[The following article appears in the August 1994 edition of
_TQM_in_Higher_Education_, pages 2 and 3.]

                  FEEDBACK FROM EVERYONE, ALL AT ONCE!
                                    
                               Jean Lamkin

     Ed. note: Jean Lamkin, president of Park Institute, Ltd.,
consults with schools, colleges, and public sector organizations
on quality issues.

     The ability to gather immediate feedback is critical to the
process of continuous improvement. Instantaneous responses allow
professors to make mid-class corrections in their lectures. As
class size increases, the professor's ability to check for
understanding and learning of individual students decreases
proportionately. Imagine trying to collect feedback from 240
physics students simultaneously.

     It can be done. In this particular physics class, the
professor starts each day by lecturing for about 10 minutes. Then
he asks a set of questions that he describes as a concept test.
Students record their answers on palm top computers distributed
throughout the lecture hall. Once the computer records the
individual answers, the professor directs the students to talk
with the other three students on their team about the question.

     As these discussions occur, the professor participates by
listening to their misconceptions as well as their correct
answers. As he roams around the room, he learns how the class
members are perceiving the material. After a few minutes,
students are asked to record a second answer to the question.
They're free to change the response they gave earlier. Then the
professor often asks them to express their level of confidence in
the rightness of their answer.

Matching the Lecture to Knowledge Level

     After the computer records all of the responses and creates
a histogram on his monitor, the professor explains the subject at
a level appropriate to the class comprehension. If the class has
done well on the concept quiz, he passes along to the next topic
quickly. When their responses indicate confusion or
misunderstanding, he takes time to slow down and lecture
thoroughly. By involving all of the students in learning teams
and matching the lecture to the class's level of knowledge, the
professor is meeting the customers' needs minute by minute.

     How does he do it? The professor's first step was
introducing a model of interactive teaching several years before
the computers were available. He increased student in-class
participation and began listening more to what he heard.

     Step two was the creation of a new software and computer
network system to record student responses and provide feedback.
When the students answer questions, the professor's monitor
depicts each seat in the room with a color code. It shows
immediately how everyone answered--green for right and red for
wrong.

     By noticing the color groupings, he can also learn if
students in a particular section of the room are having
difficulty. Then he can direct his roaming among the 240 students
toward that section to determine the cause of the confusion.

     After the peer discussion, the new responses are recorded,
and the professor observes how many of the seats are now green
instead of red and how the answer histograms have changed. Based
on that feedback, he adjusts the lecture accordingly.

     There's more--self-appraisal. The classroom monitor displays
a color histogram with the number of responses to each possible
answer and an indicator of the correct one. Class members can
assess for themselves whether or not their answer was right and
how their performance compared to others'.

     If this sounds like a scenario for the future, then the
future is now. The physics students are taught by Eric Mazur of
Harvard U.

     This interactive classroom communication system is also
being beta-tested at Carnegie-Mellon U. (PA), the U. of
Massachusetts, Ohio State U., Christopher Newport U. (VA),
Glenbrook High School (IL), and Mercer Island High School (WA).
The project is in its infancy, but its potential for quality
instruction appears to be tremendous.

     The professor and students use Classtalk, an electronic
communication system product from Better Education, Inc., in
Yorktown, VA. It's designed as a contemporary model of the
Socratic method for the lecture hall. Classtalk is a marriage of
high technology and an ancient instructional technique.

Interactivity and feedback work. Just ask Professor Mazur and his
physics students. They wouldn't be without it.

     For more information, contact: Jean Lamkin, President, Park
Institute Ltd., P.O. Box 11094, Norfolk, VA 23517; Ph:
804/640-0415, Eric Mazur, Professor of Physics and Applied
Sciences, Pierce Hall 225, Harvard U., Cambridge, MA 02138; Ph:
617/ 495-8729, Better Education, Inc., 4822 George Washington
Memorial Hwy., Suite 205, Yorktown, VA 23692; Ph: 804/898-4846. 

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