Active learning, course assessment, teaching portfolios materials….

What is Active Learning?

Active learning includes any type of instructional activity that engages students in learning, beyond listening, reading, and memorizing. As examples, students might talk to a classmate about a challenging question, respond to an in-class prompt in writing, make a prediction about an experiment, or apply knowledge from a reading to a case study. Active learning commonly includes collaboration between students in pairs or larger groups, but independent activities that involve reflection or writing—like quick-writes, or real-time polling in lectures—are also valuable.

Instructors can employ active learning in classes of any size, although certain activities may be better suited for smaller classes than large lecture halls. Nonetheless, even large classes – including classes that meet in lecture halls with fixed seats – can incorporate a variety of activities that encourage students to talk with each other, work in small groups on an activity, or respond to a question through in-class writing or polling. Furthermore, even small classes can increase student engagement beyond what might occur in a full group discussion by varying the instructional approaches and including small group discussions and activities.

Why should I use it?

Active learning is valuable for a variety of reasons:

It provides instructors with feedback about what students are learning.
It helps students gauge their own understanding. By grappling with ideas, students connect new concepts to prior knowledge in meaningful ways and construct their own understanding.
Collaborating with classmates promotes community and connection between students, which can enhance a sense of belonging as well as motivation.
It creates a low bar to participation for quiet or passive students by encouraging every student to think and do.
Many of the larger scale studies on active learning have been conducted in STEM disciplines, although it reasonable to expect that the benefits of active learning extend to any field. A 2014 meta-analysis of 225 research studies in STEM classes found that students in classes with active learning performed 6% better on exams than students in classes with traditional lecturing, and that students in classes with traditional lecturing were 1.5 times more likely to fail than in classes with active learning (Freeman et al, 2014). Additionally, all else being equal, active learning has been shown to decrease the achievement gap for underrepresented minorities and first generation college students (e.g. Eddy and Hogan 2014)

What are some examples?

Active learning strategies come in many varieties, most of which can be grafted into existing courses without costly revisions. One of the simplest and most elegant exercises, called Think-pair-share, could easily be written into almost any lecture. In this exercise, students are given a minute to think about – and perhaps respond in writing – to a question on their own. Students next exchange ideas with a partner. Finally, some students share with the entire class. A think-pair-share engages every student, and also encourages more participation than simply asking for volunteers to respond to a question.
Other active learning exercises include:

Case studies: In a case study, students apply their knowledge to real life scenarios, requiring them to synthesize a variety of information and make recommendations.
Collaborative note taking: The instructor pauses during class and asks students to take a few minutes to summarize in writing what they have just learned and/or consolidate their notes. Students then exchange notes with a partner to compare; this can highlight key ideas that a student might have missed or misunderstood.
Concept map: This activity helps students understand the relationship between concepts. Typically, students are provided with a list of terms. They arrange the terms on paper and draw arrows between related concepts, labeling each arrow to explain the relationship.
Group work: Whether solving problems or discussing a prompt, working in small groups can be an effective method of engaging students. In some cases, all groups work on or discuss the same question; in other cases, the instructor might assign different topics to different groups. The group’s task should be purposeful, and should be structured in such a way that there is an obvious advantage to working as a team rather than individually. It is useful for groups to share their ideas with the rest of the class – whether by writing answers on the board, raising key points that were discussed, or sharing a poster they created.
Jigsaw: Small groups of students each discuss a different, but related topic. Students are then shuffled such that new groups are comprised of one student from each of the original groups. In these new groups, each student is responsible for sharing key aspects of their original discussion. The second group must synthesize and use all of the ideas from the first set of discussions in order to complete a new or more advanced task. A nice feature of a jigsaw is that every student in the original group must fully understand the key ideas so that they can teach their classmates in the second group.
Minute paper, or quick write: Students write a short answer in response to a prompt during class, requiring students to articulate their knowledge or apply it to a new situation.
NB: A minute paper can also be used as a reflection at the end of class. The instructor might ask students to write down the most important concept that they learned that day, as well as something they found confusing. Targeted questions can also provide feedback to the instructor about students’ experience in the class.
Statement correction, or intentional mistakes: The instructor provides statements, readings, proofs, or other material that contains errors. The students are charged with finding and correcting the errors. Concepts that students commonly misunderstand are well suited for this activity.
Strip sequence, or sequence reconstruction: The goal of this activity is for students to order a set of items, such as steps in a biological process or a series of historical events. As one strategy, the instructor provides students with a list of items written on strips of paper for the students to sort. Removable labels with printed items also work well for this activity.
Polling: During class, the instructor asks a multiple-choice question. Students can respond in a variety of ways. Possibilities include applications such as PollEverywhere or Learning Catalytics. In some courses, each student uses a handheld clicker, or personal response device, to record their answers through software such as TurningPoint or iClicker. Alternatively, students can respond to a multiple-choice question by raising the appropriate number of fingers or by holding up a colored card, where colors correspond to the different answers. A particularly effective strategy is to ask each student to first respond to the poll independently, then discuss the question with a neighbor, and then re-vote.
ABL Connect provides more in-depth information about and examples of many of these activities.

