Three teaching things: week of February 21
In this issue: a paper on improving "think-pair-share"; resources to improve your course's inclusivity; and software to enhance your Zoom lecture visuals in real-time.
Issue #37
1. The paper
Reconsidering the Share of a Think–Pair–Share: Emerging Limitations, Alternatives, and Opportunities for Research
Ah, think-pair-share…the gateway classroom activity to active learning? If you’re unfamiliar with TPS (and while the name certainly doesn’t obfuscate the activity’s steps…) this paper includes a table (p. 2) offering readers a summary (and wins the award for the most succinct table I’ve yet seen in a paper this year).
What’s helpful in this paper is that the authors take this taken-for-granted technique and challenge the assumptions that underlie why we use it, with the aim to improve the potency of the activity for student learning. Table 3 (p. 6) is where that work is summarized.
This is the first paper of its kind (that I’ve seen) which takes a broadly-adopted active learning technique and analyzes it for improvement. I love the premise behind it, and well-done to Cooper, Schinske & Tanner for this work.
Cooper, K. M., Schinske, J. N., & Tanner, K. D. (2021). Reconsidering the Share of a Think–Pair–Share: Emerging Limitations, Alternatives, and Opportunities for Research. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 20(1), fe1. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.20-08-0200
2. The resource
Inclusive pedagogy
Developed by the Chicago Centre for Teaching at the University of Chicago, this resource introduces two streams (“getting started” and “advanced”) of strategies to improve the inclusivity of the courses you teach.
The “getting started” strategies are summarized in a paragraph or two, whereas the “advanced” strategies get their own worksheets and detailed descriptions.
3. The tool
mmhmm
If you’re using Zoom to teach, mmhmm becomes a virtual camera source which allows you to create more dynamic presentations in real-time.
I beta-tested the tool (MacOS right now, and in beta for Windows) and was impressed, but since my University’s a Webex shop, this tool doesn’t work as seamlessly and I have not adopted.
The company is offering “a year of free Premium access for teachers.”
Three Teaching Things is a weekly newsletter (except last weekend: I needed to take a bit of a break last Sunday—we had just gone back into a COVID lockdown, it was sunny here and there were huge waves to go and see at Cape Spear, which all helped clear my head) compiled by Gavan Watson, which shares three different teaching and learning resources (papers, resources or tools) worth your attention.
Thanks for reading!