Que pensent les étudiants étrangers de la classe renversée ? L’expérience a été menée dans un cours de Microbiologie à l’Institut Supérieur d’Agriculture (ISA) du groupe YNCREA (Nord-de-France) de l’Université Catholique de Lille qui réunit 45 étudiants originaires d’une quinzaine de pays différents et de tous continents (Inde, Afrique, Europe, Amérique, Asie). Le cours qui est dispensé en anglais consiste à remettre à même niveau, en microbiologie, ces étudiants de master 1 en provenance d’université différentes. L’organisation des séances est plus ou moins la même que celle de la classe renversée en génétique moléculaire que je donne en licence 3.
Une méthode collaborative, plutôt qu’académique ! Les étudiants répartis en groupe de 5 à 6 personnes doivent construire des schémas explicatifs de mécanismes moléculaire, en l’occurrence ici les différents modes d’infection des virus (cycle lytique et lysogénique des bactériophages, mécanismes d’infection des virus à ADN ou à ARN… pour être plus précis !). Les étudiants commencent les schémas sur un tableau avant que l’enseignant ne les invite à changer de tableau (méthode des tableaux tournants). Passées plusieurs rotations, les productions s’enrichissent. Les étudiants sont ensuite invités à jouer le rôle du professeur (celui-ci devenu élève) et à expliquer ce qu’ils ont détaillé sur les supports. Les modes de présentation sont variés : karaoké (étudiants qui présentent la production d’une autre équipe que la leur), ping-pong (étudiants qui présentent à tour de rôle, une phrase chacun, le même schéma), battle (étudiants qui défendent des points de vus différents sur une même production)… Les séances de travail collaboratif sont ponctuées d’intervention plus « académique » du professeur qui recadre sur les fondamentaux du cours, mais en interaction avec ses étudiants. La séance est bâtie sur 3 heures avec une pause de 15 minutes au bout d’une heure et trente minutes. Les étudiants peuvent utiliser toute la salle librement, celle-ci étant équipée de nombreux tableaux Velléda et d’un bon wifi pour les connexions au réseau. Aucun document, ni cours n’est fourni aux apprenants, seul le Powerpoint de l’enseignant qui ne leur sera donné qu’en fin de séance.
Evaluation de la séance par la note du 10/20 ! A la fin du cours, on demande à chaque étudiant de donner obligatoirement un opinion positive et une opinion négative de ce qu’il a vécu. C’est donc 20/20 + 0/20 = note du 10/20, meilleure façon d’évaluer la perception d’un enseignement par les élèves. Ci-dessous leurs réactions :
Positive points : Very lively lecture ; I learnt a lot of new things, especially about the lysogenic and lytic cycles as well as HIV – the best part of the lecture was the drawing section because it was interactive during the afternoon time – the best part about this was drawing the cycles on the boards which helped me learn the things visually – my best moment was when we were creating our schemas by team because it wake me up (I was sleepy just before), I was active, the team work was great, and we learnt actively – the drawing part was most interesting as it was interactive ; also, the roaming around the boards, getting explained was a good part as for me – the class was very interactive ; I learnt a lot of new things from the class ; I was impressed by the learning-by-doing approach – I appreciated that you made us speak our mind concerning the different subjects before coming in to add or subtract on what we said : it makes understanding easier – the best part was the drawing session on the board and the explanation of the drawing on the board because I was able to really understand the cycle and picture it – the best part for me was when we had to participate in the lecture by researching the information : this made me follow the class – there was a lot of information ; interaction with students ; answer for all questions ; you explained everything very clear and quickly ; using our background, we tried to call to memory old knowledge – the best part of the lecture was working on white boards in groups because it was interactive and interesting instead of passive listening – I like the part when we had to draw on the tables, it helps us to memorise and to remember the cycles – I like the fact that we were allowed to give information about viruses and its mode of cycle – I loved your delivery, it was literally delicious ; the manner in which the explanation of the various concepts were explained and I could easily understand ; the lesson was involving so I did not feel sleepy – I liked the visual presentation because made me understand more especially with the lytic and lysogenic cycles, but I think getting to the last part it was quite fast – very interactive session because it was not just a receiving moment from the teacher lecture but also interactive exchange of ideas from each other – when I was call to as a “professor” because I worked on teaching and speaking to a large crowd ; another was when I understood what lytic and lysogenic cycles because it was never clear – the best moment for me is when I called to participate by explaining what I understood and of course the encouragement to express without worrying if right or wrong because the session is open for constructive correction – I wasn’t bored at one point ! I’m sorry it didn’t past longer, because I had more questions ; you are an amazing professor and I can see that you love your job and know how to do it ; I loved that you made us work by ourselves and that it was interactive ; I learned and understood things I didn’t before – it was really interesting ; the form of the class (interactive) is really good – lecture was very interesting, and interactive because it was first time in my life to attend to this kind of “not-normal” lecture ; best moment was “rolling-circle replication” because I’ve never heard of that before, and explanation was very good – the lecture was well focused on a concept ; I liked the involvement when I had to work in a group to work on one “cycle”, and then discussing over the same ; the detailed discussion : it helped me a lot, as I didn’t really know certain points like “prophage”, details on types of replication – best part of the lecture was having to draw the cycles because it makes the class more dynamic also it