MINORITY ACCESS TO RESEARCH CAREERS WINTER INSTITUTE

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MINORITY ACCESS TO RESEARCH CAREERS WINTER
INSTITUTE

• ACTIVE LEARNING AND SCIENTIFIC TEACHING
• January 2005

Terry Derting, Ph.D. Murray State University, KY
Kathy Williams, Ph.D. San Diego State
University, CA
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OBJECTIVES
a. Provide an overview of alternative
approaches to education b. Shift thinking from
teaching to learning environments
   c.    Experience active inquiry and learning
cycles d. Present an example of a reformed
introductory biology course.
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You are important!

• Field of expertise
• Where you were born
• An adjective you would use to describe yourself
• An adjective your parents would use to describe
  you

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Science is important
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TIMSS 2003 4th-grade Scores Flat, 8th Grade
Performance Up (January 2005)PISA 2003
Fifteen year olds in Hong Kong, Finland, and
Korea excel in applying the science and math
concepts theyve learned, whereas U.S. students
trail their peers in much of the industrial
world. Science, Dec. 10 2004
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News Public Science Literacy Must Be Increased
To Stem Tide of Anti-Science Sentiment The
Scientist
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State Govt Support for Higher Education
(Chronicle of Higher Ed.)
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Are our students learning what we think they are
learning?
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• HOW CAN WE IMPROVE THE SCIENTIFIC LITERACY OF OUR
  POPULATION?

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Question 1
Please respond on a scale of 1-5 1strongly
agree 2agree 3neutral 4 disagree
5strongly disagree

• Students learn science best by doing science.

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Question 2
Please respond on a scale of 1-5 1strongly
agree 2agree 3neutral 4 disagree
5strongly disagree

• Science needs to be taught as it is practiced.

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Question 3
Please respond on a scale of 1-5 1strongly
agree 2agree 3neutral 4 disagree
5strongly disagree

• Large lectures (gt 50 students) can be active
  learning environments.

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Question 4
Where on the continuum is the ideal classroom ?
Learner-Centered
Teacher- Centered
1 2 3
4 5
Increasing shared responsibility for learning
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Question 5
Where on the continuum is your classroom ?
Learner-Centered
Teacher- Centered
1 2 3
4 5
Increasing shared responsibility for learning
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Question 1
Please respond on a scale of 1-5 1strongly
agree 2agree 3neutral 4 disagree
5strongly disagree

• Students learn science best by doing science.

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Learning Pyramid
(National Training Laboratories, Bethel, ME)
Average Retention Rate
Lecture 5
Reading 10
Audio-Visual 20
Demonstration 30
Discussion 50
Practice by doing 75
Teach/Use 90
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(No Transcript)
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(No Transcript)
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Boring!!!
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Lila M. Smith
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Pedago-pathologies

• Amnesia
• Fantasia
• Inertia

Shulman, Lee S. 1999. Taking learning
seriously. Change, 31 (4), 11-17.
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What do we do about these pathologies?

• Activity
• Reflection
• Collaboration
• Passion
• Combined with generative content and the creation
  of powerful learning communities.

Shulman, Lee S. 1999. Taking learning
seriously. Change, 31 (4), 11-17.
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(No Transcript)
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Informal Cooperative Learning and the Lecture
Bookends - Learning Cycle Johnson et al. 1998.
Active Learning.
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Question 2
Please respond on a scale of 1-5 1strongly
agree 2agree 3neutral 4 disagree
5strongly disagree

• Science needs to be taught as it is practiced.

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Challenges to Change

• Diversity of the U. S. higher education
  community.
• Deeply entrenched aspects of university culture.
• Finally, perhaps the most significant challenge
  is that many undergraduate faculty in the STEM
  disciplines have received little or no formal
  training in techniques or strategies for teaching
  effectively, assessing student learning, or
  evaluating the effectiveness of their own
  teaching or that of their colleagues.

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• Im all for progress.
• Its change I cant stand.
• Mark Twain

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Learners doing science...
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Question 3
Please respond on a scale of 1-5 1strongly
agree 2agree 3neutral 4 disagree
5strongly disagree

• Large lectures (gt 50 students) can be active
  learning environments.

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Question 4
Where on the continuum is the ideal classroom ?
Learner-Centered
Teacher- Centered
1 2 3
4 5
Increasing shared responsibility for learning
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Question 5
Where on the continuum is your classroom ?
Learner-Centered
Teacher- Centered
1 2 3
4 5
Increasing shared responsibility for learning
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Change in Focus for All Teachers(K- Grad school)

• From teaching/instruction
• To learning (i.e., what is actually learned by
  students)

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Change in Focus for All Teachers(K- Grad school)

• From teaching/instruction
• To learning (i.e., what is actually learned by
  students)
• From linear, single discipline approach dealing
  with only theoretical problems
• To application through an integrated approach in
  dealing with real-life problems

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Change in Focus for Students

• Learners actively construct knowledge by
• engaging in meaningful, scientifically oriented
  questions,
• giving priority to evidence,
• formulating explanations from evidence,
• evaluating explanations, and
• communicating and justifying explanations.

(NRC, 2000)
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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
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Engage, Explore, EvaluateWhats up with
Termites?

• On a sheet of paper, draw two circles near each
  other on the center of the notecard with an ink
  pen.
• Release termites onto paper.
• Keep creatures safe. We will return them to
  their original habitat.
• What do you observe about termite behavior?
• Develop a question your group could explore if
  you had more time.
• (15 minutes select a time keeper)

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Questions for Reflection

• What did you learn?
• How did you learn?
• What was the role of the students? Teacher?

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Instructional Design Learning Cycle

• Engage
• Explore
• Explain/Elaborate
• Evaluate

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Learning Cycle
ENGAGE

• Initiates learning
• Makes connections between past and present
  learning experiences
• Organizes students thinking toward the learning
  outcomes of current activities.

Modified from Uno, 1999
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Learning Cycle
EXPLORE

• Provides students with a common base of
  experience to discover and develop
• Current concepts
• Processes
• Skills

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Learning Cycle
EXPLAIN

• Focuses students attention on specific aspects
  of their engagement and exploration experiences.
• Provides opportunities for students to practice
• conceptual understanding
• process skills
• behaviors

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Learning Cycle
EXPLAIN

• Provides opportunities for teachers to introduce
• Concepts
• Processes
• Skills

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Learning Cycle
ELABORATE
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Learning Cycle
EVALUATE

• Encourages students to assess their understanding
  and abilities.
• Provides opportunities for teachers to evaluate
  progress towards learning goals.

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I dont think there is any concept that you
cant make understandable to the educated lay
public. I always tell my students and postdocs
if you cant explain to your grandmother what you
are doing, probably you dont understand it
yourself properly. Nobelist Günter Blobel