Peer instruction questions to support expert-like thinking

1. Peer instructions questions that drive expert-like thinking 1CSULA 30 May 2014 Peter Newbury Center for Teaching Development, University of California, San Diego pnewbury@ucsd.edu @polarisdotca ctd.ucsd.edu #peerinstructionCSULA

2. Who are you? Which of these best describes your job? A) instructor B) administrator C) instructional support D) student E) other CSULA 30 May 2014 2

3. Who are you? If you teach, what subject? A) engineering B) medicine / health C) natural sciences D) social sciences E) arts & humanities CSULA 30 May 2014 3

4. Who are you? How familiar are you with peer instruction and clickers? A) I’ve heard about it but never used it B) I’ve used it once or twice C) I use it every time I teach D) I can’t imagine teaching without clickers E) I could be running this workshop CSULA 30 May 2014 4

5. CSULA 30 May 2014 What the best college teachers do[1] More than anything else, the best teachers try to create a natural critical learning environment: natural because students encounter skills, habits, attitudes, and information they are trying to learn embedded in questions and tasks they find fascinating – authentic tasks that arouse curiosity and become intrinsically interesting, critical because students learn to think critically, to reason from evidence, to examine the quality of their reasoning using a variety of intellectual standards, to make improvements while thinking, and to ask probing and insightful questions about the thinking of other people. 5

6. What is expertise? [2] To develop competence in an area of inquiry, student 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 CSULA 30 May 2014 6

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8. CSULA 30 May 2014 8 knowledge

9. CSULA 30 May 2014 9 knowledge framework

10. 10 knowledge framework retrieval CSULA 30 May 2014

11. Supporting expert-like thinking CSULA 30 May 2014 11 Stop to let students think and discuss Pose a question for students to think about and discuss Give choices to direct the students’ conversations 2-min pause 2-min pause Pro peer instruction

12. 2-minute pause Every 15-20 minutes of your lecture, stop talking and invite the students to take 2 minutes to:  review their notes  consult with neighbors to fill in missing points  check with neighbors if anything is confusing  formulate a question(s) that will clear up confusion or fill in a gap When conversations dies down (wait longer than 2 minutes, if necessary), lead a brief class-wide discussion to answer questions, resolve confusion. CSULA 30 May 2014 12

13. 2-minute pause (Pro version) Pause to let students think and provide a question in case they  don’t have anything to talk about  don’t know how to have an expert-like conversion  summarize material just covered “What do you think would have happened if they ran the experiment with adults instead of children?”  motivate upcoming material “How do you think this will change when we apply it in 3 dimensions instead of 2?” CSULA 30 May 2014 13

14. Peer instruction Pause to let students think, provide a question for them to think about, and provide prompts so they have the conversation you want them to have. CSULA 30 May 2014 14

15. Introductory Biology class The molecules making up the dry mass of wood that forms during the growth of a tree largely come from A) sunlight. B) the air. C) the seed. D) the soil. CSULA 30 May 2014 15 (Question: Bill Wood) (Image:Autumn? No Doubt! by blavandmaster on flickr CC)

16. In effective peer instruction  students teach each other while they may still hold or remember their novice preconceptions  students discuss the concepts in their (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. CSULA 30 May 2014 16 students learn and practice how to think, communicate like experts

17. t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e Peer instruction helps students learn... CSULA 30 May 2014 17 BEFORE DURING AFTER setting up instruction developing knowledge assessing learning Adapted from Rosie Piller, Ian Beatty, Stephanie Chasteen

18. t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e Peer instruction helps students learn... CSULA 30 May 2014 18 BEFORE DURING AFTER setting up instruction developing knowledge assessing learning Adapted from Rosie Piller, Ian Beatty, Stephanie Chasteen The students have not resolved concept X. But they’re know X exists and why X is interesting.

19. t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e Peer instruction helps students learn... CSULA 30 May 2014 19 BEFORE DURING AFTER setting up instruction developing knowledge assessing learning Adapted from Rosie Piller, Ian Beatty, Stephanie Chasteen Students have had opportunities to try, fail, receive feedback and try again without facing a summative evaluation. [1]

20. t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e Peer instruction helps students learn... CSULA 30 May 2014 20 BEFORE DURING AFTER setting up instruction developing knowledge assessing learning Adapted from Rosie Piller, Ian Beatty, Stephanie Chasteen

21. Effective peer instruction requires 1. identifying key concepts, misconceptions 2. creating multiple-choice questions that require deeper thinking and learning 3. facilitating peer instruction episodes that spark and support student discussion 4. leading a class-wide discussion to clarify the concept, resolve the misconception 5. reflecting on the question: note curious things you overheard, how they voted, etc. so next year’s peer instruction will be better CSULA 30 May 2014 21 before class during class after class now next hour

22. CSULA 30 May 2014 22 What makes a good question? clarity Students waste no effort trying to figure out what’s being asked. context Is this topic currently being covered in class? learning outcome Does the question make students do the right things to demonstrate they grasp the concept? distractors What do the “wrong” answers tell you about students’ thinking? difficulty Is the question too easy? too hard? stimulates thoughtful discussion Will the question engage the students and spark thoughtful discussions? Are there openings for you to continue the discussion? (Adapted from Stephanie Chasteen, CU Boulder)

23. Sample Questions With a partner, look through the collection of questions. Some are good, some are not. Try to identify at least one characteristic (clarity, context,…) that makes each question good (or bad). Use the scorecard to record your opinions. CSULA 30 May 2014 23

24. Peer instruction helps you teach CSULA 30 May 2014 24 BEFORE DURING AFTER setting up instruction developing knowledge assessing learning t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e

25. t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e Peer instruction helps you teach CSULA 30 May 2014 25 BEFORE DURING AFTER setting up instruction developing knowledge assessing learning Do they care about this? Are they ready for the next topic? What DO they care about, anyway? What do they already know?

26. t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l eDid they notice key idea X? Where are they in the activity? Peer instruction helps you teach CSULA 30 May 2014 26 BEFORE DURING AFTER setting up instruction developing knowledge assessing learning Are they getting it? Do I need to intervene?

27. t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l eHow did I do? Did they get it? Peer instruction helps you teach CSULA 30 May 2014 27 BEFORE DURING AFTER setting up instruction developing knowledge assessing learning Can I move to the next topic? Did that activity work?

28. Resources 1. Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 2. 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. 3. Colvin, G. (2006, October 19).What it takes to be great. Fortune, 88- 96. Available at money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391 794/index.htm 4. Peer instruction resources from the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative at the Univ. of British Columbia : http://www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/clickers.htm 5. Videos by the Science Education Initiative at the Univ. of Colorado (Boulder) provide excellent background for using clickers: http://www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/SEI_video.html 6. Peer Instruction network blog.peerinstruction.net CSULA 30 May 2014 28