What is Just-in-Time Teaching

Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) is an active learning method designed to facilitate student engagement with and reflection on course material prior to arriving in the classroom, as Gregor Novak describes in this interview. It also provides the instructor with a measure of student understanding of that material before class begins.

A Three-Step Feedback Loop

The basic Just-in-Time Teaching format is to have students complete web-based assignments outside of class and submit their responses online a few hours before class begins. This allows the instructor time to review the student submissions and prepare for an active learning environment based on the student responses 'just in time' for lecture. Finally, as an instructor is wrapping up a particular topic, he or she may assign another online exercise to provide a framework for the wrap up session (Novak & Middendorf, 2004).

Step 1: WarmUps

The first step in the JiTT cycle is for students to answer web-based questions related to their reading or other pre-class assignment. These questions are given various names; generically, they are called "WarmUps," though discipline-specific names are also used. Laura Guertin, who teaches geology at Penn State Brandywine, calls them GeoBytes; faculty at the US Air Force Academy use 'Pre-flight Checks,' etc. These assignments can be a combination of multiple choice and short answer or essay questions, but the most effective WarmUps require students to reveal their understanding of the assigned material. To accomplish this, it is best if at least some of the questions are open-ended or ambiguous. Entirely multiple choice assignments do not usually provide enough insight.

Students submit their answers to these question by a deadline. The deadline is usually just a few hours prior to the class, but could be as much as one day before class if this is necessitated by the instructor or student schedules. (Examples might include classes that meet early in the morning or evening classes.) In most cases, the questions are posted and answered within a course management system, e.g., Blackboard.

Example: Perhaps your class studies the process of desertification in the context of global climate change. You may want to prime your class for discussion by having students read articles and answer questions about the Sahara Desert, such as:

Was the Sahara always a desert? How do we know?
What modern-day animals can be found in the desert? How do they survive?
Why have humans - past and present - gone into the Sahara Desert?

Step 2: Interactive Classroom Session

The instructor reads through student responses to the WarmUp questions, looking for patterns: What do the students understand? What are they struggling with? Are there misconceptions that need to be addressed? The instructor then typically takes a few representative answers into the classroom (via an overhead transparency, powerpoint slide, or other technology) to form the basis for an interactive classroom session. Students are engaged in discussion, and may be asked to continue to work, individually or collaboratively, to explore the subject further, rather than listening passively to the instructor. (Read more about what you can do in the class that follows a JiTT Warm Up assignment.)

Step 3: Puzzles

As a follow-up exercise, students can be assigned additional online questions to answer to confirm that they understand the information and concepts related to a particular topic. These "puzzles," as they are sometimes called, can be the kinds of questions you are likely to ask on an exam, or they may be even more difficult problems that require the ability to integrate the new ideas with prior knowledge, or to apply the new knowwledge in an unfamiliar context.

Learning and Teaching Goals

The Just-in-Time Teaching technique allows an instructor to accomplish the following goals (Novak et al., 1999) :

To maximize the efficacy of the classroom session when human instructors are present.
To structure the out-of-class time for maximum learning benefit - students are encouraged to prepare for class regularly.
To help instructors identify students' difficulties in time to adjust lesson plans.
To help students develop a stronger "need to know."
To establish an interactive environment in the "lecture" classroom - to create a more participatory and student centered setting.
To help the instructor develop more precise and tailored explanations to address student misconceptions about the course material.

Examples of where to use Just-in-Time Teaching

Just-in-Time Teaching can be applied to a variety of assignments in introductory-level geoscience courses and beyond. Some examples of JiTT assignments include:

To review assigned readings in the textbook
To review readings beyond the textbook (articles, research papers, etc.)
To examine and interpret an image or graph
To solve applied problems

Although JiTT exercises are more common in science courses with laboratory and/or recitation sessions, JiTT can be very useful for lecture-only courses with small or large enrollments. In large enrollment lecture-only courses in particular, JiTT exercises provide students with nearly immediate feedback about their learning - feedback that is difficult to achieve without the use of such technological methods. In any size class, a JiTT exercise can be used as a springboard for small or large group discussions.