Practical design patterns for guided/fill-in-the-blanks notes for large classes
Session Type
Presentation
Room
Physics and Astronomy, room 117
Start Date
18-7-2025 11:00 AM
End Date
18-7-2025 11:30 AM
Keywords
teaching practice, engagement
Primary Threads
Teaching and Learning Science
Abstract
Incorporating active learning in large multi-section courses with four-digit enrolments often requires careful planning and buy-ins from students and fellow instructors. Setting up active learning is usually a very time-consuming process. Interleaving lecturing and active learning using guided notes offers a middle ground to reduce instructor workload.
Guided notes are fill-in-the-blank lecture notes for intentional and purposeful note-taking during class and are typically distributed to students before classes. Research shows guided notes improve students' success rates in challenging courses such as first-year calculus. Our on-the-ground experience matches that of the literature. For example, time saved from copying words off a chalkboard is used for in-class thinking. We found that guided notes promote in-class engagement and encourage two-way communication between instructors and students.
We showcase practical design patterns for creating guided notes with examples from first-year undergraduate math courses. Moreover, we discuss strategies to create dynamic lessons and how to reuse such design patterns in your courses.
Elements of Engagement
We will use think-pair-share to create an opportunity for the audience to experiment with turning part of their favourite (or least favourite) lecture into guided notes.
Practical design patterns for guided/fill-in-the-blanks notes for large classes
Physics and Astronomy, room 117
Incorporating active learning in large multi-section courses with four-digit enrolments often requires careful planning and buy-ins from students and fellow instructors. Setting up active learning is usually a very time-consuming process. Interleaving lecturing and active learning using guided notes offers a middle ground to reduce instructor workload.
Guided notes are fill-in-the-blank lecture notes for intentional and purposeful note-taking during class and are typically distributed to students before classes. Research shows guided notes improve students' success rates in challenging courses such as first-year calculus. Our on-the-ground experience matches that of the literature. For example, time saved from copying words off a chalkboard is used for in-class thinking. We found that guided notes promote in-class engagement and encourage two-way communication between instructors and students.
We showcase practical design patterns for creating guided notes with examples from first-year undergraduate math courses. Moreover, we discuss strategies to create dynamic lessons and how to reuse such design patterns in your courses.