1. JUMP INTO JITT:
JUST IN TIME TEACHING
NameOMMUNITY COLLEGE OF DENVER
@C
School
Department
DR. JEFF LOATS
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

2. 2
In what (rough) area do you teach?
A) Humanities
B) Natural sciences & mathematics
C) Professions & applied sciences
D) Social sciences
E) Teacher education
…no surer way to offend…

3. 3
Which of these is the dominant source of your
“teaching heritage.” That is, pick the one that has
contributed the most to how you teach the way
you do.
A) Personal preference
B) The best/worst courses I had as a student
C) Education/training in teaching
D) Trial & error
E) Research on best practices
(sorry… you can’t pick more than one)

4. WARM-UP: TEACHING HERITAGE
Thinking about the college instructors you've had
experiences with (including yourself), where do you
think their methods and attitudes come from? Why
do you think they teach the way that they do?
~70% → They teach the way they were taught
~19% → Inside their comfort zone
~22% → Education & training
~11% → Trial & Error
~22% → Personal drives & preferences
~7% → Because of research

5. TEACHING HERITAGE COMMENTS
“I teach the way I learned.”
“Many college instructors teach based on how
they were taught when they were students
which is supplemented by professional
development they received at the college where
they teach.”

6. TEACHING HERITAGE COMMENTS
“I suppose that it's self-replicating; we teach the
way we were taught. We do what we know has
'worked' in the past. I think also that many of us
are reluctant to innovate too much because we
still have to cover X amount of material in Y
number of class periods, and one worries that
trying out new things will reduce the amount of
time we have to complete what is required of us
on the syllabus.”

7. 7
THE EVIDENCE STANDARD
Teachers can feel bombarded…
I strive to be a scholarly teacher …
Common (evidence-based) themes:
• Focus and attention
• Using emotions appropriately
• Repetition and practice
• Feedback

8. 8
In your teaching do you have a method for
holding students accountable for preparing for
class?
20% A) I don’t, but I ask/threaten really well.
45% B) I use a paper method (quiz, journal, others?)
11% C) I use a digital method (clickers, others?)
7% D) I use Just in Time Teaching.
18% E) I have some other method.
(others)

9. 9
OVERVIEW
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Motivation for change
Basics of Just in Time Teaching
Examples & details
Evidence for effectiveness
Feedback from students
Summaries

10. 10
PHYSICS EDUCATION REVOLUTION
Eric Mazur, Physicist at Harvard:

11. 11
“ALL SIMILARLY (IN)EFFECTIVE…”

12. 12
University of Washington
University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign
University of Colorado

13. 13
FEEDBACK THAT WORKS
“Improvement of performance is actually a
function of two perceptual processes. The
individual’s perception of the standards of
performance, and her/his perception of his/her
own performance.”
The Feedback Fallacy – Steve Falkenberg (via Linda Nilson)

14. 14
TECHNIQUE & TECHNOLOGY
Technique:
Just in Time Teaching
Learner
Technology:
Online question & response tools
Teacher

15. 15
JUST IN TIME TEACHING
Online pre-class assignments (“WarmUps”)
First half - Students
• Conceptual questions, answered in sentences
• Graded on thoughtful effort
Second half - Instructor
• Responses are read “just in time”
• Instructor modifies that day’s plan accordingly.
• Aggregate and individual (anonymous) responses
are displayed in class.

16. 16
WHAT JITT IS NOT…
JiTT is not about
… online courses or distance learning.
… computer-graded homework.
… delivering content via the web.
Goals of JiTT:
• Student preparation
• Obvious communication loop
• Student ownership and buy-in
• Create a community effort towards learning

17. 17
Consider a typical day in your class. What fraction
of students did their preparatory work before
coming to class?
25%
35%
21%
14%
6%
(others)
A) 0% - 20%
B) 20% - 40%
C) 40% - 60%
D) 60% - 80%
E) 80% - 100%

