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1 Learning Outcomes

Active learning activities are designed to help participants interact and engage with others, as well as with the content being presented. Active learning has been shown to improve content retention while also increasing critical thinking (Anderson et al., 2006). Active learning activities can also be used in different settings and contexts to assess knowledge at different stages of a learning experience.

After completing this workshop, the participants will be able to apply the principles underlying audience engagement and active learning to design and deliver effective, engaging, participatory, and learner-centered presentations.

2 Teaching Context

In the workshop, participants learn about active learning techniques and how to use the BOPPPS (Bridge, Objective, Pre-assessment, Participatory learning, Post-assessment, Summary) model (Pattison & Day, 2006) to structure their presentations and engage their audience. Participants develop a short presentation on a topic of interest. They complete an outline of their presentation using a BOPPPS template. Later, they deliver the presentation to their fellow participants and receive feedback from their peers on whether the presentation was comprehensive, actively engaging, and inclusive of all participants.

Ideally, this workshop would be run in a course where participants are expected to deliver an oral presentation and where one or more of the learning outcomes are tied to communication or audience engagement.

This workshop can be used for science students who are presenting in groups or individually. It can also be modified to reflect a relevant disciplinary format, such as a capstone project presentation, a public engagement event, or a professional conference.

3 Overview of the Teaching Activity

During this workshop participants are introduced to different methods of engagement for active learning, learn to recognize appropriate contexts and settings for each activity, learn to value the active involvement of participants in their own learning experiences, and begin the process of designing a thoughtful presentation using the BOPPPS model rather than simply putting slides together.

This entire learning experience is itself structured using the BOPPPS method as a way of demonstrating how to use the BOPPPS model and to showcase its effectiveness at engaging participants. The six elements of BOPPPS are:

  1. 1.

    Bridge in: Get the audiences’ attention and motivate them to see why they should care about the topic of the presentation.

  2. 2.

    Objective(s): Make the goal and objectives of the presentation clear to the audience.

  3. 3.

    Pre-assessment: Assess what the audience already knows about the topic.

  4. 4.

    Participatory learning: Get the participants actively involved in the learning process.

  5. 5.

    Post-assessment: Determine whether participants have achieved the objectives of the presentation.

  6. 6.

    Summary: Provide a takeaway message, and review the content provided in the presentation.

After the workshop, participants design a short presentation enhanced with discipline-specific active learning activities that will engage and motivate their audience. Later, they deliver their presentation with the new activities in place and solidify their learning by engaging in peer feedback.

4 Runsheet and Lesson Plan

The BOPPPS method for creating a presentation outline is a core component of the Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW), an internationally recognized teaching development program that is structured around participants delivering short presentations and receiving feedback from their fellow participants. We use the BOPPPS method as a simple way to design and deliver effective presentations while also encouraging the thoughtful application of active learning principles.

BOPPPS is a method of drawing participants into a presentation. It provides clear learning goals and engages participants with content leading to deep or long-lasting learning. The BOPPPS model also helps presenters become more confident and reflective in their teaching and presenting.

This workshop can be as short or long as you would like—it depends on the length of the activities you choose, how deeply you want to explore the pedagogical theory of active learning, and how much time you would like to allow for presentations and peer assessment.

The examples provided below are what we have used. We use “Presenter” and “Audience” as well as “Instructor” and “Student” titles. This is because, when an Instructor teaches their students to use this method, they are modelling “Presenter” practice. As participants, the students are modelling “Audience” practice. We also provide a “Workshop Instructor Example” (for how the teacher can present this in class) and “Science Presenter Example” (which may help students consider how to adapt BOPPPS to their presentation work).

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Notes

  1. (1)

    In a think-pair-share (Kagan, 1994), the instructor/presenter poses a question or a statement and asks participants to think and reflect individually. Then they ask participants to pair up and share their ideas. Lastly, each pair is asked to share back with the larger group

  2. (2)

    You can use Bloom’s Taxonomy to select action verbs that align with your desired level of learning for the audience

  3. (3)

    A ticket out the door activity (Fisher & Frey, 2004) asks participants to answer a specific question before leaving the presentation

  4. (4)

    This is a good opportunity to review how the workshop itself was structured with BOPPPS

  5. (5)

    When the participants reconvene to deliver their presentations, enabling effective peer feedback by providing participants with a peer feedback form. Depending on the time that participants have to complete the feedback form, you can include quantitative or qualitative questions using scales, rankings, or open-ended responses

    Share the feedback form for student presentations before their presentations. Here are sample questions you can use:

    1. (a)

      The presentation followed a clear structure, such as the BOPPPS model

    2. (b)

      I was able to participate in this presentation

    3. (c)

      Rate the level of learner engagement in this presentation (1 through 7)

    4. (d)

      What is one thing you found particularly effective in this presentation?

    5. (e)

      What is one suggestion you could make to improve this presentation?

    After each presentation leave time for participants to complete the forms

    At the end of the presentations, help the groups get together and give them the written peer feedback to discuss. This immediate feedback lets groups reflect while they are still together. You, as the instructor, can also provide your own feedback and help them reflect on their peers’ responses

  6. (6)

    The assessment rubric and peer feedback form for the student presentations can use similar metrics

5 Top Tips for New Instructors

  1. 1.

    Groups larger than five can become unwieldy and prevent an even distribution of presentation tasks.

  2. 2.

    Peer evaluation becomes draining if participants are required to actively engage with too many presentations. In a large class, divide the presentations over several sessions.

  3. 3.

    If students are unfamiliar with a peer feedback model, allot time to review models for constructive criticism, or have participants develop a class contract together. This is a good opportunity to review the role of peer review in science.