Promoting Interaction in Large Classes with Computer-Mediated
Feedback
Richard Anderson, Ruth Anderson, Tammy VanDeGrift,
Steven Wolfman, Ken Yasuhara
http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/edtech/
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Classroom Presenter
Tablet PC-based presentation system– integrates writing on computer-projected slides– separates instructor’s view of presentation
from class view– basis for classroom technology research
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Context
• University level
• Focus on large classes (> 50 students)
• Computer Science and Informatics
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Modern Pedagogy vs. Modern Practice
active learning
participatory
interactive
student-directed
lecture
instructor-dominated
passive
disconnected
In the context of current university practice, how can a technological intervention promote interaction in the
classroom?
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Design Process
1. Discover what inhibits interaction
2. Understand what makes a good design
3. Design intervention
4. Evaluate
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Inhibiting Factors
Through participant observation, pilot studies, and literature search, identified:– Student apprehension
– Feedback lag
– Single-speaker paradigm
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Design Goals
• Address inhibiting factors
• Support student-initiated interaction
• Scale to large classes
• Impose low cognitive load
• Exploit existing classroom structures
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Slides as a Mediating Artifact
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Slides as a Mediating Artifact
• In the classroom:– facilitates communication– structures discussion
• Outside the classroom:– used as memory aid– used as study guide
• Across terms– reifies of course knowledge
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Designed System:Classroom Feedback System (CFS)
t• A class’ full name includes its package.
– for example, java.util.ArrayList or java.lang.String
• Often it is more convenient to use the class name without the package, e.g., ArrayList, String
• The import statement tells the compiler where to find class definitions that don't have a complete package name and aren't in the current package– Classes can be imported individually, or all classes in a
package can be imported– java.lang.* is imported automatically by the compiler– is not like #include in C/C++
import statement
• A class’ full name includes its package.» for example, java.util.ArrayList or java.lang.String
• Often it is more convenient to use the class name without the package, e.g., ArrayList, String
• The import statement tells the compiler where to find class definitions that don't have a complete package name and aren't in the current package» Classes can be imported individually, or all classes in a
package can be imported
» java.lang.* is imported automatically by the compiler
» is not like #include in C/C++
import statement
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Summer 2002 study:Example slide from lecture on Java packages
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Evaluation
Intro. programming course, summer 2002:– 150 students total– 12 with laptops– 9 week course, 3 weeks with CFS
Data: observations, surveys, focus groups, interview w/instructor, electronic logs
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CFS increased classroom interaction
Spoken interaction pre-CFS
Spoken interaction with CFS
Total interactions with CFS
Total w/out “Got it”
# per class 2.4 2.6 15.9 7.9
p-value .91 .04 .14
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Contributions
• Slide context as medium for interaction
• Designed system
• Evidence of available student feedback
• Successful “round-trip” interactions
• Novel interaction patterns for computer-mediated communication [Anderson et al., CHI 2003]
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Future Work
• Broader study/deployment
• Support for instructor-planned interaction
• Archival use of feedback
• Support complex feedback
• Scale to more participation
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Related Work
• ActiveClass [Griswold, CSCL 2003]
• WILD [Roschelle and Pea, CSCL 2002]
• ClassTalk [Dufresne et al., 2000]
• Active learning [Bonwell and Eison, 1991]
• “CATs” [Angelo and Cross, 1993]
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Acknowledgments
• UW CSE Education & Educational Technology Research Group
• MSR Learning Sciences & Technologies
• Students and instructors from the study
http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/edtech/