Numerous reports suggest that learning gains in introductory university physics courses may be increased by “active-learning” instructional methods. These methods engender greater mental engagement and more extensive student–student and student–instructor interaction than does a typical lecture class. It is particularly challenging to transfer these methodologies to the large-enrollment lecture hall. We report on seven years of development and testing of a variant of Peer Instruction as pioneered by Mazur that aims at achieving virtually continuous instructor–student interaction through a “fully interactive” physics lecture. This method is most clearly distinguished by instructor–student dialogues that closely resemble one-on-one instruction. We present and analyze a detailed example of such classroom dialogues, and describe the format, procedures, and curricular materials required for creating the desired lecture-room environment. We also discuss a variety of assessment data that indicate strong gains in student learning, consistent with other researchers. We conclude that interactive-lecture methods in physics instruction are practical, effective, and amenable to widespread implementation.
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June 2002
June 01 2002
Transforming the lecture-hall environment: The fully interactive physics lecture
David E. Meltzer;
David E. Meltzer
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011
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Kandiah Manivannan
Kandiah Manivannan
Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Materials Science, Southwest Missouri State University, 901 South National Avenue, Springfield, Missouri 65804
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Am. J. Phys. 70, 639–654 (2002)
Article history
Received:
September 19 2001
Accepted:
January 29 2002
Citation
David E. Meltzer, Kandiah Manivannan; Transforming the lecture-hall environment: The fully interactive physics lecture. Am. J. Phys. 1 June 2002; 70 (6): 639–654. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.1463739
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