How to Create a Perfectly Difficult CSD Course Implementing "desirable difficulties" in an online course to

increase acquisition of foundational knowledge

Ashley M. Frazier and Celia R. HooperUniversity of North Carolina Greensboro

presentation objectives

Upon completion of this session, learners should be able to1. Identify four strategies shown to be effective in long-

term learning of new information2. Compare teaching methods which capitalize on these

research-based strategies to other common strategies which might be less effective

3. Apply strategy knowledge to existing classroom teaching methods

4. Integrate "desirable difficulties" into class activity planning

agenda

• Talk about 4 principles• Tell you about my class• Show you how course plan

changed in response to the 4 principles

• Talk about whether it worked

• Discuss how desirable difficulties might work in other classrooms

where I’m coming from

traditionaltechie

hard assbleeding heart

desirable difficulties (Bjork, 2011)

• Vary the conditions of learning• Interleave instruction• Space study sessions• Use tests as study events

The basic problem learners confront is that we can easily be misled asto whether we are learning effectively and have or have not achieved alevel of learning and comprehension that will support our subsequent accessto information or skills we are trying to learn. We can be misled byour subjective impressions. Rereading a chapter a second time, for example,can provide a sense of familiarity or perceptual fluency that we interpretas understanding or comprehension, but may actually be a product oflow-level perceptual priming. Similarly, information coming readily tomind can be interpreted as evidence of learning, but could instead be aproduct of cues that are present in the study situation, but that are unlikelyto be present at a later time. We can also be misled by our current performance.Conditions of learning that make performance improve rapidly oftenfail to support long-term retention and transfer, whereas conditions thatcreate challenges and slow the rate of apparent learning often optimizelong-term retention and transfer.

Bjork & Bjork- Making Things Hard on Yourself, But in a Good Way: Creating Desirable Difficulties to Enhance Learning

the upshot

Learning may happen over time with no apparent change in performance

Performance improvement can occur with no significant learning

People are not good at predicting or recognizing learning when it is happening

FOUR DESIRABLE DIFFICULTIES

varied learning conditions

• the classic advice to “find a quiet place and always study there” is not the best way to learn

• learning becomes contextualized to that condition

• varying conditions of practice enhances learning

• variation during learning supports better retrieval in novel test conditions

interleave instruction

• blocked practice appears optimal for learning, but interleaved practice results in superior long-term retention and transfer of skills

• may force learners to “reload” memories

• interleaving even enhances inductive learning

• forgetting (losing retrieval strength) creates the opportunity for increasing the storage strength of to-be-learned information or skills

space study

• massing practice supports short-term performance

• spacing practice supports long-term retention

• the most intuitive of the 4 principles

testing as teaching

• tests do much more than measure learning; they also enhance learning

• the deeper, more difficult, and more complex retrieval is,the more powerful that retrieval will be

• delayed tests constitute better practice for later recall because they exercise more of the processes needed to succeed on a later test, BUT

• for an item to profit from being tested, the learner must be able to successfully retrieve that item from memory

• Expanding schedule of tests benefit from the positive effects of delayed tests while not being harmed by recall failures

Desirable difficulties are desirable because they trigger encoding and retrieval processes that support learning, comprehension, and remembering

INCORPORATING DESIRABLE DIFFICULTY INTO CLASS

csd 250• Intro/survey course• Online class• Mostly year 1 & 2• About 50 students• Cover speech, language,

hearing at introductory level

• Changed class to incorporate 4 principles between Fall 2010 and Fall 2011

my assumptions

• purpose of “intro course” is learning models, terminology, develop knowledge framework

• share passion for the discipline to get students interested

• help students become better learners & successful managers of their higher education experience

vary the conditions of learning

rather than keeping them constant and predictable

varied learning conditions

Fall 2010

• Discussion board posts– Post news items– Answer weekly question

about reading/material

• Informational blog– Final project; create blog on

topic of choice

Fall 2011

• Weekly points– Choice based assignments

• Big Project– Choice of topic– Choice of product– Guided expectations

varied learning conditions

Fall 2012 – How I’m doing it now

• Weekly points– Choice based assignments– Collaborative creation of materials: Quizlet, Wiki, Google docs

