What do you notice? What do you wonder?

:-) by victor_nuno on flickr CC-BY-NC

CTD WEEKLY WORKSHOPS:

HOW PEOPLE LEARN

Peter Newbury

Center for Teaching Development,

University of California, San Diego

pnewbury@ucsd.edu @polarisdotca

ctd.ucsd.edu #ctducsd

slides and resources: ctd.ucsd.edu/programs/fall-2013-weekly-workshops/

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

12:00 – 12:50 pm Center Hall, Room 316

How People Learn 3

Survey

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Which of these do you associate with a typical

university lecture?

A) listening

B) absorbing

C) note-taking

D) learning

The traditional lecture is based on the

transmissionist learning model

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(Image by um.dentistry on flickr CC)

Let’s have a learning experience…

6 How People Learn

Here is an important number system.

Please learn it.

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1 = 4 = 7 =

2 = 5 = 8 =

3 = 6 = 9 =

Test

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What is this number?

Scientifically Outdated, a Known Failure

9 How People Learn

We must abandon the tabula rasa

“blank slate” and “students as

empty vessels” models of teaching

and learning.

New Number System

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Here’s the structure of the “tic-tac-toe” code:

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

Test

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What is this number?

Constructivist theory of learning

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New learning is built on and from existing knowledge.

You store things in long term memory through a set of connections that are made with previous existing memories.

(Images by Rebecca-Lee on flickr CC)

Creating memories (aka learning) involves having neurons fire and neurons link up in networks or patterns.

How People Learn

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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

Key Finding 1

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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.)

Key Finding 2

15

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 People Learn

Key Finding 3

16

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 People Learn

Aside: metacognition

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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.

([3], [4])

cognition meta

Key Finding 3

18

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 People Learn

Please break into groups of 3-4...

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Each set of cards has

3 Key Findings

3 Implications for Teaching

3 Designing Classroom Environments

TASK: Sort your cards into 3 groups of 3 cards by

matching the Implication for Teaching and Classroom

Environment to each Key Finding:

Designing

Classroom

Environment

20

How People Learn

Key Finding 1

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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.)

Implications for Teaching 1

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Teachers must draw out and work with the preexisting understandings that their students bring with them.

(How People Learn, p 19.)

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Please memorize this code:

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

Classroom Environments 1

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Schools and classrooms must be learner centered. (How People Learn, p 23.)

Learning requires interaction [2]

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Learning requires interaction [2]

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% of class time

NOT lecturing

Learning gain:

pre-test 0

100%

post-test

0.50

Learning requires interaction [2]

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1 2

3 4

Key Finding 2

28

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

(How People Learn, p 16.)

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29

Implications for Teaching 2

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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.)

Why Your Students Don’t Understand You

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Expert brains differ from novice brains because novices:

lack rich, networked connections, cannot make

inferences, cannot reliably retrieve information

have preconceptions that distract, confuse, impede

lack automization, resulting in cognitive overload

Key Finding 3

32

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 People Learn

Implications for Teaching 3

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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 provide opportunities for

students to practice being metacognitive: an

internal dialogue about their own thinking

(How People Learn, p 21.)

(How People Learn, p 24.)

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student-centered instruction traditional lecture

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peer instruction with clickers

interactive demonstrations

What do you notice?

What do you wonder?

surveys of opinions

reading quizzes

worksheets

discussions

videos student-centered instruction

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)

Typical Episode of Peer Instruction (PI)

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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”, 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.

In effective peer instruction

How People Learn 38

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 learn

and practice

how to think,

communicate

like experts

Upcoming CTD Teaching and Learning Workshop:

To register, look for the

Fall 2013

Teaching and Learning Workshops

at ctd.ucsd.edu

To learn more about peer instruction

How People Learn 39

Nov 13 Writing Good 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.

How People Learn

40

Learning is not about what the

instructor does. It’s about what

students do for themselves.

How People Learn

How People Learn

41

Learning is not about what the

instructor does. It’s about what

students do for themselves.

Students will not learn (just) by

listening to the instructor explain.

How People Learn

How People Learn

42

Learning is not about what the

instructor does. It’s about what

students do for themselves.

Students will not learn (just) by

listening to the instructor explain.

BE LESS HELPFUL

How People Learn

If in doubt, ask yourself…

43

Who is doing the work,

you or the students?

How People Learn

CTD WEEKLY WORKSHOPS:

HOW PEOPLE LEARN

Peter Newbury

Center for Teaching Development,

University of California, San Diego

pnewbury@ucsd.edu @polarisdotca

ctd.ucsd.edu #ctducsd

slides and resources: ctd.ucsd.edu/programs/fall-2013-weekly-workshops/

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

12:00 – 12:50 pm Center Hall, Room 316

References

How People Learn 45

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. 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.

3. Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp.231-236). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

4. Brame, C. (2013) Thinking about metacognition. [blog] January, 2013, Available at: http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2013/01/thinking-about-metacognition/ [Accessed: 14 Jan 2013].