Description

Being able to keep an engaging classroom environment for students can be difficult, especially in large lecture-style courses. Many instructors find success in using technology, while others use methods of questioning to keep the conversation going. Here we will show you strategies that various Drexel faculty use to keep dynamic discussion going in their classrooms.

Faculty Publications

Teacher Questioning and Invitations to Participate in Advanced Mathematics Lectures (Article)

Author(s): Paoletti, T., Krupnik, V., Papadopoulos, D.

We were interested in exploring the extent to which advanced mathematics lecturers provide students with opportunities to play a role in considering or generating course content. To do this, we examined the questioning practices of 11 lecturers who taught advanced mathematics courses at the university level.

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Using Multiple-Response Clicker Questions to Identify Student Misunderstanding (Book Chapter)

Author(s): Daniel B. King

Personal response devices (or clickers) facilitate rapid student feedback to questions asked by an instructor during class. While they are most commonly used in large classrooms (more than 100 students) as a way to create an active learning environment, they can be effective in small classes (less than 30 students) as well.

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Sharing Pedagogical Techniques as a Mechanism for Interdisciplinary Contact (Article)

Author(s): Daniel B. King

As a chemistry faculty member, it’s not often that someone comes to me for fashion advice. So, naturally it was a surprise to receive an e-mail from the associate program director of Fashion Design at Drexel University’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design (Westphal College) asking for my help.

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Using Clickers to Identify the Muddies Points in Large Chemistry Classes (Article)

Author(s): Daniel B. King

One of the biggest challenges for instruction in large-enrollment introductory courses is identifying points of student confusion. One technique that is used to address this problem is the muddiest-point card. However, this technique is logistically difficult to implement in large classes.

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Redesigning the Preexam Review Session (Article)

Author(s): Daniel B. King

In a large enrollment, multiple-section course, review sessions enable efficient and consistent delivery of information to all students. A redesigned review session has been implemented to increase attendance and improve effectiveness.

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Gender Differences in the Use and Effectiveness of Personal Response Devices (Article)

Author(s): Daniel B. King

The use of personal response devices (or “clickers”) in the classroom has increased in recent years. While few quantitative studies on the effectiveness of clickers have been published, it is generally reported that clickers have been well-received by the students who use them.

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Additional Resources

Universal Design for Learning in Teaching Large Lecture Classes

Author(s): Dean, T., Lee-Post, A., & Hapke, H.

To augment traditional lecture with instructional tools that provide options for content representation, learner engagement, and learning expression, we followed the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to design and implement a learning environment for teaching and learning in large lecture classes.

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Enhancing Evaluation

Author(s): Morgan, R.

This study explored whether attitudes towards disability in second year undergraduate physiotherapy students could be enhanced by an on-campus integrated curriculum program. Methods: A pre-post design was used. Year 2 (pre-clinical) students participated in a 12-week program focused on optimising attitudes towards people with acquired or developmental neurological disability.

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Students’ Experiences of Active Engagement through Cooperative Learning Activities in Lectures

Author(s): Michael Cavanagh

This article reports on students’ experiences of lectures which included many opportunities for active engagement through cooperative learning activities. At the end of a 13-week semester-long unit, 113 students completed a questionnaire which contained five open-ended questions focusing on the extent to which the students thought that the lecture activities helped them to learn and understand the course content and to maintain their interest and attention during the sessions.

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First Steps Toward Increasing Student Engagement During Lecture

Author(s): Timothy F. Slater

Have you tried to repurpose materials you've gotten from another lecturer or publisher that you thought could express a concept exceptionally well, only to find when you used the same materials, they did not have the dramatic effect on your students you desired? It would be easy to conclude that student apathy is to blame.

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Twelve Tips for Using a Computerised Interactive Audience Response System

Author(s): Lorraine J. Robertson

The role of the lecture in medical education has recently been called into question. Adults learn more effectively through active learning therefore where is the place for the traditional lecture? This paper describes the use of a computerised audience response system to transform large group teaching sessions into active learning experiences, thereby securing a future for the lecture format.

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Associated Faculty & Staff

Daniel King, PhD

Associate Professor | Department of Chemistry

Research Interests Include: Assessment of active learning methods and technology in chemistry courses; incorporation of environmental data into chemistry classroom modules; development of hands-on activities and laboratory experiments

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Monica Ilies, PhD

Associate Teaching Professor | Department of Chemistry

Research Interests Include: Bioorganic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Bioinorganic Chemistry and Biochemistry

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Christy Love, PhD

Associate Teaching Professor | Department of Physics

Research Interests Include: Education, outreach, and experimental neutrino and dark matter studies

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Kevin Smith, PhD

Assistant Teaching Professor | Department of Biology

Research Interests Include: Chemoecology

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