The ENVIRONMENTS FOR FOSTERING EFFECTIVE CRITICAL THINKING (EFFECTs)

EFFECTs Instructional Framework

Workshop Goals•1:00-2:00 NSF EFFECTs Project Overview:Learn how EFFECTs can stimulate critical thinking

•2:00-3:30 Instructional Framework:Understand the pedagogical elements of EFFECTs

•3:30-5:00 Developmental Framework:Learn how to create and implement an EFFECT

EstimationHow many piano tuners are there in Chicago?

EstimationHow many piano tuners are there in Chicago?

Groups: 1.2.3.4.

EstimationHow many piano tuners are there in Chicago?

Factors: 1.2.3.4.

EstimationHow many piano tuners are there in Chicago?

Santos (2009)estimated 120andtelephone directorylisted 43

EFFECTs Framework•Driving Question•Decision Worksheet

initial answer to DQ

•Active Learning Modules

•Journal Entries•Report

final answer to DQ

Driving Question: Class 1•All components

revolve around and relate to driving question

•Think of this as setting the stage for students

Decision Worksheet: Class 1•Decision worksheet

prompts students for initial answer to driving question

•Complete individual worksheet and then group worksheet

Decision Worksheet“I think the best part … was every two weeks we got a piece of paper and it had a situation. And they asked us to just estimate anything, really, in our heads … what would happen if different situations happened ... We just had to put whatever our estimation was, or write out all these factors on each page.”

Active Learning: Classes 2 … n•Active learning

modules facilitate self-exploration of concepts needed to answer driving question

•Complete exercises in pairs or groups

Active Learning“I think the best part … was every two weeks we got a piece of paper and it had a situation. … Then as the week progressed, you basically made that situation come to life with the hands-on activities.”

Journal Entries: Classes 2 … n•Journal questions

facilitate reflection on active learning modules

•Complete individual responses after class

Final Report: Class n + 1•Final report prompts

students for final answer to driving question

•Complete individual reports

Final Report“I think the best part … was every two weeks we got a piece of paper and it had a situation. … You see how your estimates were, at the end. I thought it was cool to see what your theories are, in real life, instead of just on paper and numbers and variables.”

The ENVIRONMENTS FOR FOSTERING EFFECTIVE CRITICAL THINKING (EFFECTs)

EFFECTs Instructional Framework:Driving Questions and Decision Worksheets

Driving Questions•Driving Question•Decision Worksheet

initial answer to DQ

• Active Learning Modules

• Journal Entries• Report

• final answer to DQ

Driving Questions•Conceptually, Driving Questions are like Fermi Problems

▫Unfamiliar questions that seem insolvable because there is no provision of information required to calculate an answer

▫Yet reasonable estimates can be reached through the process of breaking down the problem into smaller sub-problems

Driving Questions: ExamplesEFFECTs inEnvironmental

DrivingQuestion

Clean Water How many pounds of aluminum sulfate would be needed to remove 20 units of turbidity from two million gallons of river water?

Nanotechnology How many nano-sized iron particles are needed to remediate 15 trillion gallons of groundwater contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE)?

Oil Spill How much surfactant should be added to remediate the spill?

Trash to Energy How many houses can be powered by incinerating municipal solid waste (MSW)?

Water Filtration What are the dimensions of the activated carbon filter needed in the water filtration system for a small community?

Driving Questions: ExamplesEFFECTs inGeotechnical

DrivingQuestion

Levee Permeability

What pumping rate (in gpd) is needed to protect your home from the water rising inside the levee?

Levee Reconstruction

How many tons of soil do you need to build each 100-ft. long section of levee?

Tower Settlement

How much ground surface settlement (in. or ft.) will occur in 20 years?

