Diane Ebert-May Michigan State University

ebertmay@msu.edu

http://first2.org

Teaching for Understanding

in Large Classes

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The trouble with our times is that the future is not

what it used to be.

-Paul Valery, The Art of Poetry

Engage

Question 1

Active learning strategies enable students to learn science better than passive lectures.

Please respond on a scale of 1-5: 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly

disagree

Question 2

Students learn science best by “doing” science.

Please respond on a scale of 1-5: 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree

Question 3

How important is it to use multiple kinds of assessments to determine student learning?

Please respond on a scale of 0-100% in increments of 10:

Question 4

The proportion of assessments I use in my course that demonstrate students’ critical thinking abilities is....

Please respond on a scale of 0-100% in increments of 10:

Question 5

In my department, excellence in teaching is rewarded at a level comparable to excellence in research.

Please respond on a scale of 1-5: 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly

disagree

Question 1

Active learning strategies enable students to learn science better than passive lectures.

Please respond on a scale of 1-5: 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly

disagree

Question 2

Students learn science best by “doing” science.

Please respond on a scale of 1-5: 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree

Large Class Meeting

Large Class Meeting

Question 3

How important is it to use multiple kinds of assessments to determine student learning?

Please respond on a scale of 0-100 in increments of 10:

Question 4

The proportion of assessments I use in my course that demonstrate students’ critical thinking abilities is....

Please respond on a scale of 0-100 (%) in increments of 10:

• Connections among concepts

• Organization of concepts

• Visual representations

• Model-based reasoning

What is critical thinking?

Question 5

In my department, excellence in teaching is rewarded at a level comparable to excellence in research.

Please respond on a scale of 1-5: 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly

disagree

Articles derived from journal papers

Explore

How People LearnBransford et al 1999,

2004

What’s up with Termites?1. On a sheet of paper, draw two circles

near each other on the center of the page.

2. Release termites onto paper.

3. Keep creatures safe. I shall collect them in their original habitat.

4. What do you observe about termite behavior?

5. Develop a question your group could explore if you had more time.

(10 minutes - select a timekeeper)

Learning Objectives

What do students need to know and be able to do to demonstrate genuine understanding?

Learning Outcomes

• Statement that indicates level of expectation of performance.

• What evidence will indicate whether students have achieved the learning goal?

• (actions, behaviors that can be assessed)

Give your students a roadmap to learning….

Benefits and costs?

Develop one possible learning objective and learning outcome for this ‘inquiry’.

Team Written response. Reporter - Recorder - Timekeeper - (10 minutes)Checker -

What do you want students to know and be able to do? What evidence is acceptable?

Characterize the Level of Expectation

Once you have a learning objective and expected learning outcome...

...assign a Bloom level to each.

What level of learning do we ask of our students?

Bloom (1956) Cognitive Domain of Educational Objectives

6 categories - KnowledgeComprehensionApplicationAnalysisSynthesisEvaluation

Department of Plant Biology

Course Level

Mean B

loom

Level

Department of Plant Biology

% T

ota

l Q

s

Course Level*N items

Explain

What is assessment? Data collection with the purpose of

answering questions about…students’ understanding

students’ attitudes

students’ skills

instructional design and implementation

curricular reform (at multiple grain sizes)• Informing BOTH instructors and

students about learning.

• Subsample= You don’t need to grade everything!!

• Classroom Assessment Techniques (Angelo & Cross 1993); Muddiest Point, Minute papers etc..

• Pyramid Exams- Individual 75% + Group 25%

• Diagnostic Questions & Clickers

• Rubrics

Assessment and Feedback Approaches

Assessment GradientHigh

Ease of

Assessment

Low

Multiple Choice, T/F

Diagrams, Concept maps, Quantitative

response

Short answer

Essay, Research papers/ reports

Oral Interview

Low

Potential for

Assessment of Learning

High

Theoretical Framework• Ausubel 1968; meaningful learning• Novak 1998; visual representations• King and Kitchner 1994; reflective judgment• National Research Council 1999; theoretical frameworks for assessment

How do you go about developing a unit on evolution?

