1. “GETTING BETTER AS A TEACHER”
Presentation by:
L. Dee Fink, Ph.D.
Educational Consultant in Higher Education
Author of: Creating Significant Learning Experiences
Brigham Young University - Idaho
April 16, 2012

2. BYU-Idaho:
“It is imperative for this institution to raise substantially the quality of every aspect of the experience our students have.”
-Statement made in October 2005 by:
David Bednar, former president
Kim Clark, current president
Larry Summers, visiting speaker

3. Average Quality of Teaching in 2005
3-5 Years from Then
7-10 Years from Then 1
Which meaning of “raise…substantially” did the new president mean, in 2005: A? Or B?

4. TWO UNDERLYING PERSPECTIVES:
To meet this goal, BYU-I needs to…
Be Learning-Centered

5. TWO UNDERLYING PERSPECTIVES:
To meet this goal, BYU-I needs to…
Be Learning-Centered
Work on Continuous Improvement

6. Getting Better Over Time
Quality of Teaching
(now)
Everyone’s Potential A B C
Time

7. Getting Better Over Time
Quality of Teaching
(now)
Everyone’s Potential A C
Time

8. FUNDAMENTAL TASKS OF TEACHING
Knowledge of the Subject Matter
Interact with Students
Designing Learning Experiences
Managing the Course
Beginning of the Course

9. DURING the course END of the course AFTER the course
Assess the effectiveness of one’s own teaching
Acquire new ideas on teaching
Reflect on what else one needs to learn
Try new ways of teaching
GETTING BETTER Over Time
Knowledge of
subject matter
Design learning experiences
Interact
with students
Course
management
FOUR FUNDAMENTAL TASKS of Teaching
DURING the course
END of the course
AFTER the course
Impact on STUDENT LEARNING

10. 3 WAYS OF LEARNING The Learning Cycle: 3 2 LEARN USE REFLECT ASSESS
Ideas/Literature on
COLLEGE TEACHING 3
COLLEAGUES 2
LEARN
USE
REFLECT
ASSESS
SHARE 1

11. EVERYONE GETTING BETTER:
What is needed, for this to happen?
My Answer: Every needs to…
LEARN about and USE new ideas – every year, every year.
ASSESS and get FEEDBACK on their teaching – carefully, all the time .

12. 3 WAYS OF LEARNING The Learning Cycle: LEARN USE REFLECT ASSESS SHARE
Ideas/Literature on
COLLEGE TEACHING
COLLEAGUES
LEARN
USE
REFLECT
ASSESS
SHARE

13. NEW IDEAS to Be Aware of, Learn about, and Use

14. “5 TRANSFORMATIVE TEACHING
PRACTICES”
Change Students’ View of Learning
Learning-Centered Course Design
Team-Based Learning
Be a Leader with Your Students
Students Reflecting on Their Own Learning

15. “5 TRANSFORMATIVE TEACHING
PRACTICES”
Change Students’ View of Learning

16. Saundra McGuire, Louisiana State Univ.
Stephen Carroll, Santa Clara Univ.

17. Use Metacognition to Become an Expert Learner
Saundra McGuire:
Use Metacognition to Become an Expert Learner

18. Metacognition The ability to: think about thinking
be consciously aware of oneself as a problem solver
to monitor and control one’s mental processing
to be aware of the type of learning that you are doing

19. Counting Vowels in 45 seconds
How accurate are you?
Count all of the vowels
in the words on the next slide.

20. Dollar Bill
Dice
Tricycle
Four-leaf Clover
Hand
Six-Pack
Seven-Up
Octopus
Cat Lives
Bowling Pins
Football Team
Dozen Eggs
Unlucky Friday
Valentine’s Day
Quarter Hour

21. How many items in the list do you remember?
2 or less
3 – 5
6 – 8
9 – 12
13 or more

22. Dollar Bill Dice Tricycle Four-leaf Clover Hand Six-Pack Seven-Up
Octopus
Cat Lives
Bowling Pins
Football Team
Dozen Eggs
Unlucky Friday
Valentine’s Day
Quarter Hour
What are the words arranged according to?

