Cooperative Inquiry-Based Learning

Karl A. SmithEngineering Education – Purdue UniversityCivil Engineering - University of Minnesota

ksmith@umn.eduhttp://www.ce.umn.edu/~smith

Cooperative Learning for Critical Thinking

Patrick Henry Community College

December 16, 2008

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Workshop Layout• Welcome & Overview

• Cooperative Inquiry & Critical Thinking

• Participant Survey

• Problem-Based Cooperative Learning Example

• Backward Design Approach – Course, Class Session, and Learning Module Design: From Objectives and Evidence to Instruction

• Wrap-up and Next Steps

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Session Objectives

• Participants will be able to describe key elements of:– Cooperative Problem-Based learning– Research on How People Learn– Backward design process

• Participants will begin applying key elements to the design on a course, class session or learning module

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Shaping the Future: New Expectations for Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology – National Science Foundation, 1996

Goal – All students have access to supportive, excellent undergraduate education in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology, and all students learn these subjects by direct experience with the methods and processes of inquiry.

Recommend that SME&T faculty: Believe and affirm that every student can learn, and model good practices that increase learning; starting with the student=s experience, but have high expectations within a supportive climate; and build inquiry, a sense of wonder and the excitement of discovery, plus communication and teamwork, critical thinking, and life-long learning skills into learning experiences.

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Inquiry and the National Science Standards

• Learners are engaged in scientifically oriented questions

• Learners give priority to evidence, which allows them to develop and evaluate explanations

• Learners formulate explanations from evidence• Learners evaluate their explanations in light of

alternative explanations• Learners communicate and justify their

proposed explanations

National Academy of Sciences. 2000. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: A guide for teaching and learning. Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education, National Research Council. Washington, DC: National Academy Press (http://www.nap.edu)

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Cooperative Learning and Critical Thinking

• Please reflect on when and how to promote learning and critical thinking through cooperative learning

• Jot down some of your ideas• Turn to the person next to you

– Introduce yourself– Share thoughts on promoting learning and

critical thinking using cooperative learning

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Advance Organizer

“The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly.@

David Ausubel - Educational psychology: A cognitive approach, 1968.

Lila M. Smith

Pedago-pathologiesAmnesia

Fantasia

Inertia

Lee Shulman – MSU Med School – PBL Approach (late 60s – early 70s); Stanford University, Past President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of College Teaching

Shulman, Lee S. 1999. Taking learning seriously. Change, 31 (4), 11-17.

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What do we do about these pathologies? – Lee Shulman Activity Reflection Collaboration PassionCombined with generative content and the creation of powerful learning communities

Shulman, Lee S. 1999. Taking learning seriously. Change, 31 (4), 11-17.

Lila M. Smith

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Pedagogies of Engagement

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Pedagogies of Engagement:Classroom-Based Practices – Cooperative Learning and Problem-Based Learning

http://www.asee.org/about/publications/jee/upload/2005jee_sample.htm

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Book Ends on a Class Session

Book Ends on a Class Session

1. Advance Organizer2. Formulate-Share-Listen-Create (Turn-

to-your-neighbor) -- repeated every 10-12 minutes

3. Session Summary (Minute Paper)1. What was the most useful or meaningful thing you

learned during this session?2. What question(s) remain uppermost in your mind as we

end this session?3. What was the “muddiest” point in this session?

Informal CooperativeLearning Groups

Can be used at any timeCan be short term and ad hocMay be used to break up a long lectureProvides an opportunity for students to process material they have been listening to (Cognitive Rehearsal)Are especially effective in large lecturesInclude "book ends" procedureAre not as effective as Formal Cooperative Learning or Cooperative Base Groups

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Active Learning: Cooperation in the College Classroom

• Informal Cooperative Learning Groups

• Formal Cooperative Learning Groups

• Cooperative Base Groups

See Cooperative Learning Handout (CL College-804.doc)

Cooperative Learning is instruction that involves people working in teams to accomplish a common goal, under conditions that involve both positive interdependence (all members must cooperate to complete the task) and individual and group accountability (each member is accountable for the complete final outcome).

Key Concepts

•Positive Interdependence•Individual and Group Accountability•Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction•Teamwork Skills•Group Processing

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Individual & Group Accountability

• ?

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http://www.ce.umn.edu/~smith/docs/CLHks.pdf

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http://www.aacu.org/advocacy/leap/documents/Re8097abcombined.pdf

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Top Three Main Engineering Work Activities

Engineering Total• Design – 36%• Computer

applications – 31%• Management –

29%

Civil/Architectural• Management – 45%• Design – 39%• Computer

applications – 20%

Burton, L., Parker, L, & LeBold, W. 1998. U.S. engineering career trends. ASEE Prism, 7(9), 18-21.

