Debra Rudder Lohe, Ph.D. Director, Reinert Center Saint Louis University ASV Annual Meeting ~ July 21, 2013
Examining Assumptions Yours, Mine, Ours
Understanding Active Learning What, Why, How
Making Choices Goals, Objectives, Philosophies
This session will . . .
Introduce a range of “active learning” strategies appropriate for varying types and sizes of classes
Provide examples of small, interactive lecture techniques for efficient student engagement
Prepare you to make decisions about active learning techniques appropriate for your context
Model active learning strategies
I.e., make you do stuff!
After this session you should be able to . . .
Identify a range of active learning strategies appropriate for your own teaching situation
Explain why interactive techniques are important for learning
Connect specific active learning strategies with your goals for student learning and engagement
Yours, Mine, Ours
You care about teaching
You may not have been taught how to teach
You’re busy! And you’ve got “coverage” issues
You want deeper learning from students “Think like a virologist” vs. “Regurgitate stuff I tell you”
Students sometimes frustrate you And you sometimes frustrate them!
There is a lot of content to “cover” And it’s growing all the time?
The signature pedagogy is lecture Maybe with some discussion of primary literature
It happens in a lot of different contexts Graduate, undergraduate, and medical Small classes and large ones Labs, clinics, and other non-classroom “learning”
spaces
So . . . what assumptions do you make about “active learning”?
Learning is “active”
Students learn more (and more deeply) when they’re engaged
Lots of things constitute “active learning” – and you may already be doing some of them
Even very small active learning exercises can make a difference
Active learning strategies can be applied in any size/type class
What, Why, and How
“anything that students do in the classroom other than merely passively listening to an instructor’s lecture” (Paulson & Faust) Active Learning activities are “instructional activities involving students in doing things and thinking about what they’re doing” (Bonwell & Eison) “Active learning means that the mind is actively engaged. Its defining characteristics are that students are dynamic participants in their learning and that they are reflecting on and monitoring both the processes and the results of their learning.” (Barkley)
It’s an approach, not a specific method.
“The core elements of active learning are student activity and engagement in the learning process.” (Prince)
The Why: What do cognitive psychologists say? “. . . active learning involves the development of cognition, which is achieved by acquiring ‘organized knowledge structures’ and ‘strategies for remembering, understanding, and solving problems’ . . . . active learning entails a process of interpretation, whereby new knowledge is related to prior knowledge and stored in a manner that emphasizes the elaborated meaning of these relationships.” So, for cognitive psychology, this means doing 3 key things: 1. Activating Prior Knowledge 2. Chunking 3. Practicing Meta-cognitive Awareness Suzanne M. Swiderski “Active Learning: A Perspective from Cognitive Psychology” (2010)
Ambrose et al.
Students’ prior knowledge helps / hinders new learning How they organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know. 3. Motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn. 4. To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned. 5. Goal-directed practice, coupled with targeted feedback, enhances the quality of learning. 6. Students’ current level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and intellectual climate of the course to impact learning. 7. To become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning. 1. 2.
Ambrose et al.
Students’ prior knowledge helps / hinders new learning How they organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know. 3. Motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn. 4. To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned. 5. Goal-directed practice, coupled with targeted feedback, enhances the quality of learning. 6. Students’ current level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and intellectual climate of the course to impact learning. 7. To become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning. 1. 2.
The Why: Average Retention Rate from Different Teaching Methods (% of learning students can recall after 24 hours)
2% 4% 7% 11% 18% 27% 31%
Lecture Reading Audiovisual Demonstration Discussion Group Practice by Doing Teach Others Immediate Use of Learning
David A. Sousa How the Brain Learns (2000)
Cited in Barkley, Student Engagement Techniques
The Why: Average Retention Rate from Different Teaching Methods (% of learning students can recall after 24 hours)
2% 4% 7% 11% 18% 27% 31%
Lecture Reading Audiovisual Demonstration Discussion Group Practice by Doing Teach Others Immediate Use of Learning
David A. Sousa How the Brain Learns (2000)
verbal processing
verbal + visual processing
doing / applying
Cited in Barkley, Student Engagement Techniques
We want the so-called “higher-order” cognitive skills, not just repetition and regurgitation (à la Bloom)
Achieving higher levels of thinking requires students to do something, to engage actively in the learning process. Also, students learn best when they’re aware of where they are on this pyramid (meta-cognitive).
Sitting passively in class won’t promote higher-order thinking.
Neither will activities that only ask for remembering & understanding. (Caution: misalignment)
The How:
What “active learning” strategies do you already use?
Interactive Lectures Problem-Based Learning Case-Based Learning Other Inquiry-Guided Learning Service-Learning Collaborative and Cooperative Learning
Interactive Lectures Problem-Based Learning Case-Based Learning Other Inquiry-Guided Learning Service-Learning Collaborative and Cooperative Learning
Feedback Lecture
One-Minute Papers
Guided Lecture
Think / Pair / Share
Responsive Lecture
Other:
Pause Procedure
Lecture Quiz
ConcepTests
Discussion Mini-Cases “Flipped” Classroom
Goals, Objectives, and Philosophies
Class size and/or type
Time (or lack of it!)
Student perceptions, motivation
Faculty perceptions, lack of knowledge
“Content tyranny” (Prince 2004)
Start with course goals and your student learning objectives for each lecture / lesson. What’s the difference?
Consider your teaching situation.
Reflect on your teaching philosophy and teaching style.
Start small – a little goes a long way, and you need different things at different times
Consider whether you really are “losing” something for content
Podcast lectures, have students doing things in class
Begin to let students help prepare / teach / model / demonstrate things in class
Provide rationale (so students know “why”)
Give them a little research on learning
Introduce Bloom; use to structure exams
Set expectation from the first day
Ask students to devise or propose activities
List all the concepts, ideas, points you can recall from this session.
1. 2. 3. 4.
Identify the most important idea for your teaching. Describe / define why it’s important for you / your courses. Elaborate new questions it raises / calls to mind. Apply the concept: how would you use it in class?
IDEA activity adapted from Feb 2010 issue of National Teaching and Learning Forum.
Debie Lohe
[email protected]
BLOOM (1956)
ANDERSON & KRATHWOHL (2001)
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/4719
COURSE GOALS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
General, broad
Specific, concrete
About you/course
About students
State what you or the course will do / teach
State what students will know and/or be able to do
Describe hopes & ideals for student learning
Describe observable, measurable actions
May describe kind of learning experience
Can be cognitive, affective, or psychomotor
Subject
Class
Teacher
Learner
Expert
Delegator
Facilitator Anthony F. Grasha, Teaching with Style (1996)
Formal Authority
Personal Model