How would you start?What would you do?

Instructional Design

Learning ObjectiveIdentify desired results

Learning OutcomeDetermine acceptable evidence

AssessmentsData collected & Feedback given

Instructional Design & ActivitiesPlanned learning experiences and instruction

Like This?

Backward Design

Adapted from Wiggins and McTighe 1998, 2005

Backward Design

Learning Outcome

Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of evolution and natural selection by building models, making predictions, and solving problems.

•Changes in a population occur through a gradual change in individual members of a population.

•New traits in species are developed in response to need.

•All members of a population are genetically equivalent, variation and fitness are not considered.

•Traits acquired during an individual’s lifetime will be inherited by offspring.

Alternative Conceptions: Natural Selection

Pre-test: extended response. Explain the changes that occurred in the tree and animal. Use your current understanding of evolution by natural selection.

(AAAS 1999)

In guppy populations, what are the primary changes that occur gradually

over time?

a. The traits of each individual guppy within a population gradually change.

b. The proportions of guppies having different traits within a population change.

c. Successful behaviors learned by certain guppies are passed on to offspring.

d. Mutations occur to meet the needs of the guppies as the environment changes.

Pre-test: CINS Multiple Choice

Instructional Design

Enable students to gain meaningful understanding of evolution and natural selection through active learning.

How do you go about developing a unit on evolution?

Activity:• Misconception- List a common misconception for evolution.

• Learning objective- Write the correct version of the concept.

• Learning outcome- Describe the specific performance or behavior that will demonstrate student understanding. (Use Bloom’s Taxonomy of another resource to help articulate the outcomes.)

• Activity- Describe the activity that will engage students and help them achieve the learning objective

• Assessment- Describe the evidence you will collect and the type of feedback you will give students to define their progress towards understanding.

Instructional Design

How am I going to grade all this stuff??

Case: Workshop Woes?

“I attended a workshop about assessment, and the main thing I learned is that I am supposed to assess students before class so I can target what the students need to know. So, I created a series

of pre-class quizzes for the students, but most students don’t do them because they are not

graded. However, I don’t have time to grade 320 of these each week--- much less the 16 other assessments that the workshop suggested. I’ll

just go back to trusting my gut to know how well the students are doing.”

• What issues might be contributing to this

situation?

• What is the professor’s definition of assessment?

• Other than grades, what strategies could

motivate the

students to participate in assessments?

• What suggestions do you have for the professor?• Have you faced similar challenges?

Case: Workshop Woes?

Write a scenario that explains the phenotypic changes in the trees and animals. Use your

understanding of evolution by natural selection.

How do we develop rubrics?

Describe the goal/objective for the activity, problem, task...Select the assessment tasks aligned with goalsDevelop performance standardsDifferentiate levels of responses based on clearly described criteriaRate (assign value) the categories

Level of Achievement General Approach ComprehensionExemplary(5 pts)

• Addresses thequestion.• States a relevant,justifiable answer.• Presents arguments ina logical order.• Uses acceptable styleand grammar (noerrors).

• Demonstrates an accurate andcomplete understanding of thequestion.• Backs conclusions with dataand warrants.• Uses 2 or more ideas,examples and/or arguments thatsupport the answer.

Adequate(3 pts)

• Does not address thequestion explicitly,although does sotangentially.• States a relevant andjustifiable answer.• Presents arguments ina logical order.• Uses acceptable styleand grammar (oneerror).

• Demonstrates accurate but onlyadequate understanding ofquestion because does not backconclusions with warrants anddata.• Uses only one idea to supportthe answer.• Less thorough than above.

Needs Improvement(1 pt)

• Does not address thequestion.• States no relevantanswers• indicatesmisconceptions.• Is not clearly orlogically organized.• Fails to use acceptablestyle and grammar (twoor more errors).

