Active Learning Practicalities & Technology Jill Leonard Biology Dept. What is Active Learning? And what is it not? Student centered Gets the class focus.
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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?
10
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
12
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