CTD Weekly Workshop: Alternatives to Lecture

What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
1

How (You Can Help) People Learn (Biology)

impaled by Yersinia on flickr CC-BY-NC-SA

slides and resources: ctd.ucsd.edu/programs/fall-2013-weekly-workshops/

CTD WEEKLY WORKSHOPS:
ALTERNATIVES TO LECTURE
Peter Newbury
Center for Teaching Development,
University of California, San Diego
pnewbury@ucsd.edu
@polarisdotca
ctd.ucsd.edu
#ctducsd

Wednesday, October 30, 2013
12:00 – 12:50 pm Center Hall, Room 316

Key Finding 1
Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about
how the world works. If their initial understanding is not
engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and
information that are taught, or they may learn them for
the purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions
outside of the classroom.
(How People Learn [1], p. 14)

Instructors must
draw out students’
pre-existing
understandings.
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Alternatives to Lecture

Instruction must be
student-centered.

Key Finding 2
To develop competence in an area, students must:
a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge,
b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a
conceptual framework, and
c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate
retrieval and application.

These are
characteristics of

expertize
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Instructors need to
give students
opportunities to be
more expert-like.

Key Finding 3
A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help
students learn to take control of their own learning by
defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in
achieving them.

Metacognition:
that voice in your
head that checks
if you understand
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Instructors need to
provide opportunities
for students to practice
being metacognitive

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 their (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.
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traditional lecture
7


student-centered instruction

peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
worksheets
discussions
videos
8


Clicker Question
The molecules making up the dry mass of wood that
forms during the growth of a tree largely come from
A) sunlight.
B) the air.
C) the seed.
D) the soil.

Question credit: Bill Wood
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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”, the students vote again
and the instructor leads a class-wide discussion
concluding with why the right answer(s) is right and
the wrong answers are wrong.
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How People Learn

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

students learn
and practice
how to think,
communicate
like experts

 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.
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How People Learn

Effective peer instruction requires
1. identifying key concepts, misconceptions
2. creating multiple-choice questions that
require deeper thinking and learning
3. facilitating peer instruction episodes that
spark student discussion
4. resolving the misconceptions

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before
class

during
class


To learn more about peer instruction
Upcoming CTD Teaching and Learning Workshop:
Nov 13 Writing Good 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.

To register, look for the
Fall 2013
Teaching and Learning Workshops
at ctd.ucsd.edu
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How People Learn

What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
worksheets
discussions
videos
14


Chemistry Day 4 by pennstatenews on flickr CC-BY-NC
15


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)
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Clicker question
A ball is rolling around
the inside of a circular
track. The ball
leaves the track
at point P.

B

C

D

A

E

P

Which path
does the ball
follow?
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(Mazur)

Interactive Lecture Demos (ILD) [2]
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
 (don’t be afraid to mess with their heads – inclined
table example)
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What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
worksheets
discussions
videos
19


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)

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Videos in class
Unlike you, the students do not
 select the video
instructor does this
 check it contains key events before class
 anticipate key events instructor does this unconsciously,
 recognize key events the “curse” of expertise
 interpret key events This is what you want to do in class!
 relate key events to Anticipate & recognize are
pre-requisites.
class concepts

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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.
22


Showing video in biology class

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What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
whiteboards
worksheets
discussions
videos
24


What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
25


impaled by Yersinia on flickr CC-BY-NC-SA

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?” [3]
 Spend first few minutes leading a discussion:





every student can contribute
you learn their pre-existing knowledge
activates concepts in their memories

 Don’t let their enthusiasm slip away!
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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 [4]
 they’re prepared to intellectually appreciate your
expertise you’re about to share with them

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What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
surveys of opinions
To enhance
reading quizzes
students learning and
whiteboards
retention, some instruction must
worksheets
be interactive and student-centered.
discussions
videos
That’s how people learn.
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References
1. National Research Council (2000). How People Learn: Brain,
Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition. J.D.
Bransford, A.L Brown & R.R. Cocking (Eds.),Washington, DC:
The National Academies Press.
2. Get the full story of interactive lecture demos (ILDs) at
serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/demonstrations/index.html
3. Read more about “What do you notice? What do you
wonder” at ctd.ucsd.edu/2013/08/you-dont-have-to-waitfor-the-clock-to-strike-to-start-teaching/
4. Bain, K (2004). What the best college teachers do.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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CTD Weekly Workshop: Alternatives to Lecture

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