Peter Newbury Center for Teaching Development UC San Diego 24 November 2014 collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

1. What do you notice? What do you wonder?
(16th Century carving Wikimedia Commons)
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2. The College Classroom Week 5: Alternatives to Lecture
Unless otherwise noted, content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Non Commercial 3.0 License.

3. Constructivist theory of learning
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Students need to construct their own understanding of the concepts, where
each student assimilates new material into his/her own framework of initial understanding and preconception
each student confronts his/her (mis)understanding of the concepts
A traditional, one-way lecture doesn’t give students an opportunity to construct their own knowledge, practice a skill, or receive timely, formative feedback.

4. Improved Learning in a Large- Enrollment Physics Class[1]
before class: 3-4 pg reading, online reading quiz
in class: mix of peer instruction, instructor feedback, worksheets, demonstrations
before class: 3-4 pg reading
in class: PPT slides, 0–5 summative clicker questions (not peer instruction)
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Experimental Section
Control Section
0
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trad’l lecture
peer instruction
instructor feedback
worksheets
demonstration
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5. Improved Learning in a Large- Enrollment Physics Class[1]
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Remember: Experimental section instructors LD and ES had no teaching experience but significant pedagogical content knowledge – knowledge about how people learn physics.
average 41±1%
average 74±1%

6. Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering and mathematics[2]
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Massive meta-analysis of 225 research studies that explored the impact of active learning:
Active learning engages students in the process of learning through activities and/or discussions in class, as opposed to passively listening to an expert. It emphasizes higher-order thinking and often involves group work.
(Freeman et al., pp 8413-8414)
What do you feel is the most important finding? Talk at your table. Record your conclusions on a whiteboard.

7. Important findings in Freeman et al.
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 Impressive short term gains in testable knowledge. No long-term gain in retention.
All active learning is effective
Going forward, we should not compare active learning to non-active learning; rather, we should study which active learning techniques are the most effective
Active learning is effective in many disciplines (STEM fields covered in this paper)
Helps minorities

8. Important findings in Freeman et al.
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On average, active learning led to a 6% increase in grade
The whole distribution shifted up (not just top or bottom students improving)
 Quantity vs. Quality of content?

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Researchers compared assessment scores of students in active classes and traditional classes. This is roughly how many standard deviations the average of the active learning grades are above the traditional grades.
Conclusion: Active learning increases student performance
Figure 2

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Conclusion: Active learning increases student performance
Figure 2

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This is like a histogram showing how many active classes and how many traditional classes have failure rates of 0-10%, 10-20%... Instead of showing how many in each category, graph shows fraction in each category of total number of classes.
Conclusion: Failure rates in active classes drop significantly.
Figure 1
Bigger Conclusion: Under-represented minorities and women make up a disproportionate
number of students who fail STEM classes. Fewer failures means enhanced success for URM and women.

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Conclusion: Failure rates in active classes drop significantly.
Figure 1
Bigger Conclusion: Under-represented minorities and women make up a disproportionate
number of students who fail STEM classes. Fewer failures means enhanced success for URM and women.

13. Active Learning
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student-centered instruction
traditional instruction

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student-centered instruction
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
discussions
videos

15. (Question: Sujatha Raghu from Braincandy via LearningCatalytics)
(Image: CIM9926 by number657 on flickr CC)
Discussion (peer instruction)
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.
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16. Chemistry learning outcomes
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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?

17. Typical Episode of Peer Instruction
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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 asks students to turn to their neighbors and “convince them you’re right.”
4.After that “peer instruction”, students may vote again.
5.The instructor leads a class-wide discussion concluding with why the right answer(s) is right and the wrong answers are wrong.

18. 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
each student finds out what s/he does(n’t) know the instructor finds out what the students know (and don’t know) and reacts, building on their initial understanding and preconceptions.
students practice how to think, communicate like experts

19. To learn more about peer instruction
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Upcoming Weekly Workshops at the CTD:
To register, look for the
Teaching and Learning Weekly Workshops
at ctd.ucsd.edu
Nov 19
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
Nov 26
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.

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student-centered instruction
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
discussions
videos

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Chemistry Day 4 by pennstatenews on flickr CC-BY-NC

22. In-class demonstrations
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1.Instructor (meticulously) sets up the equipment, flicks a switch, “Taa-daaah!
2.Students
don’t know where to look
don’t know when to look, miss “the moment”
don’t recognize the significance of the event amongst too many distractions
To engage students and focus their attention on the key event, get students to make a prediction (using clickers, for example)

23. 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
E
D
(adapted from Mazur)

24. Interactive Lecture Demos (ILD) [3]
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By making a prediction, each student
cares about the outcome (“Did I get it right?”)
knows when to look (can anticipate phenomenon)
knows where to look (sees phenomenon occur)
gets immediate feedback about his/her understanding of the concept
is prepared for your explanation

25. Artefacts
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Bring things – real things – to class/section.
Don’t just tell students what they’re looking at. Ask them what they notice, what they think it is.
“Ask me a question an archaeologist would ask.”
Artefacts courtesy of Ben Volta Image: Peter Newbury

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student-centered instruction
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
discussions
videos

27. What do you notice? What do you wonder?
(16th Century carving Wikimedia Commons)
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28. Start teaching before the bell rings
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Students arrive, ready to engage with you, your content:
Project a picture related to today’s lesson
Add prompts: “What do you notice? What do you wonder?” [4]
Spend first few minutes leading a discussion:
oevery student can contribute because everyone can wonder
oyou learn their pre-existing knowledge
oactivates concepts in their memories
Don’t let their enthusiasm slip away!

