent in basic
skills – keep it up
Marks ranging from 3 but less than 5.5 (Amber): there
are serious gaps in basic skills.
Marks less than 3 (Black): there are very serious gaps in
basic skills..
Comparison of average results
08_09 vs. 09_10
Numeracy
Algebra
Trigonometry
2008
3.61
3.13
2.96
2009
3.44
2.78
2.52
Data from diagnostic tests 08_09
LC Grades (Ord) 2008, 2009
2009
2008
20.00%
18.00%
16.00%
14.00%
12.00%
10.00%
8.00%
6.00%
4.00%
2.00%
0.00%
A1
A2
B1
B2
B3
C1
C2
C3
D1
D2
D3
Lower cognitive skills are weak
(Blooms Taxonomy)
 Remembering…
 Understanding
 Applying
For example, Section 2: Algebra (n = 382)
7.
Evaluate
b
b 2  4ac
2a
when a = 1, b = - 3 and c = - 4
44.04%
correct 08
8. Rearrange the following formula:
in the form
T=?
PV
 nR
T
44.76%
Correct 08
9. Write the following as a single fraction
1
1

R1 R2
16.54%
Correct 08
Learning Styles Profiling
(Dr M O’Brien, LIT)
 Visual vs. Verbal
 Active vs. Reflective.
 Sensing vs. Intuitive
 Global vs. sequential
Different Learning styles
Report on Learning Styles Profiling (Dr M O’Brien)
LIT
n = 316
LIT
n = 316
Active
61.39%
Verbal
20.25%
Reflective
38.61%
Visual
79.75%
Intuitive
23.10%
Global
41.46%
Sensing
76.90%
Sequential
58.54%
Active learning
 Getting students to do something course-
related other than watching and listening to
the instructor (Felder 2008).
Active learning
 Active learning occurs when the learner
organises selected information into coherent
mental representations, and integrates it with
prior knowledge. (Mayer 1999)
Active Learning





Good Practice Encourages Active Learning. Learning is not a spectator
sport. Students do not learn much just 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.
I ask students to present their work in class.
I ask my students to relate outside events or activities to the subjects
covered in my courses.
I encourage students to challenge my ideas, the ideas of other students,
or those presented in readings or other course materials.
I give my students concrete, real-life situations to analyze.
I encourage students to suggest new readings, projects, or course
activities.
Chickering and Gamson, "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education," AAHE
Bulletin, March 1987
Active teaching
a. Recognize the different learning styles.
b. ‘Instruction begins when you’ the teacher, learn
from the learner. Put yourself in his/her place so
that you may understand what her learns and the
way s/he understands it (Kierkegaard)
Current Initiatives
 Practicals
 Practical exams constitutes 15%- 30% of
many maths courses
 Moodle
 Learning Support
The Challenge of Large ClassesSome active learning techniques
TAPPS (thinking aloud pair problem solving)…
n Short problems (30 sec to 3 min)
n Longer problems… circulate, give hints and
check understanding
Give handouts with gaps
Use of classroom response systems
– being researched at present
Research in the effective use of ICT
 LIT Centre of Expertise in Mathematics and
Science Teaching and Learning (Oct. 2009)
 Two post graduate students
Majid Ghanbari (Maths)
Regina Kelly (Science)
…a distributed centre of NCE-MSTL
Initial trials on ‘Clickers’ are very positive
Project Outlines
To develop an innovative classroom
engagement technique and use technology for
the enhancement of teaching and learning of
mathematics with emphasis on IoT sector
Majid Ghanbari
Educational Goals
 To maximise interactivity between lecturers,
students and the learning materials
 Raising interest and motivation in students
 To enhance the learning experience
 To establish students’ basic maths skills and
challenge them to think critically (Blooms taxonomy)
 Maximization of transfer of learning
Formative Teaching
(Active Teaching)
Professor John Hattie showed that feedback had
more impact on learning quality than any other
single factor.
Sadler '89 analysed feedback to show that for
learning to take place the learner needs to know:
 The Goal
 Student’s present position
 How to close the gap
http://www.teacherstoolbox.co.uk
Cambridge Regional College
Good-Questions
It is a pedagogical strategy that aims to raise the
visibility of the key concepts and to promote a
more active learning environment.
Such questions
 stimulate students’ interest and curiosity in mathematics
 offer students frequent opportunities to make conjectures
and argue about their validity;
 reflect the role of students’ prior knowledge and
misconceptions in building conceptual understanding
 provide instructors with frequent formative assessments of
what their student are learning;
 support instructors efforts to foster an active learning
environment
http://www.math.cornell.edu/~GoodQuestions/
Maria Terrell, PI, Robert Connelly Co-PI
Good questions build progressively…
 Quick check: Designed to quickly check students' basic
understanding of the material
 Probing: Usually requires some thought and extension
beyond basic concepts
 Deep: Difficult questions that will usually require
instructor intervention to help guide students in the
right direction
http://www.math.cornell.edu/~GoodQuestions/
Maria Terrell, PI
Robert Connelly Co-PI
Example of a Quick-check Question
5x
dx

4
(a)
x c
5
(b) 20x3  c
1 5
(c)
x c
5
equals
Example of a probing Question
x
(a)
(b)
(c)
1
x  c
3
2x  c
1
 c
x
(d) Both (a) and (c)
2
dx
equals
Example of a deep Question
x
dx

1
(a)
 x 2  c
(b)
1
c
x
(c)
Ln( x)  c
(d)
Doesn’t exist
equals
Classroom Response Systems
(clickers)
• Allows for two-way communication between an instructor and
students regardless of the size of a class
• Instructors receive instant feedback on understanding and
misconceptions of the whole class instead of relying on responses
of few who are willing to speak out
• Students receive instant feedback regarding their understanding,
comparing themselves to the rest of the class and consequently
building their confidence
Q4
Q5
Q5 Instructor’s handset
http://www.qwizdom.co.uk
Question Types
 Multiple Choice -You can have up to 6 choices
(A,B,C,D,E,F)
 Yes/No
 True/False
 Numeric
 Sequence
 Multiple Mark
 Rating Scale
 Vote (Multiple Mark)
 Text Input This is a text input question, only available for the Q5 remotes,
this allows for up to 30 characters in the answer.
 Demographic
Public Response Graph
Excel Report
Flash Reports
Research to Date
 Literature review
 Familiarisation with technology
 Decided that the clickers satisfy the
educational goals and are suitable for large
classes
 Clickers have been piloted in a 1st year
electronics engineering class
(app. 80 students)
Next.....
 Design slides (Good Questions) for selected
topics in 1st year engineering maths
 Implementation in semester one, 2010
 Evaluation
The Independent (UK) 5 January 2009
-a study by the KPMG foundation ‘Numeracy
difficulties are linked to …
 exclusion from school
 health risks (more likely to suffer from
depression)
 increased involvement with the criminal justice
system.
 Legal costs £164.8m a year…
Thank
you