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Teamwork Skills

•Communication• Listening and Persuading

•Decision Making•Conflict Management•Leadership•Trust and Loyalty

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Inquiry and the National Science Standards

• Learners are engaged in scientifically oriented questions

• Learners give priority to evidence, which allows them to develop and evaluate explanations

• Learners formulate explanations from evidence• Learners evaluate their explanations in light of

alternative explanations• Learners communicate and justify their

proposed explanations

National Academy of Sciences. 2000. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: A guide for teaching and learning. Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education, National Research Council. Washington, DC: National Academy Press (http://www.nap.edu)

The Students Explain1

1. In trying to make their thoughts clear for other people, student achieve greater clarity for themselves.

2. The students themselves determine what it is they want to understand.

3. People come to depend on themselves.

4. Students recognize the powerful experience of having their ideas taken seriously, rather than simply screened for correspondence to what the teacher wanted.

5. Students learn an enormous amount from each other.

6. Learners come to recognize knowledge as a human construction, since they have constructed their own knowledge and know that they have.

1Duckworth, E. 1987. The having of wonderful ideas" & other essays on teaching and learning. New York: Teachers College Press.

Formal Cooperative Learning Task Groups

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Professor's Role inFormal Cooperative Learning

1. Specifying Objectives

2. Making Decisions

3. Explaining Task, Positive Interdependence, and Individual Accountability

4. Monitoring and Intervening to Teach Skills

5. Evaluating Students' Achievement and Group Effectiveness

Formal Cooperative Learning – Types of Tasks

1. Jigsaw – Learning new conceptual/procedural material

2. Peer Composition or Editing

3. Reading Comprehension/Interpretation

4. Problem Solving, Project, or Presentation

5. Review/Correct Homework

6. Constructive Academic Controversy

7. Group Tests

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Challenged-Based Learning• Problem-based learning

• Case-based learning

• Project-based learning

• Learning by design

• Inquiry learning

• Anchored instructionJohn Bransford, Nancy Vye and Helen Bateman. Creating High-Quality

Learning Environments: Guidelines from Research on How People Learn

Kolb=s Experiential Learning Cycle

Observation and Reflections

Concrete Experience

Formulation of abstract concepts and generalizations

Testing implicationsof concepts innew situations

•Engage•Explore•Explain•Elaborate•Evaluate

5 E Learning Cycle Model

http://faculty.mwsu.edu/west/maryann.coe/coe/inquire/inquiry.htm

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Problem-Based Learning

Problem posed

Identify what weneed to know

Learn it

Apply it

START

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https://repo.vanth.org/portal/public-content/star-legacy-cycle/star-legacy-cycle

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National Research Council Reports:1. How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and

School (1999).2. How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice

(2000).3. Knowing What Students Know: The Science and

Design of Educational Assessment (2001).4. The Knowledge Economy and Postsecondary

Education (2002). Chapter 6 – Creating High-Quality Learning Environments: Guidelines from Research on How People Learn

NCEE Report1. Rethinking and redesigning curriculum, instruction

and assessment: What contemporary research and theory suggests. (2006). http://www.skillscommission.org/commissioned.htm

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Designing Learning Environments Based on HPL

(How People Learn)

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Some Important Principles About Learning and Understanding

The first important principle about how people learn is that students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works which include beliefs and prior knowledge acquired through various experiences.

The second important principle about how people learn is that 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.

A third critical idea about how people learn is that 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.

Jim Pellegrino – Rethinking and redesigning curriculum, instruction and assessment: What contemporary research and theory suggests

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Problem Based Cooperative Learning FormatTASK: Solve the problem(s) or Complete the project.

INDIVIDUAL: Estimate answer. Note strategy.

COOPERATIVE: One set of answers from the group, strive for agreement, make sure everyone is able to explain the strategies used to solve each problem.

EXPECTED CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS: Everyone must be able to explain the strategies used to solve each problem.

EVALUATION: Best answer within available resources or constraints.

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTABILITY: One member from your group may be randomly chosen to explain (a) the answer and (b) how to solve each problem.

EXPECTED BEHAVIORS: Active participating, checking, encouraging, and elaborating by all members.

INTERGROUP COOPERATION: Whenever it is helpful, check procedures, answers, and strategies with another group.

40 http://www.udel.edu/pbl/

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Cooperative Base Groups

• Are Heterogeneous• Are Long Term (at least one quarter or

semester)• Are Small (3-5 members)• Are for support• May meet at the beginning of each session or

may meet between sessions• Review for quizzes, tests, etc. together• Share resources, references, etc. for individual

projects• Provide a means for covering for absentees

Cooperative Learning Research Support Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., & Smith, K.A. 1998. Cooperative learning returns to

college: What evidence is there that it works? Change, 30 (4), 26-35.

