1. Peter Newbury, Ph.D.
Center for Teaching Development,
University of California, San Diego
pnewbury@ucsd.edu
@polarisdotca #ctducsd
ctd.ucsd.edu
resources: ctd.ucsd.edu/programs/weekly-workshops-spring-2014/
April 9, 2014
12:00 – 12:50 pm NSB Auditorium
Unless otherwise noted, content
is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Non Commercial 3.0 License.
CTD WEEKLY WORKSHOP:
HOW PEOPLE LEARN
3. Survey
How (you can help) People Learn3
Which of these do you associate with a typical college
or university lecture?
A) listening
B) absorbing
C) note-taking
D) learning
4. The traditional lecture is based on the
transmissionist learning model
How (you can help) People Learn4 (Image by um.dentistry on flickr CC)
5. Let’s have a learning experience…
5 How (you can help) People Learn
6. Here is an important new number
system. Please learn it.
How (you can help) People Learn6
1 = 4 = 7 =
2 = 5 = 8 =
3 = 6 = 9 =
8. Scientifically Outdated, a Known Failure
8 How (you can help) People Learn
We must abandon the tabula rasa
“blank slate” and “students as
empty vessels” models of teaching
and learning.
9. New Number System = tic-tac-toe code
How (you can help) People Learn9
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
11. You store things in long term
memory through a set of
connections made with your
existing memories.
Constructivist Theory of Learning
How (you can help) People Learn11
New learning is based on knowledge
you already have.
(Image by Rebecca-Lee on flickr CC)
learning is done
by individuals
12. How People Learn
How (you can help) People Learn12
National Research Council (2000).
How People Learn: Brain, Mind,
Experience, and School: Expanded
Edition. J.D. Bransford, A.L Brown
& R.R. Cocking (Eds.), Washington,
DC: The National Academies
Press.
Available for free as PDF
www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=9853
13. Key Finding 1
How (you can help) People Learn13
Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about
how the world works. If their initial understanding is not
engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and
information that are taught, or they may learn them for
the purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions
outside of the classroom.
(How People Learn, p 14.)
14. Key Finding 2
14
To develop competence in an area, students must:
a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge,
b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a
conceptual framework, and
c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate
retrieval and application.
(How People Learn, p 16.)
How (you can help) People Learn
15. Key Finding 3
15
A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help
students learn to take control of their own learning by
defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in
achieving them.
(How People Learn, p 18.)
How (you can help) People Learn
16. Aside: metacognition
How (you can help) People Learn16
Metacognition refers to one’s knowledge concerning one’s
own cognitive processes or anything related to them.
For example, I am engaging
in metacognition if I notice
that I am having more
trouble learning A than B.
([2], [3])
cognitionmeta
17. Key Finding 3
17
A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help
students learn to take control of their own learning by
defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in
achieving them.
(How People Learn, p 18.)
How (you can help) People Learn
18. In groups of 3 – 4...
How (you can help) People Learn18
Match an Implication for Teaching and Designing
Classroom Environments to each Key Finding
Key Finding
2
Implication
for Teaching
Implication
for Teaching
Implication
for Teaching
Designing
Classroom
Environments
20. Key Finding 1
How (you can help) People Learn20
Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about
how the world works. If their initial understanding is not
engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and
information that are taught, or they may learn them for
the purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions
outside of the classroom.
(How People Learn, p 14.)
21. Implications for Teaching 1
How (you can help) People Learn21
Teachers must draw out and work with the preexisting
understandings that their students bring with them.
(How People Learn, p 19.)
22. How (you can help) People Learn22
1 = 4 = 7 =
2 = 5 = 8 =
3 = 6 = 9 =
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
unsupported, unfamiliar content built on pre-existing
knowledge
(tic-tac-toe board)
Transmissionist Constructivist
23. Classroom Environments 1
How (you can help) People Learn23
Schools and classrooms must be learner centered.
(How People Learn, p. 23)
25. Key Finding 2
25
To develop competence in an area, students must:
a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge,
b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a
conceptual framework, and
c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate
retrieval and application.
How (you can help) People Learn
(How People Learn, p 16.)
27. Why Your Students Don’t Understand You
How (you can help) People Learn27
Expert brains differ from novice brains because novices:
lack rich, networked connections, cannot make
inferences, cannot reliably retrieve information
have preconceptions that distract, confuse, hinder
lack automization (“muscle memory”) resulting in
cognitive overload
28. Implications for Teaching 2
How (you can help) People Learn28
Teachers must teach some subject matter in depth,
providing many examples in which the same concept is
at work and providing a firm foundation of factual
knowledge.