18. 18
Students have developed a robot dog
and a robot cat, both of which can
run at 8 mph and walk at 4 mph.
A the end of the term, there is a race!
The robot cat must run for half of its
racing time, then walk.
The robot dog must run for half the
race distance, then walk.
A) The cat wins
B) The dog wins
C) They tie

19. WARM-UP: ROBODOG VS. ROBOCAT
Predict which one will win the race, and explain
why you think so.
~38%
~19%
~19%
~12%
→
→
→
→
Robocat!
Robodog!
They tie!
Can’t tell!
~12%
~4%
~27%
~35%
~19%
→
→
→
→
→
Good math
Bad math
Good reasoning
Bad reasoning
Invalid arguments

20. WARM-UP: ROBODOG VS. ROBOCAT
“Cats rule - dogs drool!”
“Robot dog. Because dogs naturally walk more
thaan cats. ”
“The cat--it won the flip of the coin.”
“The cat.... To be honest, I used the resources I
have and asked my colleague who is a physics
major.”

21. WARM-UP: ROBODOG VS. ROBOCAT
“The robot cat will win. My reasoning for this is:
-the dog will run for half the distance, but then
walk the rest, which means he will be walking
the same amount of distance but that also
means that will take him longer to do the last
half of the race.
-the cat will run, no matter what, half the time,
so her walking time is definitely less than the
dogs walking time”

22. 22
WARMUP QUESTIONS
• Every-day language
• Occasional simple comprehension question
• Mostly higher level questions (a la Bloom)
• Perhaps any question is better than none
Connections to evidence:
– Pre-class work reduces working memory load
during class.
– Multimodal practice (not learning styles):
JiTT brings reading, writing and discussion as
modes of practice.

23. 23
METACOGNITION
Two questions end every WarmUp:
“What aspect of the material did you find the
most difficult or interesting.”
“How much time did you spend on the pre-class
work for tomorrow?” [Multiple choice]
Connections to evidence:
– Forced practice at metacognition:
Students regularly evaluate their own
interaction with the material.

24. 26
JUST IN TIME TEACHING
A different student role:
Learner
Teacher
• Actively prepare for class
(not just reading/watching)
• Actively engage in class
• Compare your progress & plan accordingly
A different instructor role:
• Actively prepare for class with you
(not just going over last year’s notes )
• Modify class accordingly
• Create interactive engagement opportunities

25. 27
MAZUR AFTER 1 YEAR

26. 28
ELSEWHERE?

27. 29
STUDIED EFFECTIVENESS
Used at hundreds of institutions
Dozens of studies/articles, in many disciplines:
Bio, Art Hist., Econ., Math, Psych., Chem., etc.
– Increase in content knowledge
– Improved student preparation for class
– Improved use of out-of-class time
– Increased attendance & engagement in class
– Improvement in affective measures

28. 31
EXAMPLE STUDY: BIOLOGY
Marrs, K., 2005,
“Assessment of JiTT on Student Learning”
‘Crammed’ in
Biology N100
‘Crammed’ in
other courses
B students
16%
34%
44%
63%
C students
41%
65%
D students
64%
68%
71%
69%
A students
F students

29. 34
FEATURES OF A GOOD QUESTION
What would a “good” response look like?
– A paragraph? (too long)
– One word? (too short)
Make sure the reading is needed to respond (but a
sentence straight out of the book shouldn’t work).
Make sure a beginner can take a crack at the question
Be concrete:
– “Explain in 2-3 sentences.”
– “Give two brief examples.”
– “Explain how you got your estimate.”

30. 36
FEATURES OF A GOOD JITT TOOL
Necessary features:
All student responses on one webpage
Auto-grading: 2/2 for anything by default.
Click to email students from the response page.
Your TLC has developed a good D2L workflow!
Luxury features:
“Frequently sent responses”
List of responses is either randomized or tracked
Other amenities: Autosave, time warnings, etc.

