Strategies to Motivate Students for Active Learning

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Strategies to Motivate Students for Active
Learning

• Sam Clemence

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Filling the AtticTheory of Education
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Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a
fire.

• William Butler Yeats

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EXPERIENCE AND LEARNING
Our Level of Involvement
We Tend to Remember
P A S S I V E
Reading
10 of what we read
Verbal Receiving
Hearing Words
20 of what we hear
Looking at Pictures
30 of what we see
Watching a Movie
Looking at an Exhibit
Visual Receiving
50 of what we hear and see
Watching a Demonstration
Seeing it Done on Location
A C T I V E
Participating in a Discussion
70 of what we say
Participating and Receiving
Giving a Talk
Doing a Dramatic Presentation
90 of what we both say and do
Simulating the Real Experience
Doing
Doing the Real Thing
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Modes of Learning
Feeling
Learn by experience
Watching
Learn by observation
Learn by participation
Doing
Learn by reflection
Thinking
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Modes of Teaching
DIDACTIC
Observation
Lecture Mode
Reflection
Retention 10-20
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Modes of Teaching (cont.)
SOCRATIC
Experience
Questions and Answers
Reflection
Retention 20-50
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Modes of Teaching (cont.)
COACHING
Active
Learn by Experience
Experience and Observation
Retention 50-80
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Consequences of Teaching-Learning Mismatches

• Students taught only in their less-preferred mode
  cant learn effectively
• Students taught only in their preferred mode
  wont develop balanced learning skills

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Promoting Active Learning
Tell me, and Ill listen.Show me, and Ill
understand.Involve, me and Ill learn. Teton
Lakota Indian Saying
Given the diversity of student learning styles
Three interrelated themes are crucial to promote
active learning
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Promoting Active Learning
Try some of the following

• Use a variety of strategies for teaching and
  learning not only on different days, but within
  each classroom period!

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Promoting Active Learning

• Visual reinforcements- blackboards- handouts-
  overhead transparencies- photographs/slidesThes
  e are vital to focus attention and to clarify
  verbal presentations.

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Promoting Active Learning

• Aural reinforcements- Use familiar sounds or
  music to reinforce important concepts- Aural
  phrases trigger meaningful patterns for
  learning.

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Brunelleschis DomeFlorence CathedralDuomo
Santa Maria del Fiore

• Begun by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1296
• Completed by Filippo Brunelleschi 1420-1436

Music sets the mood
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Helicopter
da Vincis Drawing
Sikorskys Design
Sound reinforces the topic
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Promoting Active Learning

• Provide spaces in the context If there are
  holes in your lectures the students may fill
  the space with- their own insights- reading-
  analysis- connections

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Promoting Active Learning
Students learn best when they are involved in
their intellectual discoveriesespecially if
they relate to their own experience.
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Challenge

• 10 second ruleWhen asking a question, wait 10
  seconds before moving on.
• QuestionIs there any disciplinewhere active
  learningis not as applicable ordoes not apply
  at all?

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Interdiscipinary CourseLeonardo da Vinci-Artist
Engineer

• Class makeup mixture of Arts Science students
  and engineers how can we motivate them to work
  together and become engaged in learning?
• Initial class introduction create mixed teams
  and quiz them

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LEONARDO DA VINCI1452-1519
SCIENTIST
ARTIST
PHILOSOPHER
ANATOMIST
ASTRONOMER
ENGINEER
INVENTOR
COURTIER
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He valued illustration far beyond the power of
wordsWriter, which letters will you use to
convey with such perfection the whole
representation herein displayed by drawing?.do
not interfere with matters of the eyes trying to
get them through the ears.
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Levers designed to repel siege ladders
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Treadmill-powered multiple crossbow
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Machine to fabricate concave mirrors
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An air turbine- operated roasting spit
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Model of roasting spit
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Technology Past and Present

• Help students understand the concept of
  cross-ribbed vaults
• Classroom demonstration using students to support
  the structure

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Toulouse Nave

• Dark, Romanesque Cathedral

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Stained Glass
At Salisbury, little medieval stained glass
remains, unlike Chrartres, which is thought to
have the finest in the world. The glassmakers
created deep, beautiful colore by firing pure
white sand with beechwood ash and metallic oxides
of various kinds to produce crimson, azure, and
other hues.
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Stained Glass

• Stained glass windows depicted biblical stories
  for the faithful to read.

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Arch Vaults
Gothic
Roman
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Rib Vault

• The principle of the rib vault arrows and dashed
  lines show how thrusts (forces) from the ribs are
  carried partly by the flying buttresses.

