Two-staged teaching approaches: Using immediate feedback from peer collaboration to drive learning

Dr Cynthia Heiner: Feedback is crucial for developing knowledge and forging a deeper understanding of physics. However, instructors traditionally provide feedback to students only through assessments. This information often comes too late for students to effectively incorporate it into their understanding. Thus, it is essential to explore alternative methods of integrating formative feedback opportunities into the teaching and learning process. In my talk, I will discuss using a two-stage approach, in which students complete the same task individually and in groups. Having the students repeat the task, gives them an opportunity to directly apply the feedback they receive and demonstrate their acquired knowledge. Moreover, peers potentially offer more targeted feedback, having just recently encountered similar challenges in understanding physics. This approach supports peer collaboration and, due to the timeliness of the feedback, promotes learning. Furthermore, I will outline strategies for introducing a two-stage approach at various points throughout the semester, including first-day reviews, weekly tutorial sessions, and final exams. I have implemented two-stage approaches in higher education (HE) teaching in both Canada and Germany and will share my experience of adapting the approach within the different HE contexts. I invite the audience to join in a discussion about how this format may be tailored to work within the UK and how the existing HE structure might be modified to create room for more formative feedback opportunities.

About Our Speaker 

Cynthia Heiner earned her Bachelor's Degree in Physics at the University of New Hampshire in 2002 and then moved to Berlin, Germany to continue her studies. After her Doctorate in experimental physics in 2009, she joined the University of British Columbia’s Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative to pursue physics education research. She returned to Europe in 2013 to help implement research-based pedagogies in science courses and advocate for change in the way teaching is valued within higher education structures. She is based at the Dahlem Center for Academic Teaching at the Freie University of Berlin but has also worked with teaching initiatives at Imperial College London and the University of Leeds.