In addition to these classroom-based strategies, instructors might take students out of the classroom; for example, students can visit museums or libraries, engage in field research, or work with the local community.

Are your students learning? How do you know? Assessing your course or section is important for both students and instructors, and is generally most effective when based on multiple sources of information. Any one source of data – for example, student evaluations – is limited.

Similarly, quizzes, exams, problem sets, and writing assignments alone may not capture individual differences in student ability nor instructor effectiveness. For each individual class meeting, assignment, and exam, as well as the course as a whole, it is helpful for instructors to consider the following questions:

What are my primary goals and objectives?
What points seem to confuse students?
What went well and why?
What do I need to do to follow-up?
Here are a three simple and powerful tips for assessing your course or section:

Pre-test your students so you know their strengths and limitations and so you can compare pre-course performance with post-course performance.
Do midsemester or early feedback so you know what is working and not working with time to make modifications.
Do “one-minute papers or quizzes” at the end of each class meeting so that students can indicate anonymously what they still find confusing.

Creating a Teaching Portfolio

Whether the job is at a at small liberal arts college, a large state university, or a research institution, teaching is a central factor in hiring decisions. Many academic job applications will require a statement of teaching philosophy, a teaching portfolio, or both.

Although there are many examples of uninspiring teaching portfolios on the internet, teaching documents can be organized into a portfolio that demonstrates both serious thought and rigorous standards of scholarship. In The Teaching Portfolio, Peter Seldin writes that a portfolio takes about 12-15 hours to create – a small time commitment considering its benefits, which include growth as a teacher and increasing your chances of success on the job market.

The Bok Center and the Office of Career Services advise TFs and other instructors to begin developing a teaching portfolio early in their teaching careers. Starting early and continuing to collect material during your ongoing development as a teacher is the best way to craft a portfolio that both captures your educational philosophy and documents your teaching efforts.

Before making an appointment to review your portfolio with the Bok Center, take these initial steps (and see also Components of a Portfolio in the menu at left):

Save all syllabi, handouts, and assignments from courses in which you teach. Make sure to make a note of exercises, assignments, and materials you developed yourself.
Think about and begin working on a statement of your teaching philosophy. Put as much care and attention into your teaching statement as you would into a statement of research for a fellowship application. Your observations and comments should be rooted in real experiences in the classroom.
Request letters from faculty who have employed you to teach, particularly those who have observed your teaching and/or read over your comments on student work. Ask for these letters while the professors’ memories are fresh.
After you’ve submitted course grades and there is no appearance of impropriety or favoritism,consider asking a student or two for a letter of recommendation.
Have a section (or, if you give a guest lecture, the lecture) videotaped as part of a consultation at the Bok Center. After your consultation, ask for a copy of the DVD. Videotaped segments of teaching are sometimes requested in lieu of, or in addition to, an onsite job talk. Watching yourself teach on tape in consultation with a Bok Center staff member is also be a springboard to articulating your teaching philosophy.
Keep all student evaluations of your teaching. Mid-semester feedback, combined with final Q evaluations, make a good package.

Creating a Teaching Portfolio

Whether the job is at a at small liberal arts college, a large state university, or a research institution, teaching is a central factor in hiring decisions. Many academic job applications will require a statement of teaching philosophy, a teaching portfolio, or both.

Although there are many examples of uninspiring teaching portfolios on the internet, teaching documents can be organized into a portfolio that demonstrates both serious thought and rigorous standards of scholarship. In The Teaching Portfolio, Peter Seldin writes that a portfolio takes about 12-15 hours to create – a small time commitment considering its benefits, which include growth as a teacher and increasing your chances of success on the job market.