23. NOW how many words or phrases do you remember?
2 or less
3 – 5
6 – 8
9 – 12
13 or more

24. What were two major differences between the 1st and 2nd attempts?

25. 1. We knew what the task was
2. We knew how the information was organized

26. *Intense Study Sessions
The Study Cycle
4 Reflect
3 Review
Preview before class – Skim the chapter, note headings and boldface words, review summaries and chapter objectives, and come up with questions you’d like the lecture to answer for you.
Preview
4 Reflect
Attend class – GO TO CLASS! Answer and ask questions and take meaningful notes.
Attend
Review after class – As soon after class as possible, read notes, fill in gaps and note any questions.
Review
Study – Repetition is the key. Ask questions such as ‘why’, ‘how’, and ‘what if’.
Intense Study Sessions* short study sessions per day
Weekend Review – Read notes and material from the week to make connections
Study
Assess your Learning – Periodically perform reality checks
Am I using study methods that are effective?
Do I understand the material enough to teach it to others?
Assess
*Intense Study Sessions 1
Set a Goal
(1-2 min)
Decide what you want to accomplish in your study session 2
Study with Focus
(30-50 min)
Interact with material- organize, concept map, summarize, process, re-read, fill-in notes, reflect, etc. 3
Reward Yourself
(10-15 min)
Take a break– call a friend, play a short game, get a snack 4
Review
(5 min)
Go over what you just studied
Center for Academic Success
B-31 Coates Hall ▪ ▪

27. The Story of Three LSU Students
Travis, junior psychology student
47, 52, 82, B in course
Joshua, first year chemistry student*
68, 50, 50, 87, 87, 97, 90 (final) A in course
Dana, first year physics student
80, 54, 91, 97, 90 (final) A in course
*2010 Summer Scholar

28. “PRIMING STUDENTS FOR SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING”
Stephen Carroll
Santa Clara University
“PRIMING STUDENTS FOR SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING”

29. “Priming for Self-Directed Learning: DOES IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

30. Dean’s List (Top 10% of each class)
Seniors: ~45% of his students make this list
Juniors: ~40%
Elected to honor societies: More than 3 times the rate of the general population.
Campus Leadership Positions: Significantly over-represented in peer tutoring, EMT group, editor of Santa Clara Review, etc.
“The quality of the work my students do now is better in every way than the work my students did before I started using these methods.”

31. “5 TRANSFORMATIVE
TEACHING PRACTICES”
Change Students’ View of Learning
Learning-Centered Course Design

32. “Learning-Centered Course Design”

33. Taxonomy of Significant Learning

34. Understand and remember the key concepts, terms, relationship, etc.
In a course with significant learning, students will:
Understand and remember the key concepts, terms, relationship, etc.
Know how to use the content.
Be able to relate this subject to other subjects.
Understand the personal and social implications of knowing about this subject.
Value this subject and further learning about it.
Know how to keep on learning about this subject, after the course is over.

35. INTEGRATED COURSE DESIGN:
Key Components
Learning Goals
Feedback & Assessment
Teaching &
Learning
Activities
S i t u a t i o n a l F a c t o r s

36. 3-COLUMN TABLE:
Learning Goals: Assessment Activities: Learning Activities: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

37. Criteria of “GOOD” Course Design
Significant
Learning
Learning Goals
Integrate
Teaching and
Learning
Activities
Feedback &
Assessment
Active
Learning
Educative
Assessment
S I T U A T I O N A L F A C T O R S
In-Depth Situational Analysis

38. - - - - - -> - - - - - -> - - - -> Learning ACHIEVED
Learning IMAGINED
> > > Learning ACHIEVED 4 1
Learning Goals
Xxx
xxx
Week:
Mon
Wed
Fri 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 5 2
Learning Goals
Ass’m’t Activ.
LearningActiv.
Xxx
2. Xxx
3. Xxx
4. Xxx
5. Xxx
6. Xxx 3
3-Column Table
Weekly Schedule

