Transcript Education at the Crossroads: Teaching as if Learning Mattered Teri C. Balser.

Education at the Crossroads:
Teaching as if Learning Mattered
Teri C. Balser
The future of higher education?
• Concerns about science education worldwide
• Need for increasingly educated workforce
• Changes in information and technology
Higher education in crisis?
• Rising cost of college + declining state $
• Increasing reliance on adjunct instructors
• Increasing use of online learning/disruptive
technologies
• Mismatch between degrees awarded and
training for jobs
Concern that
students
aren’t learning…
What is going on?
Our current education system was
designed for a world that no longer exists.
fullissue.com
We operate out of a factory model born in
the Industrial Age
And now we live in an
accelerating world
And now we live in an accelerating
world
It is estimated that:
A week’s worth of the New York
Times contains more information
than a person was likely to come
across in a lifetime in the 18th
century
itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com
Four exabytes (4.0 x 10^19) of
unique information will be
generated this year.
That is more than the previous 5000 years.
The question is:
What does this mean
for learning and for education?
And –
What happens if learning
needs are changing, but our
teaching style is not?
How people learn…
http://newlearning.wikispaces.com/file/view/aboutLearning.gif/30360667/aboutLearning.gif
How people teach
The lecture
Consequences?
http://www.brainpickings.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/forgetting_curve.jpg
Consequences?
Retention
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2068/2097911609_1da0d5abbb.jpg
We know it doesn’t work!
So why do we do it?
Why?
Simple answer: It’s what we know. It’s how
we’ve seen things work for a long time.
kellimarshall.net
We have longstanding ideas about who
and what is a “professor”
Professor Bookwright
Professor Bookwright or
simply Professor B is your
best friend. He is the head
of his academic order and
the gatekeeper of all
knowledge relating to
energy. Count on
Professor B to use his
wealth of knowledge to
answer your questions
truthfully, point you in the
right direction, and help
you to succeed in your
journey towards energy
efficiency.
http://www.energysmackdown.com/ind
ex.php?page=professor
Professors are Experts!
Fine, but we live in an
accelerating age
(So?)
Professor’s role is changing
“Excuse me Mrs. Warren…
Google begs to differ.”
Now
Then
2,360,000 results in 0.51 seconds!
(Who now is the gatekeeper of knowledge?
Hint: it’s not me!)
We can’t compete.
(Now what?)
We have to rethink our role
Where is the teacher, here?
We have to reframe our “job”
Expert
Teacher as Sole Content
Provider
“Coach”
Teacher as
Expert Learner, creator
of learning environments
How?
Let go of all hope of being the
primary content provider.
Let go of ideas about what a
classroom “should” look like
Let go of ideas about what learning
is supposed to look like
And deliberately design learning
environments that engage students
sewliberated.typepad.com
How?
Pay attention to more than content
CONTENT
SPACE
PEOPLE
METHOD
Pay attention to more than content
Make learning FUN!
Make learning FUN!
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yzmnGEWjyKo/TOBbgJYH8uI/AAAAAAAAAB0/Og_Z68koopc/s1600/learning-is-serious2.jpg
Make learning FUN!
Make learning FUN!
How?
Most important:
Be enthusiastic and excited
ourselves as teachers
Also - embrace the “Wiki-world”
Mobile
Social
Gamified
ENGAGE THEM
Creativity and Authentic Audience
Creativity and Authentic Audience
Play:
Games
for
better
learning
The nitrogen cycle as a
teaching challenge
(Can the N cycle be fun??)
It’s complex.
http://earth.rice.edu/MTPE/bio/biosphere/topics/energy/nitrogen_cycle.gif
It’s got ugly chemistry.
Students hate it.
But it’s important.
Groundwater Climate change Food security
Taught in biology, ecology,
agriculture and environmental
studies classes
Why not make it a game?
http://earth.rice.edu/MTPE/bio/biosphere/topics/energy/nitrogen_cycle.gif
Developing the game
Developing the game
Developing the game
Playtesting
It works!
Impact?
Pre-
Post-
Impact?
Post-
Pre-
Gameplay Experience
What surprised you while playing the game?
The experience
- “I actually learned the processes.”
- “How competitive/interesting the game was.
FUN WITH SCIENCE!”
- “Putting it in a game setting made it interesting
and easier to understand.”
Gameplay Experience
What surprised you while playing the game?
The content
- “Stochastic events can really mix things up.”
- “I didn’t realize how important aerobic and
anaerobic conditions were for advancing the
cycle.”
- “Nitrogen didn’t have to go in cyclical order.”
It works.
Impact on knowledge of topic
Vocabulary, recall of processes, steps, or
organisms in the cycle…
Impact on thinking skills
Critical thinking, systems or strategic thinking…
OTHER impacts
Ownership, engagement, social interaction…
Don’t forget: Fun!
Success!
Last: Trust them…
• Be enthusiastic ourselves
• Engage them through creativity and play (make it fun)
• Trust the students (if you engage them, they
will want to learn)
How might we teach differently if
we really believed our students
wanted to learn?
How might we teach differently if
we believed teaching and learning
are fun?
…?
In conclusion:
We live in an accelerating world – and
learning needs have changed.
onlineinvestingai.com
Which means teaching must change.
Shift from passive transmission of facts to
a focus on engaged learning
(move from “push” to “pull” learning)
Reframe our role in the classroom
Deliberately design learning environments
that are interesting, engaging and authentic
Trust them to be learners
Make the content L E A R N-ABLE!
Living
Engaging
Novice-friendly
Real-world relevant
Authentically assessed
Thank you!
[email protected]
thenitrogengame.com