Cogenerative Dialog

1
Co-generative Dialog

• Catalytic Assignment for
• Chem 536 - Education Research
• Dr. Kate Scantlebury
• University of Pennsylvania
• by Raymond B. Hulse

2
How it all got started.

• In beginning of this course I was very impressed
  the article by LaVan and Beers on Cogenerative
  Dialogue.
• Since we were starting a new curriculum at our
  school this year, I decided I would try this same
  idea.
• The results were so valuable that I wanted to
  share them with other teachers.

3
The Main Idea

• A group of students would meet with me once a
  week.
• We would review the activities we were doing in
  class.
• We would hopefully help students solve any
  concerns.

4
How it was all set up.

• I asked for volunteers to be a part of developing
  our new chemistry program.
• I ask for at least one girl and one boy from each
  class to meet with me on Wednesdays during our
  lunch.

5
Student Review Committee

• There were five or six students that met with me
  each week .
• The committee met with me fourteen times during
  the semester.
• There was a specific topic planned each week plus
  a general discussion of how things were going for
  each of them.

6
Here is a list of topics.

• Classroom Environment
• Expectations and Interests
• Homework
• Activities and Experiments
• Worksheets and Quizzes
• General Concepts

• Difficulty of Math Problems
• Chapter Challenges
• Cheating
• Progress Reports
• Quests and Tests
• Final Exams and Grades

7
Now for the exciting parts

• I tried a new and different way to administered
  quizzes and tests that I learned in one on our
  readings.
• I required all students to turn their papers
  over and wait quietly until all students were
  done.

8
What I expected was

• To slow down the students that always want to be
  first and encourage them to take their time check
  over their work.
• To eliminate those students that think they
  should be done and hurry or turn in their tests
  incomplete.

9
The surprise was

• The committee praised the idea not for my
  objectives but because
• It eliminated the commotion and noise during the
  tests and assured them that they would have the
  time complete the tests unhurried.

10
Cheating was a biggie

• There were the typical suggests of different
  forms and more constant overseeing the class.
• But the surprise were the new electronic devices
  that you may never have considered.

11
Beware of cell phones!

• Students can send out text messages without
  looking at their phones.
• They only need to glance at their phones to
  receive info.
• They can take pictures with cell phones and
  internet them on their computer.

12
And one more great idea

• When presenting a new concept that should require
  a lot of questions and discussion, do it in small
  groups of six or eight rather than the whole
  class at once.
• Wow! What a difference.

13
Try it, youll like it.

• In a big class no one asks questions but in a
  small group everyone asks questions.
• In a large class you have no idea what they
  understand but in a small group you find out
  their every problem and concern.

14
In conclusion

• This was only a few of the big ideas that came
  from the committee not to mention all of their
  other comments, concerns and input.
• I learn from my students things that I dont
  think I could have learned on my own and I
  encourage you all to try the same idea yourself
  now and then.
• Thank you, and here is my address.
• rburrell_at_upenn.edu

15
Acknowledgements

• LaVan and Beers, The Role of Cogenerative
  Dialogue in Learning to Teach and Transforming
  Learning Environments
• Elmesky and Tobin, Expanding our understandings
  of urban science education by expanding the roles
  of students as researchers