1. Summer Graduate Teaching Scholars
May 1 and 3, 2013
Practical 1:
Introductions, Syllabus, Alt2Lect
your name
Dept and/or Course you’re teaching
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Beth Simon
Director, Center for Teaching Development
Faculty member, CSE
bsimon@cs.ucsd.edu
Matthew Herbst
Director, Making of the Modern World
program, Eleanor Roosevelt College
Center for Teaching Development Fellow
mtherbst@ucsd.edu
Peter Newbury
Associate Director, Center for Teaching
Development
pnewbury@ucsd.edu
Liz Specht
Ph.D. candidate, Biological Sciences
CTD Teaching Assistant Consultant
liz.specht@gmail.com
3. Who are you?
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name
field/department
what course are you teaching?
While others introduce themselves, listen for someone
doing something similar to you – you can work together
in future sessions.
4. Practical Workshops
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The aim of the Practical Stream workshops is to give you a well-
supported head start on many of the things you should do to
prepare for your classes, like
creating a syllabus
working out an assessment scheme
drafting learning outcomes
deciding what kind(s) of student-centered, alternatives to
lecture you’ll use, and developing those activities
and more…
These are the “nuts and bolts” of your course. You have to do it
anyway so why not do it now, while there’s lots of peers and
instructors to help you work on it?
7. How People Learn [1]
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1. Teachers must draw out and work with the pre-
existing understanding that their students bring with
them. Classrooms must be learner centered.
2. 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.
3. The teaching of metacognitive (“thinking about
thinking”) skills should be integrated into the
curriculum in a variety of subject areas.
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Alternatives to Lecture
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
worksheets
simulations
discussions
videos
student-centered instruction
10. Typical episode of peer instruction
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Alternating with 10-15 minute mini-lectures,
1. Instructor poses a conceptually-challenging,
multiple-choice question.
2. Students think about question on their own.
3. Students vote for an answer using clickers,
smart phones, colored/ABCD voting cards,
Poll Everywhere,…
4. The instructor reacts, based on the
distribution of votes.
11. Clicker Question
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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.
Question credit: Bill Wood
12. In effective peer instruction
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students teach each other while
they may still hold or remember
their novice preconceptions
students discuss the concepts in their
own (novice) language
the instructor finds out what the students know (and
don’t know) and reacts, building on their initial
understanding and preconceptions.
students learn
and practice
how to think,
communicate
like experts
13. Effective peer instruction requires
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1. identifying key concepts, misconceptions
2. creating multiple-choice questions that
require deeper thinking and learning
3. facilitating peer instruction episodes that
spark student discussion
4. resolving the misconceptions
5. Reflecting: did you properly anticipate
votes? Did you hear any misconceptions?
Make changes now for next year.
before
class
during
class
after
class
15. t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e
Clickers help students learn...
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BEFORE DURING AFTER
setting up
instruction
developing
knowledge
assessing
learning
Adapted from Rosie Piller, Ian Beatty, Stephanie Chasteen
16. t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e
Clickers help students learn...
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BEFORE DURING AFTER
setting up
instruction
developing
knowledge
assessing
learning
Adapted from Rosie Piller, Ian Beatty, Stephanie Chasteen
17. Clicker question
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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)
assess prior knowledge
18. Clicker question
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In your opinion, which had the most positive impact on
the modern world?
A) coffee
B) tea
C) chocolate
D) spice
E) sugar
(Herbst, UCSD)
motivate
19. What do you think is most
interesting about this picture?
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A) lunar eclipse
B) solar eclipse
C) cloud blocking the
Sun
D) sunspots
E) other
Astronomy Picture of the Day 2011 January 5
discover
(Newbury, Richer, UBC)
20. Clicker question
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A ball is rolling around
the inside of a circular
track. The ball
leaves the track
at point P.
Which path
does the ball
follow?
P
A
B
C
D
E
(Mazur)
predict
21. t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e
Clickers help students learn...
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BEFORE DURING AFTER
setting up
instruction
developing
knowledge
assessing
learning
Adapted from Rosie Piller, Ian Beatty, Stephanie Chasteen
22. Clicker question
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How many of these are reasons for the seasons?
the height of the Sun in the sky during the day
Earth’s distance from the Sun
how many hours the Sun is up each day
A) none of them
B) one
C) two
D) all three
probe misconception
23. Clicker question
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Select the line that you
feel has the strongest
imagery in “Fast rode
the knight” by Stephen
Crane (1905).
analysis
Fast rode the knight
With spurs, hot and reeking,
Ever waving an eager sword,
"To save my lady!"
