Teaching with Interactive Demonstrations

Created by Dorothy Merritts, Robert Walter (Franklin & Marshall College) and Bob MacKay (Clark College)

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Interactive Lectures

instructor leading interactive lecture demonstration on water quality using samples of drinkingn water

Interactive demonstrations strenghten students' abilities to observe, and stimulate questions and discussions. A demonstration can be used in its simplest form as a show-and-tell experience to enhance a lecture, or it can be developed as an effective hands-on, inquiry-based learning opportunity in a class or lab. Interactive demonstrations can also be used in classes of all sizes, as projection systems can make demonstrations visible to students in the backs of large classrooms.

What is an Interactive Demonstration?

Interactive Demonstrations are physical or conceptual models that replicate part of a system of interest. Often they are constructed out of material or objects that are familiar to students in their everyday lives. It's always fun for students to see something familiar to them used in an unique and unexpected way.

For example, Dave Bice at Penn State uses the "friction rock" to discuss ideas related to fault slip and earthquakes (see the picture at right). The demonstration consists of a rock attached to a crank with a rope. The rock sits atop sandpaper and as the crank is turned, the pull on the rock increases until it overcomes the friction and the rock slides or jumps along the sandpaper. (See also Jeffrey Barker's Earthquake Machine ( This site may be offline. ) .)

Why Use Interactive Demonstrations

Interactive Demonstrations have proven to be very useful in addressing student's misconceptions as well as providing stimulating hands-on inquiry into simple parts of complex systems. Learn more...

How to Use Interactive Demonstrations in Class

Like any type of in-class activity, Interactive Demonstrations require planning and setup in order to live up to their potential to improve student learning. Learn more...

Geoscience Demonstration Examples

The example collection contains a number of tested demonstrations for a geoscience classroom, with complete lists of materials, instructions, tips on doing the demonstration, ideas for associated class discussions, photos, and video clips.