by Stephanie Butler Velegol, Sarah E. Zappe, and Emily Mahoney; Tomorrow’s Professor
Stephanie Butler Velegol has done just this with about 80 students per semester in an Introduction to Environmental Engineering class at Penn State University. During out-of-class time, students watch short videos that cover the technical material in the course. They then complete an online assessment that serves as a “gate check” before coming to class. Students use this online assessment to pose questions or identify areas of confusion. Velegol reviews students’ responses and then uses about 10 minutes of class time to address their specific questions. After that, the students are free to work on their “homework” problems. They work either alone or in groups, raising their hands when they have a question. Stephanie moves around the room answering their questions and teaching “just in time.” Sometimes, instead of these problem-solving sessions, class time is used for brainstorming solutions to current environmental engineering challenges, listening to expert speakers, or going on field trips.
http://cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/cgi-bin/tomprof/enewsletter.php?msgno=1421
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