Preparing Yourself to Teach: Touching all the Bases

LIRT ProgramALA 2009 Annual Conference

Chicago, Illinois

Assessment-as-Learning

Lisa Janicke HinchliffeCoordinator for Information Literacy

Services and InstructionUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Assessment reveals learning.

Learning creates opportunities for assessment.

We learn about learning through assessment.

This is assessment for the purpose of improvement – improving learning

through assessment.

Classroom Assessment consists of small-scale assessment

conducted continually in college classrooms by discipline-based

teachers to determine what students are learning in that

class" (p. 8, emphasis in original).

Classroom Research: Implementing the Scholarship of Teaching (Cross and Steadman, 1996)

Assumptions Underlying Classroom Assessment

1. One of the most promising ways to improve learning is to improve teaching.

2. Teachers need first to make their goals and objectives explicit and then to get specific, comprehensible feedback on the extent to which they are achieving those goals and objectives.

3. Students need to receive appropriate and focused feedback early and often.

4. Assessment most likely to improve teaching and learning is that conducted by faculty to answer questions they themselves have formulated in response to issues or problems in their own teaching.

5. Systematic inquiry and intellectual challenge are powerful sources of motivation, growth, and renewal for college teachers.

6. Classroom Assessment does not require specialized training. 7. By collaborating with colleagues and actively involving students in

Classroom Assessment efforts, faculty (and students) enhance learning and personal satisfaction.

Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers

(Angelo and Cross)

Deb Gilchrist's information literacy instruction

assessment framework

Knowing what you are doing.

Knowing why you are doing it.

Knowing what students are learning as a result.

Changing because of the information.

Assessment Cycle: Instruction Design

Instruction Program Vision / Mission / Goals

Course learning goals

Outcome#1 What do you want the student to be able to do?

Curriculum#2 What do they need to know in order to do this well?

Pedagogy#3 What activity will facilitate the learning?

Evidence/Data#4 How will students demonstrate their learning?

Criteria for Evaluation#5 How will the student know they have done well?

Instructor Values / Philosophy

Slide by Debra Gilchrist

ngiseD adrawkcaB

Identify desired results.

Plan leaning experiences

and instruction.

Determine acceptable evidence.

Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

ngiseD adrawkcaB

Identify desired results.

Plan leaning experiences

and instruction.

Determine acceptable evidence.

Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

Identify Desired Results

Deciding Filters• Big idea?• At the “heart” of

discipline?• Require uncoverage?• Potential for engaging

students?

Wiggins and McTighe, p. 9-11

Worth Familiarity

Worth Familiarity

Important to know and do

“Enduring” Understandin

g

ngiseD adrawkcaB

Identify desired results.

Plan leaning experiences

and instruction.

Determine acceptable evidence.

Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

Thinking Assessment

• Valid

• Reliable

• Sufficient

• Authentic Work

• Feasible

• Student Friendly

Wiggins and McTighe, p. 64, 67

Where should we look?Kinds of performance

or behavior?

What should we look for?

Criteria for identifying and differentiating?

ngiseD adrawkcaB

Identify desired results.

Plan leaning experiences

and instruction.

Determine acceptable evidence.

Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

Student-Centered Design

Beth Woodard, Staff Development and Training Coordinator & Reference Library Head, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Road Map for Learning

What is good learning?

What is learner-centered?

Why do learning styles matter?

How do I design instruction with

students learning styles in mind?

Good Learning

• Think of your “Best Learner”

• List the characteristics that came to mind– Think-Pair-Share

Characteristics of Good Learning

Principles to learner-centered classrooms

• Balance of power

• Function of content

• Role of the teacher

• Responsibility for learning

• Purpose and Process of evaluation

» Mary Ellen Weimer

Learner-Centered Teachers1. Do learning tasks less.

2. Do less telling and get students doing more discovering

3. Do more design work to meet goals:– Take students to new skill levels– Engages students’ interest and involvement– Involves students in authentic work of the field– Develops content and skills awareness

4. Do more modeling

5. Do more getting students to learn from each other

6. Work to create climates for learning.

7. Do more with feedback.

Motivating Students

• Motivated students are easier to teach.• Students who are interested in learning do,

in fact, learn more.• Research indicates certain teaching

behaviors correlate with positive student motivation.

Strategies to get and keep students interested

– Know who your students are.

– Establish the relevance of the material

– Involve students in choice of materials

– Arrange learning tasks at levels appropriate to students’ abilities

– Give feed back as soon as possible

Understanding Students’ Learning Styles

• Students vary dramatically in the way they process and understand information.

• These differences, called “learning styles,” refer to students’ preferences for some kinds of learning activities over others.