promotes you to actually try to understand what you are drawing instead of just sitting down and listening, and not really learning – I like how we were working in a team, and also the all explanations of the teacher – explanation of cell cycle replication by professor, because finally I understood it ; interactive learning, because we cannot sleep at the class – I enjoyed the group activity (drawing the cycles), because it was interactive and this made the entire process more interesting ; activities like this help in better understanding – using really interesting ways to explain subjects : very clear and perfect illustrations : interaction with most of the students – the best part of the lecture was the explanation of the reproductive cycles of the viruses : I’ve learned a lot of new things, very interesting ! – because the class was dynamic ; because the tutor knows about the topics given in class – topics taught by professor were clearly explained and understood ; best part of lecture was drawing, I feel that’s the best way to learn – I really liked the lecture part where we worked in teams and drew the cycles ; it is a fun way to learn and interact while not being seated all the time ; thank you for the energy and the effort you give to your class ! It’s the best one I’ve had in a while – the best part of the session was when we were asked to explain the cycles on the board ; I think that we were able to discuss it with our teammates to get an idea about the topic, which was useful for the actual class when everything was deeply explained – I really like the way of teaching because I feel that it kept us interested and active during the session ; when we had to make research about the virus and each team said something : I feel it was the most interactive part, I really liked it ; getting feedback of our board work as if the teacher was a student, because that helped me to know more important information ; I didn’t think it was needed
Negative points : I didn’t like when we moved too much because I got tired and I didn’t pay much attention – the negative part of the lecture was the timing of the class as it after lunch and makes me sleepy – the worst way may be “how to define virus!” – my worst moment was just before the schema team work, because I could not concentrate, I was falling asleep – the explanation at the end was a bit too much to take in, because it was the last few minutes of the session and it was hard to concentrate – you talked very fast ; It was a lot of information and I seemed not comprehend a lot of what you said ; I didn’t understand everything you taught because I don’t have that in-depth information or knowledge – some points were explained a bit too fast for me – some important points in the explanation was missed because it was said a little fast, so I had to ask classmates for verification for what was said – the not so good part for me was when the explanation of “concatemer” was being given : I didn’t really get it because some words were new for me – you are very quick, and everytime changed your places when you explained something (but I’m not sure that it’s minus!) – the worst part of the lecture was starting the lecture with an activity without introduction to the subject – I prefer when we have to present in a group instead of selecting individuals – explanation was made by students who didn’t really have clear explanations : I suggest for explanation you should be the only one made to explain because I had no knowledge of viruses and have studied very little genetics – the movement from board to board was a little too much as at a point I could not read from the board because taller people were standing in front of me – I realized you were moving very fast and I got lost at some point – it was very interesting but I think the drawing session was time consuming, may be we could have done it in a different way ? – I though it was going be another class with agar, and broths, but it was more intense and I was underprepared – it was hard to find the session room – we took to much time at the beginning for easier part and needed to rush the harder part at the end – I can assume that not everybody know the structure of the cell, so at the beginning there should be some explanation – may be a bit exhausting (3 hours) should add second break in my opinion ; beside that, everything was great and fun – the negative point for the lecture would be the moment from one place to the other : it was a bit exhausting – learning from general boards cause generally, since it was done by us, the information was incomplete and you had to put it together – as I don’t have a lot of knowledge about viruses, the worst part for me was my “role” of professor for the presentation (fortunately, I didn’t take a part in it) – the last half-hour of the class : I was really tired to learn something new – although the course is very informative, I do not see its application in food science and I find it to be a little less usefull ; it would be great if you could related it with our subjects to make it more interesting – unfortunately, I’ve already known most of information, so time to time it was a bit hard to listen all stuffs ; again while team work there everyone did not included so don’t understand – the negative part was when we had to look and find errors in the other group’s work : it is not easy to understand what other people wanted to say by their bad drawing ; for me, it is more useful to listen once for the proper explanation, than first listen to the person who doesn’t know and to clear the mistakes – because we spent a lot of time in the virus topic; I wanted also other topics such as bacteria – may be teaching can be done more systematically us in step by step – I didn’t like the end of the class when we were all seated because it turned a bit boring form, but I understand that it was a lecture and that it was a good class and may be I was just tired – I think the end of the class was a little bit tedious, there was a lot of information and it was kind of hard to process everything and understand some of the differences that were pointed out between each process – may be it is too long, too much time of really complex stuff and at the end, I think my brain was tired, because I didn’t get too clear the information