UP's student submission features allow a
variety of interactive engagement techniques. Physics
specific pedagogies are described in Randy Knight's
excellent Five Easy Lessons (isbn 0805387021) and Joe
Redish's excellent Teaching Physics (isbn 0471393789). For
a general discussion of teaching techniques, I recommend
McKeachie's Teaching Tips (isbn 0618116494).
Here are a few ideas on how to use UP in an active
classroom. Let me know how you are using it and I will add
to the list!
Just in Time Teaching
Include a question on your
first slide. Ask students to make a submission before class
(be sure to enable this in your classroom settings), then
use the results to determine how to use class time. Your
questions might focus on students' content knowledge,
interests, or preferences.
In-class questions, Peer Instruction
During class,
include a side with a question or problem, and ask students
to submit their solution. In Peer Instruction, you ask
students to explain their answer or seek an explanation
from other students.
Interactive Lecture Demos
Make a slide with a
screen shot of the empty graphs (before data collection).
Ask students to graph their prediction on the empty graphs
and submit it to you. Use the student predictions as a
basis for in class discussion, voting, and comparison to
collected data. Consider taking a screen shot of the graph
with data to include on your slide as an instructor object;
you can trace over the data in class and students can
review the results on the web.
Cooperative Group Problem Solving
Have students use
tablets in place of white boards. You can project a group's
submission to the whole class while the group explains
their approach. Or ask groups to submit and keep working
after completing the first step of the problem; you can
then send this page out for use by groups that are
stuck.Because UP stores all student submissions on the web,
you now have a record of each group's work.
Reflective Assignments
Ask students to review
submissions after class and describe what is right or wrong
with each submission. Or ask students to write an
explanation they would give to help the student understand
their mistake. There are many productive ways to frame this
sort of reflective assignment.