Sensory Learning Styles– Visual learners—prefer to study

graphs, look at models and pictures, and take notes to review later

– Auditory learners—prefer to listen closely in class, read aloud when studying or subvocalize during lectures in class, or confer with peers in class to confirm information

– Kinesthetic learners—prefer a hands-on approach, actively exploring the physical world around them.

Kolb’s Learning Styles

• A student’s learning style has to do with the way he or she perceives information, through emotional responses or thinking.

• A student’s learning style has to do with the way he or she processes information in order to learn and apply it

Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle

Concrete Experience

– Learning by Experiencin

g

Concrete Experience

– Learning by Experiencin

g Reflective Observation – Learning by Reflecting

AbstractConceptualization –

Learning byThinking

ActiveExperimentation

– Learning byDoing

Examples

• Learning to ride a bicycle:– Thinking about riding

and watching another person ride a bike

– Understanding the theory and having a clear grasp of the biking concept

– Receiving practical tips and techniques from a biking expert.

– Leaping on the bike and have a go at it.

• Learning a software program:– Jumping in and doing it.– Thinking about what you

just performed.– Reading the manual to

get a clearer grasp on what was performed.

– Using the help feature to get some expert tips.

Teaching Techniques for Learning Styles

• Provide a balance of concrete information (facts, data, and experimental results) and abstracts concepts (principles, theories, and models.)

• Balance materials that emphasize practical problem-solving methods with materials than emphasizes fundamental understanding.

• Give students opportunities to do something active besides transcribing notes, such as small group brainstorming activities.

• Give students the option of cooperating on homework and class assignments for active learners.

• Do not fill every minute of class time lecturing and writing on the board. Provide intervals—however brief—for students to think about what they have been told.

Think of your obligations via W. H. E. R. E. T. O.

• “Where are we headed?” (the student’s Q!) • How will the student be ‘hooked’?• What opportunities will there be to be equipped, and

to experience and explore key ideas?• What will provide opportunities to rethink, rehearse,

refine and revise?• How will students evaluate their work?• How will the work be tailored to individual needs,

interests, styles?• How will the work be organized for maximal

engagement and effectiveness?

WHE

E

R

TO

Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design

Helping Students Learn How to Learn

• Many students haven’t yet acquired the skills they need to be effective learners.

• Effective instructors teach not only the subject matter of a course, but also give students the tools they need to learn that subject well.

Learner-Centered Teaching

• Focus on:– what the student is learning– how the student is learning– the conditions under which the student is

learning– whether the student is retaining and applying

the learning– how current learning positions the student

for future learning.

Learner-Centered Teaching

• The path to good teaching can be much easier to navigate when we view students as our traveling companions.

• The more we know about them and how they learn, the more likely we are to experience the joy of teaching.

Teaching As Performance

Monika AntonelliMonika AntonelliMinnesota State University, Mankato

Presented July 19, 2009

Preparing Yourself to Teach: Touching all the Bases2009 ALA / LIRT Annual Conference

How Can Theatrical Techniques in the Classroom Benefit Students?

Can help maintain attention Can assist with retention and recallCan make the learning experience more

enjoyable

Performing in the Classroom

Your BodyYour VoiceYour Stage

Your Body

Body PositionGesturesMovement

Body Position

PostureWhat does your posture

say about you?

PlacementPositionLevel

Gestures

Get attentionCreates physical

varietyShould be natural

Movement

Can use to draw focusTry not to “walk” on

“lines”Eliminate distracting

movement

Your Voice

Warm upControl

VolumePitch and Diction

SilenceVariety

Volume

Have to be heardDon’t strain the voiceDeep breaths

Pitch and Diction

Record your voiceUse vocal warm ups to

relax the throatArticulate

Silence is Golden

Eliminate uh and umLet listeners catch upHighlight points

Use the Pause to…

Vocal Variety

It’s not only what you say, it’s how you say it

Boring speakers have little vocal variety

Your voice is an instrument - play it

Your Stage

The RoomPropsMusicCostumeRehearsal

Your Stage, Your Room

Break the 4th WallYou don’t have to stand in the

front of the room

Props

You use them alreadyHandoutsVisuals

Captures focusAssists with retention

Music

Creates a moodUse to relaxUse as a cue

Costume – Your Clothes

Costumes are not just for the audience

What you wear effects how you feel

Experiment

Most Importantly…

Wear a Smile!

Rehearsal

Important part of preparation

Always check the room before your presentation to make sure the equipment works!

Make a video recording of your rehearsal or instruction

Final Thoughts…

Start by trying one new techniqueLittle improvements add up to big

improvementsDo what feels right for youHave fun!