the college classroom (wi14) week 2: how people learn

The College Classroom

January 14 and 16, 2014

Week 2: How People Learn

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collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu #tccucsd

Evidence-based teaching


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We know How People Learn. [1]

There is research that informs us. Let’s exploit the

patterns of learning to make instruction more effective.

“…exploit the patterns…” 4

What is this number?


1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

How People Learn, Chapter 1 matrix 5


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

purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions

outside the classroom. (How People Learn, p 14.)

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Discussion


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1. (re)Introduce yourselves to the others at your table.

2. Tell the others at your table about how, in the class

you observed, the instructor

successfully engaged

failed to engage

the students’ preconceptions and initial

understanding. How did you know? (10 minutes)

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.)

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Designing Classroom Environments – 1

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)

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Learning requires interaction [3]


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11

% of class time

NOT lecturing

Learning gain:

pre-test 0

100%

post-test

0.50



12 Each point is <g> on a

standard astronomy concept

inventory in one of 52 classes

from size 25 students to >100,

at 2- and 4-yr colleges and

research universities across U.S.



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1 2

3 4

Key Findings – 2

To develop competence in an area of inquiry, 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.


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15

Tic-Tac-Toe code 16

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 and

organized for retrieval



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.


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Discussion


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Tell the others at your table about how, in the class you

observed, the instructor talked about (or didn’t talk

about) the framework of concepts and the organization

and retrieval of the concepts. (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.


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Key Findings – 3


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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


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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.

([4], [5])

cognition meta

Key Findings – 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.


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The teaching of metacognitive skills should be integrated

into the curriculum in a variety of subject areas.


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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.


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Another way to “teach metacognitive skills”

write a blog post

ask students to write blog posts

provide them with the tools to write posts

help them set up their own blogs

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Writing blog posts help you to be

metacognitive: it’s something the

students should do.

So what should the instructor do?

upcoming

TCC

homework

If you’re

interested,

talk to Peter

Your classroom observations


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Did anyone observe a time when students had an

opportunity to be metacognitive – to have an internal

dialogue about their understanding of the concepts?

How did the instructor prompt them?

e.g.

What task did the instructor give them?

e.g.

Putting How People Learn theory into practice

Introductory Chemistry


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[First make sure students are prepared to engage in

interesting, perplexing problems]

Today, we’ll be learning about changes of state.

Remember, there are 3 states (also called “phases”) of

matter:

solid

liquid

gas

Clicker question


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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 (PI)


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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 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.

an “agile” instructor can try variations on 3 – 4

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

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

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

before

class

during

class

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Teacher C

(HPL p. 12)

Peer Instruction and How People Learn


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Watch the blog for the Week 3 Homework

collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

Week 3: Development of Expertise

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. Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

3. 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.

4. Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp.231-236). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

5. Brame, C. (2013). Thinking about metacognition. [blog] January, 2013, Available at: http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2013/01/thinking-about-metacognition/ [Accessed: 14 Jan 2013].

the college classroom (wi14) week 2: how people learn

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