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student-centered instruction
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
discussions
videos

30. What do you see?
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A)old lady
B)young woman
If you’re studying human behavior, let your students generate authentic data
For sensitive issues, clickers can be set to “anonymous”

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student-centered instruction
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
discussions
videos

32. Traditional classroom
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1.Transfer: first exposure to material is in class, content is transmitted from instructor to student
2.Assimilate: learning occurs later when student struggles alone to complete homework, essay, project
1. learn easy stuff together
2. learn hard stuff alone

33. Flipped classroom
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1.Transfer: student learns easy content at home: definitions, basis skills, simple examples.
2.Assimilate: students come to class prepared to tackle challenging concepts in class, with immediate feedback from peers, instructor
2. learn hard stuff together
1. learn easy stuff alone

34. Flipped classroom
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1.Transfer: student learns easy content at home: definitions, basis skills, simple examples.
2.Assimilate: students come to class prepared to tackle challenging concepts in class, with immediate feedback from peers, instructor
1.5. reading quiz online or in class
1. learn easy stuff alone
2. learn hard stuff together

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student-centered instruction
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
discussions
videos

36. Whiteboards = practice
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Use whiteboards to give your students practice
 analyzing  summarizing  deriving  illustrating  computing  drafting  brainstorming  presenting
Tips:
groups of 3-4 with 1 pen per person
encourage students to show their thinking, not just the final analysis
train students to listen to each other’s presentations
see [6, 7] for resources

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student-centered instruction
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
discussions
videos

38. Discussions
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students share their understanding, opinions, ideas
students hear other students’ ideas, viewpoints
students practice communicating like experts
students get timely feedback from peers and instructor

39. Discussions: Implications for instructors
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ensure students come to class prepared to contribute to the discussion
pre-readings that students want to complete (marks?)
orchestrate activity so EVERY student speaks (not just enthusiastic volunteers)
talking stick, whiffle balls, pass the duck, popsicle sticks, pass around an artefact
build in time/tasks for listening, getting feedback from peers and instructor

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student-centered instruction
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
discussions
videos

41. UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING FACULTY: The 2013-2014 HERI faculty Survey
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Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA November 12, 2014

42. Showing video in class
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There are times when a video is the perfect resource.
Archimedes’ Principle
In today’s Physics class, we’re going to study buoyancy and Archimedes’ Principle.
http://tinyurl.com/TCCdemo (Paul Hewitt video)
(Image: Wikimedia Commons – public domain)

43. Opinion: Videos in class
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In your opinion, the Paul Hewitt video
A)is engaging
B)is entertaining
C)is interactive
D)stimulates deep thinking

44. Showing video in class
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The students do not
select the video
check it contains key events
anticipate key events
recognize key events
interpret key events
relate key events to class concepts
instructor does this before class
instructor does this unconsciously, the “curse” of expertise
This is what you want to do in class! anticipate and recognize are necessary for rich discussion/analysis.

45. Videos: implications for instructors
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Coach the students how to watch the video like an expert: As you watch this video, try to… watch for when the A starts to B. count how often the C does D. watch the needles on the scales as water drains.
Don’t “give away” the key event (Notice the buoyant force is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced.) That’s what the follow-up discussion is for: help the students get prepared for that discussion.

46. Is Lecture Dead?
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No! There is still a time and place for lecture. You can lecture (for 10-15 minutes) when the students are prepared to learn:
the alt-to-lecture activities have activated the concepts in their memories
they’ve tried, failed, received feedback, tried again and are waiting for confirmation
they’re prepared to intellectually appreciate the expertise you’re about to share with them

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peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
discussions
videos
To enhance students learning and retention, some instruction must be interactive and student-centered.
That’s how people learn.

48. Watch your email and the blog for tasks.
Next time: Cooperative Learning

49. References
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1.Deslauriers, L., Schelew, E., & Wieman, C.E. (2011). Improved Learning in a Large-Enrollment Physics Class. Science 332, 862 – 864.
2.Freeman, S., Eddy, S.L. McDonough, M., Smith, M., Okoroafor, N., Jordt,. H. & Wenderoth, M.P. (2014) Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. PNAS 111, 23, 8410–8415.
3.Get the full story of ILDs at serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/demonstrations/index.html
4.Newbury, P. (23 Aug 2013). You don’t have to wait for the clock to strike to start teaching. Retrieved 3/3/2014 from ctd.ucsd.edu/2013/08/you-dont-have-to-wait-for-the-clock-to- strike-to-start-teaching/.
5.Miller, K. (2013). Use demonstrations to teach, not just entertain. The Physics Teacher 51, 570 – 571.
6.Noschese, F. The $2 Interactive Whiteboard. Retrieved November 18, 2013, from fnoschese.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/the-2-interactive-whiteboard/
7.Seddon, S. Biological Whiteboarding - The use of mini whiteboards in my Biology class. Retrieved November 18, 2013 from totallylearnedas.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/biological- whiteboarding
8.HERI survey 2014