Presentation of pedagogical approach Motivational Active Learning - Reimagine Education Awards 2015

1. M O T I VAT I O N A L A C T I V E
L E A R N I N G ( M A L )
J O H A N N A P I R K E R
J P I R K E R @ M I T. E D U
G R A Z U N I V E R S I T Y O F T E C H N O L O G Y
@ J O E Y P R I N K

2. I N S P I R AT I O N :
T E C H N O L O G Y- E N A B L E D A C T I V E L E A R N I N G
• Collaborative learning
• (groups from 3-9)
• Desktop experiments linked to laptops
• Media-rich visualisations & simulations
• Personal response systems to stimulate interaction
between instructor and students
http://web.mit.edu/edtech/casestudies/teal.html

3. Instead of frustrating and stressing students with
failure rates at exams, we want to reward them for
putting extra effort to account for mistakes and not
punish them for failing one single exam.
+ F U N & E N G A G E M E N T B A S E D O N G A M E
D E S I G N

4. C O M B I N E I N T E R A C T I V E
E N G A G E M E N T W I T H G A M I F I C AT I O N
• Constant interaction and involvement
• Collaborative learning (groups of 3)
• Immediate and motivational feedback (points, badges)
• Errors are allowed (revise, improve and get better)
• Adaptive class design (measure learning progress and
consider reflection information)

5. Learning Activity Location Group
Size
Feedback Improve
Small Lecture Blocks class n/a n/a
Recap Quiz class 1 immediate no
Concept Questions class 1 immediate no
Concept Quiz class 1 immediate no
Discussion Topic class 3 deferred yes
Research Question class 3 deferred yes
Small Calculation Task class 3 immediate no
Complex Calculation Task class/home 3 immediate yes
Programing Task class/home 3 deferred yes
Reflection Quiz home 1 immediate no
Reflection Forum home 3 deferred no

6. 0" 20" 40" 60" 80" 100" 120" 140" 160" 180"
Minutes"
Timline"of"lecture"3"
Lecture" 3.1."Recap"Quiz" 3.2"Concept"Ques?on"
3.3."Short"Calcula?on:"Bayes"Theorem" "3.4."Short"Calcula?on:"Ranking"1" 3.5."Short"Calcula?on:"Ranking"2"
3.6."Discussion:"Steps"of"Ranking" 3.7."Concept"Ques?on"Quiz" "3.11."Discussion:"Quality"of"Retrieval"Models"
3.12."Concept"Ques?on" 3.13."Calcula?on"Retrieval"Performance(Part1/2)" 3.14."Concept"Ques?on"Quiz:"Precision"/"Recall"
3.15."Calcula?on"Retrieval"Performance"(Part"2/2)"

9. S O M E F I N D I N G S
• Subjects: students from Course ISR
• 3 year in a row -> constant improvements + evaluations
• “Group Activities”
• Liked group work (M=3.38; SD 1.32 based on 5 PT Likert scale)
• “The group assignments during classes were the best concept.
[…] apply the concept just learned to remember it better, but
also discuss eventual misunderstandings“
• “Motivational Aspects”
• Liked collection points (M=3.95; SD=1.12)
• Liked elective bonus assignments (M=3.57; SD=1.25)
• [I liked] the chance to improve already graded work … a
motivating thing to immediately see received points”
• I liked the interactive learning. The structure of the course, some
parts lecture, immediately followed by exercises, was nice.”

10. T H A N K Y O U F O R Y O U R
AT T E N T I O N .
J O H A N N A P I R K E R , J P I R K E R @ M I T. E D U , W W W. J P I R K E R . C O M , @ J O E Y P R I N K