Teaching Students to Learn through peer teaching and assessment

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Teaching Students to Learnthrough peer teaching
and assessment

• Sarah Miller Lauffer
• Wisconsin Program for Scientific Teaching
• Supported by the HHMI Professors Program
• Carol Aspinwall
• Erdman Center for Operations and Technology
  Management

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CASE FRUSTRATED STUDENT

• I am a junior majoring in biology. I was
  thinking I might go to graduate school to do
  research and become a professor, or maybe apply
  to medical school. I usually get As in my
  courses only a few Bs so far in college. I
  totally breezed through high school. It was so
  easy.
• This semester, I enrolled in introductory
  microbiology. I approach this class like most
  othersI attend lecture (have only missed two
  this semester!), read the textbook (usually
  before class, if I have time), and turn in the
  homework if its going to be graded. Prof. Lopez
  is great hes really well organized and follows
  the book closely. The homework has been helpful
  for learning the terms and information.
• The first midterm exam in this course was NOT
  what I expected. None of the questions were
  multiple choice. Instead, we had to write out
  short (and sometimes LONG) answers. I barely
  finished it in the 2-hour exam period. Plus,
  three of the questions tested us on things we
  never learned and skipped stuff we had covered in
  class. For example, we learned about a specific
  example of the lac operon in class last week. I
  worked really hard to memorize all the important
  steps in the process, and then it wasnt even on
  the test. But there was this question about
  asking us to describe a strategy that bacteria
  use to regulate gene expression and explain why
  such a strategy might have been selected for over
  time. How am I supposed to know about that? I
  got a 72 on that test. What a crock!
• Forget biology, Im changing my major.

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Assessment

• drives student learning
• should align with learning goals
• provides feedback to both students and
  instructors about learning
• is more than grades
• guides changes in behavior and instruction

Adapted from FLAG (Field-tested Learning
Assessment Guide), http//flaguide.org
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EnGauge

• Assessments simultaneously engage students in
  learning and gauge their learning during the
  learning process
• Engage gauge enGauge

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Role of assessment in learning

• Ongoing assessment plays a key rolepossibly the
  most important rolein shaping classroom
  standards and increasing learning gains.

• Black, P. and Wiliam, D. 1998. Phi Delta Kappan.

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A word about grading

• Assessment is more than grades.
• Evaluation vs. assessment
• Formative vs. summative assessment

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Examples of EnGaugements

• Brainstorming
• Think-pair-share
• Reading assessments
• Concept maps

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Components of effective instruction

1. Clear description of learning goals
2. Opportunities for students and instructors to
   determine progress toward and achievement of the
   goals
3. Strategies, skills, and experiences that help
   students achieve the goals
4. Ensuring that assessments and activities align
   with the learning goals

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Resources

• Field-tested learning assessment guide
  (FLAG)flaguide.org
• Student assessment of learning gains
  (SALG)http//www.wcer.wisc.edu/salgains/instructo
  r/
• Classroom Assessment Techniques(Angelo Cross)
• Learner-centered assessment on college campuses
  (Huba Freed)
• Understanding by Design (Wiggins McTighe)

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Tips

• Easy to do quick assessments
• Logical often to integrate active learning and
  assessment
• Dont overdo it make sure all are aligned with
  the learning goals.
• Do whats meaningful and effective for you and
  your students.

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Quotes

• I wish I could put electrodes on their brains to
  find out what theyre thinking.
• Oddly, one rarely hears, I tried lecturing
  once, but students didnt like it, so now Im
  doing something else.

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Exit Assessment

1. Explain how assessment strategies can
   simultaneously engage students in learning and
   gauge how well students are learning.
2. With regard to diversity, what consequences might
   result from including these type of strategies in
   a classroom?