Scientific Teaching

12 October 2004

Diane Ebert-MayDepartment of Plant Biology

Michigan State University

ebertmay@msu.eduhttp://first2.org

Goals for today

Teams will...

Design learning objectives for the teachable unit.

Practice using Bloom’s taxonomy for writing objectives.

Build a concept map of the teachable unit.

Learning Cycle

Engage - active learningExplore - develop

goals/objectivesExplainAssess

Identify desired

results/goals

Determine acceptable evidence

Design learning experiences

and instruction

Teachable Unit

What Type of Learning?

Bloom (1956)

6 major categories in the Cognitive Domain of Educational Objectives

Condense to 4 - realistic to work with

Cognitive Levels

Knowledge - rememberUnderstanding and Application -

grasp meaning, use, interpretCritical Analysis - original thinking,

open-ended answers, whole to parts, parts to whole, evaluation

Synthesis - make connections

What is assessment?

Data collection with the purpose of answering questions about…

students’ understanding

students’ attitudes

students’ skills

instructional design and implementation

curricular reform (at multiple grainsizes)

Why do assessment?

Improve student learning and development.

Provides students and facultysubstantive feedback about student understanding.

Challenge to use disciplinary research strategies to assess learning.

Assessment GradientAssessment Gradient

High

Ease of

Assessment

Low

Multiple Choice, T/F

Diagrams, Conceptmaps, Quantitative

response

Short answer

Essay, Researchpapers/ reports

Oral Interview

Low

Potential for

Assessment of

Learning

High

Does active, inquiry-based instructional design influence students’ understanding of evolution and natural selection?

Pre-Posttest Analysis

■ Changes in a population occur through a gradual change in individual members of a population.

■ New traits in species are developed in response to need.

■ All members of a population are genetically equivalent, variation and fitness are not considered.

■ Traits acquired during an individual’s lifetime will be inherited by offspring.

Alternative Conceptions: Natural Selection

(AAAS 1999)

Explain the changes that occurred in the tree and animal. Use your current understanding of evolution by natural selection.

Misconception: individuals evolve new traitsMisconception: individuals evolve new traits

% o

f S

tud

ents

n=80; p<.01

Misconception: evolution is driven by needMisconception: evolution is driven by need

% o

f S

tud

ents

n=80; p<.01

In guppy populations, what are the primary changes that occur gradually over time?

In guppy populations, what are the primary changes that occur gradually over time?

a. The traits of each individual guppy within a population gradually change.

b. The proportions of guppies having different traits within a population change.

c. Successful behaviors learned by certain guppies are passed on to offspring.

d. Mutations occur to meet the needs of the guppies as the environment changes.

Anderson et al 2002

Posttest: Student responses to mcPosttest: Student responses to mc

% o

f S

tud

ents

n=171

*

Animal/Tree Posttest: Gain in student understanding of fitnessAnimal/Tree Posttest: Gain in student understanding of fitness

% o

f S

tud

ents

n=80; p<.01

bicycle

What is the power of visual models?

Hierarchy

has

Structure

has

Concept Maps

Visual DiagramsOr Models

are represent

Knowledge or Understanding

Concepts

display

connectedwith

Linking Words

Used for

Assessment Organization

Reflection &Learning

promotes

Context

is constructedwith

NewInformation

PriorKnowledge

Learning objectives (see Guide)

Misconceptions - from literature

Concept map - interconnections

Teachable Unit