Peter Newbury Center for Teaching Development UC San Diego 5 December 2014 collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

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2. The College Classroom Session 7: They’re not dumb, they’re different
December 2 and 4, 2014
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3. Today, you are instructors, not students.
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On each slide, Eric or Tobias[1] describe an issue or problem that occurred in Eric’s physics class. In your discussions
1.try to identify the cause or origin of the problem, using your knowledge of  Assessment  Expertise Development  Fixed/Growth Mindset  How People Learn  Learning Outcomes  Co-op. Learning
2.What would you do about it? Start your response with
“When I’m the instructor…”
“If this was *my* class…”

4. Eric:
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The lack of community, together with the lack of interchange between the professor and the students combines to produce a totally passive classroom experience. (p. 25)
To prevent this from happening, what would you consider first?
A)Expertise Development
B)How People Learn
C)Learning Outcomes
D)Cooperative Learning
E)Fixed/Growth Mindset
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*

5. “Talking stick” procedure
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1.The person with the ball will give the first comment.
2.After that, everyone is welcome to comment.
3.When we advance to the next slide, pass the ball to your right.

6. Eric’s professor:
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One structural problem exists at the outset: the professor is training physicists; the students, for a variety of reasons, are taking physics.
Professor: I assume the students in [introductory physics] are pre-professionals who have already decided on a career in science and are in class to lean problem-solving techniques that will be required of them in their careers. (p. 30)
collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu
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Assessment, Expertise Development, How People Learn, Learning Outcomes, Cooperative Learning, Fixed/Growth Mindset

7. Eric:
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I still get the feeling that unlike a humanities course, here the professor is the keeper of the information, the one who knows all the answers. This does little to propagate discussion or dissent.
(p. 21)
collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu
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Assessment, Expertise Development, How People Learn,
Learning Outcomes, Cooperative Learning, Fixed/Growth Mindset

8. Eric:
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There was a Hispanic woman who sits next to me who is already having trouble with the material. She tells me she spends seven hours a night on homework and needs to get an “A” to receive an ROTC scholarship next year.
(p. 22)
collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu
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*
Assessment, Expertise Development, How People Learn, Learning Outcomes, Cooperative Learning, Fixed/Growth Mindset

9. Eric:
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[My classmates] will have had no training in working collectively. In fact, their experience will have taught them to fear cooperation, and that another person’s intellectual achievement will be detrimental their own.
(p. 24)
collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu
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Assessment, Expertise Development, How People Learn,
Learning Outcomes, Cooperative Learning, Fixed/Growth Mindset

10. Eric:
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[Eric] attributed his classmates’ inability to articulate their subject matter directly to the fact that they got no practice “talking physics” in class. (p. 30)
I wonder if this is because they lack communication skills or because they haven’t yet had the time to reflect on what they have learned, or perhaps because they don’t really know much about their subject – if knowledge is defined to mean a deep, thoughtful understanding, rather than a superficial ability to regurgitate formulas. (p. 27)
*
*
Assessment, Expertise Development, How People Learn,
Learning Outcomes, Cooperative Learning, Fixed/Growth Mindset

11. Eric:
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The best classes I had were classes in which I was constantly engaged, constantly questioning and pushing the limits of the subject and myself. (p. 25)
To create this kind of class, what would you consider first?
A)Expertise Development
B)How People Learn
C)Learning Outcomes
D)Cooperative Learning
E)Assessment
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12. Brainstorm: Issues and Actions
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What issue are you most concerned about when you look ahead to teaching a diverse group of students?
What action could you take
to address that issue?
Issue
Action

13. Tobias’ conclusions:
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But as least as important as content…will be changes in the “classroom culture”
more attention to an intellectual overview
more context (even history) in the presentation of physical models
less condescending pedagogy
differently challenging examinations
more discussion, more “dissent” (even if artificially constructed)
more community in the classroom
(p. 31)

14. References
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1.Tobias, S. (1990). They’re Not Dumb, They’re Different: Stalking the Second Tier. Tuscon, AZ: Research Corporation.