SGTS Theory 1

Summer Graduate Teaching Scholars
April 25, 2013
Theory 1: Introduction and HPL

Who Am I – Peter
Peter Newbury
 PhD (Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada) 1998
in applied math
 Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative, 2008 – 2012
 Associate Director, Center for Teaching Development
since August, 2012
Teaching and learning interests:
 how people learn astronomy, physics, math
 how to convince instructors to transform the way they teach
 finding the most effective ways to implement peer instruction (clickers)
 establishing and maintaining an online personal learning network
@polarisdotca peternewbury.org
SGTS Theory Stream - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu
2

Who Am I – Liz
Liz Specht
 PhD candidate in Stephen Mayfield’s lab in the UCSD Division of
Biological Sciences
 The College Classroom alumnus (Fall 2012)
TA Consultant for TCC Wi13
 @lizspecht
In addition to her research on algae, she is interested in science
education at all levels, and has been actively involved in several
teaching endeavors beyond the TA requirements for the
department. She has taught a lab course for post-graduate
adults, a summer course for high school students, and she
volunteers regularly at local middle schools through the Salk
Mobile outreach program.
3

A quick survey:
We have people with different backgrounds in our
audience: Raise your hand if this is you:
Who experienced undergraduate education in the US?
Who has had a teaching experience before?
Who has given a technical talk?
Who has English as a second language?
Who has been a student in a large (150+ students) class?
4

Introduction to teaching and learning
in higher education

Survey
6
Which of these do you associate with a typical
university lecture?
A) listening
B) absorbing
C) note-taking
D) learning

The traditional lecture is based on the
transmissionist learning model
7
(Image by um.dentistry on flickr CC)

Scientifically Outdated, a Known
Failure
8
We must abandon the tabula rasa
“blank slate” and “students as
empty vessels” models of teaching
and learning.

Let’s have a learning experience…
9

Here is an important new number
system. Please learn it.
10
1 = 4 = 7 =
2 = 5 = 8 =
3 = 6 = 9 =

Test
11
What is this number?

Important New Number System
12
Here’s the key to the “tic-tac-toe” code:
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

Test
13
What is this number?

New learning is built on and from existing knowledge.
You store things in long term memory
through a set of connections that are
made with previous existing memories.
Constructivist Theory of Learning
14
(Images by Rebecca-Lee on flickr CC)
Creating memories (aka learning) involves
having neurons fire and neurons link up in
networks or patterns.

15

How People Learn [1]
16

Key Finding 1
17
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 , p 14.)

Implications for Teaching – 1
Teachers must draw out and work with the preexisting
understandings that their students bring with them.
(How People Learn, p. 19)
18

New Coding System
19
Please memorize this code:
1 = 4 = 7 =
2 = 5 = 8 =
3 = 6 = 9 =
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
unsupported, unfamiliar content built on pre-existing
knowledge
(tic-tac-toe board)

Designing Classroom Environments – 1
Schools and classrooms must be learner centered.
20

Learning requires interaction [2]
21

22
% of class time
NOT lecturing
Normalized learning gain:
pre-test
0
100%
post-test
0.50

23
1 2
3 4

Key Finding 2
24
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. (How People Learn, p 16.)

25

Teachers must teach some subject matter in depth,
providing many examples in which the same concept is at
work and providing a firm foundation of factual
knowledge.
26

Discussion
27
1. Turn to you neighbor and introduce yourself.
2. Tell your neighbor about how, in the class you
observed, the instructor talked about the framework
of concepts and organization/retrieval of the
concepts. (5 minutes)
3. Group discussion: Was there a time when the
instructor failed to do 2? How did you know?
(5 minutes)

To provide a knowledge-centered classroom environment,
attention must be given to what is taught (information,
subject matter), why it is taught (understanding), and
what competence or mastery looks like.
28
learning outcomes
Theory 3,
Practical 3
development of expertise,
assessment
Theory 2 & 3, Practical 4

Key Finding 3
29
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.
(How People Learn, p 18.)

Aside: metacognition
30
Metacognition refers to one’s knowledge concerning one’s
own cognitive processes or anything related to them.
For example, I am engaging
in metacognition if I notice
that I am having more
trouble learning A than B.
([3], [4])

Key Finding 3
31
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.
(How People Learn, p 18.)

The teaching of metacognitive skills should be integrated
into the curriculum in a variety of subject areas.
32

Formative assessments — ongoing assessments designed
to make students’ thinking visible to both teachers and
students — are essential. They permit the teacher to grasp
the students’ preconceptions, understand where the
students are in the “developmental corridor” from
informal to formal thinking, and design instruction
accordingly. In the assessment-centered classroom
environment, formative assessments help both teachers
and students monitor progress.
33

34
student-centered instructiontraditional lecture

35
peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
worksheets
discussions
videos
student-centered instruction

Clicker question
36
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.
(Question: Sujatha Raghu from Braincandy via LearningCatalytics)
(Image: CIM9926 by number657 on flickr CC)

Typical episode of peer instruction
37
Alternating with 10-15 minute mini-lectures,
1. Instructor poses a conceptually-challenging,
multiple-choice question.
2. Students think about question on their own.
3. Students vote for an answer using clickers,
smart phones, colored/ABCD voting cards,
Poll Everywhere,…
4. The instructor reacts, based on the
distribution of votes.

In effective peer instruction
38
 students teach each other while
they may still hold or remember
their novice preconceptions
 students discuss the concepts in their
own (novice) language
 the instructor finds out what the students know (and
don’t know) and reacts, building on their initial
understanding and preconceptions.
students learn
and practice
how to think,
communicate
like experts

How People Learn [1]
39

Effective peer instruction requires
40
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
before
class
during
class
Practical 1
Practical 2

How People Learn
41
Learning is not about
what instructors do.
It’s about what students do!

How People Learn
42
Learning is not about
what instructors do.
It’s about what students do!
Students don’t learn
just by listening to the
instructor explain.

References
43
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. Prather, E.E, Rudolph, A.L., Brissenden, G., & Schlingman, W.M. (2009). A
national study assessing the teaching and learning of introductory
astronomy. Part I. The effect of interactive instruction. Am. J. Phys. 77, 4,
320-330.
3. Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B.
Resnick (Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp.231-236). Hillsdale, NJ:
Erlbaum.
4. Brame, C. (2013). Thinking about metacognition. [blog] January, 2013,
Available at: http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2013/01/thinking-about-
metacognition/ [Accessed: 14 Jan 2013].

SGTS Theory 1

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