39. FINK’S “5 TRANSFORMATIVE
TEACHING PRACTICES”
Change Students’ View of Learning
Learning-Centered Course Design
Team-Based Learning

40. “Team-Based Learning”
Larry Michaelsen

41. HOW DO PEOPLE LEARN?
Transmit Knowledge?

42. Transmission Of
Knowledge

43. HOW DO PEOPLE LEARN?
Transmit Information
Constructivism

44. HOW DO PEOPLE LEARN?
Transmit Information
Constructivism
Social Constructivism

45. Quality of Student Learning
Traditional
Teaching
(lecture, textbook focused)
Team-Based
Learning
Cooperative
Learning
Casual
Use
Different Ways of Using Small Groups

46. EXAM: Individual or Group
The Sequence of Learning Activities in Team-Based Learning •
Covering a 2-3 Week Block of Time
Covering One Major Topic Within the Course
Three Phases of Team Learning:
Preparation
Application (Practice with Feedback)
Assessment
Activities:
R.A.P.:
CULMINATING PROJECT
EXAM: Individual or Group
1. Individual test
(Continue
2. Team test
Group Work
Group Work
pattern as long
In-Class:
3. Appeals
(Simple)
(Complex)
as desired)
4. Corrective
Instruction
Out-of-Class:
Reading
Homework
Homework
Review
Approximate Level of Content Understanding at Each Phase: )
90-100%
50%
60%
70%
80% )
40%

47. Assignment Wording:
Desired Learning Outcome: “Students will be able to coherently weigh the factors that affect the desirability of specific sites as locations for particular kinds of business ventures.”
“Identify the key factors that should be considered when deciding where to locate a new business.”
“Select what you think would be the ideal site for a new dry cleaning business in (Norman, OK).”
“Identify the single most important factor for evaluating potential sites for locating a new business in (Norman, OK).”

48. 3 “DIALOGUE” BOXES OF TBL
With
Oneself
Dialogue
WITHIN
A Group
Dialogue
AMONG
Groups
High
Quality
LEARNING x x
=>

49. Question:
What is the main reason that the “3 Boxes” sequence is such a powerful learning sequence?”
It has more student-talk than teacher-talk.
It generates dialogue from multiple perspectives, focused on a key issue or question.
Students are teaching each other, rather than being taught by the teacher.
The course becomes more enjoyable for students because they are more actively engaged.

50. FINK’S “5 TRANSFORMATIVE
TEACHING PRACTICES”
Change Students’ View of Learning
Learning-Centered Course Design
Team-Based Learning
Be a Leader with Your Students

51. “Be a Leader With Your Students”
Ken Bain

52. FUNDAMENTAL TASKS OF TEACHING
Knowledge of the Subject Matter
Interact with Students
Designing Learning Experiences
Managing the Course
Beginning of the Course

53. LEADERSHIP:
“Motivating and enabling others to do something important well.”
Question:
What can teachers do, to LEAD students?

54. FINK’S “5 TRANSFORMATIVE
TEACHING PRACTICES”
Change Students’ View of Learning
Learning-Centered Course Design
Team-Based Learning
Be a Leader with Your Students
Students Reflecting on Their Own Learning

55. “Students Reflecting on Their Own Learning”
John Zubizarreta

56. “TAKING CHARGE OF ONE’S OWN LEARNING”
St1
St2
Teacher/Coach

57. ?
Meta-Learner:
St1
St2
Teacher/Coach

58. Teacher/Coach Meta-Learner: One Who Takes Charge of their… ?
Own Learning/
Development
St1
St2
Teacher/Coach
Own Knowing/Beliefs
Own Thinking
Own Performance
Own Caring/Values

59. Teacher/Coach Meta-Learner: One Who Takes Charge of their… ?
Own Learning/
Development
St1
St2
Teacher/Coach
Own Knowing/Beliefs
Own Thinking
Own Performance
Own Caring/Values

60. Learning Portfolios: KEY QUESTIONS
WHAT did you learn?
HOW did you learn?
What helped and didn’t help you learn?
What does this tell you about: YOURSELF AS A LEARNER? About the NATURE OF LEARNING?
SIGNIFICANCE FOR YOU, of what you learned?
Plan for FUTURE LEARNING:
WHAT ELSE do you want or plan to learn?
HOW will you learn that?

