depth and breadth: moving students beyond basic coverage
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
DEPTH AND BREADTH
Moving Students Beyond Basic Coverage
Christine Salmon, PhDRhonda D. Blackburn, PhD
The University of Texas at Dallas
What we’ll do today
• Introduce ourselves• Classroom observations
Introductions
Ask your neighbor
• What is it you really want your students to “get” out of your class?
Ask your neighbor
• What is it you really want your students to “get” out of your class?
• That they will remember in 5 years?
Classroom Observations
12 classes
• Chemistry, Physics (300+ students)• Government (150+)• Calculus, Math (50+)• Literature (25+)• Physics Education (10)• Criminology (25+)
What we observed
Tell us what you think we saw.
What we observed
• Lecture-based (75+ class time)• Disengaged instructors– Reading lecture– Back to class
• Disengaged students– Late– Facebooking, gaming, emailing, shopping, sleeping
The Exceptions
• Small class• Small group work• Energized instructors
The “Real” Question
What kind of learning do you want to happen in your courses?
The “Real” Question
What kind of learning do you want to happen in your courses?
Surface learning
D e e p l e a r n i n g
What do we say
SURFACE LEARNING DEEP LEARNING
Which Classroom Activities
• Engage the instructor• Engage the students
L. Dee Fink Creating Significant Learning:
An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courseshttp://www.deefinkandassociates.com/resources.html
See especially the 37-page “Self-Directed Guide for Designing Courses for Significant Learning.”
Bloom’s Taxonomy - Revised
• Exam – chapters 1-5 – multiple choice, TF• Add an essay• Study questions, homework problems• Write a research paper• Write a “white paper”• Project – develop a budget for a fictional
company• Project – develop a budget for a local charity
Assessment
AssessmentBackward-looking assessment Forward-looking assessment
Did they “get” it?
Assessment is constructed to determine whether students understood the material they studied.
Can they “apply” it?
Assessment is constructed to determine whether students are ready for some future activity, after the current period of learning is over.
Forward-looking Assessment•Is realistic•Requires judgment and innovation•Asks student to do the subject•Replicates, simulates workplace, life contexts•Assesses student ability to use knowledge, skill effectively, efficiently to do complex task
Holistic Active Learning
ExperienceDoing, ObservingActual, SimulatedRich Learning Experiences
Information & IdeasPrimary & Secondary SourcesAccessing them in class, out of class, online
Reflective DialogueMinute Papers, Learning Portfolios, JournalingAbout the Subject and/or Learning Process
Example
Child Development Course• Clickers• In-class activities• Timeline• Journals• Interview
ExampleSCALE-UP model
Student-centered
Active Learning
Environment
•Focus shifts from instructor to students•Students work collaboratively with each other•Students see selves as sources of knowledge
•Active problem solvers, contributors •Curriculum focuses on problem-solving•Problems are contextual
•No separate lecture/lab•Studio classrooms•Collaborative space•Public presentations
SCALE-UP
Advance organizer
Individual / group quiz
Tangible / Ponderable
Lecture
Homework
•Schedule, intro of class session, lesson•Reading assignment
•Over reading / previous material•Online or paper or IF-AT forms
•10-15 minute activities•Share results•Why is important
•Minimal•Gives the “big picture”
•Individual / group•Accountability
SCALE-UP
• Tangibles
• Ponderables
• Labs
• Projects, etc
•Hands-on activities – short experiments•Generally requires observation and data collection•Use predict-observe-explain method
•Minds-on activities•Interesting questions to consider
•Longer, more open-ended experiments•Problem-solving
•Collaborative projects•Essays or investigations of topics, questions that arise
Context Rich Problems
Challenging
Structured
Relevant
Thinking
•Challenging enough that a single student cannot do it alone•Requires collaboration
•Structured so that groups can make decisions about how to proceed•More than one way to do it
•Relate to real life•Engages students
•Cannot be solved with a “trick” or simple formula•Require critical thinking skills
Example
Introductory Geology course• Oil has been discovered on land adjacent to
the college campus. The president thinks there might be oil under college land as well. He wants to know the best place on campus to drill an oil well. Your class, being the most inexpensive way to determine this, has been asked to prepare a report.
Geology
• Working in teams, students measure strike and dip of rocks on campus using a Brunton compass.
• They record these measurements in a table on a handout (with map of campus) and then construct the appropriate strike and dip symbol for each of the rocks on their campus map.
• Each student is to interpret from the data, what type of geologic structure is represented by the campus rocks. From this interpretation, each student is to place a mark on their campus map where they judge the best place would be to drill a successful oil well.
• Groups must then come to agreement on the best site and prepare a report with their data summarized and a recommendation.
Geology
• Specific activities
Questions?
Thank you
• Christine [email protected]
• Rhonda [email protected]
Handouts - http://www.slideshare.net/csalmon