• Big Project– Choice of topic– Choice of product– Guided expectations– Peer Assessment incentivize

variety

Weekly Points

Students chose assignments from a menu to earn points each week

I tried to offer at least 1 elaborative, 1 creative/experiential, 1 synthesis, and 1 analysis option each week, and students typically chose 2-3 to do

Example: 5 points – Information to Share from Textbook Ch. 3Create a single page graphic organizer of key concepts/information from Chapter 3 – think of it as a “cheat sheet” for someone who didn’t read this week but needs to pass the quiz

5 points - Create your own picture codeMake a one-page picture code that you could use to get through your school day if you weren't able to talk or write. Use it for one full day, and write 1-2 pages about this experience.

10 points - Act It OutMake a YouTube video demonstrating each of the "Gestures associated with the Body" on p. 7 in your textbook, along with your verbal explanation of what you think at least ten of them might mean. Post your link.

Interleave instruction on separate topics, rather than grouping instruction by topic.

That’s called blocking. It’s bad.

This didn’t change – instruction was interleaved for both groups

Fortunately it is easy to construct coursework this way in CSD…

Communication

Speech

Language

Hearing

Lifespan

Child

Adult

Professional IssuesCulture & Diversity Ethics Careers

Space study sessions on a given topic,

rather than massing study sessions

That’s called cramming.It’s bad

spaced study

Fall 2010

• One midterm exam• One final exam

Fall 2011

• Comprehensive quizzes• Distribute study guide 2-3

weeks before exams• Guided study session• One midterm exam• One final exam

spaced study

Fall 2012 – How I’m doing it now

• Comprehensive quizzes• Distribute study guide 2-3 weeks before exams• Collaborative creation of study wiki with feedback• Guided study session• One midterm exam• One final exam

incentivize early

You can’t make your students studyYou can’t prevent your students crammingBut you can make conditions optimal

Five Slides To Go!

Use tests as study events,

rather than presentations.

retrieval practice works.

testing as teaching

Fall 2010

• One midterm exam• One final exam

Fall 2011

• One quiz each week• Every 3-4 weeks,

comprehensive quiz• Quizlet sets• One midterm exam• One final exam

Quizzes were untimed and could be repeated, worth some points but not a lot. Quiz questions were low

in identification, high on evaluation and analysis; quizlet sets focused

on identification

testing as teaching

Fall 2012 – How I’m doing it now

• Set of chapter quizzes each week – MC, T/F, Short Answer• Every 3-4 weeks, comprehensive quiz• Quizlet sets for each topic• One midterm exam• One final exam

did it work?

Midterm Exam Final Exam

Fall 2010 72.92 84.08

Fall 2011 79.85 90.11

Fall 2012 77.31

Difference: Incorporated 4 principles into

curriculum

Difference: Changed to Justice text, kept the

same midterm & final

choosing a text

things I considered

• options for “extra” stuff – online quizzes, questions, cd with case studies, outlines, test bank

• interleaving-friendly organization of topics/text• survey level with lots of links to more

information

Communication Sciences and Disorders: A Contemporary Perspective (2nd edition). 2009. Justice, L. M.. Boston: Allyn & Bacon

future

• hybrid version of class – half online, half live Spring 2013 (reverse classroom)– managing cognitive load

• compressed version of class – summer session 2013

• prepping course for other instructors

Resources

To learn more about Ashley’s teaching or for more teaching resources:http://ashleyonteaching.wordpress.com/

Bjork Learning and Forgetting Labhttp://bjorklab.psych.ucla.edu/Most articles can be downloaded right from site, look under people/publications

UIC Memory Lab (Ben Storm)http://tigger.uic.edu/~bstorm/publications.htmlMost articles downloadable from site

The IDEA Centerhttp://www.theideacenter.org/

Quizlethttp://www.quizlet.com/Great site for retrieval practice, create quizlet sets & play games with information

Hot Potatoes (and Quandary)http://hotpot.uvic.ca/Also great for creating learning games for retrieval practice & problem solving

Everything I need to know about teaching…

Celia Hooper Ashley FrazierUNC Chapel Hill 1998