HOW PEOPLE LEARN
Peter Newbury, Ph.D.
Center for Teaching Development,
University of California, San Diego
@polarisdotca #ctducsd
ctd.ucsd.edu
slides and resources: tinyurl.com/SDSUpeerinstruction
April 8, 2014
San Diego State University
Unless otherwise noted, content
is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Non Commericial 3.0 License.
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)
2
peer
instruction
how
people
learn
(Image: iStock by Getty Images)
Survey
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 3
Which of these do you associate with a typical college
or university lecture?
A) listening
B) absorbing
C) note-taking
D) learning
The traditional lecture is based on the
transmissionist learning model
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 4 (Image by um.dentistry on flickr CC)
Let’s have a learning experience…
5 How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)
Here is an important new number
system. Please learn it.
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 6
1 = 4 = 7 =
2 = 5 = 8 =
3 = 6 = 9 =
Test
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 7
What is this number?
Scientifically Outdated, a Known Failure
8 How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)
We must abandon the tabula rasa
“blank slate” and “students as
empty vessels” models of teaching
and learning.
New Number System = tic-tac-toe code
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 9
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
Test
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 10
What is this number?
You store things in long term memory through a set of connections made with your existing memories.
Constructivist Theory of Learning
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 11
New learning is based on knowledge you already have.
(Image by Rebecca-Lee on flickr CC)
learning is done
by individuals
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 12
How People Learn
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 13
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.
Available for free as PDF
www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=9853
Key Finding 1
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 14
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.)
Key Finding 2
15
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.)
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)
Key Finding 3
16
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.)
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)
Aside: metacognition
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 17
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.
([2], [3])
cognition meta
Key Finding 3
18
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.)
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)
Please break into groups of 3-4...
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 19
Sort your cards into 3 sets of 3:
Key Finding
2
Implication
for Teaching
Implication
for Teaching
Implication
for Teaching
Designing
Classroom
Environments
20
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)
Key Finding 1
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 21
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
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 22
Teachers must draw out and work with the preexisting understandings that their students bring with them.
(How People Learn, p 19.)
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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)
Transmissionist Constructivist
Classroom Environments 1
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 24
Schools and classrooms must be learner centered.
(How People Learn, p. 23)
Students need to encounter safe yet challenging conditions
in which they can try, fail, receive feedback, and try again
without facing summative evaluation.
(What the best college teachers do, p.108)
Learning requires interaction [5]
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1 2
3 4
Key Finding 2
26
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 (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)
(How People Learn, p 16.)
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)
27
Why Your Students Don’t Understand You
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Expert brains differ from novice brains because novices:
lack rich, networked connections, cannot make
inferences, cannot reliably retrieve information
have preconceptions that distract, confuse, hinder
lack automization (“muscle memory”) resulting in
cognitive overload
Implications for Teaching 2
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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.
Classroom Environments 2
To provide a knowledge-centered environment, attention must be given to what is taught (information, subject matter), why it is taught (understanding), and what competence or mastery looks like.
(How People Learn, p 20.)
(How People Learn, p 24.)
Key Finding 3
30
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.)
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)
Implications for Teaching 3
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The teaching of metacognitive skills should be integrated into the curriculum in a variety of subject areas.
Classroom Environments 3
Formative assessments — ongoing assessments designed to make students’ thinking visible to both teachers and students — are essential.
Instructors need to give students opportunities to
practice being metacognitive: having an internal
dialogue about their own thinking
(How People Learn, p 21.)
(How People Learn, p 24.)
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student-centered instruction traditional lecture
Evidence-Based Instructional Strategies (EBIS)
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peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
worksheets
simulations
discussions
videos
student-centered instruction
Introductory Chemistry
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Today, we’ll be learning about changes of state.
Remember, there are 3 states (also called “phases”) of
matter:
solid
liquid
gas
Clicker question
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 35
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)
Chemistry learning outcomes
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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
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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 prompts students, “Turn to your neighbors and convince them you’re right.”
4. After the peer-to-peer discussion, [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.
In effective peer instruction
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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 (don’t) know
and reacts, building on their initial understanding
and preconceptions.
students learn
and practice
how to think,
communicate
like experts
Effective peer instruction requires
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 39
1. identifying key concepts, misconceptions
2. creating multiple-choice questions that
require deeper thinking and learning
3. facilitating peer instruction episodes that
spark and support student discussion
4. leading a class-wide discussion to clarify
the concept, resolve the misconception
5. reflecting on the question: note curious
things you overheard, how they voted, etc.
before
class
during
class
after
class
Clicker Question
40
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 How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)
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How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)
reduce course content by 25%
Effective peer instruction requires
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction) 42
students be prepared to engage in conceptually-
challenging discussions
TIME! 5 minutes of student-centered
activity every 10 – 15 minutes
means 25% of class time is
not lecturing.
Where does that time come from?
But I’ve got
material to fill
(more than)
100% of my
lecture!
Traditional classroom
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1. Transfer: first exposure to material is in class,
content is transmitted from instructor to student
2. Assimilate: learning occurs later when student
struggles alone to complete homework, essay,
project (Mazur [6])
1. learn easy
stuff together
2. learn hard
stuff alone
Flipped classroom
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1. Transfer: student learns easy content at home
through reading, video, etc.: definitions, basis skills,
simple examples.
2. Assimilate: students come to class prepared to
immediately tackle challenging concepts, with timely,
formative feedback from peers, TAs, instructor (Mazur [6])
2. learn hard
stuff together
1. learn easy
stuff alone
How People Learn
45
Learning is not about what the
instructor does. It’s about what
students do for themselves.
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)
How People Learn
46
Learning is not about what the
instructor does. It’s about what
students do for themselves.
Students won’t learn just by
listening to the instructor explain.
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)
How People Learn
47
Learning is not about what the
instructor does. It’s about what
students do for themselves.
Students won’t learn just by
listening to the instructor explain.
BE LESS HELPFUL
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)
References
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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. Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp.231-236). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
3. Brame, C. (2013). Thinking about metacognition. [blog] January, 2013, Available at: http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2013/01/thinking-about-metacognition/ [Accessed: 14 Jan 2013].
4. Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
5. 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.
6. Mazur, E. (2009). Farewell, Lecture? Science, 323, 5910, 50-51.