31. 37
SMALL ASIDE: TEXT EXPANDER
Every professor should have this!
You define a short text string, such as “ttyl”
When typed instantly replaced: “Talk to you later!”
Best FREE tools for Windows:
– Texter (simple with some advanced tools)
– AutoHotKey (advanced and can do much more)
Best tools for Mac:
– TypeIt4Me (30 days free, $5 after that. Worth it)

32. STUDENT FEEDBACK ON JITT
From anonymous end-of-term survey:
College Physics II, Fall 2010:
“These warmups helped me stay caught up with
the material because sometimes in other
classes, since we are not required to read, I end
up cramming the material at the last minute. So
these helped to read a little bit everyday.”

33. STUDENT FEEDBACK ON JITT
From College Physics II, Fall 2010:
“I appreciate that the questions require thought.
It is beneficial to read the material and really
have to use the ideas, yet not be afraid to make
mistakes or incorrect assumptions”

34. STUDENT FEEDBACK ON JITT
From College Physics II, Fall 2010:
“Though I sometimes grumble and groan about
completing them, they have helped me stay on
top of the coursework. Additionally, my wrong
answers have been just as instructive in my
learning as the right ones. Introducing a
problem, requiring my thought, before coming
to lecture, then covering the answer, has given
me a greater sense of relevance of the material
in several instances.”

35. STUDENT FEEDBACK ON JITT
315 students in 7 classes over 4 terms (roughly ±6%)
The WarmUps have…
Agreed or
Strongly Agreed
…helped me to be more prepared
for class than I would otherwise be.
70%
…helped me to be more engaged in
class than I would otherwise be.
80%
…helped me to learn the material
better than I otherwise would
64%
…been worth the time they
required to complete
57%

36. 43
WHAT MIGHT STOP YOU?
In terms of the technique:
Time, coverage, not doing your part, pushback…
In terms of the technology:
Learning curve, tech. failures, perfectionism…
In any reform of your teaching:
Reinventing, no support, too much at once…

37. 44
A POSSIBLE PLAN
Choose one course you will teach next term.
1. Write two questions for each lecture
2. One lower-level, one higher.
3. Give yourself 10 minutes to write each question
4. Write a standard (1st) metacognitive question
5. Discuss one question at the top of class, and one
in the middle. Use the metacognitive responses
as break points or highlights.
6. Find yourself wishing you had implemented Just
in Time Teaching in all your courses.

38. 45
MY SUMMARY
JiTT may be among the easiest research-based
instructional strategies that you can
consistently integrate into your teaching.
From an evidence-based perspective, JiTT
addresses often-neglected areas.
Be prepared to find that students know less than
we might hope. (Perhaps freeing?)

39. 46
YOUR SUMMARY
For yourself… or to share?
What part of JiTT concept/process is the fuzziest
for you after this talk?
What is the biggest reason you might not give
JiTT a try in one course next term?
Contact Jeff: Jeff.Loats@gmail.com
Slides: www.slideshare.net/JeffLoats
I love talking and working with faculty,
don’t hesitate to get in touch.

40. 47
JITT REFERENCES & RESOURCES
Simkins, Scott and Maier, Mark (Eds.) (2010) Just in Time Teaching: Across the Disciplines, Across the Academy, Stylus Publishing.
Gregor M. Novak, Andrew Gavrini, Wolfgang Christian, Evelyn Patterson (1999) Just-in-Time Teaching: Blending Active Learning with
Web Technology. Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River NJ.
K. A. Marrs, and G. Novak. (2004). Just-in-Time Teaching in Biology: Creating an Active Learner Classroom Using the Internet. Cell
Biology Education, v. 3, p. 49-61.
Jay R. Howard (2004). Just-in-Time Teaching in Sociology or How I Convinced My Students to Actually Read the Assignment. Teaching
Sociology, Vol. 32 (No. 4 ). pp. 385-390. Published by: American Sociological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3649666
S. Linneman, T. Plake (2006). Searching for the Difference: A Controlled Test of Just-in-Time Teaching for Large-Enrollment
Introductory Geology Courses. Journal of Geoscience Education, Vol. 54 (No. 1)
Stable URL:http://www.nagt.org/nagt/jge/abstracts/jan06.html#v54p18