cirtl class meeting 1: how people learn

The College Classroom – Spring 2015

Class Meeting 1: How People Learn

Dave Gross dgross@ biochem.umass.edu

Thursday, January 29, 2015

1:00-2:30p ET, 12:00-1:30p CT, 11:00a-12:30p MT, 10:00-11:30a PT

Peter Newbury

[email protected]

@polarisdotca

Who are we?

Dave Gross Professor,

Department of Biochemistry and

Molecular Biology

UMass, Amherst

Peter Newbury Associate Director,

Center for Teaching Development

University of California, San Diego

Assoc. Director, CTD

How People Learn - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu 2

Who are you?

How People Learn - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu 3 wordle.net

Who are you?


I’m sending you into

“break out rooms”

Toggle on your audio and video.

Introduce yourself and where you are.

Briefly tell your neighbor about the class you remember

most from your undergraduate experience.

Why that class? Was it something the instructor did?

What was it?

Why are we here?


What do you think students are doing in a typical

university class?

A) listening

B) absorbing

C) learning

D) note-taking

E) distracted

The traditional lecture is based on the

transmissionist model of learning

How People Learn - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu 6 image by um.dentistry on flickr CC

The traditional lecture is based on the

transmissionist model of learning

How People Learn - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu 7 image by um.dentistry on flickr CC

Important new number system


Learn it.

1 = 4 = 7 =

2 = 5 = 8 =

3 = 6 = 9 =

Test


What is this number?

Scientifically outdated, a known failure


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


1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

Test


What number is this?

Constructivist Theory of Learning


New learning is based on knowledge you already have.

You store things in long term memory through a set of connections that are made with your existing memories.

(Image by Rebecca-Lee on flickr CC)

Constructivist Theory of Learning


New learning is based on knowledge you already have.

You store things in long term memory through a set of connections that are made with your existing memories.

(Image by Rebecca-Lee on flickr CC)

learning is done

by individuals

15 How People Learn - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

How People Learn


3 Key Findings

3 Implications for Teaching

3 Designs for Classroom Environment

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 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.)


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



Teachers must draw out and work with the preexisting understandings that their students bring with them.


Schools and classrooms must be learner centered.

(How People Learn, p. 23)

Classroom Environments 1

Learning requires interaction [3]




% of class time

NOT lecturing



% of class time

NOT lecturing

Learning gain:

pre-test 0

100%



% of class time

NOT lecturing

Learning gain:

pre-test 0

100%

post-test



% of class time

NOT lecturing

Learning gain:

pre-test 0

100%

post-test

0.50



52 classes of sizes 25 to 100+ students, at 2-

and 4-yr colleges and research universities

across US. Every student wrote an astronomy

test (twice). Each points shows average

learning gain in one class.



1 2

3 4



1 2

3 4

In a moment but not yet, you’ll meet with

3-4 others in a break out room. You’ll have

5 minutes to

1. select the person who will speak for your

room: the person whose first name comes

earliest in the alphabet

2. interpret the data – what story do they

tell? Be prepared to share your ideas with

the rest of the class.



1 2

3 4

Key Finding 2


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.


Why Your Students Don’t Understand You


Expert brains differ from novice brains because

novices lack rich, networked connections, cannot make

inferences, cannot reliably retrieve information

notices have preconceptions that distract, confuse,

hinder

novices lack automization (“muscle memory”) resulting

in cognitive overload



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. (How People Learn, p 20.)



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.



Key Finding 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.


Aside: metacognition


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 Finding 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.




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




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.



Supporting metacognition


Why do you think instructors ask, “Any questions?”

A) to signal they’re at the end of a section or concept

B) so the instructor can check if s/he can continue

C) so the instructor can check if the students understand

D) so the students can check if they’re ready to continue

E) not sure but it’s something instructors should do









“What questions do you have for me?”









“What questions do you have for me?”

…and give them enough time

to ask a useful question

Traditional classroom


first exposure to material is in class, content is

transmitted from instructor to student

learning occurs later when student struggles alone to

complete homework, essay, project

learn easy stuff

together

learn hard

stuff alone

transfer assimilate

Flipped classroom


student learns easy content at home: definitions, basic

skills, simple examples. Frees up class time for...

students are prepared to tackle challenging concepts in

class, with immediate feedback from peers, instructor

learn hard

stuff together

learn easy stuff

alone

transfer assimilate

collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu


All course information,

presentations, links to

readings, discussions, etc.

will be on the class blog.

Look for posts tagged CIRTL

(Image by kitsu on flickr CC)

Course blog is public so


I can only provide links to copyrighted articles, not the

articles (PDF) themselves

you may need to be on-campus so you can use your

institution’s credentials to access subscriptions

Your posts and comments will be visible to the public.

Be aware of what and how you write: your posts

become part of your digital footprint.

If you include pictures in your posts, they must not be

protected by copyright (use Creative Commons pix?)

How you will be assessed


To receive a completion certificate, you must

attend all sessions

thoughtfully complete all assigned work.

contribute during class in a professional, collegial

manner.

Some of you are taking the course for credit. We will track

and assess your participation and your work.

Class Meeting 2:

Supporting expert-like thinking

Watch for communication with a description of tasks to complete

before next class.


References


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].

cirtl class meeting 1: how people learn

Education

new learning

flickr cc learning

new concepts

class meeting

classroom environment

typical university class

traditional lecture

long term memory