Enhancing Large Classes with Active and Cooperative Learning Karl A. Smith Civil Engineering...
Transcript of Enhancing Large Classes with Active and Cooperative Learning Karl A. Smith Civil Engineering...
Enhancing Large Classes with Active and Cooperative Learning
Karl A. SmithCivil Engineering
University of [email protected]
http://www.ce.umn.edu/~smith
Michigan State University
Active Learning and Inclusive Teaching
10th Annual Summer Institute on College Teaching and Learning
August, 2005
2
Session GoalsMSU Guiding Principle #2:
Achieve More Active Learning
• Overview of cooperative learning (CL)
• Key concepts of CL
• Approaches for implementing CL
• Participants – Networking– Background & experience?– Goals and expectations?
To teach is to engage students in learning; thus teaching consists of getting students involved in the
active construction of knowledge. . .The aim of teaching is not only to transmit information, but also to
transform students from passive recipients of other people's knowledge into active constructors of their
own and others' knowledge. . .Teaching is fundamentally about creating the pedagogical, social, and ethical conditions under which students agree to take charge of their own learning, individually and
collectively
Education for judgment: The artistry of discussion leadership. Edited by C. Roland Christensen, David A. Garvin, and Ann Sweet. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School, 1991.
The Current Situation
• Classes with Over 50 students B Prevalent and Increasing; ditto for Classes with Over 100 students
Classes of 50 students or more:Best National Universities (Top 50) B 1-28%, Avg = 12.4, S.D. = 6.3
National Universities (Next 50) B 0.3-50%, Avg = 12.1, S.D. = 7.7
U.S. News & World Report (www.usnews.com (Accessed 10/16/00)
Instructional Approach
•Gardiner(1994) report that 73-83 percent of college instructors surveyed identified the lecture method as their usual instructional strategy
Instructional Techniques1
EngineeringFaculty
All Faculty
Extensivelecturing
78% 54%
Classdiscussion
45 70
Graduate TAs 18 6
Cooperativelearning
14 27
Percent of those using the technique in all ormost classes
Astin, Alexander W. 1993. Engineering outcomes. ASEE PRISM, 3(1), 27-30.
Large Classes: How Well are They Working?
Carbone and Greenberg (1998) indicate a general dissatisfaction with the quality of large-class learning experiences
• Lack of interaction with faculty members (in and out of class
• Lack of structure in lectures• Lack of or poor discussion sections• Inadequate contact with teaching assistants• Inadequacy of classroom facilities and
environment• Lack of frequent testing or graded assignments
Large Classes:How Well are They Working?
Students= Comments
• Wulff, Nyquist & Abbott (1987):$AIt is easier to do anything you want, sleep, not attend, or lose attention@$ANo one knows I=m here@$ARude people come late, leave early, or sit and talk to their buddies@
Pedago-pathologies B Lee Shulman
Amnesia
Fantasia
Inertia
Shulman, Lee S. 1999. Taking learning seriously. Change, 31 (4), 11-17.
What do we do about these pathologies? – Lee Shulman
Activity Reflection
Collaboration Passion
Combined with generative content and the creation of powerful learning
communities
Shulman, Lee S. 1999. Taking learning seriously. Change, 31 (4), 11-17.
Cooperative Learning Task Groups
Perkins, David. 2003. King Arthur's RoundTable: How collaborative conversations create
smart organizations. NY: Wiley.
Active/Cooperative Learning, Learning Community
Success Story
Reflect on and Talk about your Active/Cooperative Learning, Learning
Community Success(es)
1. Context?2. Structure/Procedure?
3. Outcome?
Getting Students Actively Involved Using Cooperative Learning: Principles, Strategies, and Problem-Solving
What is it? How do you do it? Why bother?
Cooperative Learning is instruction that involves people working in teams to accomplish a common goal, under conditions that involve both positive
interdependence (all members must cooperate to complete the task) and individual and group
accountability (each member is accountable for the complete final outcome).
Key Concepts
!Positive Interdependence!Individual and Group Accountability!Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction
!Teamwork Skills!Group Processing
Tracking Change - Seymour
"The greatest single challenge to SMET pedagogical reform remains the problem of whether and how large classes can be infused with more active and interactive
learning methods."
Seymour, Elaine. 2001. Tracking the processes of change in US undergraduate education in science, mathematics, engineering, and
technology. Science Education, 86, 79-105.
