Fresh ideas for teaching and assessment

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Fresh Ideas for Teaching and AssessmentRay Wallace

…… this presentation is based on a lecture and workshops

which I gave at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow as

Visiting Professor in October 2014

What do I mean by ‘Fresh Ideas’

Most ideas have their origins elsewhere but sometimes they can lay forgotten and not be ‘main stream’ or in current practice. Sometimes they have been given little exposure in the past or be used in one discipline and not in another. Whatever their status they take on the mantle of ‘fresh’ when they are new to an audience and I hope that you will find something here that is fresh to you.

‘Tips’ and ‘tricks’ from an ‘old hand’ at

teaching!

Criteria referenced assessment (project

work)

Student negotiated learning (labs)

The ‘one minute lecture’ as an aid to

focussed understanding

Fresh Ideas for Teaching and Assessment

Presentation content

‘Tips’ and ‘tricks’ from an ‘old hand’ at teaching!


Know and understand your content

Do not give too much information

Be preparedEstablish a good rapport

with your audience

The ‘key secrets’




with your audience





with your audience





with your audience





with your audience




Be preparEstablish a good rapport

with your audience





with your audience





with your audience

The ‘key secrets’The ‘key secrets’




with your audience


Be honest when you make a mistake or don’t know the

answer to a question

Don’t embarrass or pick on individual students

Present as though you are passionate and really interested

in your topic (even if you are not!)

Make eye contact with the audience















answer to a questionDon’t embarrass








































Focus on what is important Repeat key points

Be approachable/let students ask questions in

private if needs beDo not be patronising


































Criteria referenced assessment (project work)


To put this in context we must first of all look at how we assess students

Assessments

Take many forms

Formative – used to provide feedback & generally does not

contribute to the final grade

Summative – normally used to determine a

final grade and measure achievement

Need to be set against reference points

Norm Referencing

Criterion Referencing

"Best practice in grading in higher education involves striking a balance between criterion-referencing and norm-referencing"

Easily recognizable, for example: if a question asks for three facts and the student gives three correct facts, three marks are awarded. Marks are totalled and the resulting normal distribution is then used to allocate grades to students based on a pre-determined proportion of grades.

Unlike norm-referencing, there is no pre-determined grade distribution (bell curve) and a student’s grade is not influenced by other students but is awarded by comparing his or her achievements with clearly stated criteria for learning outcomes and standards for particular levels of performance.

Criteria referenced assessment of project work is an aspect of

At the time we developed criteria referenced assessment of project work, the use of criterion referencing was not nearly so widespread as it is today

Project Work

PROJECT WORK

There are many facets to project work

It requires a range of

different skills

Some skills are subject specific

Many skills are generic

Skills are often viewed

subjectively by different people

There is a need to quantify skills in a

summative assessment

PROJECT WORK

There are many facets to project work

It requires a range of

different skills

Some skills are subject specific

Many skills are generic

Skills are often viewed

subjectively by different people

There is a need to quantify skills in a

summative assessment

Skills are often viewed subjectively by different

people

It was this problem in the early nineties at Nottingham Trent University that led myself and other colleagues to develop a competency based strategy to overcome difficulties we had with marking when over half of our final year students carried out their projects overseas

Intellectual & scientific

input

Comprehension of the project

Day-to-day record keeping

Initiative

Communication skills

Practical skills

Organisation/Planning

Commitment & motivation

Extent of supervision

Nine Key Skill Areas

Each key skill area is assigned six competency levels which are

arranged in random order in a table

CRITERION

Intellectual & Scientific Input Please tick

ONE box

The student demonstrated an enquiring mind

and an ability to innovate by controlling the

direction of the project.

The student devised many aspects of the project

independently.

The student made useful contributions to the

development of the project.

The student showed an ability to devise practical

or theoretical ideas facilitating the progress of

the project.

The student provided only a few ideas and little

personal contribution to the project.

The student provided a technical rather than an

intellectual contribution to the project.