• Over 300 Experimental Studies• First study conducted in 1924• High Generalizability• Multiple Outcomes

Outcomes

1. Achievement and retention2. Critical thinking and higher-level

reasoning3. Differentiated views of others4. Accurate understanding of others'

perspectives5. Liking for classmates and teacher6. Liking for subject areas7. Teamwork skills

January 2005 March 2007

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It could well be that faculty members of the twenty-first century college or university will find it necessary to set aside their roles as teachers and instead become designers of learning experiences, processes, and environments.

James Duderstadt, 1999 [Nuclear Engineering Professor; Dean, Provost and President of the University of Michigan]

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Effective Course Design

Students

Goals andObjectives

Assessment

ABET EC 2000

Bloom’sTaxonomy

Course-specificgoals & objectives

Cooperative learning

Lectures

Labs

Other experiences

Classroomassessmenttechniques

Tests

Instruction

Other measures

Technology

(Felder & Brent, 1999)

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Model 1

The Key Components Of INTEGRATED COURSE DESIGN

One of the benefits of this model is that it allows us to see the importance S i t u a t i o n a l F a c t o r s

Teaching and

Learning Activities

Feedback & Assessment

Learning Goals

A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant LearningL. Dee Fink. 2003. Creating significant learning experiences. Jossey-Bass.

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Backward DesignWiggins & McTighe

Stage 1. Identify Desired Results

Stage 2. Determine Acceptable Evidence

Stage 3. Plan Learning Experiences

and Instruction

Wiggins, Grant and McTighe, Jay. 1998. Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

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Worksheet 1Worksheet for Designing a Course/Class Session/Learning Module

Ways of Assessing Actual Teaching-Learning Helpful Resources:

Learning Goals for Course/Session/Module:

This Kind of Learning: Activities: (e.g., people, things)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

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Backward Design

Stage 1. Identify Desired Results

Filter 1. To what extent does the idea, topic, or process represent a big idea or having enduring value beyond the classroom?

Filter 2. To what extent does the idea, topic, or process reside at the heart of the discipline?

Filter 3. To what extent does the idea, topic, or process require uncoverage?

Filter 4. To what extent does the idea, topic, or process offer potential for engaging

students?

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Backward Design Approach:

• Desired Results (Outcomes, Objectives, Learning Goals)– 5 minute university

• Evidence (Assessment)– Learning Taxonomies

• Plan Instruction– Cooperative Learning Planning Format &

Forms

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Backward DesignStage 2. Determine Acceptable Evidence

Types of Assessment

Quiz and Test Items: Simple, content-focused test items

Academic Prompts: Open-ended questions or problems that require the student to think critically

Performance Tasks or Projects: Complex challenges that mirror the issues or problems faced by graduates, they are authentic

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Backward DesignStage 3. Plan Learning Experiences & Instruction

• What enabling knowledge (facts, concepts, and principles) and skills (procedures) will students need to perform effectively and achieve desired results?

• What activities will equip students with the needed knowledge and skills?

• What will need to be taught and coached, and how should it be taught, in light of performance goals?

• What materials and resources are best suited to accomplish these goals?

• Is the overall design coherent and effective?

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Design and Implementation of Cooperative Problem-Based Learning

Resources• Design Framework – How People Learn (HPL)• Design & Backward Design Process (Felder & Brent, Dee Fink and

Wiggins & McTighe)– Pellegrino – Rethinking and redesigning curriculum, instruction and

assessment: What contemporary research and theory suggests. http://www.skillscommission.org/commissioned.htm

• Pedagogies of Engagement - Instructional Format explanation and exercise to model format and to engage workshop participants

– Cooperative Learning (Johnson, Johnson & Smith)• Smith web site – www.ce.umn.edu/~smith

– University of Delaware PBL web site – www.udel.edu/pbl– PKAL – Pedagogies of Engagement –

http://www.pkal.org/activities/PedagogiesOfEngagementSummit.cfm

– Design of Challenge-Based (PBL) exercises– Creating High Quality Learning Environments (Bransford, Vye & Bateman) --

http://www.nap.edu/openbook/0309082927/html/

• Course, Class Session, and Learning Module Design: From Objectives and Evidence to Instruction Notes

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It could well be that faculty members of the twenty-first century college or university will find it necessary to set aside their roles as teachers and instead become designers of learning experiences, processes, and environments. James Duderstadt, 1999

We never educate directly, but indirectly by means of the environment. Whether we permit chance environments to do the work, or whether we design environments for the purpose makes a great difference. John Dewey, 1906