2-hour workshop on Just-in-Time Teaching.

1. Name
School
Department
JUST IN TIME TEACHING:
A 21ST CENTURY TEACHING TECHNIQUE
@ COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF DENVER
DR. JEFF LOATS
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

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…
2

3. WARM-UP: ED.TECH. FOCUS
How much of the educational technology efforts
at your institution have been focused on
replicating the traditional classroom vs. creating
teaching and learning opportunities that simply
weren't possible before?
~30% → Mentioned opportunities & support
~19% → Talked about specific people/programs
~19% → Said there is a good balance
~11% → Mentioned that adoption is low
~19% → Didn’t like the question

4. WARM-UP: ED.TECH. FOCUS
“What is a traditional classroom? Nuns with
chalk, a blackboard and a projector (slide, film,
overhead)?And how do you define "creating
teaching and learning opportunities?"Tell me
that and I'll be better able to answer your
question”
“Technology is neutral - it can be used for many
purposes. Don't know the official ratio of
traditional v alternative pedagogy...”
“87%Traditional, 13% New”

5. WARM-UP: ED.TECH. FOCUS
“Most online classes are designed according to
traditional classroom methods.They repleace
the lecture/discussion format with the
discussion tools, etc.”

6. WARM-UP: ED.TECH. FOCUS
“CCD appears to embrace new methods of
instruction and technology, although the
implementation is fragmented.”
“Almost all of it, I'd say; however, not entirely.
We have had a number of workshops/seminars
on using chat technology,Twitter, or Second
Life, to create a more collaborative space, but
no one I know here is using it. Almost all the
classes I know about still are the traditional
format with rows of students facing the
instructor.”

7. 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

8. WARM-UP:TEACHING HERITAGE
“Generally, instructors model what they have
seen as students and add content and
techniques from other sources as they continue
in the field - perhaps some trial and error - what
works...”
“I teach the way I learned.”

9. WARM-UP:TEACHING HERITAGE
“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.”

10. WARM-UP:TEACHING HERITAGE
“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 inY
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.”

11. THE EVIDENCE STANDARD
11
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

12. WARM-UP: ENFORCING PREPARATION
In your teaching, do you have a method for
holding students accountable for preparing for
class?
~12% → I don’t, but I ask/threaten really well
~42% → Paper method (quiz, journal, others?)
~15% → Digital method (clickers, others?)
~4% → Just-in-TimeTeaching
~27% → Some other method
24%
49%
11%
4%
13%
(others)

13. OVERVIEW
13
Part I:
1. Motivation for change
2. Basics of Just inTimeTeaching
3. Examples & details
Part II:
1. Evidence for effectiveness
2. Writing questions
3. Feedback from students
4. Summaries

14. PHYSICS EDUCATION REVOLUTION
Eric Mazur, Physicist at Harvard:
14

15. 15
“ALL SIMILARLY (IN)EFFECTIVE…”

16. 16
University of Washington
University of Colorado
University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign

17. FEEDBACK THAT WORKS
17
“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)

18. TECHNIQUE &TECHNOLOGY
18
Technique:
Just inTimeTeaching
Technology:
Online question & response tools
Learner Teacher

19. JUST IN TIME TEACHING
19
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.

20. WHAT JITT IS NOT…
20
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

21. Consider a typical day in your class.What fraction
of students did their preparatory work before
coming to class?
A) 0% - 20%
B) 20% - 40%
C) 40% - 60%
D) 60% - 80%
E) 80% - 100%
21
25%
43%
29%
11%
7%
(others)

22. WARM-UP: ROBODOG VS. ROBOCAT
22
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.

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

24. WARM-UP: ROBODOG VS. ROBOCAT
“It depends on whether they both have the
same distance to run/walk. ”

25. 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.”

26. 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”

27. WARMUP QUESTIONS
27
• 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.

28. METACOGNITION
28
Two questions end everyWarmUp:
“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.

29. JUST IN TIME TEACHING
A different student role:
• 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
Learner Teacher
29

30. MAZUR AFTER 1YEAR
30

31. ELSEWHERE?
31

32. STUDIED EFFECTIVENESS
32
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

33. EXAMPLE STUDY: BIOLOGY
33
Marrs, K., 2005,
“Assessment of JiTT on Student Learning”
‘Crammed’ in
Biology N100
‘Crammed’ in
other courses
A students 16% 44%
B students 34% 63%
C students 41% 65%
D students 64% 71%
F students 68% 69%

34. FEATURES OF A GOOD QUESTION
34
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.”

35. WRITE A QUESTION AND SHARE...
35
Imagine an introductory course in your discipline.
Imagine a topic you discuss early in that course.
Pick one type, write one question:
– A “low level” question (remember, understand):
Terms: “Define, repeat” or “describe, explain”
– A “higher level” question (apply, analyze,
evaluate)
Terms: “Sketch, use” or “compare, estimate”
Write for a few minutes, then to trade and answer
your neighbor’s.

36. FEATURES OF A GOOD JITTTOOL
36
All student responses on one webpage
Auto-grading: 2/2 for anything by default.
Click to email students from the response page.
“Frequently sent responses” a bit automated.
List of responses is either randomized or tracked
to distribute instructor attention.
Other “modern” web amenities, like autosave,
time warnings, etc.

37. SMALL ASIDE:TEXT EXPANDER
37
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 forWindows:
– 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)

38. WHAT TOOLS TO USE?
38
• CMS/LMS (Blackboard, D2L, Moodle, etc.)
Ready to use, tools… imperfect awful
• Free service from JiTTDL.org.
Designed just for JiTT, but extra login, and
the site has not been improved in ~5 years
• Students email responses
Easy! usually overwhelming and awful
• Blogging tools (WordPress)?
• New tools (TopHat, Learning Catalytics)?

39. 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%

40. WHAT MIGHT STOPYOU?
40
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…

41. A POSSIBLE PLAN
41
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
inTimeTeaching in all your courses.

42. MY SUMMARY
42
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?)

43. YOUR SUMMARY
43
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.

44. JITT REFERENCES & RESOURCES
44
Simkins, Scott and Maier, Mark (Eds.) (2010) Just inTimeTeaching:Across the Disciplines, Across the Academy, Stylus Publishing.
Gregor M. Novak, AndrewGavrini,Wolfgang Christian, Evelyn Patterson (1999) Just-in-TimeTeaching: BlendingActive Learning with
WebTechnology. Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River NJ.
K.A. Marrs, and G. Novak. (2004). Just-in-TimeTeaching in Biology: Creating an Active LearnerClassroom Using the Internet. Cell
Biology Education, v. 3, p. 49-61.
Jay R. Howard (2004). Just-in-TimeTeaching in Sociology or How I Convinced My Students toActually Read the Assignment. Teaching
Sociology,Vol. 32 (No. 4 ). pp. 385-390. Published by:American SociologicalAssociation
StableURL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3649666
S. Linneman,T. Plake (2006). Searching for the Difference:A ControlledTest of Just-in-TimeTeaching for Large-Enrollment
IntroductoryGeologyCourses. Journal of Geoscience Education,Vol. 54 (No. 1)
StableURL:http://www.nagt.org/nagt/jge/abstracts/jan06.html#v54p18