Department of Physics
Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
Clickers Beyond the First Year:
Interactive Teaching in Upper Level
Physics Courses
Marina Milner-Bolotin
Tetyana Antimirova
John Pyktel
Department of Physics
Ryerson University, Canada
UBC e-Learn Conference June 17-19, 2009
1
Have You Ever Used Clickers?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Extensively in lower and upper level courses
Extensively but only in lower level courses
Very little in lower level courses
Have seen them but have never used them
Have never heard of clickers but would like
to know more
F. Have never heard of them and do not care
about them
2
Have You Ever Heard of Peer
Instruction?
A. Yes
B. No
3
Seven Principles of Good
Undergraduate Education
Good practice:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
encourages student-faculty contact
encourages cooperation among students
encourages active learning
gives prompt feedback
encourages time on task
communicates high expectations
respects diverse talents and ways of learning.
Chickering, A.W., and Associates. The Modern American College: Responding to the New
Realities of Diverse Students and a Changing Society. San Francisco Jossey-Bass,1981. Also
AAHE Bulletin, 1987, 38 (7), pp. 3 -7... And Mary D. Sorccinelli. Research Findings on the Seven
Principles, ASHE Reader pp. 368-374
4
Question to Think About?
•
•
•
•
How can clickers help address these 7 principles?
What is the role of clickers in upper level courses?
How to design effective questions?
How do we share these questions with other
faculty?
• How to reduce teaching stress when you want to
use new technology?
• How to convince students active learning is
important?
5
Ryerson’s Context
• Large urban university located in downtown Toronto
• 24,000 day time students enrolled (B. Sc, M. Sc., Ph.D.)
• More than 65,400 in Continuing Education
• Became a research university in 1992
• Has a large engineering programs
• Has a strong focus on teaching and professional education
• Has a very multicultural population of students and faculty with
significant number of recent immigrants
6
Motivation: Why Clickers?
7
Course Structure and Syllabus
• Lectures: Three hours of lectures (studio style)
weekly with an instructor
• Labs: Two hour lab biweekly with an instructor
and a TA
• Topics: Special relativity, introduction to quantum
mechanics (atomic structure of matter,
quantization of light and atomic energy levels)
• Assessment: HW assignments, end of term
project, class participation (clickers) and group
problem solving, final exam
8
Learning Environment (25 2nd year medical
physics students)
Short lecture
presentations by
the instructor
Multi-faceted
assessment:
exams, projects,
labs, clickers , hw
Technology
available for
every student:
clickers and
tablets
Continuous use
of sims, video
clips , any
available
resource
4-5 clicker
questions per
class tested
using computer
simulations
Classroom
physical
environment
encouraged
group work
Integrated
problem solving
and virtual labs
9
Modified Peer Instruction
We designed
conceptual question for
the course : relativity,
atomic physics, intro to
QM
Four-five Clickers
questions were
asked per 2 hour
class
Students work in
small groups (of
2-3) to figure out
conceptual
questions
The answers to
these questions
are tested using
computer
simulations
3/10/2016
10
Example 1a: ST Arrows on a ST Map
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
Diagram a
Diagram b
Diagram c
Diagram d
Diagram e
Diagram f
Diagram g
Which ST arrow
represents two
simultaneous events in
this RF?
ct, m
f
b
g
c
a
d
e
x, m
11
Example 1b: ST Arrows on a ST Map
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
Diagram a
Diagram b
Diagram c
Diagram d
Diagram e
Diagram f
Diagram g
Which one of the ST arrows
represents two events that
happened in the same location
in this RF?
ct, m
f
b
g
c
a
d
e
x, m
12
Example 1c: ST Arrows on a ST Map
ct, m
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
g>e>a>c>d>b>f
e>g>f>c=b>d>a
e>b>c=a>g>f>b
e>a>g>c=b>f>d
e>g>a>c>d=b>f
F. None of the above
ranking is correct
Rank the ST Arrows by the
magnitude of the STI they
represent.
f
b
g
c
a
d
e
x, m
13
13
Example 1d: ST Arrows on a ST Map
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
All of them
None of them
c, e only
b, e and d only
d only
d, a and b
a, d and c only
Which one of the ST arrows
represent the two events that
could have had causal
relationship (one event caused
another one)?
ct, m
b
c
a
d
e
x, m
14
Discussion
• Your ideas?
15