Six competency levels

CRITERION

Intellectual & Scientific Input Please tick

ONE box

The student demonstrated an enquiring mind

and an ability to innovate by controlling the

direction of the project. 5The student devised many aspects of the project

independently. 3The student made useful contributions to the

development of the project. 2The student showed an ability to devise practical

or theoretical ideas facilitating the progress of

the project. 4The student provided only a few ideas and little

personal contribution to the project. 0The student provided a technical rather than an

intellectual contribution to the project. 1

The six competency levels are given a weighting factor of 0-5

Outcomes

This method of assessment results in a much more consistent assessment of student abilities across different supervisors (both in our own institution and in partner institutions)

It solved the problem of how we could reconcile the differing marks given to students for projects carried out in different geographical locations

Students have a much clearer idea of the targets and goals which they need to achieve in order to obtain good grades

Student negotiated learning (labs)


Specific example is organic practical laboratories but the concept and technique can be applied to many forms of activities that are assessed and where the lecturer in charge is looking for ways to ease the burden of marking

How can we make them more interesting?

How can we get the students more involved?

How can we develop additional skills in students?

How can we save marking time?

ORGANIC PRACTICAL LABORATORIES

Lecturer in charge of laboratory adopts a

PROACTIVE approach

WEEK 1


PROACTIVE approach

WEEK 2


PROACTIVE approach

WEEK 1-6

Meeting to mark laboratory work

Peer assessment – books are exchanged on a

random basis

Samples prepared are laid out and

arranged in a pecking order of visual quality by

students with guidance from

lecturer

Melting points and typical yields are

disclosed

Answers to associated laboratory questions

are discussed

Marks are assigned

Books are returned to individual students who can challenge the marker if they

feel that their book has been unfairly

marked

WEEK 8 (in students’ own time)

Marking session typically takes 1½

hours


PROACTIVE approach

WEEK 8 and beyond

BENEFITS

Students appear to be more enthusiastic

about lab work

More interaction between students

Additional skills developed – for

example negotiation skills

General improvement in overall marks (… but students who normally

attempt to ‘play the system’ tend to receive lower ratings from their

fellow students)

Happy atmosphere in laboratory

Marking completed by prearranged date and the students get their

books back immediately, fully

marked

Marking system open and each student has

the opportunity to have a say in it

PROBLEMS

Some students object to this different

approach to lab work

Some types of work (eg interpretation of nmr and ir spectra)

are not amenable to marking by students

Students are not as good as the lecturer

at assessing each others answers to

questions (these are checked by lecturer and any gross errors

corrected)

Reference

• Negotiation and Peer Assessment in the Organic Laboratory R G Wallace, Proceedings of Variety in Chemistry Teaching Meeting, York, September 1996, 35.

Cited by Simon B. Duckett, Nigel D. Lowe and Paul C. Taylor in Addressing Key Skills in the Chemistry Curriculum: Structured Learning Packages, UNIVERSITY CHEMISTRY EDUCATION 1998, 2 (2), “This concept of negotiating a mark scheme with students has been previously applied by Wallace”.

The ‘one minute lecture’ as an aid to focussed understanding


The One Minute Lecture

Definition:

A focussed lecture delivered in ONE minute

The ‘one minute lecture’ = Mini or Microlecture

‘Microlectures’ in a generic sense are short video clips and/or audio recordings

They have been discussed (generally in the United States) as a vehicle to engage students’ attention and which students can rerun to grasp important

concepts

To be effective they need to be teamed with more in-depth study methods and discussion

They have tended to be used by academics almost exclusively to deliver material to students rather

than an assessment of students’ understanding of topic areas

In my specialism of chemistry the one minute lecture traces

its origins back to ‘A 60-second course in organic chemistry’

LeRoy A. McGrew, J. Chem. Educ., 1993, 70 (7), p 543

Chemists and chemistry educators need to improve

chemistry's image to the lay public (an oft cry over the

decades). McGrew provided the readers of his paper with

lecture notes for the "One Minute Professor" to be used at

cocktail parties and other social gatherings!