Fast rode the knight,
And leaped from saddle to war.
Men of steel flickered and gleamed
Like riot of silver lights,
And the gold of the knight's good banner
Still waved on a castle wall.
. . . . .
A horse,
Blowing, staggering, bloody thing,
Forgotten at foot of castle wall.
A horse
Dead at foot of castle wall.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
(David Kurtz, via LearningCatalytics)
24. Clicker question
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Which of the following is an incorrect step when using
the substitution method to evaluate the definite integral
A)
B)
4
0
32
1 dxxx
3
1 xu
dxx
du 2
3
C.
D. none of the above
4
03
1
duu
(adapted from Bruff (2009))
evaluation
25. Clicker question
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Susan throws a ball straight up into the air. It goes up
and then falls back into her hand 2 seconds later.
Draw a graph showing the velocity of the ball from the
moment it leaves her hand until she catches it again.
time
velocity
2 sec0
exercise skill
(CWSEI UBC)
27. t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e
Clickers help students learn...
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BEFORE DURING AFTER
setting up
instruction
developing
knowledge
assessing
learning
Adapted from Rosie Piller, Ian Beatty, Stephanie Chasteen
28. Clicker question
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Which point on the phylogenetic tree represents the
closest relative of the frog?
A
B
C
D
E
(UBC CWSEI)
demonstrate success
29. Clicker question
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For the data set displayed in the following histogram,
which would be larger, the mean or the median?
A) mean
B) median
C) can’t tell without knowing actual numbers
(Peck, mathquest.carroll.edu/resources.html)
review / recap
30. Clicker question
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In your opinion, which had the most positive impact on
the modern world?
A) coffee
B) tea
C) chocolate
D) spice
E) sugar
“big picture”
(Herbst, UCSD)
31. What makes a good clicker question?
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clarity Students should waste no effort trying to figure
out what’s being asked.
context Is this topic currently being covered
in class?
connection to
learning goals
Does the question make students do the right
thing to demonstrate they grasp the concept.
distractors What do the “wrong” answers tell you about
students’ thinking?
difficulty Is the question too trivial? too hard?
stimulates
thoughtful
discussion
Will the question engage the students and
spark thoughtful discussions?
Is there potential for you to be “agile”?
(Adapted from Chasteen, CU Boulder)
32. Clicker question (History)
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In your opinion, which had the most positive impact on
the modern world?
A) coffee
B) tea
C) chocolate
D) spice
E) sugar
clarity context learning goals distractors difficulty discussion
33. Clicker question (intro Astronomy)
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Which of these are reasons for the seasons?
i. the height of the Sun in the sky during the day
ii. Earth’s distance from the Sun
iii. how many hours the Sun is up each day
A) ii only
B) iii only
C) i and ii
D) i and iii
E) i, ii and iii
clarity context learning goals distractors difficulty discussion
34. Clicker question (intro Astronomy)
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How many of these are reasons for the seasons?
height: height of the Sun in the sky during the day
distance: Earth’s distance from the Sun
hours: how many hours the Sun is up each day
A) none of them
B) one
C) two
D) all three
clarity context learning goals distractors difficulty discussion
36. Which of the following is an incorrect step when using
the substitution method to evaluate the definite
integral
A)
B)
C)
D) none of the above
Clicker question (Calculus)
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4
0
32
1 dxxx
3
1 xu
dxx
du 2
3
4
03
1
duu
clarity context learning goals distractors difficulty discussion
(adapted from Bruff (2009))
37. Let’s try it…
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Gather around a whiteboard in groups of 2 – 3.
38. Clicker question (at driving school)
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Learning outcome: [after this lesson, you will be able
to] change lanes on a busy freeway.
While you’re writing it, think about
what type of question is it? (predict, assess...)
when would you present it? (before, during, after)
critique your question for
clarity context learning goals
distractors difficulty discussion
39. As a group, write a clicker question for
one of your classes:
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Pick a question
from an exam
identify the
learning
outcomes being
assessed
write a clicker
question that supports
that outcome
40. Resources
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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. Collections of peer instruction questions:
http://www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/clickers.htm
41. Practical 2: May 8 or 10
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running peer instruction in your class
best practices for other alternatives to lecture
(we’ll be asking you before then to select 1 or 2
alt2lect activities you’re interested in implementing)
Watch your inboxes and
collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu