MBF Collaborative Classroom

Background

Maker Bhavan Foundation is a charity setup by IIT Bombay alumni with a mission to improve engineering education in India. The founders group of MBF includes our Distinguished Alumnus, Dr. Hemant Kanakia (BTech, EE, 1975).

Through the efforts of EEACR in 2020, MBF has kindly agreed to donate USD 200,000 to setup two new classrooms in the EE department of IIT Bombay. The first tranche of this donation was received in March 2021.

Collaborative Classroom
The collaborative classroom (CC) is coming up in EEG401, the erstwhile CDEEP classroom in the 4th floor of GG building. We are grateful to Prof. Sridhar Iyer (Head, CDEEP) for allowing us to reclaim this classroom for deparmental use.

The classroom dimensions are 40 feet by 40 feet. It has a seating capacity of 60 students. The layout has 10 tables, each seating 6 students. The classroom will be equipped with 20 laptops which can be used for computer-based exercises. Four TV screens are planned for projection of instructional material. In addition to the instructor's microphone, two wireless microphones will be available for students to address the whole class.
Experiential Learning Laboratory
The experiential learning laboratory or experiential classroom (EC, to rhyme with CC) is coming up in the WEL complex on the 3rd floor of main EE building.

It will house a variety of equipment to enable hands-on learning in courses. The equipment list includes 3D printers, 3D scanner, CO2 laser engraving & cutting machine, desktop milling machine, desktop vacuum former, and a lathe machine. A soundproof fabrication area is being setup to isolate the noise from the rest of the WEL complex.

The expected time of completion of both classrooms is December 2021.

Call for Action

In the event of in-person classes in Spring 2022, we request you to consider using these two classrooms in your courses. You are welcome to use either or both clasrooms.

In the rest of this document, we outline the mechanisms and benefits of using a collaborative classroom in your course. A similar document for the experiential learning laboratory will be shared with you soon.

Notes from talk by Dr. Mrinal Patwardhan

The Parimal and Pramod Chaudhari Centre for Learning and Teaching (PPCCLT) at IIT Bombay has a state-of-the-art collaborative learning research laboratory (CLRL). It was completed in 2020 and is ready for usage when in-person classes begin.

We invited Dr. Mrinal Patwardhan, Academic Program Coordinator, PPCCLT, to give a seminar about collaborative learning spaces. Dr. Patwardhan holds a post-graduate degree in Electronics Engineering from VJTI, Mumbai and a PhD in Educational Technology from IIT Bombay. Before joining PPCCLT, Mrinal was an Engineering faculty for two decades. She is actively involved in developing the CLRL at PPCCLT.

The seminar was held on Zoom on October 13th, 2021. The video is available in the Files tab on the EE Seminar team on MS Teams (link). Here are some salient points from her talk.

Collaborative Learning Spaces: Formal spaces intentionally designed to promote active learning.
Studio Approach to Instructional Spaces: The classroom is designed for discussions between small groups.
What type of learning process is the CLS trying to foster? Why?
- Students form small groups and work collaboratively in small teams.
- The approach results in deeper learning and an enhanced learning experience.
- Students use a variety of resources as they learn from peers and instructors.
Does it work?
- Numerous studies, with many focusing on STEM students, have demonstrated significant positive student outcomes.
  - Meaningful student interactions
  - Decreased failure rates
  - Increased student satisfaction
- See review paper on the efficacy of CLSs covering 37 studies for more information.
  - R. Talbert and A. Mor-Avi, A space for learning: An analysis of research on active learning spaces, Heliyon, 2019
Findings in CLS Research
- Improved Learning Outcomes
  - All studies reported either improved learning outcomes for students in CLSs or no significant difference in learning outcomes compared to traditional classrooms
  - Improvement in learning outcomes were most pronounced among low-achieving and minority students.
- Improved Student Engagement
  - Preference for learning in CLSs
  - Increased motivation to attend class
  - Increased willingness to participate actively in class
  - Increased interaction and deepened relationships with their peers and instructor
  - Fostered a sense of community and belonging
- Instructors' practices and beliefs
  - Instructors tend to change their instructional practices and their perceptions of their roles as instructors
  - Instructors used active learning techniques more frequently
The room itself is not enough
- The collaborative learning space does not magically result in better learning. The pedagogy in CLSs has to be deliberately designed for active learning.
- Kelsey J. Metzger, David Langley, The Room Itself is Not Enough: Student Engagement in Active Learning Classrooms, College Teaching, 2020
- The value of CLSs lies in the enactment of student-centred pedagogies.
- The architecture and affordances in such spaces provide the required nudging towards it.
- One must use active learning strategies

What is Active Learning?

