Category: OC in the Class Room ¤
  Author: Helix Fairweather ¤
   Title: OC in College Class ¤

A while back Deb Jones (currently not on the list) posted about her use 
of OC in her large psychology lectures. I decided to use the same 
techniques in my astronomy classes this summer. I have 3 classes at the 
community college - about 25 students each - and one university class of 
about 55 students.

The behaviors I am looking for are asking questions, i.e. thoughtful 
questions, showing evidence of thinking, going out of their way to get 
help when they are stuck (i.e. calling me, seeing the tutorial group) and 
anything else that strikes me.

I printed up coupons on my color printer - they have a gorgeous dragon on 
them (no significance, it was just a nice graphic). I keep a supply in my 
pocket and hand them out as the situation arises. I started out by just 
saying "hang on to this, it will have some meaning eventually". After the 
first week of class, I announced that 5 dragon coupons would mean your 
name is entered into a lottery for prizes that will be awarded at random 
times throughout the term. After the second week, I then announced the 
prizes:

 	3 points added to final grade

 	5 extra credit points on test #2

 	3 free homeworks

 	3 free classworks

 	5 extra credit points on test #3

 	option to write a paper instead of a test

 	drop lowest exam (in addition to one already dropped)

Wow! good reaction to the prizes!! you betcha.

Last night's class was every teacher's dream. The subject was Newton and 
gravitation - they were FIRING questions like you wouldn't believe! We 
had the most lively discussion. I started last night totally beat - 
teaching 4 classes in summer term is a killer. I ended up the night 
totally uplifted and enriched! I have interned in teaching with the 
author of the text book - he's a creative guy who is always doing 
experimental stuff to get students to interact more and to learn. You bet 
I'll be emailing him about this! I told this class that the author of 
their book would give his eyeteeth to be teaching this class - that they 
were *exactly* what a teacher wants. One guy said 'well, it's the dragon 
coupons!' hee hee hee

Here's an example of what went on: we were discussing the gravitational 
interaction between Mars and the Earth - Mars pulls on the Earth equal to 
Earth pulls on Mars. At the same time, the Sun pull on both of them. And 
then, everything else in the Solar System pulls on everything else. This 
gets WAY too complicated, humankind is not capable of doing the math! A 
student couldn't quite get it that all this gravitational interaction was 
happening at the same time so he said, 'Let's just stay with Mars and the 
Earth, Mars and Earth shake hands (i.e. have a gravitational 
relationship)'. Good. Then I said, 'at the same time the Sun shakes hands 
with both of them. Then also shakes hands with all the other planets'. He 
said 'wait! wait! there's just not enough hands!' Jackpot! Our computers 
just "do not have enough hands". We had a blast - people jumping in with 
their analogies and their version of understanding.

Then I got a question about everything in the Universe pulling on 
everything else (this is true) and wouldn't things end up all squished 
together? - from there we went to whether it's a finite or infinite 
universe (this is unknown so far) - to trying to go faster than the speed 
of light - to how these things are portrayed in fiction (one of my 
favorite things) and sorting out what is fact and what is imagination. 

Whew! quite a class I must say.

All because of some dragon coupons that represent some stuff pertaining 
to something they want (higher course grade).

I even heard the comment that in most classes students are not expected 
to say anything and how unusual this was. hee hee hee

Helix