Engaging a Class of a Thousand Students

Jason Harlow,
David Harrison and Tony Key
University of Toronto - Physics Department

Inside Convocation Hall at the University of Toronto

Talk outline
 What we are doing to teach Physics to the
masses
 How we try to engage and motivate
students in a course they hate
 A Mini-Physics Lecture!
 Results of student surveys
 Future Plans, ideas
Who we are:
 Jason Harlow (me): Teaching-Stream Lecturer,
hired August 2004. I teach 2 or 3 physics courses
per year.

 David Harrison: Senior Lecturer, has taught

physics at U of T since 1972

 Tony Key: retired Professor, continues to teach

Communication for scientists and introductory
Physics

All are members of the Physics Education group at U of T

What we teach:
 “Physics for the Life Sciences”, annual
enrolment of 900-1100 students.
 26 weeks from September through April.
 One-hour lectures are held twice per week in
Convocation Hall, an auditorium with 2000
seats
 Four professors take turns lecturing for about
6 weeks each (4 “quarters”).
 Before 2003/04, this class was split into five
200-student sections
Outside Lecture
 Bi-weekly 3-hour laboratories; Student:TA
ratio=15
 Weekly 1-hour tutorials run by graduate
students. Student:TA ratio=25.
 Department-run Tutor Drop-In Centre
 Extensive Course web-site, with course
schedule, assignments, lecture notes and
access to individual student marks
 University-run message-board and chat-room
for Life Sciences students
(http://biome.utoronto.ca)
…zzz

Tablet PC
projected on
…zzz big screen

…zzz

Whiteboard or
Chalkboard
…zzz

In-class discussions!
Sample Lecture

 Reading for today’s lecture: Chapter 12:

“Newton’s Theory of Gravity”

 Results from Chapter 12 WebCT Pre-quiz:

 90% of students answered all 3 questions
 Average mark: 85%
 Correct answers on course web-page for today’s
lecture
Sample Lecture
 In-class Quiz Question: Two balls, initially at
rest, are dropped simultaneously. The large
ball weighs twice as much as the small ball.
Which do you predict?
1. The large ball will fall at least twice as fast as the
small ball.
2. The large ball will fall slightly faster than the small ball.
3. Both balls will fall at the same rate.
4. The small ball will fall slightly faster than the large ball.
5. The small ball will fall at least twice as fast as the large
ball.
Sample Lecture

 Galileo said: “When air friction is very small,

all objects fall with the same acceleration”.

 Two masses connected by spider silk should

fall at the same rate as either mass.

 Galileo was convicted of heresy, died under

house arrest in 1642
Other things we tried…
 Video cameras were pointed at
demonstrations on stage, and a live image
was projected on the main screen.
 We paid a “runner” to wander in lectures,
collect written questions in class and pass
them to the professor.
 The audio-component of lectures were
recorded and posted on the course web-site
in audio-streaming and .mp3 format.
Other things we tried…
 Tablet-PC notes were posted on the web
after class, along with PowerPoint slides. (-
this resulted in a mention on the front page of
the Toronto Star!!)
 “Representative Assemblies”
 a.k.a. “Student Management Teams”
 weekly meetings with pizza
 ~10 students and professor
 discussion limited to issues of communication and
facilities only – no discussion of course content
Student Survey Results
 Two surveys were done in 2004/05 about our
teaching techniques. Surveys were done
during tutorials.
 669 students responded in October, 311
students responded in March
 For all questions, students chose a number
from1 to 7 where:
 1 means: totally useless
 4 means: neutral
 7 means: an invaluable aid to my learning
 Student Survey Results
 Tablet PC: The main content of the classes was delivered
using the Journal program on a Tablet PC, with some
PowerPoint slides and other information on the side screens.
How effective was the use of the Tablet PC for your
education?

When Mean Summary Comment

Fall 2004 4.08 51% With the exception of

the 3rd quarter, the
neutral Tablet PC is used as an
electronic blackboard
Spring Histogram projected onto the main
Spring 4.96 65%
screen in Con Hall
2005 positive
 Student Survey Results
 Demonstrations: Often we did demonstrations in class,
sometimes in conjunction with In-Class Questions and
small group discussions. In general, are demonstrations
useful?

When Mean Summary Comment

Fall 2004 5.33 74% Students like

demonstrations..
positive

Spring Histogram
Spring 4.59 62% But do they learn
anything from them?
2005 neutral
 Student Survey Results
 Pre-Class Quizzes: Almost every week you did a short
quiz on the textbook readings for the next 2 classes. How
useful were the Pre-Class Quizzes?

When Mean Summary Comment

Fall 2004 3.71 53% Despite the student’s

relatively low opinion,
neutral we believe it is very
important that the

Spring 4.14 54% students read the text

Spring Histogram before class.
2005 neutral
 Student Survey Results
 In-Class Questions: In class many times I asked
the class a question and asked for a vote of what you
thought was the correct answer. How useful were
these questions?
When Mean Summary Comment

Fall 2004 5.32 76% In mid-October we

switched from raising
positive hands to coloured
cardboard squares.

Spring Histogram Spring 5.15 69% Except for 3rd quarter,

these were continued
2005 positive in almost every class.
 Student Survey Results
 Small Group Discussion: When there was disagreement
on the right answer to an In-Class Question, often you broke
up into small groups to discuss it. How useful were these
small group discussions?

When Mean Summary Comment

Fall 2004 3.87 58% The relatively poor

evaluation may be due to
neutral the nature of the in-class
questions..

Spring 3.33 53% Perhaps the questions

Spring Histogram were too easy, so
2005 negative discussion was often
unnecessary.
Future Plans
 We will continue to teach the section of 1000
students together in one big room. U of T
has distant plans to build a large lecture
room.
 Radio Frequency Personal Response
Systems to replace voting cards.
 More difficult in-class questions (CINQ
database)
 More TA-training, different format for labs and
tutorials.
Thank You!

 Please take the time to fill out the feedback

form!
-Jason Harlow
jharlow@physics.utoronto.ca
University of Toronto Physics
http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~jharlow