You Can Lead Students to Knowledge and You Can Make Them Think

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You Can Lead Students to Knowledgeand You Can
Make Them Think

• Feedback in Smaller Classes
• An Experiment
• BIs Inspiration Day
• Roberta Wiig Berg, Ass.Prof.
• June 3, 2009

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Feedback in Smaller ClassesAn Experiment Plan

• BIs Goal and Pedagogical Theory
• The Experiment
• Examples
• Results
• Discussion / Feedback

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4 Assumptions

• BIs Goal to deliver quality education
• A deep approach to learning (understanding) is
  better than a surface approach (regurgitation)
• Formative assessment (non-punitive feedback on
  work in progress) is a prerequisite for deep
  learning
• A dialogical approach to feedback encourages
  self-examination and opens the door to
  understanding other worlds of meaning to
  creating meaning together.

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Formative Evaluation

• Non-punitive feedback on work in progress so
  students can produce similar work of a higher
  quality
• Knowledge of standards guild knowledge
• Ability to see gap between standard and own work
• Ability to close gap in new work
• Feedback through dialouge
• We can lay out standards, but we create meaning
  together together when theyre tried out and then
  discussed

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Were sending the wrong message!

• Resources used on grading (summative assessment)
  exams, double-grading, registration of grades.
• Lack of resources used on the learning process
  class-size and opportunity to engage individual
  students.
• Opportunities for making mistakes and learning
  from them are not built into our system these
  opportunities are vital.

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Were not grading for learningbut for validation.

• A grade received before students have
  interiorized feedback invariably interferes with
  the assimilation and understanding of this
  feedback. (Taras 2001)
• Grades on their own and particularly a series
  of bad marks, can lead to a downward spiral for
  learning. (Black and William 1998)

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INS 2000 Internal Communication

• Mintzberg (2000) describes the job of a leader or
  manager as ten organized sets of behavior and
  all ten of these roles involve communication.

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Experiment

• Purpose to deep learn essential aspects of
  course
• Oral presentations (2) of cases based on course
  theory/models
• Form
• Organizational elements
• Delivery skills
• Content
• Demonstrate ability to apply course models
• Practice model cases before exercises

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Evaluation

• Case 1 5 - provisional
• Raised (not lowered) in connection with Exercise
  2
• If Exercise 2 A
• B or C on Ex.1 A
• D or E on Ex.1 B
• F on Ex. 1 C
• Case 2 35
• The presentation
• Students evaluations of his or her peers
• Self-evaluation

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Criteria for Evaluation

• 3 Parts
• Organizational Elements Tell them what youre
  going to say, say it, and tell them what youve
  said. (Winston Churchill)
• Delivery Skills
• Content
• Interdependent

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Exercise 1 Presentation ofCoorientation Model
Case

• Individual cases issue, organization, internal
  stakeholder group
• Analyze case, fill in model, make suggestion for
  how (or if) your leader should take action
• Prepare a 5-7-minute PowerPoint presentation
  Classic Style
• Bring handouts of your slides (6/page)

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Ex.1 Coorientation Model

• Presentation taped
• Peer evaluation
• Guild evaluation, no grade
• Self evaluation in response
• Guild response with grade
• Dialogue

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Ex.2 Mutual Learning Model

• Theory in class practice cases
• Write own cases on a difficult communication
  situation they have been a part of in their teams
• Analyze cases in the MLM flow chart
• Prepare 8-10-minute PowerPoint presentation,
  handouts of slides
• Same feedback procedure as for Coorientation
  Model presentation

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Trouble Spots

• Organization
• Purpose vs Motivation
• Transitional phrases
• Conclusion
• Delivery
• Watching the screen
• Content
• Missing vital points

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Examples of Feedback Purpose, Motivation

• Purpose statement unclear
• Student I see that you think my purpose
  statement was unclear, but I clearly stated that
  the MLM model was important.
• Response The word important can be very empty.
  You need to tell why it is important how it can
  help. You also completely omitted the motivation
  statement. Your purpose statement tells why you
  are making this presentation and your motivation
  statement makes it clear to your audience why
  they should listen whats in it for them. This
  is where you market your pres. Purpose and
  motivation are two sides of the same coin and you
  need to distinguish between them. Please take a
  look at the examples on Blackboard.

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Examples of FeedbackTransitional Phrases

• Student I could have used transitional phrases
  more but I felt that it was ackward and choppy if
  I had to interrupt myself to use these phrases.
• Response Yes it takes practice to use them,
  but their purpose is to help avoid choppiness by
  showing your audience how the parts hang
  together. If we understand when and how you move
  from section to section in your presentation,
  well understand you better and you want to be
  understood!

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Examples of FeedbackDelivery

• Student I observed that I used humming sounds
  as a way of pulling myself together when Im
  nervous. Its become a bad habit, but I think
  when Im standing up there that thats better
  than silence. But I realize that maybe these
  sounds are worse because it seems that they make
  the audience think Im unsure of myself.
• Response Exactly. Sometimes theres nothing
  wrong with a simple pause. Silence lets your
  audience associate thinking with you which is
  good. The sound makes you seem more uncertain.
  Remember, however, that you have a very good
  stage presence and do not need to be so nervous!

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Examples of FeedbackDelivery

• StudentI know that I watched the screen too
  much. I also noticed that my stance was uneasy
  and that I scratched my arm at times but tried
  to stop doing that!
• Response It will help if you use key words on
  your slides not sentences. And next time,
  perhaps hold something in your hand like a pen.
  This helps many. Just dont click the pen! ?

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Examples of FeedbackSlides

• Student I agree that I could have used more time
  on the body, but I disagree that I was unclear
  about who the stakeholder was.
• Response Im sure you said this. However, both
  the TA and I had trouble following your points,
  and I was referring to the lack of labelling on
  the slide. Perhaps the speed of delivery combined
  with the lack of labelling in the model was what
  made it difficult to follow.

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Examples of FeedbackContent

• Student I dont agree that this presentation was
  an E. I received E last time and we both seem to
  agree that this delivery was better.
• Response Yes, it was. I understand that it is
  discouraging to get the same grade even when you
  have improved in 2 of 3 areas. However, the
  content this time was worse. In your case, you
  went from Give up control to take control
  which are both aspects of the maintaining control
  model and not the MLM. This missed the whole
  point of the flow chart and was a lethal mistake.
  It could have failed you. No matter how good a
  presenters delivery and organizational skills
  are, if the content is simply wrong, it cannot be
  called a successful presentation. Nevertheless,
  precisely because you had improved 2 areas, you
  received a passing grade. You are moving in the
  right direction and I hope you will keep this up.
  Please get some help with the MLM before the
  exam! Hang in there!

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ResultsGrades from Ex.1 to Ex.2

• Same for both 2
• Improvement 1 grade 8
• Improvement more 10
• Worse 0

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ResultsSelf-Evaluation / Teacher

• Ex.1
• Same 2
• Differs 1 10
• Differs gt1 8

• Ex.2
• Same 14
• Differs 1 5
• Differs gt1 1

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Conclusion

• Two-exercises other classes, but without
  dialogue before grade
• Grades better second time
• Significant difference?
• Yes students have been led to knowledge, have
  engaged in thought and dialogue, and achieved
  deep learning.