Not Listening: Interaction, Technology, and Education

Steven A. Wolfman

Computer Science & Engineering

University of Washington

http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/wolf/work/

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Modern Pedagogy vs. Modern Practice

active learning

participatory

interactive

student-directed

lecture

instructor-dominated

passive

disconnected

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Pedagogy of Active Learning

• Encourage “connected” learning– Constructivism [Bruner]– Social learning [Lave]

• Recapture flagging attention– Attention studies [Stuart & Rutherford]– Heart rate/memory [Bligh]– Skin conductivity [Picard]

• Address varied learning styles – Index of Learning Styles [Felder & Silverman]– Bloom’s taxonomy

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Outline

• Develop pedagogical techniques for CS:Kinesthetic Learning Activities

• Use tools to understand interaction:retrospective and prospective feedback

• Design tools to facilitate interaction:Structured Interaction Presentation system

How can computer scientists support active learning?

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Motivating Problem: Large Classes

“Class Sizes & Course Section: smaller is better; large is survivable”– McKeachie’s Teaching Tips

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Turn the Question Around…

How can a large class be an advantage?– “Madness of the Crowd”– Diversity– Amortized resources– Large N: human simulations

[SIGCSE 2002]

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Be the Binary Tree

[SIGCSE 2002]

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Kinesthetic Learning Activities (KLAs)

Active learning exercises that physically engage students in the

learning process

http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/edtech/KLA/, [SIGCSE 2004]

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Why KLAs?

• Combat physical disengagement (e.g., [Bligh], [Picard])

• Tap different learning styles – active, sensing, inductive [Felder & Silverman]– kinesthetic [Fleming]– sensorimotor learning [Piaget]

• Construct knowledge by analogy

http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/edtech/KLA/, [SIGCSE 2004]

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Outline

Develop pedagogical techniques for CS:Kinesthetic Learning Activities

• Use tools to understand interaction:CFS/WIFL

• Design tools to facilitate interaction:Structured Interaction Presentation system

How can computer scientists support active learning?

This slide intentionally left blank.

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Motivating Problem:Feedback Lag

Evidence:– Pilot survey/focus group responses– Personal experience– Lagged questions in video archives

A student hesitates to pose a question until the instructor finishes a point. When the instructor moves on, the student’s question seems out of place and is left unasked.

[CSCL 2003]

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Classroom Feedback System (CFS)Demo

• Point A

• Point B

• Point C

• Point D

• Point E

[CSCL 2003]

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CFS Evaluation

Intro. programming course, summer 2002:– 150 students total– 12 with laptops– 9 week course, 3 weeks with CFS

Data: observations, surveys, focus groups, interview w/instructor, logs

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Retrospective Feedback

Students’ response:– 0.35 retrospective feedback/person/class– CFS helped 3 who cited feedback lag– 2 others reported feedback lag w/CFS

Instructor’s response:– Retro. feedback is important; often responded– Retro. feedback upset pacing

[CHI 2003]

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Prospective Feedback

What if a student leaves feedback ahead of the discussion?

[CHI 2003]

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[CHI 2003]

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Outline

Develop pedagogical techniques for CS:Kinesthetic Learning Activities

Use tools to understand interaction:retrospective and prospective feedback

• Design tools to facilitate interaction:Structured Interaction Presentation system

How can computer scientists support active learning?

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Motivating Problem:Is PowerPoint Evil?

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Goals of Structured Interaction Presentation System (SIP)

• Keep the good of PPT, counteract the evil

• Integrate into the “mediating” slides

• Support intuitive and flexible design

• Facilitate interaction in class

• Enable new kinds of interaction

Make design and execution of interactive presentations as easy as for passive ones.

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SIP Architecture

Presentationdesign

environment

Presentation/Widget

database

Instructor view

ViewerscrnshtViewer

scrnshtViewerscrnshtStudent views

Interactive widget designenvironment

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Try Your Hand

• Are these on the same or distinct topics?

• Which would you rather discuss?

Of those who died from receiving the vaccine, what percentage had compro-mised immune systems?

What are the death rates for specific groups who received this vaccine?

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Group Members

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Group “Winners”

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Conclusion

Developing pedagogical techniques for CS:Kinesthetic Learning Activities

Using CS tools to understand interaction:retrospective and prospective feedback

Designing CS tools to facilitate interaction:Structured Interactions Presentation system

We learn by engaging. Computer scientists can support learning by…

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Related Work: KLAs

• Active learning [Bonwell & Eison]

• Active learning in CS [McConnell]

• “Manipulatives” [Hollingsworth]

• Computerless labs [Pollard & Forbes]

• Learning Styles Index [Felder & Silverman]

• Sensorimotor learning [Piaget]

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Related Systems: CFS & SIP

• ActiveClass [Griswold]

• Cell-phone feedback [Brittain]

• ClassTalk [Dufresne]

• Pebbles [Myers]

• Debbie/DyKnow [Berque]

• WILD [Roschelle]

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Related Pedagogy: CFS & SIP

• Classroom Assessment Techniques [Angelo & Cross]

• CATs in Computer Science [Schwarm & VanDeGrift]

• Cooperative/Collaborative Learning [Johnson & Johnson]

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URLs for More Info

Steve Wolfman (including publications): http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/wolf/work/

UW CS&E Education & Ed. Technology Group: http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/edtech/

Kinesthetic Learning Activities: http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/edtech/KLA/

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CFS increased interaction

Voicings pre-CFS

Voicings with CFS

All inter-actions

All but “Got it”

# per class

2.4 2.6 15.9 7.9

p-value .91 .04* .14

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Intentional Grouping

Target specific goals when assigning groups:– diverse perspectives– avoid lone minority– Jigsaw Learning

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Research your estimate

Check the accuracy of your answers with a partner.

Check your device for your partner assignment.

Get together with your partner!

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Research your estimate

Check the accuracy of your answers with a partner.

You are working with: Rex Bone (t-rex@cs.u.edu) IM Rex

Rex gave these answers:

1. About 3,500,000 people lived in North America in 1491.

2. They had been on this continent for about 1,000 years.

3. They had made these significant achievements:

Bow and arrowMusicFishing pole

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Classroom Feedback System

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