There is a substantial and growing body of research -- many hundreds of papers -- that has identified several pedagogical approaches that are significantly more effective than traditional lecturing, even for large classes in conventional auditoriums. And yet traditional lecturing still dominates in most subjects at most institutions. This talk describes a project launched four years ago at Cornell, by the College of Arts and Sciences, to address this contradiction. In the project's first iteration, large introductory course sequences in physics and biology were transformed by their respective departments.
This talk will discuss what was done, why and how it was done, and some of the impressive outcomes that followed from the changes. The talk will also discuss institutional challenges and opportunities created by such projects, from the perspective of the (then) dean.
