Prime Time 4 Teachers Book Pdf

[Muriel Pelley]

Productivelearning processes and good learning outcomes can be attained by applying the basic elements of active learning. The basic elements include fostering discussions and disputations, facing alternative conceptions, and focusing on conceptual understanding. However, in the face of poor course retention and high dropout rates, even learning outcomes can become of secondary importance. To address these challenges, we developed a research-based instructional strategy, the primetime learning model. We devised the model by organizing the basic elements of active learning into a theory-based four-step study process. The model is based on collaborative and technology-enhanced learning, on versatile formative assessment without a final exam, and on genuine teacher presence through intimate meetings between students and teachers.

We piloted the model in two university physics courses on thermodynamics and optics and observed persistent student activity, improved retention, and good learning outcomes. Feedback suggested that most students were satisfied with the learning experience.

The model suits particularly well for courses that, in addition to the teaching subject itself, focus on teaching balanced study habits and strengthening social integration. By its very construction, it also helps the propagation of research-based instructional strategies. Although the model does contain challenges, it represents a generic framework for learning and teaching that is flexible for further development and applicable to many subjects and levels.

Science education research has been focusing on improving learning outcomes (Deslauriers et al. 2011; Freeman et al. 2014; Hake 1998). The outcomes have been measured by how well students have learned the topics under study, often reported as gains in pre- and posttests (Hake 1998). The research results recurrently urge to avoid passive lecture-type expositions (Burgan 2006) and to favor active learning methods, characterized by students actively interacting with fellow students and material at hand.

Therefore, we summoned the central results from contemporary science education research and developed a new research-based instructional strategy, the primetime learning model. We aimed for a model that, in addition to solid learning outcomes, will improve student retention, promote research-based teaching practices, and provide a positive learning experience. In particular, we aimed for a model that is practical, requires minimal equipment and physical space, and uses valuable and limited instructional resources as efficiently as possible. The model integrates active learning components into a four-step study process, supports social integration and flexibility, and requires no final exam because it draws its power from versatile assessment. The model is transformational in its institutional novelty and assessment philosophy. In this article, in addition to introducing the model, we attempt to answer the following questions: (1) To what extent the model can improve retention and prolong activity compared with much used flipped classroom approach? (2) How well does the assessment function without an exam? (3) How do the students describe the learning experience of the model? Answering these questions helps to develop teaching models that address challenges beyond learning outcomes.

According to Redish, the characteristics of active learning include student centeredness, laboratories allowing guided discoveries, explicit training for reasoning, and intellectual activities during the class (Redish 2003). Contemporary science education research provides a more detailed list of various basic elements of active learning (Table 1).

The categorization of the elements in the table may not be unique, but the literature does provide guidelines to tell effective learning from ineffective one. Thus, any modern learning model should be a suitable blend of these elements. The sheer knowledge of the basic elements is insufficient, however, as success or failure in teaching hinges on practical implementation and course design, as experienced both by the teachers and the students.

On large-enrollment classes, the status of the lecture is particularly prominent. Although active elements may make large lectures more engaging, the framework of one teacher and an auditorium full of students is problematic. Discussions are restricted by concerted tempo. The teacher is limited to occasional interactions with a few students, usually in the front rows. While this interaction may help the teacher to tune teaching, most students remain unheeded. Since there is not enough time available for everybody, student conversations may drift off the point, and collaborations succumb to pitfalls that make them unproductive (James and Willoughby 2011). And although brief interactions during lectures may for some students cultivate social integration, for other students they do not; it is easy for students to leave the flipped classroom without lasting social bonds, particularly for the students that otherwise prefer studying alone. In ordinary lectures, the flexibility and adaptability of student activities always remain highly restricted.

First, we note that many basic elements in Table 1 can be used efficiently by dividing the students into small groups. Groups provide a natural foundation for peer support (Nussbaum et al. 2009), for engaging activities, for student interactions, for facilitating formative assessment, and for implementing the course design in practice (Enghag et al. 2009; Heller et al. 1992; Springer et al. 1999). Groups are efficient vehicles to support familiarity, integration, and safe environment and to foster the feeling of belonging (Wilcox et al. 2005). These benefits even strengthen when groups are fixed and remain the same throughout the course. The relationships in the groups anchor the students into studying and help to address the persistence problem (Waldrop 2015). Most importantly, acquiring compatible friends through grouping can improve student retention (Salomone and Kling 2017) and lower drop-off rates (Wilcox et al. 2005), the very challenges we aim to address. Thus, our starting point to developing the model was to divide the students into small groups.

Then, we juxtaposed the four sessions in Fig. 1 with the basic elements of Table 1 and asked: What type of student activities the sessions should include? Which basic elements would aptly support those activities? Which activities benefit from interaction with peers? For example, since the first session focuses on factual knowledge, it should include reading and absorbing new material, which can be done alone. The relevant basic elements should then include technology enhancement (videos and simulations in technology-enhanced learning [TEL] environment), focus on phenomena and concepts (supported by material), alternative conceptions (addressed in the material), and adaptability (personal time and tempo). After considering the other three sessions the same way, we devised a timeline for the study process, with basic elements included (Table 2).

Primetime learning model with the four-step study process: principles, practice, problems, and primetime. Formative assessment underlies the entire process and motivates students to perform activities that also directly affect the grade. This drawing is a succinct summary of the primetime model (drawing courtesy of Linda Saukko-Rauta)

In the first step, students use videos and a textbook to study the principles and central concepts by themselves. The emphasis is on learning the basics, on remembering the factual knowledge, and on forming an overall picture of the topic. This step is akin to the self-studying in flipped classroom (Mazur 1997). Videos give an overview, and textbooks expand the topic by examples and further details. Self-studying is assessed in the end by a test in TEL environment, which gives immediate feedback. The test aims to motivate the students to familiarize themselves with the facts and principles applied in the following steps. The instructor assembles instructional materials for study but has minimal direct interaction with students during this step.

The answers to the questions are part of the assessment and give points to group members present in the meeting, which encourages the members to collaborate and to secure answers by proper arguments (Smith et al. 2009). Small group sizes help to lower the barrier to express opinions. This organization creates positive interdependence among group members (Heller et al. 1992). After answering the assignments, the TEL environment offers correct answers and correct arguments immediately, as advised by earlier research (Dihoff et al. 2004).

After the principles are known and rehearsed under the guidance of TEL environment, students proceed to solve full-scale problems, as familiar from traditional course designs. The emphasis is on procedural understanding, on analyzing realistic, context-rich problems, and on applying the concepts in realistic settings. Problems may be adopted from textbooks, but they should explicitly teach problem-solving skills and go beyond mere symbol manipulation. The problems can also be based on the simulations and numerical assignments used during practice sessions. For help and guidance, the teacher needs to be available for the students via a hotline. The hotline means quick, precise answers for precise questions which takes only little time from the teacher. Hotline can be arranged as scheduled availability, most easily in an online chat (Fig. 2).

Students submit personal solutions in the TEL environment by a given deadline. An easy realization is to upload scanned or photographed hand-written solutions. Model solutions are published immediately after the deadline (Dihoff et al. 2004). Assessment is designed such that students are made to face their mistakes by letting them check and correct their solutions, grade them based on given criteria and reupload the graded and corrected solutions in the TEL environment. In return, students get weekly feedback and brief, specific suggestions to enhance self-assessment and problem-solving skills. In other words, following research-based guidelines, students reflect upon open questions and receive immediate feedback about their successes and mistakes. The feedback is invaluable for the preparation for the next step: primetime.

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