Presentation Feedback

Following Seda Chavdarian's presentation, we asked instructors to write down one thing they already do in their classrooms that could be considered active learning, or a new idea they learned from the presentation that they would like to try. The following are the responses.

• I frequently start a class by asking the students to see how many books they can find on N topics. We then compare search results:
  >Who found none?
  >What search terms did you use?
  >What databases did you use?
  >What type of search did you perform?
  Lesson learned = your success in finding materials is dependent on databases you search, on the words you search, and on the type of search you perform.
  -Pat Maughan, TLIB


• Excellent model of active teaching/learning!
  The body language makes students feel so welcome to follow the instructions and enjoy learning french!


• Active learning takes particular attention to implement in one shot classes.


• Non-instructional aspects of classes may work in short workshops.


• Teaching is similar to conducting a theatrical play.
  How much the student will retain from lecture depends on both the instructor and the student him/herself.
  Sometimes it is beneficial to leave an open-ended question for the students to answer (by not providing an exact correct answer).


• Important of not lecturing for more than 10-15 minutes, and that even 2 minutes of talking to other students is helpful.


• Take a break every 15 minutes.


• I like the "Magic Door" - leave everything else outside.


• I was really impressed by the idea of flexibility - having a plan B so that if plan A isn't working, you can adjust. I should develop a plan B more often.
  I was also intrigued by the "non-instructional" aspects of active learning and will think about how to include it in my instruction.


• I think a lot of these techniques aren't very applicable to grad students.
  I could give search examples and ask them to try and construct a relevant search query, and discuss what results they get for different searches. This would only be for the more difficult, less straightforward databases.


• I have a question: We have our students only for one 50-minute period. How can we make sure they feel comfortable enough to participate actively when we are strangers to them? Does anyone have any ideas?


• Stop after 10-15 minutes and let students discuss concepts for 2-3 minutes.