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Strength of Materials

• Use materials to demonstrate the bending of a
  beam or the buckling of a cylindrical object

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Statics and Dynamics

• Provide students with an opportunity to apply a
  major course concept to solve a problem in an
  unfamiliar context

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Student Choice from Broad Range of Problems

• Two-student teams view the movie Monty Python and
  the Holy Grail
• Each team selects a scene that illustrates a
  non-trivial application of a statics or dynamics
  concept from the course
• Teams perform an engineering analysis of a
  physical object or device from the scene
• Teams prepare a report and give a presentation to
  the class

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Trojan Rabbit, Reprise

• Chapman, G., et. al. Monty Python and the Holy
  Grail, 1974.

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Trojan Rabbit

• Dynamic analysis of the Trojan Rabbit,
  propelled by French knights

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Trojan Rabbit, Demise

• Chapman, G., et. al. Monty Python and the Holy
  Grail, 1974.

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Active Learning Experience
During this exercise carefully consider the
following questions

• Were you engaged in the process?
• Why were you engaged?
• Did you learn anything about engineering?
• Did you learn anything about teamwork?
• What will you remember from this experience?

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Conclusions

• Youll find students of all learning styles in
  your classes.
• We need all types in the various professions.
• We need to address all styles in our classes, not
  just one!

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Appendix
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Exam Time!
How do you learn? You have 5 minutes to
complete the following test. Please read
directions carefully!
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Learning-Style Inventory Instructions
The Learning-Style Inventory describes the way
you learn and how you deal with ideas and
day-to-day situations in your life. Below are 12
sentences with a choice of four endings. Rank
the endings for each sentence according to how
well you think each one fits with how you would
go about learning something. Try to recall some
recent situations where you had to learn
something new, perhaps in your job. Then, using
the spaces provided, rank a 4 for the sentence
ending that describes how you learn best, down to
a 1 for the sentence ending that seems least
like the way you would learn. Be sure to rank
all the endings for each sentence unit. Do not
make ties.
Example of completed sentence set When I learn
4 I am happy 1 I am fast 2 I am
logical 3 I am careful
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Learning-Style Inventory4best, 1least
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Learning-Style Inventory4best, 1least
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Grading your exam

• You grade your own exam!
• No one can get a bad grade!
• Sum columns 1, 2, 3, 4
• Perform the following math equation? 3 - ? 1
  ___? 4 - ? 2 ___Results may be negative
  thats OK
• Plot on Learning-Style Type Grid

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Learning-Style Type Grid
Percentiles
?4 ?2
-27 -10 -7
No. 1
No. 4
-5 -2 01 3
28 21 19 17 15 13 11
9 7
? 3 - ? 1
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 29
4 2 0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10 -13
-15 -21
No. 3
No. 2
Percentiles
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Does Your Learning Style Fit Your Academic Field?
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Academic Fields
Concrete (Humanities important)
Active (Faculty consulting)
Reflective (No consulting)
Abstract (Mathematics important)
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Type One Learners
Like to
Integrate experience with Self. Listen and share
ideas. View from many perspectives. Work for
harmony. Be personally involved. Be
innovative. Clarify values.
Favorite question WHY?
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Type One Learners
Dislike
Timed tests, pop quizzes. No student
interaction. Insensitive teachers. Individual
work. Skill development. Lack of thinking
time. Coverage rather than depth. Colorless
environments.
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Type Two Learners
Like to
Integrate observations into what is known. Seek
continuity. Know what experts think. Think
through ideas. Think linearly. Work with
detail. Critique information and collect data.
Favorite question WHAT?
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Type Two Learners
Dislike
Information out of sequence. Multiple
authorities. Pass/fail grading. Criticism. Group
projects. Disorganization. Unknown expectations.
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Type Three Learners
Like to
Integrate theory and practice. Test theories and
apply common sense. Solve down-to-earth
problems. Use skills. Know how things work.
Favorite question HOW DOES THIS WORK?
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Type Three Learners
Dislike
Reading from books. Memorization. Confined nature
of lectures. Lack of application. Restricted
environments. Group work. Lack of hands-on
work. Labs that dont work. Written assignments.
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Type Four Learners
Like to
Integrate experience and application. Learn by
trial and error. Discover new ideas by
themselves. Get excited by new things. Adapt to
new situations. Reach good conclusions by
intuition. Take risks.
Favorite question IF?
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Type Four Learners
Dislike
Long lectures. Teacher-oriented
classrooms. Standard routines. Repetition and
drill. Assignments without options. Knowledge for
its own sake.