Abstract:

This paper provides a detailed feature overview of a web-based classroom application called Discovery Teaching that is designed for use in the higher education classes to facilitate interactive and active pedagogy. We also present a summarization of several intervention studies where features of the application were used to facilitate various pedagogical activities in introductory computer science courses.

The goal has been to design a platform for interactive and agile teaching as a way to improve academic results and methods by using real-time classroom interactions, feedback exchanges, and adapting pedagogy based on evidence and insights from data generated.

Discovery Teaching offers functionality for real-time student-teacher feedback, assistance and discussions forums, formative assessments, group-based problem-solving activities, student peer-review on formative assessment activities, tracking students' engagement and performance levels, and timely prediction of, as well as intervention for, learners at risk of falling behind.

Over the last four years we tested some of these pedagogical ideas as supported by features of this platform through studies involving introductory computer science courses. First, we demonstrated that the flipped classroom model can be implemented with or without the assistance of a technology platform. However, the use of technology allows for the implementation to be practical, efficient, interesting to students, and capable of providing the instructor and students with detailed, spontaneous and actionable feedback on the learning and teaching processes. Second, when the platform was used to facilitate interactive in-class activities that allowed all students to participate, such as formative assessment, feedback polls, discussion forums, and group-work, we were able to increase the engagement and participation levels for all students - a measure that correlated strongly with student learning and course performance. Third, when considering students’ performance and counts of questions attempted during in-class formative assessment activities, we were able to demonstrate the positive impact of giving students the opportunity to engage and construct deeper learning by assessing and working with their newly acquired knowledge on the spot. Finally, we examined the short-term and long-term impact of cooperative and collaborative learning during assessment and problem-solving activities using our group-work tools. Compared to the results when students worked individually, our group-work implementation demonstrated significant performance improvement for each student and each assessment task. Moreover, student performance on group-based activities had a strong correlation with course performance, suggesting a lasting improvement on overall learning.

As such, platform provides several open-ended tools for learning and teaching that allow several pedagogy techniques to be practical and realized in the classroom. Moreover, the platform can enable instructors and institutions to engage in the scholarship of teaching and learning through iterative practice and adjustment of pedagogy techniques that would otherwise be impractical to implement.

Keywords:

Educational technology, technology-supported pedagogy, teaching technology, active learning, flipped classroom, learning and teaching platform.