The Bok Center and the Office of Career Services advise TFs and other instructors to begin developing a teaching portfolio early in their teaching careers. Starting early and continuing to collect material during your ongoing development as a teacher is the best way to craft a portfolio that both captures your educational philosophy and documents your teaching efforts.

Before making an appointment to review your portfolio with the Bok Center, take these initial steps (and see also Components of a Portfolio in the menu at left):

Save all syllabi, handouts, and assignments from courses in which you teach. Make sure to make a note of exercises, assignments, and materials you developed yourself.
Think about and begin working on a statement of your teaching philosophy. Put as much care and attention into your teaching statement as you would into a statement of research for a fellowship application. Your observations and comments should be rooted in real experiences in the classroom.
Request letters from faculty who have employed you to teach, particularly those who have observed your teaching and/or read over your comments on student work. Ask for these letters while the professors’ memories are fresh.
After you’ve submitted course grades and there is no appearance of impropriety or favoritism,consider asking a student or two for a letter of recommendation.
Have a section (or, if you give a guest lecture, the lecture) videotaped as part of a consultation at the Bok Center. After your consultation, ask for a copy of the DVD. Videotaped segments of teaching are sometimes requested in lieu of, or in addition to, an onsite job talk. Watching yourself teach on tape in consultation with a Bok Center staff member is also be a springboard to articulating your teaching philosophy.
Keep all student evaluations of your teaching. Mid-semester feedback, combined with final Q evaluations, make a good package.
Try to envision the process of creating a teaching portfolio as a means of productively preparing for the job market and a successful academic career. The portfolio, as Peter Seldin writes, “is to teaching what lists of publications, grants, and honors are to research and scholarship.”

Teaching with Technology

In addition to our specific pages on using Clickers and Powerpoint in the classroom, the Bok Center collaborates with various offices on campus to support the pedagogical use of technology.

Academic Technology Group

The Bok Center collaborates with the Academic Technology Group (ATG, part of HUIT), to foster the use of technology for teaching undergraduate courses. ATG offers technological training and consulting, help with Canvas websites for courses, support for online multimedia, and assistance with software development. The Bok Center focuses particularly on pedagogical advice for enriching courses using Web sites, presentation software, “clickers,” video, multimedia and other technological tools.

Harvard College Library

The Library has a wonderful portal of Resources for Instructors.

Instructional Media Services

When you know which A/V equipment you will need (see below), remember that the reservation of A/V technicians and equipment is separate from the room booking. Media and Technology Services (MTS, part of IMS) and Sever Support will get you equipment and a technician, but not the room, which should be book through RoomBook. The second thing to remember is that MTS usually needs at least two weeks of lead-time in order to guarantee you equipment and/or a technician to run it. During busy periods, (exam times or the period leading up to Commencement) MTS may need even more. For an overview of exactly what equipment is permanently deployed in specific rooms (and a photo of the room itself), you can go to Instructional Media Services and take a look. You can get keys to cabinets or machines through MTS.

Key Phone Numbers from MTS:

Media and Technology Services
Sever MTS Support
Classroom Booking
Faculty of Arts and Sciences – Information Technology Help
Prep Room (Science Center only)
Science Center, Rm B-02, 495-9460
495-9470
classrms@fas.harvard.edu
496-2727
495-5357

Materials

Since our founding in 1975 the Derek Bok Center has sought to gather and develop the most compelling materials on teaching from both inside the university and around the country and world. The Bok Center attempts to serve the national and international higher education community by offering online documents and by publishing books and DVDs on the art of teaching. Special arrangements can be made in advance for visitors from other institutions, depending on the Center’s schedule and the availability of Bok Center staff.

Overview
As a teacher of Harvard undergraduates, you are expected to act professionally in your dealings with your students and within your courses’ teaching staffs. You must be fair, equally available to all of your students, friendly but not your students’ friend, well-prepared for class, and prompt. You must also take seriously your obligations to protect your students’ private information and to act ethically with regard to any sensitive information you may obtain about your students and/or fellow teachers. The Bok Center supports Harvard’s efforts in taking seriously the professional conduct of its instructors.