Classroom Environments 2
To provide a knowledge-centered environment, attention
must be given to what is taught (information, subject
matter), why it is taught (understanding), and what
competence or mastery looks like.
(How People Learn, p 20.)
(How People Learn, p 24.)
29. Key Finding 3
29
A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help
students learn to take control of their own learning by
defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in
achieving them.
(How People Learn, p 18.)
How (you can help) People Learn
30. Implications for Teaching 3
How (you can help) People Learn30
The teaching of metacognitive skills should be
integrated into the curriculum in a variety of subject
areas.
Classroom Environments 3
Formative assessments — ongoing assessments designed
to make students’ thinking visible to both teachers and
students — are essential.
Instructors need to give students opportunities to
practice being metacognitive: having an internal
dialogue about their own thinking
(How People Learn, p 21.)
(How People Learn, p 24.)
31. How (you can help) People Learn31
student-centered instructiontraditional lecture
32. Evidence-Based Instructional Strategies (EBIS)
How (you can help) People Learn32
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
worksheets
simulations
discussions
videos
student-centered instruction
33. Introductory Chemistry
How (you can help) People Learn33
Today, we’ll be learning about changes of state.
Remember, there are 3 states (also called “phases”) of
matter:
solid
liquid
gas
34. Clicker question
How (you can help) People Learn34
Melt chocolate over low heat. Remove the chocolate
from the heat. What will happen to the chocolate?
A) It will condense.
B) It will evaporate.
C) It will freeze.
(Question: Sujatha Raghu from Braincandy via LearningCatalytics)
(Image: CIM9926 by number657 on flickr CC)
35. Chemistry learning outcomes
How (you can help) People Learn35
Students will be able to
name all 6 changes of state
translate back and forth between technical (“melt”)
and plain English (“solid into liquid”)
Imagine… misconception?
36. Typical episode of peer instruction
How (you can help) People Learn36
1. Instructor poses a conceptually-challenging
multiple-choice question.
2. Students think about question on their own
and vote using clickers, colored ABCD cards,
smartphones,…
3. The instructor prompts students, “Turn to your
neighbors and convince them you’re right.”
4. After the peer-to-peer discussion, [the students vote
again and] the instructor leads a class-wide
discussion concluding with why the right answer(s) is
right and the wrong answers are wrong.
37. In effective peer instruction
How (you can help) People Learn37
students teach each other while
they may still hold or remember
their novice preconceptions
students discuss the concepts in their
own (novice) language
each student finds out what s/he does(n’t) know
the instructor finds out what the students (don’t) know
and reacts, building on their initial understanding
and preconceptions.
students learn
and practice
how to think,
communicate
like experts
38. Upcoming Weekly Workshops at the CTD:
To register, look for the
Spring 2014 Teaching and Learning Weekly Workshops
at ctd.ucsd.edu
To learn more about peer instruction
How (you can help) People Learn38
May 7 Peer Instruction 1: Writing Good Peer Instruction (“Clicker”)
Questions A good episode of peer instruction requires a good
question. In this session, we’ll see a variety of questions and contrast
good vs bad questions, that you can adapt to your discipline
May 14 Peer Instruction 2: Best Practices for Running Peer Instruction with
Clickers In this session, we’ll discuss best practices for choreographing
an episode of peer instruction in your class including how to pose the
question, when to open and close the poll, how many votes, and how
to get the most out of the class-wide discussion.
39. How People Learn
39
Learning is not about what the
instructor does. It’s about what
students do for themselves.
Students won’t learn just by
listening to the instructor explain.
BE LESS HELPFUL
How (you can help) People Learn
40. References
How (you can help) People Learn40
1. National Research Council (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind,
Experience, and School: Expanded Edition. J.D. Bransford, A.L Brown & R.R.
Cocking (Eds.),Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
2. Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B.
Resnick (Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp.231-236). Hillsdale, NJ:
Erlbaum.
3. Brame, C. (2013). Thinking about metacognition. [blog] January, 2013,
Available at: http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2013/01/thinking-about-
metacognition/ [Accessed: 14 Jan 2013].
4. Prather, E.E, Rudolph, A.L., Brissenden, G., & Schlingman, W.M. (2009). A
national study assessing the teaching and learning of introductory
astronomy. Part I. The effect of interactive instruction. Am. J. Phys. 77, 4,
320-330.