Teaching Techniques

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Seminar XII Teaching With Technology
Norm Dennis
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Group Activity

• In your teams
• Create a list of technologies that are available
  for teaching and learning.
• Segregate the list
• IN the classroom
• OUTSIDE the classroom

You have 3 minutes
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In the Classroom

• Who said Chalkboard or Whiteboard?
• Overhead Projector
• Document Camera
• Data Projector
• VCR/DVD
• Computer
• PowerPoint
• Internet
• Various Software Packages

4
Outside the Classroom

• Communication tools
• Email
• IM
• Courseware
• WebCT, Blackboard, Moodle, Sakai
• Elluminate, Merlot
• Online Course Content
• Simulations

5
Other Computer Applications

• Engineering software (CADD, FEA)
• Computer Aided Instruction Software
• Drill and Practice/Tutorials
• Electronic Textbooks
• Spreadsheet
• Math Assistants ( Mathcad, Maple)
• Simulation Software (Working Model)
• Podcasts-Webcasts

6
In the Classroom

• In-residence classes
• Human contact and interaction
• Coming to class must add value
• Distance education
• Make it look and feel like in-residence
  instruction

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Overheads Transparencies and Documents
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Advantages of Prepared Transparencies?

• Readily available.
• Easy to make easy to use.
• Detailed info can be very legible.
• An efficient/effective memory aid.

Wankat Oreovicz, Ch. 6
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Disadvantages of Overheads?

• Lights are off
• Student may be
• Too passive
• Too active
• Only one screen visible
• Timing can be a problem
• Hard to stay neat

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Appropriate Use of Viewgraph

• Problem statement for an in-class example
• Illustration or photograph
• Chart, graph, or table
• Cartoon

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(No Transcript)
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Inappropriate Use of Transparencies

• Large quantities of detailed information.
• Derivations
• Large tables
• Photocopy of text pages.
• Enlarge figures or charts
• Flip (rapidly) and stick.

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Tips

• Use entire screen
• Write large and legibly
• Dim lights
• Be sensitive about contact
• Look at screen occasionally
• Watch your body position

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More Tips

• Watch speed
• Use multiple screens/overheads
• Package like board
• Use Color
• Use partial overheads w/handouts
• Uncover points individually

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PowerPoint

• Perhaps the most controversial classroom tool at
  your disposal
• Has a place in your classroom
• Does not replace good teaching
• Focus should be on learning, not content coverage

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PowerPoint

• The electronic transparency, only better
• Can incorporate digital images
• More dynamic
• Can use builds to construct diagrams

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Falls Bridge over the Schuylkill
RiverPhiladelphia, PA
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Typical Span
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Typical Span
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Main Truss
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Worksheet Problem
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Free Body Diagram
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Free Body Diagram
Pull the pins!
A
B
C
D
12
12
6
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Free Body Diagram
A
B
C
D
120 kips
12
12
6
25
Free Body Diagram
Ax
A
B
C
D
Ay
120 kips
12
12
6
26
Free Body Diagram
FB
FB
Ax
A
B
C
D
Ay
120 kips
12
12
6
27
Free Body Diagram
FB
FB
Ax
A
B
C
D
Ay
FB
120 kips
12
12
6
28
Free Body Diagram
FB
FB
Ax
A
B
C
D
FC
Ay
FB
120 kips
FC
12
12
6
29
Free Body Diagram
FB
FB
FC
Ax
A
B
C
D
FC
Ay
FB
120 kips
FC
12
12
6
30
Equilibrium of Bar ABCD
FC
Ax
A
B
C
D
Ay
FB
120 k
12
12
6
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Equilibrium of Bar ABCD
FC
Ax
A
B
C
D
Ay
FB
120 k
12
12
6
S
Fx 0
32
Equilibrium of Bar ABCD
FC
Ax
A
B
C
D
Ay
FB
120 k
12
12
6
S
Ax 0
Fx 0
33
Equilibrium of Bar ABCD
FC
Ax
A
B
C
D
Ay
FB
120 k
12
12
6
S
Ax 0
Fx 0
S
Fy 0
34
Equilibrium of Bar ABCD
FC
Ax
A
B
C
D
Ay
FB
120 k
12
12
6
S
Ax 0
Fx 0
S
Ay FB FC - 120 0
Fy 0
35
Equilibrium of Bar ABCD
FC
Ax
A
B
C
D
Ay
FB
120 k
12
12
6
S
Ax 0
Fx 0
S
Ay FB FC - 120 0
Fy 0
S
MA 0
36
Equilibrium of Bar ABCD
FC
Ax
A
B
C
D
Ay
FB
120 k
12
12
6
S
Ax 0
Fx 0
S
Ay FB FC - 120 0
Fy 0
S
12FB 24FC - 30(120) 0
MA 0
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Equilibrium Equations
(I)
Ay FB FC 120
FB 2FC 300
(II)
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Equilibrium Equations
(I)
Ay FB FC 120
FB 2FC 300
(II)
2 Equations 3 Unknowns
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Equilibrium Equations
(I)
Ay FB FC 120
FB 2FC 300
(II)
2 Equations 3 Unknowns
Statically Indeterminate
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PowerPoint

• The electronic transparency, only better
• Can incorporate digital images
• More dynamic
• Can use builds to construct diagrams
• Can be animated
• Easily modified
• Can be shared electronically

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PowerPoint

• Generally has the same disadvantages as
  transparencies, plus
• Even more inflexible in the classroom
• Subject to more technological problems
• Can be a real time sink

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The Learning Disconnects

• Activity
• Focus on Content
• Predictability
• Attendance

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Expand Your Classroom

• Email
• Reminders
• Announcements
• Missing information
• On-line quizzes before class
• Reading prep
• Minute papers
• IM for virtual office hours

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Computers in the Classroom(Jonassen, 1996)

• Learning from Computing
• Learning about Computing
• Learning with Computing

Computer Aided Instruction
Computer Literacy
Mindtools
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Mindtools

• Generalizeable computer tools that engage the
  learner.
• Enhance critical thinking.
• Extend, amplify, or restructure how learners
  think about content.
• Examples
• Spreadsheets
• Simualtions

• Expert Systems
• Multimedia Construction

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Your Responses
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Teaching With Technology

• Classroom time is for carefully guided human
  discourse
• Technology improves classroom teaching only if it
  enhances human communication - - at an acceptable
  cost
• Hard to do!
• Our greatest payoff is using computer technology
  outside the classroom

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Teaching With Technology
Questions?