Active learning involves instructional strategies wherein
- Students go beyond listening, copying of notes, execution of prescribed procedures
- Instructor designs activities that require a majority of students to talk, write, reflect, and express their thinking.
- It requires students to engage cognitively and meaningfully with the course content.
Example: Suppose a student is listening to a lecture. The following list describes student actions in increasing order of cognitive engagement.
* Listening without doing anything else
* Taking verbatim notes, copying solution steps, repeating or rehearsing
* Reflecting out loud, drawing concept maps, asking questions
* Defending and arguing a position in pairs or small group
The above example is an instance of the ICAP Framework which stands for Interactive, Constructive, Active, Passive (in reverse order in the example).
Michelene T. H. Chi & Ruth Wylie (2014), The ICAP Framework: Linking Cognitive Engagement to Active Learning Outcomes, Educational Psychologist, 49:4, 219-243

Active Learning Strategies

Peer Instruction
Eric Mazur, Harvard University, early 1980s
Think-Pair-Share
Frank Lyman, University of Maryland, early 1980s
Many others
* Team-Pair-Solo
* Problem-based learning
* Just-in-Time Teaching
* Role-play
* Jigsaw
* Case-based learning
* Peer-review
* Flipped classroom
* Pair programming

Peer Instruction Strategy

Instructor asks a multiple choice conceptual question
Students answer individually
Instructor allows students to discuss among themselves
Students answer again
Misconceptions are usually clarified
The questions can be chosen to
- test conceptual understanding
- apply ideas in real world context
- predict results of lecture demo, experiment, simulation, or algorithm (describe an experiment, ask students to predict the result, then show the demo or video).

Jigsaw: Cooperative Learning Strategy

Suppose a topic has four subtopics
Students are divided in to four groups to learn about each subtopic. They form the expert groups for a particular subtopic.
Form learning groups containing one student from each learning group.
Each expert teaches his/her subtopic to his learning group.
Instructor summarizes the topics at the end.

Common Features of Effective CLS Activities

The following points describe strategies which have been seen to be effective in CLSs.

Most of the information transmission in the form of a lecture by the instructor is significantly reduced or moved out of the classroom
Most activities are supported by graded pre-class reading, homework, and quizzes or post-class homework
Students often work in small teams on activities designed to provide them with a deeper understanding of the topic
Classroom activities are typically followed by some form of whole-class synthesis facilitated by the instructor
- Whatever learning has been taking place at the individual level is summarized by the instructor
- This may take the form of a discussion, a short assessment, or a mini-lecture.
A Guide to Teaching in the Active Learning Classroom: History, Research, and Practice, 2016, Paul Baepler, J. D. Walker, D. Christopher Brooks, Kem Saichaie, Christina I. Petersen

Some pointers for using a CLS

It is better to start with a few classes in a CLS rather than an entire course in the CLS.
Consider modifying just a single lesson/topic/unit as a pilot before thinking of running/redesigning an entire course in the CLS.
Pick some topics/modules that have the potential for planning active learning activities
- Topics which students generally find difficult to grasp are good candidates
May use micro-lectures – shorter lectures interspersed between periods of student activity
Use of the Backward Design Approach may help in planning the use of the CLS.

What is the Backward Design Approach?

Backward Design Approach for using a CLS
- What should students take away/develop by using the CLS for a topic/module/course?
- How will I assess that students have developed the required knowledge/skill/competency?
- What learning activities do I need to plan for students to develop the required knowledge/skill/competency?
See Planning for using a CLS for possible answers to above questions

Pointers for identifying topics suitable for a CLS

Topics involving the following are usually suitable

Deep conceptual understanding
Open-ended problem solving
Design-based problem solving
Real-world problem solving
Software-based laboratory
Mathematical modeling
Short hands-on experimentation

Example 1: Mathematical Modeling

Example 2: Jigsaw in EN207: Data Analysis and Interpretation

Planning for using a CLS

Main Takeaways

Active learning techniques are necessary to realize the benefits of using a CLS i.e. "the room itself is not enough"
Start small if you are new to using a CLS
- A few modules/topics instead of whole course in CLS
Identify topics which are typically hard to grasp for students
Identify active learning techniques which can be used
Design the exercise which will happen in the CLS

Overheads and Support

Trying a new approach to teaching will involve more work. We hope that you see the benefits outweighing the extra work and use the collaborative classroom in your courses.

Requirements

If your decide to use the CC, we require the following from you. This is the extra "overhead" mentioned in this section's title. These items are required by us to fulfill our reporting commitments to the donor.

An email to me at sarva@ee.iitb.ac.in with the following details (by 15th November)
- Course being offered in Spring 2022
- Typical enrollment
Course outline (by first week of December)
- How many sessions are planned in the CC?
- What topics do you plan to cover in each session?
- Approximate schedule of CC sessions in the semester.
Permission to take some photographs during your CC sessions for reporting purposes.
Permission to distribute feedback forms to the students of your course to get feedback on their experience in CC. This is again for reporting purposes.

Support

We have hired two MTech RAs to help with the new classrooms. One of them will be dedicated to work with faculty and TAs using the CC.
We can lean on the expertise of PPCCLT staff for advice and help on active learning techniques. I can help coordinate this interaction.
Some faculty members in our department already use active learning techniques in their courses. You can write to me and I can organize a session with them to hear their experiences.