Professionalism
Pedagogy is, almost inevitably, a personal and emotionally-loaded activity. Many of us teach because we feel a calling to it, and we are excited and rejuvenated by the opportunity to participate in our students’ and colleagues’ lives at such a formative moment. It is natural to bond with our students, and for them to bond with us; to be curious about their lives beyond the classroom, and to share humanizing details about ourselves in return. Indeed, our pedagogy may be even more effective when we develop a rapport with our students and an understanding of the kinds of interests and preoccupations that have brought them to our classrooms in the first place, and occasionally students and their instructors develop lifelong friendships that persist even after graduation. The same is true, albeit in a different way, within the teaching staff of a course: ideally, faculty who employ Teaching Fellows are offering them mentoring as well as a paycheck, and Teaching Fellows often develop a spirit of camaraderie and friendship while working as members of the same course staff.

But we must always remember that when we are given access to our students’ and colleagues’ personal information, and set in relationships of authority, it is for a specific purpose—to achieve learning objectives in the classroom—and must handle the responsibilities that come with that privilege in an unambiguously professional way. This includes not only the expectation that we teach inclusively and respect the privacy of student information, but also that we respect the policies set by our departments and colleagues and enforce them consistently and equitably.

FAS’ Information for Faculty Offering Instruction features a useful discussion of professional conduct.
Kate Stanton, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education shares best practices for Professional Conduct in this video from our 2014 Fall Teaching Conference.
Title IX
Consistent with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Harvard University does not discriminate against students, faculty or staff based on sex in any of its programs or activities, including but not limited to educational programs, employment, and admission. Sexual harassment, including sexual violence, is a kind of sex discrimination and is prohibited by Title IX and by the University. Harvard also complies with Massachusetts laws that protect individuals from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, as well as on the basis of gender identity. University Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment Policy applies to all Harvard University students, faculty, staff, appointees, or third parties.In addition, FAS has specific policy and resources available.

The University Policy provides that University officers, other than those who are prohibited from making such notifications because of a legal confidentiality obligation, must promptly notify the School or Unit Title IX Coordinator about possible sexual or gender-based harassment. This means that if those University officers learn about a possible incident, they need to contact the Title IX Coordinator, who will determine what steps, if any, to take next.

Harvard Title IX Office
FAS Title IX Coordinators
Office of Sexual Assault Prevention & Response (OSAPR)
Office for Sexual and Gender–Based Dispute Resolution (ODR)
FAS’ Information for Faculty Offering Instruction has further information on the university’s expectations with regard to sexual harassment.
GSAS publishes guidelines and resources for addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment.
Harvard’s Ombudsman Office is an independent, neutral and confidential place for visitors to discuss their academic and workplace issues and concerns. Their office is informal, assures confidentiality, and is independent of University administration.. They deal with both employment and academic concerns and list “Faculty/Student/TA relationships” as one of the issues regarding which visitors have come to them.

Student Privacy
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, commonly known as FERPA, mandates that the university take the utmost care in handling students’ private information, including their grades in our courses. As an instructor, you should make sure that students’ grades are not distributed or otherwise exposed in a public way; graded assignments should not be left unattended for students to pick them up, or passed back in such a way as to alert students to each others’ grades. Likewise you should be careful to protect your students’ private information: use Canvas or the BCC: field when emailing multiple students, for example, and do not make student ID photos or numbers available to public view. You may be contacted by a student requesting an accommodation sanctioned by the Accessible Education Office. Insofar as possible, you should arrange the specified accommodation for the student (e.g. assistance with note-taking) in such a way that the identity of the student in question is not signalled to the rest of the class.

FAS’ Information for Faculty Offering Instruction includes a discussion of instructors’ obligations with regard to student privacy.
Discussion Tips

Leading discussions requires a teacher not only to have an idea of what should be covered and where the discussion should go, but also to have the skills to track and improvise on what occurs in real time in the classroom. Discussion leading requires as well that we know our students and find ways to respond to them that are individually appropriate.

The best discussions are those that focus more on the students’ learning than on the teaching; having a clear learning objective for the session will help to focus discussion.

