SIO Workshop: Course Design 2 - Alternatives to Lecture

What do you notice? What do you wonder?

(16th Century carving

Wikimedia Commons)

Alternatives to Lecture 1

Center for Teaching

Development

Course Design 2:

Alternatives to

Lecture

Prediction


Ice cubes are floating in a glass of water

that is filled to the brim.

As the ice cubes melt, what happens to

the water level?

A) it stays the same

B) it rises and spills water over the brim

C) it falls to a level below the brim.

Course Design 2:

Alternatives to Lecture

Unless otherwise noted, content is

licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-

Non Commercial 3.0 License.

Peter Newbury, Ph.D.

Center for Teaching Development,

University of California, San Diego

[email protected]

@polarisdotca #ctducsd

ctd.ucsd.edu

Scripps Institute of Oceanography November 14, 2014

Scholarly approach to teaching:


Carl Wieman

Science Education Initiative

cwsei.ubc.ca

What should

students

learn? learning

outcomes assessment that

supports learning

(Nov 21)

alternatives

to lecture

(today!)

What should

students

learn?

What are

students

learning?

What instructional

approaches

help students

learn?

Constructivist theory of learning


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.

Active learning increases student performance

in science, engineering and mathematics[1]


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)


Conclusion:

Active learning

increases student

performance

Figure 2

Wieman (2014)[2]

Freeman et al (2014)[1]


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

(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.


Chemistry learning outcomes


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?

Typical Episode of Peer Instruction


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.

In effective peer instruction


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

To learn more about peer instruction


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.


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.

Freeman et al (2014)[1]





What do you notice?

What do you wonder?

surveys of opinions

reading quizzes

whiteboards

discussions

videos


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

In-class demonstrations


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)

Prediction


Ice cubes are floating in a glass of water

that is filled to the brim.

As the ice cubes melt, what happens to

the water level?

A) it stays the same

B) it rises and spills water over the brim

C) it falls to a level below the brim.

Interactive Lecture Demos (ILD) [3,4]


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

Artefacts


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





What do you notice?

What do you wonder?

surveys of opinions

reading quizzes

whiteboards

discussions

videos

What do you notice? What do you wonder?

(16th Century carving

Wikimedia Commons)


Start teaching before the bell rings


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?” [5]

Spend first few minutes leading a discussion:

o every student can contribute because everyone can wonder

o you learn their pre-existing knowledge

o activates concepts in their memories

Don’t let their enthusiasm slip away!





What do you notice?

What do you wonder?

surveys of opinions

reading quizzes

whiteboards

discussions

videos

Showing video in class


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)

Opinion: Videos in class


In your opinion, the Paul Hewitt video

A) is engaging

B) is entertaining

C) is interactive

D) stimulates deep thinking

Showing video in class


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.

Videos: implications for instructors


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.

Is Lecture Dead?


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




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.


If the experiments analyzed here had been conducted as

randomized controlled trials of medical interventions, they may

have been stopped for benefit—meaning that enrolling patients in

the control condition might be discontinued because the treatment

being tested was clearly more beneficial.

(Freeman et al., pp 8413)

Finally, there is a strong ethical component. There is a growing

body of evidence showing that active learning differentially

benefits students of color and/or students from disadvantaged

backgrounds and/or women in male-dominated fields. It’s not a

stretch to claim that lecturing actively discriminates against

underrepresented students.”

(S. Freeman, in [6])

References


1. 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.

2. Wieman, C.E. (2014). Large-scale comparison of science teaching methods sends clear message.

PNAS 111, 23, 8319–8320

3. Get the full story of ILDs at

serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/demonstrations/index.html

4. Miller, K. (2013). Use demonstrations to teach, not just entertain. The Physics Teacher 51, 570 –

571.

5. 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/.

6. Bhatia, A. Active Learning Leads to Higher Grades and Fewer Failing Students in Science, Math, and

Engineering. Retrieved November 14, 2014 from

http://www.wired.com/2014/05/empzeal-active-learning/

SIO Workshop: Course Design 2 - Alternatives to Lecture

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