Purpose

Provide concise summary of a particular topic

Practise the art of giving a short talk

Introduce small chunks of chemistry to non-scientists

Identify important & apposite points of a given topic

Practice at structuring & presenting work at an appropriate level & within specific guidelines

Many different variants in the way that it can be run

Explored by a number of different people in different

disciplines

Often now referred to as a ‘microlecture’

Methodology not just confined to chemistry

Core concept is that the

message delivered is

• Focussed

• Succinct

Basics & ground rulesThe lecture must have as its basis a written document

The lecture must be written in good English and have a logical structure, e.g. subheadings or divisions

The written presentation should be no longer than one side of A4 paper

You should be able to ‘deliver’ the lecture at a normal speaking speed in sixty seconds (error margin 55-65 seconds)

An overhead transparency should be produced to support the lecture (detail needs to be kept to a minimum here)

The lecture must contain a minimum number of relevant facts (this will depend on the topic area but a working guideline would be no more than 10) Some facts will be more

important than others and your aim should be to emphasise 3 or 4

I shall use an example fromchemistry but you should not be put off by that if you are a non-chemist as you should be able to see the principles which are involved

Level: First year undergraduate degree in chemistry

Example from chemistry – organometallic reagents potential content

1. Definition of an organometallic reagent

2. Types of organometallic reagents

3. Syntheses

4. Physical and spectroscopic properties

5. Structures

6. Historical aspects

7. Bonding in organometallic reagents

8. Applications

First approach:


2. Types of organometallic reagent

3. Syntheses

4. Structures

5. Applications

Second approach:


2. Bonding in organometallic reagents

3. Applications

Two approaches

• similar in that they both begin with a definition, yet they differ markedly in emphasis

• first approach ‘traditional’ • easy to incorporate factual material

• second approach• more interesting and challenging • less factual • listener will clearly see you have got to grips with your subject if you adopt

the second approach

DESCRIPTIVE

EXPLANATORY

Second approach - outline• Definition of an organometallic reagent - ‘compound which

contains a bond between the element carbon and a metal’

• Bonding in organometallic reagents: (a) the MC bond polarisation makes the metal susceptible to nucleophilic attack and the carbon susceptible to electrophilic attack (b) the nature of the metal M affects the degree of polarisation of the MC bond

• Applications of organometallic reagents: (a) CC bond forming reactions via Grignards and alkyl lithium reagents (substitution) (b) reaction with carbonyl compounds and derivatives (nucleophilic addition)

Couple of examples to focus audience attention

Expand –electronegativity/type of bonding

Good simple examples required

A one-minute lecture on organometallic reagents FULL TEXT

• Organometallic reagents are organic compounds that contain a bond between carbon and a metal, such as lithium or magnesium.

• The polarity of a covalent bond between two different elements is determined by their electronegativity. The more electronegative an element is, the more it attracts the electron density in the bond.

• Normally in organic molecules the heteroatom is more electronegative than carbon and thus carbon bears a slight positive charge. This is not usually the case when carbon is bonded to a metal.

• An orbital diagram* for methyllithium shows that the filled C-Li orbital is close in energy to the carbon orbital, so the electrons reside mostly on the carbon atom.

• This means that carbon in these compounds is susceptible to electrophilic attack. This can be used in organic synthesis for carbon-carbon bond formation by reacting with ‘positive’ carbon, for instance with an organic aldehyde in an addition reaction, as shown here*.

(155 words)

*indicates when speaker should point to overhead (you would need to

add a suitable example to your slide or replace the one given)

ENERGY

sp3sp3sp3sp3

MO

MO*

2s

Li.

Li C C.

lithium carbon

bond

lithium-carbonatom bond

these three orbitals are

involved in C-H bonds

Orbital diagram for the C-Li bond in MeLi

Simple carbon-carbon bond forming reaction

References

• L.A. McGrew, J. Chem. Educ., 1993, 70, 543.

