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Teaching for Understanding: Active Learning and Assessment

Teaching for Understanding: Active Learning and Assessment. Diane Ebert-May Department of Plant Biology Michigan State University. The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be. -Paul Valery, The Art of Poetry. Questions for you.

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Teaching for Understanding: Active Learning and Assessment

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  1. Teaching for Understanding: Active Learning and Assessment • Diane Ebert-May • Department of Plant Biology • Michigan State University

  2. The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be. • -Paul Valery, The Art of Poetry

  3. Questions for you... • What do you expect to gain from this workshop? • What are your major teaching challenges? • What challenges do your students face in learning? • How did you learn science? ... think way back. • How do your students learn science?

  4. Engage

  5. Question 1 Please respond on a scale of 1-5: 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree • Active learning strategies enable students to learn science better than passive lectures.

  6. Question 2 Please respond on a scale of 1-5: 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree • Students learn science best by “doing” science.

  7. Question 3 Please respond on a scale of 0-100% in increments of 10: • How important is it to use multiple kinds of assessments to determine students’ learning?

  8. Question 4 Please respond on a scale of 0-100% in increments of 10: • The proportion of assessments I use in my course that demonstrate students’ critical thinking abilities is....

  9. Question 5 Please respond on a scale of 1-5: 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree • In my department, excellence in teaching is rewarded at a level comparable to excellence in research.

  10. Question 1 Please respond on a scale of 1-5: 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree • Active learning strategies enable students to learn science better than passive lectures.

  11. Students are the tie that binds us...

  12. Class Meeting

  13. Class Meeting

  14. Question 2 Please respond on a scale of 1-5: 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree • Students learn science best by “doing” science.

  15. Lila Smith 1975; in Smith el al. 2005

  16. Teacher- to Learner-Centered Classroom • How does scientific teaching promote this transition?

  17. Lila Smith 1975; in Smith el al. 2005

  18. Question 3 Please respond on a scale of 0-100 in increments of 10: • How important is it to use multiple kinds of assessments to determine student learning?

  19. Question 4 Please respond on a scale of 0-100 (%) in increments of 10: • The proportion of assessments I use in my course that demonstrate students’ critical thinking abilities is....

  20. What is critical thinking? • Connections among concepts • Organization of concepts • Visual representations • Model-based reasoning • Test models • Solve problems

  21. Question 5 Please respond on a scale of 1-5: 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree • In my department, excellence in teaching is rewarded at a level comparable to excellence in research.

  22. Explore

  23. What’s up with Termites? • 1. On a sheet of paper, draw two circles near each other on the center of the page. • 2. Release termites onto paper. • 3. Keep creatures safe. I shall collect them in their original habitat. • 4. What do you observe about termite behavior? • 5. Develop a question your group could explore if you had more time. • (15 minutes - select a timekeeper)

  24. Learning Objective • Develop one possible learning objective for this ‘inquiry’. • What do you want students to know and be able to do? • What evidence is acceptable?

  25. Give your students a roadmap to learning…. • Benefits and costs?

  26. Explore: Out of Thin Air

  27. Brainstorm: talk to your neighbor and diagnose the situation from both the teacher’s and learner’s perspective. What is the learning challenge? What is going on?

  28. Misconceptions about Photosynthesis, Respiration, and the Carbon Cycle • Photosynthesis as Energy • Biomass from Soil • Energy as Biomass • All Green • Plant Altruism • Thin Air • Respiration as ‘breathing’

  29. How and when do you identify student learning difficulties? • Pre-test (e.g., specific questions - identify misconceptions) • Engagement activity - brain teaser, discussion starter, ‘need to know’ questions • Surveys or polls (clickers?) • Others?

  30. Experimental setup: Weighed out 3 batches of radish seeds each weighing 1.5 g. Experimental treatments: 1. Seeds placed on DRY paper towels in LIGHT 2. Seeds placed on WET paper towels in LIGHT 3. Seeds placed on WET paper towels in DARK Radish Problemin Ebert-May D, Batzli J, Lim H. 2003. Bioscience 53:1221-1228.

  31. After 1 week, all plant material was dried in an oven overnight (no water left) and plant biomass was measured in grams. Predict the biomass of the plant material in the various treatments. Light, no water Light, water Dark, water Problem (cont)

  32. Results Mass of Radish Seeds/Seedlings 1.46 g 1.63 g 1.20 g Write an explanation about the results. Explain the results. Write individually on carbonless paper.

  33. Assessment on Midterm Hypothetical scenario: Grandma Johnson had very sentimental feelings toward Johnson Canyon, Utah, where she and her late husband had honeymooned long ago. Her feelings toward this spot were such that upon her death she requested to be buried under a creosote bush overlooking the canyon. Trace the path of a carbon atom from Grandma Johnson’s remains to where it could become part of a coyote. NOTE: the coyote will not dig up Grandma Johnson and consume any of her remains.

  34. Assessment on Final Deep within a remote forest of Guatemala, the remains of a spider monkey were buried under an enormous mahogany tree. Although rare, jaguars (big cats - carnivores) were spotted in this forest by local farmers. Explain how a carbon atom in carbohydrates contained within the muscle cells of the spider monkey could become part of a cell within the stomach lining of a jaguar. Note: the jaguar does not dig up the monkey and eat the remains!

  35. Place or Organism [not listed in a specific order] Carbon Pools [form] Atmosphere Jaguar (carnivore) Mahogany tree (producer) Bacteria (decomposer) Spider Monkey (herbivore) Tapir (similar to a pig) (herbivore) CO2 gas Carbohydrate To do so... Make a clearly labeled box model of the system. Use the template on the Answer Sheet. You will not need all of the boxes. In the model, clearly label the processes (next to arrows), organisms or places, and forms (carbon pools) the carbon atom must go through to cycle within the ecosystem. Use the organisms/places and pools from the lists below.

  36. Pool Pool Pool Place Place Place Reminder: format for a box model: Process Process

  37. Circles identify key portions of box model. Orange circles identify difficult portions for students.

  38. How People Learn Bransford et al 1999, 2004

  39. Explain

  40. Cooperative Learning Eric Mazur - Harvard (Dept of Physics) - Peer Instruction Karl Smith - University of Minnesota (Civil Engineering Dept) Cooperative/ Collaborative Learning

  41. Regrouping What are ways of putting students into cooperative groups? Individual accountability and group responsibility with common goal.....

  42. Frustrated Student Within groups: think-pair-share Reflecting on this case, consider the following: 1. What questions and issues does this case raise? 2. As an instructor, what would you do in this situation? 3. What are the learning objectives for each class? 4. What are the students’ expections for course? 5. How do the active, in-class problems in groups motivate students to learn, or not? 6. Have you faced a similar challenge? If so, what did you learn from it?

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