These ideas will be important to keep in mind as I design a hybrid course, and actually also apear to be an excellent guide for all forms of course delivery. One reason I am participating in this FLC is to renew my ideas and methods of teaching – which are fairly conventional at present – and I can certainly feel the internal momentum starting to shift. However I do also want to keep certain effective elements going. I am sure many of us have had the experience when delivering a lecture where the class suddenly becomes energized and interested in a given topic, firing out good questions and answering them in short order. This is an uplifting experience for an instructor too. How to keep that going? That is why I am drawn to the hybrid mode as I hope I can shed some of the conventional methods, while maybe keeping the best bits. The challenge for me will be in identifying areas where I can make changes, areas that work well already, all while keeping in mind that the course has to work, and also have a level of workload that doesn’t become all consuming.
One other issue I am really interested is combing the hybrid approach with an active learning approach. I’d appreciate an specific resources on the subject. Volcanoes are a subject that are asking for active or experiential approaches. Ideas I have include a class field trip (f2f) combined with virtual field trips (youtube, google earth etc.), in class demonstrations (mentos in coke for example) and maybe some home kitchen science (viscosity of cold and warm peanut butter for example).
Re: “where the class suddenly becomes energized and interested in a given topic, firing out good questions and answering them in short order” – have you ever noted what changes your student’s engagement at those moments – was it the content or the delivery method, or a particular combination of both? Identifying what catalyzed that reaction would help guide you and encourage it to to occur more often.
Good question! If I knew that I would be a much better teacher. However sometimes such “awakenings” relates to presenting engaging material in an engaging way. It might also depends on maintaining a clear and logical progression and being very clear how certain observations or facts relate to broader processes. Sometimes it might also reflect the fact that we have had enough coffee!
That’s really encouraging to hear. I can’t say that I’ve had much of that experience in my big lectures, but sometimes in smaller group or individual conversations I get to see the lights come on and it IS invigorating. Trying to find a way to get more of that.