Retention Research
Talking about leaving: Why undergraduates leave the sciencesby Elaine Seymour & Nancy M. Hewitt
Westview, 430 pages, 1997.
Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition (Second edition)
by Vincent TintoUniversity of Chicago Press, 1993, 296 pages.
The Chilly Classroom Climate: A Guide to Improve the Education of Women
by Bernice Sandler, Lisa A. Silverberg & Roberta M. HallNational Association for Women in Education,
125 pages, 1996.
Talking about leaving: Why undergraduates leave the sciences
"Field switching is only the tip of an iceberg: The same set of problems that prompt some science, mathematics, and engineering undergraduates to
leave make persistence difficult for those who stay." (Cover jacket).
"Contrary to the common assumption that most switching is caused by personal inadequacy in the face of academic challenge, one strong
finding is the high proportion of factors cited as significant in switching decisions which arise either from structural or cultural sources within
institutions, or from students' concerns about their career prospects (p. 32)." The four most commonly cited concerns leading to switching
decisions (also cited by between 31 and 74 percent of the non-switchers) were:
1. Lack or loss of interest in science2. Belief that a non-S.M.E. major holds more interest, or offers a better
education3. Poor teaching by S.M.E. faculty
4. Feeling overwhelmed by the pace and load of curriculum demands.
Students' voices:
I do work hard, and my average load over these four years--even when I was transferring out--has been 17, 18 hours a semester, plus a couple of night classes sometimes. It doesn't really
bother me to work that hard. But when it's a concept I don't
understand and I go to get help from faculty and they just don't
give it, that's discouraging. (Male white engineering switcher)
What bothers me is the number of people who know what
engineering is about, and really have the capability to do well and be good in the field, but end up
going a different way for reasons other than the lack of ability.
(Female white engineering non-switcher).
You get people that would probably do well if they were given half a chance, but there's so much competition, and not a heck of a
lot of help. (Female black engineering senior).
The first two years in physics are so dull. I mean, they have
absolutely nothing to do with what you'll be doing later. I'm afraid that's why you might be losing
good students from engineering that are really qualified and have the intelligence. . .There are ways to make the introductory material interesting so that it doesn't drive
away good people through boredom. (Male white engineering
non-switcher).
Shaping the Future: New Expectations for Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics,
Engineering and Technology
Goal B All students have access to supportive, excellent undergraduate education in science, mathematics,
engineering, and technology, and all students learn these subjects by direct experience with the methods and processes
of inquiry.
Recommend that SME&T faculty: Believe and affirm that every student can learn, and model good practices that increase
learning; starting with the student's experience, but have high expectations within a supportive climate; and build inquiry, a
sense of wonder and the excitement of discovery, plus communication and teamwork, critical thinking, and life-long
learning skills into learning experiences.
Book Ends on A Class Session
1.Advance Organizer2.Formulate-Share-Listen-Create (Turn-to-
your- neighbor) B repeated every 10-12 minutes
3.Session Summary (Minute Paper)1.What was the most useful or meaningful thing you learned during this session?2.What question(s) remain uppermost in your mind as we end this session?3.What was the Amuddiest@ point in this session?
Advance Organizer
AThe most important single factor influencing learning is what the
learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly.@
David Ausubel - Educational psychology: A cognitive approach, 1968.
Quick Thinks
PReorder the stepsPParaphrase the idea
PCorrect the errorPSupport a statementPSelect the response
Johnston, S. & Cooper,J. 1997. Quick thinks: Active- thinking in lecture classes and televised instruction. Cooperative learning and college teaching, 8(1), 2-7.
Formulate-Share-Listen-Create
Informal Cooperative Learning GroupIntroductory Pair Discussion of a
FOCUS QUESTION
1.Formulate your response to the question individually
2.Share your answer with a partner3.Listen carefully to your partner's answer4.Work together to Create a new answer
through discussion
Minute Paper• What was the most useful or meaningful thing
you learned during this session?• What question(s) remain uppermost in your
mind as we end this session?• What was the “muddiest” point in this
session?• Give an example or application• Explain in your own words . . .
