Attribution to ynse at Flickr Creative Commons
When Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Sam Flaxman, PhD, plans his General Biology course lessons, he聽asks himself, 'What can I do in the classroom that makes it worth coming to?' 聽Flaxman says he weighs the value of what he can offer students during his class time in comparison to the extensive amount of information available to students online now. 聽"I think things really happen with people being together in a classroom," he聽says. 聽Flaxman believes that the real time interaction in class is invaluable:聽"My goals are to find really effective active classroom activities ... [and] technology helps us get there." 聽To this end, Flaxman incorporates intelligent clicker questions into his lectures to promote more productive discussion of complex concepts. 聽He聽allows time for students to discuss answers among themselves and with TAs. 聽Flaxman encourages students to explain the material in their own words to other students.
Handing the Microphone to Students
Lately, Flaxman has even experimented with handing the microphone to randomly selected students to respond聽to clicker questions. 聽He may ask them, "Tell us something something you thought about or discussed with your group during this question."聽 Asking students to respond with their own words, "... leads to a more real experience and better learning for these students," Flaxman says. 聽Students have the option to decline to participate, but Flaxman thinks that the potential ensuing conversation that occurs when students contribute their thoughts is most聽productive: "It's not about the answer. 聽It's about hearing the students' explanations and the thought processes that got them to a particular answer."
However, going off script can be unnerving for any professor. 聽Flaxman acknowledges this feeling of vulnerability: "It鈥檚 scary to turn the classroom over to students.聽 It feels safest to stand at the head of the classroom and talk." 聽In spite of his original apprehensions, students appreciate Flaxman's efforts and nominated him for the ASSETT Oustanding Teaching with Technology Award for the Fall 2013 semester. 聽One student wrote: "[Flaxman]聽encourages collaboration and effective learning through clicker questions. 聽Flaxman implores us to talk to the TA and our surrounding peers to discuss said questions."
Flaxman also incorporates video clips to help students better understand more complex concepts. 聽He has found videos at the 聽website and Pearson's聽聽site to be helpful. 聽Flaxman says he collaborates as much as he can with the other professors who teach general biology. 聽He says, "We have seen FCQ [course ratings] go up in recent years. 聽I attribute that to our hard working team, who sees this class as really important. 聽We really enjoy [teaching General Biology], and we care about it." 聽As a member of the , Flaxman also collaborates with聽Ecology and Evolutionary Biology聽. 聽Flaxman expresses gratitude to ASSETT, OIT, and the EBIO聽Post Doctoral Science Teaching Fellows for help with clicker logistics and crafting better questions to promote better discussion.
