Transcript Active Learning Practicalities & Technology Jill Leonard Biology Dept. What is Active Learning? And what is it not?  Student centered  Gets the class focus.

Active Learning
Practicalities & Technology
Jill Leonard
Biology Dept.
What is Active Learning?
And what is it not?
 Student centered
 Gets the class focus off the instructor
 Not passive
 Students DO things (more than write notes)
 Takes place in the “lecture” classroom
 Not confined to “labs” or “discussion sections”
 Not the same thing as service learning, internships
etc. (Very useful and sometimes called “active”)
 Inquiry-based learning
 This IS active learning, but not the only option
Does Place and Stuff matter?
 Yes and No!
 This room
 Tables, whiteboards
 Technology
 Other spaces
 Yes, you can use active
learning pedagogy in just
about any space
 Yes, it is easier in some than
in others
You will need to believe there
is an issue to be effective
 “Active Learning” requires YOU to buy into it and
be able to sell it to your students
 It is “non-traditional”
 It is different
 It can be a lot of work for the students
 They are more responsible for their learning on a daily
basis
 You will NEED the students to buy in and they will be
able to know if you are in doubt
What sold me?
 Data
 Learning physiology
(neurobiology)
 Data from educational
settings
 Some basic psychology
 Personal experience
 Exam grades on “thought”
The impact of active learning on student learning is illustrated in this graph that illustrates
class averages on pre- and post-tests of fundamental conceptual knowledge in firstsemester introductory physics. Learning gains in active-learning classes are typically two
to three time higher in comparison to lecture courses. The data set includes more than
6500 students in 62 classes.(From R. Hake, 1998, Interactive-engagement versus traditional
methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics
courses, Am. J. Phys. 66: 64-74)
questions
 “Big” concepts not sticking (What is a gene?)
 Lack of info retention between courses (start over!)
 My own experience of learning material
Can you do this “a little”?
 Yes!
 “one timers”  bad idea…
 Students need to get used to it!
 YOU need to get used to it!
 What you try may not be a good fit for you or your
students or your subject
 Try something and do it repeatedly
 Can be a “small” activity
 Think-pair-share, “explain to your neighbor”
 Minute papers, muddiest points, etc.
 “Explain the slide”
 Lecture from NOT the front
Structure will help!
 Course goals
 Actually use them (scientists and their text books…)
 Can you pick the “BIG THREE”?
 What is the MOST important?
 What do you NEED to cover?
 What approaches do you want to try?
 Structure them into course plan and allow “enough” time
 A set outline for each session?
 DOUBLE how long you think it will take!
 Figure out how you want the students to REALLY use
the resources
 You
 The book
 The class session
Types of courses I use
The Modified Lecture
The “Sorta - Flipped” Class
 Lectures, but broken up into
 Required homework/readings
sections
 10-20 min
 Activity between
 May be very short!
 Think Pair Share
 Minute papers
 Many others
 Readings “required” but…
 Homeworks (sometimes) and
regular in-class writes
 MANY sources of points for
grading (not just exams and a
paper)
every day (quiz)
 Very short “lecture” if at all
 1-2 activities each day
 Jig saws
 Group projects
 Conceptual model building
 Students take notes on what
other students do and are
held resp for material in
student products on tests
 MANY sources of points for
grading
And everything in between
THIS IS A CONTINUUM!!
In class group research
 LOTS of variants
 Make a model, put an overview powerpoint together,
write a press release, develop a grant program,
compare groups of somethings, …
 Key is
 Can be completed during the session
 Too big to be done by one student – need to work
with others
 Produce a “product”
 Clear goal that tells students what they are supposed
to be learning
 Do a wrap up of some type at the end
Marine Plant Distributions
 Each group needs to generate a brief
PowerPoint overview of the status of a
major group/species that includes
 A map of current global distribution
 An overview of the basic environmental
conditions needed for healthy populations
 A discussion of the “ecosystem services”
provided
 A discussion of the major threats to the plant
and where these threats are greatest
 A discussion of any undesirable aspects (e.g.
invasiveness)
 Build this like a presentation and put the notes
a presenter would need in the notes box
 Submit your GROUP Powerpoint to Educat. Also
post a copy to the posting forum
 REVIEW the other groups presentations!
1.
Cordgrass (Spartina
alternaflora)
2. Giant kelp
3.
Mangroves
4. Bladderwrack (Fucus
vesiculosus)
5. Codium fragile (dead
man’s fingers)
6. Dulse (Palmaria
palmata)
Concepts…
What types of
variables determine
marine plant
distributions?
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Jigsaws
 Students are assigned one of 4-5 readings as homework
 Random, by table, etc.
 Come in and get together with other students with the
same assignment
 I recommend a culture where they KNOW they will have a quiz
on their reading before your activity
 Step 1: Figure it out…become “experts”
 Step 2: Re-assort into groups with ONE representative of
each paper
 Explain papers to other students
 Work on larger “conceptual” question/project
 May be many or one in the classroom
 Produce a product
 Submit for grading (or participation)
 Present to class
Develop a Coral Research Grant Program
 As a group, you are tasked with developing a new
program to fund coral reef loss research projects
 You can give away $1 million per year
 Decide:
 What the focus of the program should be (are you interested
in funding projects in a particular area or being really general?)
 What will the maximum amount of $ you give to a single
project be (will you fund many smaller projects or a few large
ones)
 Hint: a case study on a single reef that uses a grad student to do the
work would cost ~$30-50K; large projects could cost ~$300K-1mill.
 Do you want to fund basic research, applied research, or both?
 Write this program down as a group (electronically
submit – PUT NAMES ON IT) AND be ready to present
it orally to the class
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Some other suggestions
 Nametags!
 Corny, but really useful
 Larger blocks of time work well for bigger activities (longer
class meetings)
 Tell your students why they are doing an activity
 “So why do I have you
write these minute
papers?”
 Make sure to “wrap up”
 Need closure and focus
from YOU
 Match your exams to your
activity goals
 Solicit feedback DURING
the semester
 Make your grading flexible
 Be prepared to see more