61. “5 TRANSFORMATIVE TEACHING
PRACTICES”
Change Students’ View of Learning
Learning-Centered Course Design
Team-Based Learning
Be a Leader with Your Students
Students Reflecting on Their Own Learning

62. 5 Transformative Teaching Practices:
“Will help you…
Increase the rate at which your students are able to learn;
Focus your learning and assessment activities on the achievement of significant learning goals;
Create small-group dialogue around reading assignments and significant application problems;
Motivate and enable students to learn, by using good leadership practices; and
Prompt your students to pull back from their learning and reflect, from time to time, on: “What am I learning, how am I learning that, etc.?”

63. THE BYU-Idaho LEARNING MODEL:
(for Students)
Prepare
Acquire a new understanding of “learning” and “themselves as learners”
Teach One Another
Team-Based Learning – Focused & intense intra-group and inter-group dialogue
Ponder/Prove
Learning Portfolios – students reflect on what they learned, how they learned, how they can document that learning, etc.

64. GETTING FEEDBACK
FROM KNOWLEDGEABLE “OTHERS”

65. 3 WAYS OF LEARNING The Learning Cycle: 3 2 LEARN USE REFLECT ASSESS
Ideas/Literature on
COLLEGE TEACHING 3
COLLEAGUES 2
LEARN
USE
REFLECT
ASSESS
SHARE 1

66. Coaching/Getting Feedback:
= “Seeing Ourselves through Someone Else’s Eyes”
Whose Eyes?
Our Students: Focused Feedback

67. Focused Feedback from STUDENTS:
List of Learning Goals: Rate and comment on each one
List of Major Learning Activities: Rate & Comment
List of Major Assessment Activities: Rate & Comment

68. Coaching/Getting Feedback:
= “Seeing Ourselves through Someone Else’s Eyes”
Whose Eyes?
Our Students: Focused Feedback
Fellow Teachers: Classroom observations + Course materials
Teaching Specialists: Same

69. How Can YOU Get Better?
Learn about and use new ideas on teaching & learning
Get powerful forms of feedback on your teaching

70. How Do You Do All This?
Individual
Effort
Institutional
Support

71. INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT:
Finding Time: Work Load Issues
Office of Support: Specialist who can provide leadership and organize campus- wide activities in this effort
New Ways of Getting Feedback: ≈ New Ways of Evaluating Teaching
Teaching Portfolios: Institution-Wide use
Contribute to & Learn from – the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (SoTL)

72. THE BYU-Idaho LEARNING MODEL:
(for PROFESSORS)
Prepare
Invest hours per year, in your Professional Development as a teacher
Teach One Another
Give & receive feedback on each other’s classroom teaching and course design
Ponder/Prove
Teaching Portfolios: Periodically re-consider and re-document your answers to…

73. QUESTIONS:
Answer Questions #2 & 3 on 1st page of handout:
What are the 2-3 major ideas you learned here today?
What do you plan to do, in the next 48 hours, to get better as a teacher?

74. Average Quality of Teaching in 2012
3-5 Years from Now
7-10 Years from Now
Which meaning of “raise…substantially” did the new president mean, in 2005: A? Or B?

75. THE END! ?? Higher Education:
Let’s make it all that it can be and needs to be!

76. OR, A NEW START?? Let’s Get Started!!
Teaching for the 21st Century . . .
Let’s Get Started!!