Prepare

Know the material well. Don’t overly focus on the minute details; keep the big picture in mind.
Decide what you want to accomplish, what you want students to learn that day, and what the take-home point(s) should be.
Develop a plan for accomplishing your objectives. Usually you can cover only three topics (at most) in a 50 minute section.
Discussions fall into three main categories: informational, interpretive/analytical, and debatable. If possible, do some of each, either within one class or over the semester.
Think of provocative, interesting questions for each of your topics.
Vary what you do within the class and from class to class. Use debates, slides, student presentations, small group discussions to vary the pace.
Don’t over-prepare. Take in one sheet of paper with an outline and a few notes on it to help you remember particular questions or facts.
Know your students

Students and their learning need to be the single most important focus of the class.
Know their names as an indispensable start.
Know their learning styles and something about their interests.
Know what level of preparation they have had for this class.
Do introductions on the first day of class.
You might want to meet for 15 minutes with each student at the beginning of the semester.
If you treat your students with respect for their ideas and confusions, they will learn more easily.
Use questioning, listening, and responding as the building blocks of a discussion

Prepare interesting and evocative questions that will pique their interest and curiosity.
Vary the kinds of questions you ask:
Open Ended Questions cast nets out to see what comes in, allowing you to listen for entry and emphasis points. What’s Going On? What do you make of this situation?
Asking for Information helps students to establish baseline facts and opinions. Where? When? Who? What? How?
Diagnostic Questions prompt students to interpret or explain what they have observed. How do you interpret and explain “A” and “B’s” impact on the situation? How do you weave these points into some kind of understanding of what else is going on, possibly behind the scenes?
Challenge Questions ask students to take a position and reflect on their own assumptions. Why do you say that? How would you explain? Where is the evidence for what you say? How can you say a thing like that? Is that all? That’s just the opposite of what Student X said. Can you persuade him/her?
Extension Questions explore the issues behind or just beyond a student’s initial comment. What else? Can you take us farther down that path or find new tributaries? Keep going? Therefore?
Combination Questions alert students to moments of possible synthesis with the ideas of their peers. How would you relate your points to those mentioned by Student A or to something else you said? How would you understand X in light of Y?
Priority Questions bring students back to the big picture. Which issues do you consider most important? Where do you start? How would you rank these?
Action Questions encourage students to place themselves in the scenario under discussion. What would you do in Person X’s shoes? How?
Prediction Questions challenge students to take what they have learned in one context and apply it to another, creating an opportunity to surface and to test their mental models. What do you think would happen if we followed Student Z’s action plan? Give us a forecast of your expectations. How will he/she react to your thinking?
Generalizing and Summarizing Questions invite students to “bank” what they have learned that day. What inferences can we make from this discussion and case? What generalizations would you make? How would you summarize the three most critical issues that we have discussed? Can you summarize the high points of the discussion thus far?
Listen! You will gather invaluable information about what and how students are thinking.
Use silence; it is the surest way to discover students’ thoughts, questions, confusions.
Respond based on what you have heard. You can respond with a statement, a question, a restatement of what they have said. When possible try to take student’s thoughts further. (See Techniques for Responding)
Enjoy yourself. Talking about things that are important to you and helping others understand them is a wonderful enterprise. If you love your material and you like your students, you will find a way to make this work.
Books

The Bok Center has many books in its library that elucidate techniques of good discussion leading. In addition, several of our onilne resources deal primarily or in part with leading educational discussions:

Tipsheets

James Dawes on Discussion Leading
Techniques for Responding
Working in Groups

Head TF Network

The Head Teaching Fellow Network sends regular emails to Head TFs with useful advice about everything from sectioning to important College deadlines throughout the semester. If you are a Head TF and would like to join the Network, email the Bok Center.

Head TF Handouts & Documentation

At the beginning of each semester, Gen. Ed. offers an Orientation session for new Head TFs , aimed at those in Gen. Ed. courses but open to departmental course Head TFs as well. We highly recommended attending.

Helpful Materials and Handouts for Head TFs

The Gen Ed web pages for TFs have a variety of great resources for all Head TFs.
Learn about sectioning here.
On Grading Exams: Tips for Large Humanities Courses
Tips on Student Feedback & Videotaping for TFs
Tips for running TF meetings
Section Preparation: Suggestions for TF Meetings
Organizing Large Courses: Information for Head TFs
Other Handbooks and Guides of interest to Head TFs

The Head TF FAQ answers a variety of common questions.
FAS’ Information for Faculty Offering Instruction contains policies & guidelines as well as a directory of contact info for just about every office in FAS you may need (e.g. the Registrar, the Accessible Education Office, etc).
GSAS Policies and Procedures for Teaching Fellows
Other Services

Printable and electronic Student Feedback forms for use by you, your course head and TFs.
The Bok Center offers a range of workshops and services for your TFs who are not native English speakers. They may also find Teaching American Students particularly helpful.
The Harvard Writing Project provides advice about Responding to Student Writing.