Decision Worksheet

▫context: piece of paper and it had a situation … in terms of civil engineering

▫criteria: put whatever our estimation wasfor a given design problem

▫guidance: write out all these factorsthat supports reaching a solution to the driving question

Decision Worksheet•Driving question serves as the background for

students during their progression through the learning sequence

•Decision worksheet stimulates critical thinking in the context of a real engineering problem▫reasoning▫decision making▫problem solving

Decision Worksheet: Components

1. Background

Decision Worksheet: Components

1. Background

2. Driving Question

Decision Worksheet: Components

1. Background

2. Driving Question

3. Guiding Questions

Guiding Questions: Example1. Sketch the levee.

2. What factors are needed to estimate weight of soil for levee?

3. Estimate values for these factors.

4. What constitutes failure of levee?

Levee Reconstruction: Sketches

Levee Reconstruction: Estimates

•Most students able to sketch a levee with appropriate shapes and dimensions, but …

•… few students able to comprehend the magnitude of soil weight required to construct it.

•Most estimates << 1000 tons …

< 100 100-1,000 1,000-4,000 4,000-8,000 8,000-12,000 12,000-16,000

16,000-20,000

>20,0000%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Soil [tons]

Dis

trib

utio

n of

Stu

dent

Res

pons

esLevee Reconstruction: Estimates

Reasonable range, depending on assumptions for soil density, slope angle, base and crest widths

Levee Reconstruction: Estimates•There are misconceptions of soil definition and

soil weight-volume relationships

•More specifically, students visualize that one ton of soil occupies a much larger volume than it actually does

•One of the contributing factors is the misunderstanding of what soil means for engineering purposes

Tower Settlement: Estimates

0 5 10 15 20 25 300.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

Prompts in Inch UnitsPrompts in Foot Units

No. Student Respondents

Initi

al E

stim

ate

of T

otal

Sett

lem

ent [

ft.]

The ENVIRONMENTS FOR FOSTERING EFFECTIVE CRITICAL THINKING (EFFECTs)

EFFECTs Instructional Framework:Active Learning and Journal Questions

Active Learning• Driving Question• Decision Worksheet

• initial answer to DQ

•Active Learning Modules

•Journal Entries• Report

• final answer to DQ

Active Learning“The single most important reason for developing and

using active learning approaches in your classes is to promote critical thinking. (You can’t teach someone how to think by lecturing to them about how you think.)”

During active learning, students are involved in higher order thinking (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation), whether or not the body (or the mouth) is physically active.

from the workshop on “Teaching and Evaluating Critical Thinking” by E. Neal

Active Learning ModulesEFFECT Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4

Geotechnical

Decision Worksheets

Density of Solids Compaction and Soil Density

Construction and Testing of Model

Levee

Environmental

Calibration Curves and Measuring

Concentrations with a Spectrophotometer

Material Balances and Adsorptive

Capacity of Activated Carbon

N.A.

Water Resources Pressure Variation with Height

Pressure Variation with Flow N.A.

Structural Moment of Inertia of Structural Sections

Natural Frequencies and

Resonance

Construction and Testing of Model

Tower

Transportation Evacuation Planning Flow RateComputer

Simulation of Traffic Flow

Surveying Accuracy and Precision of Area Estimations

Measurement Accuracy of

Different ToolsN.A.

Geotechnical: Model Levees

Structural: Model Towers

Environmental: Calibration Curves

Water Resources: Pressure-Height

Transportation: Flow Rate

Surveying: Measurement Accuracy

DynamicsA ball is released from a ramp, bounces twice, and hits a target on the floor. Determine the angle of the ramp.

Fluid MechanicsYou need to hit a target on the ground 10 feet away with the water pistol on the table. Determine the best position and operation of the water pistol to hit the target.

Statics: Beam Deflection

Statics: Beam Deflection

Be Resourceful!

Classroom Strategies• Interactive Lecturing with Student Learning Groups

web site and video by Richard Felder

•Think-Pair-ShareStudents think about a question individually and then pair up to discuss the answer. Student pairs share their answers with the whole class.

•Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning Students work in groups to prepare questions about the discussion topic.