• Does not demonstrate accurateunderstanding of the question.• Does not provide evidence tosupport their answer to thequestion.

No Answer (0 pts)

Scoring Rubric for Quizzes and Homework

Ebert-May http://www.flaguide.org/cat/rubrics/rubrics1.php

Advantages of Scoring Rubrics

Improve the reliability of scoring written assignments and oral presentationsConvey goals and performance expectations of students in an unambiguous wayConvey “grading standards” or “point values” and relate them to performance goalsEngage students in critical evaluation of their own performance Save time but spend it well

What are students learning well?What are students learning poorly?

How to promote learning by improving instruction, learning activities, assignments, classroom climate

What do the instructors need to know?

Coding Student Responses

Misconceptions Correct

Change in the individual Change in the population

Need to Change/ Must Change/ Choice

Change due to genes

All members of a population are equally fit

Individuals within a population have varying

fitness levels

Traits acquired during a lifetime are passed on

Genetic traits help the individual to survive and

reproduce

What are they learning well?What are they learning poorly?

Information on how to improve-- not just grades, but feedback.

What do the students need to know?

How do we develop rubrics?

Describe the goal/objective for the activity, problem, task...Select the assessment tasks aligned with goalsDevelop performance standardsDifferentiate levels of responses based on clearly described criteriaRate (assign value) the categories

Level of Achievement General Approach ComprehensionExemplary(5 pts)

• Addresses thequestion.• States a relevant,justifiable answer.• Presents arguments ina logical order.• Uses acceptable styleand grammar (noerrors).

• Demonstrates an accurate andcomplete understanding of thequestion.• Backs conclusions with dataand warrants.• Uses 2 or more ideas,examples and/or arguments thatsupport the answer.

Adequate(3 pts)

• Does not address thequestion explicitly,although does sotangentially.• States a relevant andjustifiable answer.• Presents arguments ina logical order.• Uses acceptable styleand grammar (oneerror).

• Demonstrates accurate but onlyadequate understanding ofquestion because does not backconclusions with warrants anddata.• Uses only one idea to supportthe answer.• Less thorough than above.

Needs Improvement(1 pt)

• Does not address thequestion.• States no relevantanswers• indicatesmisconceptions.• Is not clearly orlogically organized.• Fails to use acceptablestyle and grammar (twoor more errors).

• Does not demonstrate accurateunderstanding of the question.• Does not provide evidence tosupport their answer to thequestion.

No Answer (0 pts)

Scoring Rubric for Quizzes and Homework

Ebert-May http://www.flaguide.org/cat/rubrics/rubrics1.php

Write a scenario that explains the phenotypic changes in the trees and animals. Use your

understanding of evolution by natural selection.

Coding Student Responses

Misconceptions Correct

Change in the individual Change in the population

Need to Change/ Must Change/ Choice

Change due to genes

All members of a population are equally fit

Individuals within a population have varying

fitness levels

Traits acquired during a lifetime are passed on

Genetic traits help the individual to survive and

reproduce

Advantages of Scoring Rubrics

Improve the reliability of scoring written assignments and oral presentationsConvey goals and performance expectations of students in an unambiguous wayConvey “grading standards” or “point values” and relate them to performance goalsEngage students in critical evaluation of their own performance Save time but spend it well

Do students learn better?

Team at MSU•Rett Weber - Plant Biology (postdoctoral researcher)•Deb Linton - Plant Biology (postdoctoral researcher)•Duncan Sibley - Geology•Doug Luckie - Physiology•Scott Harrison - Microbiology (graduate student)•Tammy Long - Plant Biology•Heejun Lim - Chemistry Education •Rob Pennock - Philosophy•Charles Ofria - Engineering•Rich Lenski - Microbiolgy•Janet Batzli - Plant Biology [U of Wisconsin]

“...we note that successful people are the ones who take advantage of those around them to ultimately benefit students.”

•Ebert-May D, Weber R, Hodder J, Batzli J (2006)

Finally...