• T.P. Kee, Educ. In Chem., 1995, 100-101.

• R. Murray & R. G. Wallace, S205 The Molecular World, Book 11: Developing Skills (Science Supplementary Material), 2002, 22-26, Open University Press.

Conclusions and roundup

Good teaching methods are

developed over the years and

need to be built on good

foundations

Assessment

methods are

often in the

hands of the

institution and

the new lecturer

can generally

have little say in

these at the

macro level but

there can be

scope for

innovation at the

micro level

Established

methods of

teaching,

learning and

assessment are

not necessarily

the best, neither

are new fashions

and trends. As in

all things wise

judgement is

called for

There can often

be good ideas

and practices to

be found in the

old literature

which lay

forgotten

Besides

establishing their

credentials as

good

researchers,

young academic

staff should not

neglect

establishing an

identity as a good

teacher

The days of being

an excellent

researcher and a

poor lecturer are

over

Raising research

income and

establishing a

strong positive

reputation relies

on good

communication

skills – JUST

WHAT ARE

NEEDED IN

TEACHING!



developed over the years and need to be built on good

foundations

Assessment methods are often in the hands of the institution and the new lecturer can generally have

little say in these at the macro level but there can be

scope for innovation at the

micro level

Established

methods of

teaching,

learning and

assessment are

not necessarily

the best, neither

are new fashions

and trends. As in

all things wise

judgement is

called for

There can often

be good ideas

and practices to

be found in the

old literature

which lay

forgotten

Besides

establishing their

credentials as

good

researchers,

young academic

staff should not

neglect

establishing an

identity as a good

teacher

The days of being

an excellent

researcher and a

poor lecturer are

over

Raising research

income and

establishing a

strong positive

reputation relies

on good

communication

skills – JUST

WHAT ARE

NEEDED IN

TEACHING!




foundations




micro level

Established methods of

teaching, learning and assessment

are not necessarily the best, neither are new fashions and trends. As in

all things wise judgement is

called for

There can often

be good ideas

and practices to

be found in the

old literature

which lay

forgotten

Besides

establishing their

credentials as

good

researchers,

young academic

staff should not

neglect

establishing an

identity as a good

teacher

The days of being

an excellent

researcher and a

poor lecturer are

over

Raising research

income and

establishing a

strong positive

reputation relies

on good

communication

skills – JUST

WHAT ARE

NEEDED IN

TEACHING!




foundations




micro level





called for

There can often be good ideas and practices to be found in the old

literature which lay forgotten

Besides

establishing their

credentials as

good

researchers,

young academic

staff should not

neglect

establishing an

identity as a good

teacher

The days of being

an excellent

researcher and a

poor lecturer are

over

Raising research

income and

establishing a

strong positive

reputation relies

on good

communication

skills – JUST

WHAT ARE

NEEDED IN

TEACHING!




foundations




micro level





called for



Besides establishing their

credentials as good researchers, young academic staff should not

neglect establishing an

identity as a good teacher

The days of

being an

excellent

researcher and

a poor lecturer

are over

Raising

research

income and

establishing a

strong positive

reputation

relies on good

communication

skills – JUST

WHAT ARE

NEEDED IN

TEACHING!




foundations




micro level





called for







The days of being an excellent

researcher and a poor lecturer are

over

Raising

research

income and

establishing a

strong positive

reputation

relies on good

communication

skills – JUST

WHAT ARE

NEEDED IN

TEACHING!




foundations




micro level





called for







The days of being an excellent

researcher and a poor lecturer are

over

Raising research income and

establishing a strong positive

reputation relies on good

communication skills –

JUST WHAT ARE NEEDED IN TEACHING!

Thank you for

viewing

CAS

+44 (0) [email protected]

© Ray Wallace 2014

Education

Fresh ideas for teaching and assessment