•Cooperative Note-Taking Pairs Students work together in taking notes. Breaks are given during class for one student to summarize notes while the other asks questions about the notes.

from the workshops on “Active and Cooperative Learning” by R.M. Felder and R. Brent“Teaching and Evaluating Critical Thinking” by E. Neal

Classroom Strategies•Concept tests using i-clickers

• In-class writing exercises

•Games and simulations

•Case studies

•Others …

from the workshops on “Active and Cooperative Learning” by R.M. Felder and R. Brent“Teaching and Evaluating Critical Thinking” by E. Neal

Journal Entries•Prompt students with a set of questions about

active learning modules

▫What was learned in class today?

▫Why is that new knowledge important for answering the driving question?

▫How has your initial answer to the driving question changed?

Journal Entries•Student responses can be used to assess the

level of …

▫Core knowledge … by examining the use and understanding of appropriate, discipline-specific terms or phrases associated with those concepts

▫Critical thinking … by analyzing how well the student reflects on active learning and connects observations to conclusions

OAT Coding Module v 1.0

Journal Question: SurveyingDriving Question:How much concrete is neededto re-surface the parking lotbehind 300 Main Street?

Active Learning:Day 1: Students measure the area of a classroom using visual estimation, pacing, and a measuring tape.Day 2: Students measure the area of the parking lot using the same tools.

Journal Question: SurveyingJournal Questions – Day 2:What have you learned about estimating areas of larger, irregular shapes?How did that knowledge alter your answer to the driving question?How might it influence your choice of procedure for measuring the area?

Journal Response: SurveyingExample 1“Its very complicated because you have to divide everything into little sections.”

Journal Response: SurveyingExample 2“I learned a lot about estimating irregular shapes during class. I learned that its better to over estimate the area than to under estimate, because not having enough cement would halt the project, when having too much would be fine. However, way too much extra cement would not be good either because its a waste. My estimate went up slightly from what I learned.”

Journal Response: SurveyingExample 3“After trying to estimate the area of the engineering parking lot, I found out that it is very difficult to come to an answer that is close to the actual one. The irregular shape of the area was accounted for by dividing it up into geometric shapes that the area could be easily found for. It was useful to use a reference point as a means of estimating, as we used the cars in the parking lot to measure the overall length. This worked fairly well, as my estimation was not as far off as I had expected.In determining how much concrete we will need, the method of dividing up the shape into smaller ones should be very effective, as nearly all of the parking lot is covered by a few geometric shapes. I also found that the lot was not perfectly flat, which means we would have to account for the irregularities in the surface before coming to a perfectly accurate measurement of the area. My procedure for measuring the area would remain the same as what we performed on Thursday, using the tape measure to calculate the area of the shapes. Although, a longer tape measure would have eliminated the chance for error when we had to mark a spot and bring the tape measure over to continue the measurement.”

Journal Questions• In-class or end-of-class assignments

[paper-based]•Homework assignments

[paper-based or submission via Blackboard, for example]

•Journal or notebook[paper-based]

•Online Assessment Tool (OAT)

Require completion after in-class active learning module and before next class period.

Reflective Homework Problems• Integrate journal questions with a homework

assignment▫1) Add new part(s) to a problem that is specific to

the driving question▫2) Ask how a particular problem helps answer the

driving question▫3) Assign a final question about how the entire

assignment helps answer the driving question▫4) Require a revised answer to the driving

question with explanation for how and why it has changed based on the assignment

The ENVIRONMENTS FOR FOSTERING EFFECTIVE CRITICAL THINKING (EFFECTs)

EFFECTs Instructional Framework:Final Reports

Final Reports• Driving Question• Decision Worksheet

• initial answer to DQ

• Active Learning Modules

• Journal Entries• Report

• final answer to DQ

Final Report: Components• Introduction▫explain importance of driving question

•Solution▫show solution steps with supporting explanation

and justification

•Lessons Learned▫reflect on learning process▫discuss how final answer changed from initial

answer

Final Report: Alternatives•Report▫format is not standard and can include other

components▫ length can be short or long

•Decision Worksheet▫can use original decision worksheet or a slightly

modified version▫allows for direct pre-post comparison

•Exam Question