1	The Introductory Physics Course Revisions at Illinois (Mats Selen, UIUC Department of Physics) Overview What we teach & who we teach it to. How it used to work. How we do it now. Some Feedback A glance at the key aspects of our approach. WEB-centric organization (for us as much as them) Peer instruction in Discussion & Lab sections (TA training). ACTs & Preflights in Lecture Homework & Interactive Examples Exams Concluding Thoughts
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3	How it used to work: Tradition, Tradition, Tradition Lecturer “owns” the course and is free to “reinvent the flat tire” every semester. Discussion TAs pretty much on their own. Labs intellectually disconnected from rest of course. RESULTS: NOBODY IS HAPPY !! Professor dislikes it since it’s a monster teaching assignment. Students dislike it because the professor dislikes it (and because course is always Version 1.0) The college dislikes it because students dislike it.
4	How we do it now: Integrate all aspects of a course using active learning methods in a sustainable team teaching environment. Typically 3 faculty share the load: Lecturer (lectures, ACTs, preflights, exams). Discussion Director (TA training, quizzes, exams). Lab Director (TA training, web homework, exams). Course administration is shared responsibility: Faculty meet at least once a week with each-other and with their TA’s to plan the campaign. Overall co-ordination is very tight (web helps this). Everybody works on creating exams.
5	"Recycled & tuned from semester..." Recycled & tuned from semester to semester. People don’t need to re-invent the whole stew, but can focus on the spices! Advantages of this approach: Existing (evolving) infrastructure lowers the bar for participation. This is now seen as a reasonable teaching load. Most of our new junior faculty start teaching in these courses (i.e. not a heavy assignment). Pain & Gain are shared No burnout & No heroes. Makes it possible to keep quality high and material consistent even though instructors are changing. 47 faculty have taught in these courses !
6	Positive Feedback
7	Some Key Aspects WEB-centric organization Peer instruction in Discussion & Lab sections ACTs & Preflights in Lecture Homework & Interactive Examples Exams
8	"All course materials available on-line" All course materials available on-line. Lectures, discussion & lab materials, exams… Makes our job easier (copy spring01 ® fall01). All students do several on-line assignments every week: Homework, Interactive Examples, Quizzes Preflights for lectures, labs & discussion Exam preparation & exam results All grades & progress throughout the semester Students know in advance what everything is worth and the final thresholds for A,B,C,D,F etc
9	"WEB-centric organization" WEB-centric organization Peer instruction in Discussion & Lab sections ACTs & Preflights in Lecture Homework & Interactive Examples Exams
10	Discussion Sections
11	Lab Sections
12	Details of some key components: WEB-centric organization Peer instruction in Discussion & Lab sections ACTs & Preflights in Lecture Homework & Interactive Examples Exams
13	Active Learning in Lecture (ACTs): What’s the big idea ? Break the lecture into 10-15 minute segments (attention span). Lecture segments separated by 3-5 minute Active Learning Segments (ACTs). Students work in groups of 3-4 on a conceptual problem posed by the lecturer. Lecturer and (several TA’s) wander around the room asking leading questions. This helps the students figure out problem and also helps the lecturer understand the students misconceptions. Students “Vote” on the correct answer (in groups) Lecturer presents solution and discusses perceived misconceptions. Lecturer does appropriate demo (if possible).
14	Example: Lecture 5, Act 4 Force and acceleration A block weighing 4 lbs is hung from a rope attached to a spring scale. When the other side of the scale is attached to a wall it reads 4 lbs. What will the scale read when the other side is instead attached to another block weighing 4 lbs?
15	Pre-Flights !! Students are asked to answer a set of conceptual questions (on the Web) prior to every lecture. The main structure is: Students read about material in text. Students answer pre-flight questions on material prior to lecture. Physics 101 PF’s due at 6am, lecture starts at 1pm. Graded on participation, not correctness. Instructor uses pre-flight responses to guide lecture preparation. Stress difficult material Pre-flights are reviewed during lecture, often presented again as ACTs, and often capped off with a demo. With careful preparation, pre-flights form the “backbone” of the lecture.
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17	Lecture 2, Pre-Flights 1&2 If the average velocity of a car during a trip along a straight road is positive, is it possible for the instantaneous velocity at some time during the trip to be negative? 1 - Yes 2 - No
18	Details of some key components: WEB-centric organization Peer instruction in Discussion & Lab sections ACTs & Preflights in Lecture Homework & Interactive Examples Exams
19	Details of some key components: WEB-centric organization Peer instruction in Discussion & Lab sections ACTs & Preflights in Lecture Homework & Interactive Examples Exams
20	"Three mid-terms & one comprehensive..." Three mid-terms & one comprehensive final (typically). Combined worth ~ 60% of final grade. All multiple choice (machine graded). PROS: Uniform & Fair. Useful for tracking changes, education research… WEB interface possible for practice (before exam night) and help/explanations (after exam). CONS: Harder to give partial credit… But not impossible: we have a scheme !
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22	"Analysis of exam “data" Analysis of exam “data” is very interesting (and useful for education research).
23	Instant exam feedback is possible: The minute they leave the exam, students can go on the web, enter their answers into a web version of the exam they just took, and see what their raw score is: After the exam has been graded (next day) students can find detailed statistics on each problem on the web.
24	Why Is The Revision Program Working at UIUC ? Key 1: Design Process was a Collective Effort Committee of eight met for a year to generate the design These people became the core Key 2: Infrastructure People (veteran faculty, computing help, lecture, lab & secretarial support) Computing (all materials on NT server, faculty get NT machine for desk while teaching) Welcome to 1XX, here’s how we do things…. Key 3: Team-Teaching All faculty (3-4 per course) do faculty-type jobs Pain and Gain are shared … no more burnout… NO HEROES Key 4: Administrative Support Released time essential for initial creation of materials Total support for systemic change… JUST DO IT! Continuing support (e.g., new Assoc Head position) to maintain the system as the “newness” wears off.
25	What Does it Take to Work Elsewhere? ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE An Unnatural Act ?? Probably more important than any of the substantive details presented earlier! MAJOR OBSTACLES: FACULTY!! Cultural issue: “My” Course Course is NOT just lectures Progress comes from contributions of many Character issue: The Arrogance of Physicists Its hard to learn (i.e. accept guidance) from others ! What makes effective instruction is largely an empirical question.