Angelo, T.A. & Cross, K.P. 1993. Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Informal CL (Book Ends on a Lecture) with Concept Tests
Physics Peer Instruction
Eric Mazur - Harvard B http://galileo.harvard.eduPeer Instruction www.prenhall.com
Richard Hake
Chemistry Chemistry ConcepTests - UW Madison B
www.chem.wisc.edu/~conceptVideo: Making Lectures Interactive with ConcepTests
ModularChem Consortium B http://mc2.cchem.berkeley.edu/
STEMTECVideo: How Change Happens: Breaking the ATeach as You Were
Taught@ Cycle B Films for the Humanities & Sciences B www.films.com
Thinking Together video: Derek Bok Center B www.fas.harvard.edu/~bok_cen/
Richard Hake (Interactive engagement vs traditional methods) http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/
Traditional (lecture)
Interactive (active/cooperative
)
<g> = Concept Inventory Gain/Total
Informal CooperativeLearning Groups
Can be used at any time
Can be short term and ad hoc
May be used to break up a long lecture
Provides an opportunity for students to process material they have been listening to (Cognitive Rehearsal)
Are especially effective in large lectures
Include "book ends" procedure
Are not as effective as Formal Cooperative Learning or Cooperative Base Groups
Strategies for Energizing Large Classes: From
Small Groups toLearning Communities:
Jean MacGregor,James Cooper,
Karl Smith,Pamela Robinson
New Directions for Teaching and Learning,
No. 81, 2000.Jossey- Bass
From Small Groups to Learning Communities: Energizing Large Classes
1.The argument for making large classes seem small2.Getting started: Informal small-group strategies in
large classes3.Going deeper: Formal small-group learning in large
classes4.Restructuring large classes to create communities of
learners5.Implementing small-group learning: Insights from
successful practitioners6.Making small-group learning and learning
communities a widespread reality
Theoretical and Empirical Rationale for Using Small Groups
• Promoting Cognitive Elaboration
• Enhancing Critical Thinking
• Providing Feedback
• Promoting Social and Emotional Development
• Appreciating Diversity
• Reducing Student Attrition
Getting Started: Informal Small- Group Strategies in Large Classes
• Launching the Class in Discussion Applications of Small-Group Approaches
• Breaking Up the Lecture for Comprehension Checks
• Closing Class with Small-Group Conversation• Reviewing for Exams• Debriefing Exams• Deepening Audiovisual Presentations• Predicting Processes and Outcomes of
Demonstrations
Cooperative Learning Research SupportJohnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T. & Smith, K.A. 1998. Cooperative learning returns
to college: What evidence is there that it works? Change, 30 (4), 26-35.
!Over 300 Experimental Studies!First study conducted in 1924
!High Generalizability!Multiple OutcomesOutcomes
1.Achievement and retention2.Critical thinking and higher-level reasoning
3.Differentiated views of others4.Accurate understanding of others'
perspectives5.Liking for classmates and teacher
6.Liking for subject areas7.Teamwork skills
Small-Group Learning: Meta- analysis
Springer, L., Stanne, M. E., & Donovan, S. 1999. Effects of small-group learning on undergraduates in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology: A meta-analysis.
Review of Educational Research, 69(1), 21-52.
Small-group (predominantly cooperative) learning in postsecondary science, mathematics, engineering, and
technology (SMET). 383 reports from 1980 or later, 39 of which met the rigorous inclusion criteria for meta-analysis.
The main effect of small-group learning on achievement, persistence, and attitudes among undergraduates in
SMET was significant and positive. Mean effect sizes for achievement, persistence, and attitudes were 0.51, 0.46,
and 0.55, respectively.
The Harvard Assessment Seminars B Richard J. Light
All the specific findings point to, and illustrate, one main idea. It
is that students who get the most out of college, who grow the most
academically, and who are the happiest, organize their time to include interpersonal activities with faculty members, or with fellow students, built around substantive, academic work.
Environmental Factors That Enhance Students= Academic and Personal Development and
SatisfactionAlexander Astin in What matters
in college: Four critical years revisited.
Jossey-Bass, 1993.
Student-student interactionStudent-faculty interactionA faculty that is very student-
orientedDiscussing racial/ethnic issues
with other studentsHours devoted to studying B
Time on taskTutoring other students
Socializing with students of different race/ethnicity
A student body that has high socioeconomic status
An institutional emphasis on diversity
A faculty that is positive about the general education program
A student body that values altruism and social activism
Making the Most of CollegeRichard J. Light
Harvard University Press (2001)
1. Meet the faculty2. Take a mix of courses
3. Study in groups4. Write, write, write
5. Speak another language6. Consider time7. Hold the drum