From Active Learning to Activity: Getting Beyond Busy Work and into Deep Learning Wendy Holliday Utah State University May 13, 2010

The Problem: Tigers We always have the topic that we always keep in reserve. Like mine used to be tigers…I probably did 8 research papers on tigers in middle and high school…[For research,] I need a lot of information on tigers. Like when you are writing on tigers, all the information is there and then you write a thesis, who knows why, because you are supposed to.

Diagnosing the Problem How we teach vs. what we teach. Activity versus active.

Activity Theory Unit of analysis = activity. Subjects: individuals or groups. Objects: goals/objectives that motivate activity; can change over time. Tools: mediate human activity. Context: Social, cultural, and historical.

An Activity System

Activity Theory and Learning Social: psychological tools are socially acquired and emerge out of joint activity. Developmental: tools are used to mediate future activity. Requires a contradiction or bind for expansive learning. Identity: situated, can mediate activity.

Discussion Activity Think about a recent instructional situation from the perspective of Activity Theory. – What tools did students bring to the activity? – What tools might have been developed because of the activity? – How might student identity have mediated their activity?

My Research ENGL 2010 (sophomore composition) class. Methods: – Observation. – Focus groups. – Interviews. – Content analysis. Questions: – What are students asked to do? – What do students think they are being asked to do? – How do previous experiences mediate student participation and learning? – What tools are being developed through class activities?

Concept of Research: 9/22 Instructor: Cautionary tale of data dump. 1. Choose topic, usually polarized. 2. Gather information about topic. 3. Throw it all together in a data dump. 4. Submit to teacher and wait for good grade.

Topic Selection: 9/22 Instructor: First criteria is personal interest. Student: Does it have to be a “world issue?” Instructor: No, uses example from previous class. Don’t think about what you think I want to read.

Topic Selection: 9/22 Instructor: Second criteria is ability to narrow. Instructor: Tells story of previous student who was just fine with getting 9,200 results when searching a library database. Instructor: Students think more is easier.

Topic Selection: 10/27 Instructor: Shows topics from previous classes (waiting in doctor’s office; boring church talks). Instructor: Can you believe you can find sources on these topics?

Topic Narrowing: 10/27 Instructor: Gives examples from other class, AIDS. What’s wrong with this? Student: Too broad. Instructor: How to narrow? Student: Talk about how to control. Instructor: Can you find sources on control?

Topic Narrowing: 10/27 Student: What about my topic, merit pay for teachers? Instructor: Needs to be narrowed down. Ideas? Students: Geographically? Type of teacher, such as math teachers? Instructor: Narrowing doesn’t mean you only have to find sources about narrower focus.

Developing Research Questions: 10/27 Instructor: Informational questions mean that everyone agrees on questions; issue questions are opinion-based. Instructor: Reason for issue questions: they direct research when you go to the library.

Locating, Evaluating, and Citing Sources: 11/3 Librarian: Scholarly versus popular; provided list of clues (language, length, abstract, works cited). Librarian: Demonstrates database search; gets 500 results; to fix it, add keywords. Librarian: If you listen to nothing else, listen to this: shows how to get citation in MLA format; can copy and paste without plagiarizing.

Evaluating, Locating, and Citing Sources: 11/3 Student Question: Where was that cool citing button? Student Question: How to find articles other than newspaper articles?

Evaluating the Web: 11/10 Instructor: Shows National Resources Defense Council website and asks for reactions. Student: Liberal bias. Student: Looks professional, so trust it. Student: Lots of information and backed up. Student: Well-organized. Instructor: Look at.org. Student: Non-profit, so okay. Instructor: But even.gov not always accurate. Student: So are.govs credible?

Evaluating the Web: 11/10 Instructor: How do we assess? Student: Check for sources; look for credentials of authors? Instructor: Look for last update because of new research. Students seem confused at lack of clear answers. Instructor: No litmus test, so need critical thinking.

Research Process: 11/10 Instructor: What is hardest part about locating and evaluating sources? Student: Have all this stuff but don't know what to focus on. Student: Intimidation of too many results, best one might be on 11th page. Instructor: How do we counter problem of what to center on? Reasons to get to questions first, takes a long time to find right words and criteria.

Using Sources: 11/19 and 11/24 Student: Still need to find something on social effects of marijuana use. Student: Wants to find article on economics of motorcycle use, but specific to parking. Student: Need source on how to control children’s video game playing. Instructor: Will thesis be a plan or just that you should make a plan? Have you found sources that have solutions?

Things to ponder Information overload not about search. Information literacy is a reading problem. Information evaluation and checklists. Plagiarism and original thought. Student identity influences what they hear and what they do.

Questions? Wendy Holliday Coordinator of Library Instruction Utah State University

References Head, A. J., & Eisenberg, M. B. (2009). How college students seek Information in the digital age. Retrieved from Nardi, B. A. (1996). Context and Consciousness: Activity Theory and Human-Computer Interaction. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Nardi, B. A. (1998). Concepts of cognition and consciousness: four voices. J. Comput. Doc., 22(1), doi: / Rogers, J. (2007). Identity as a mediator of student activity: An ethnographic investigation in an online class. Utah State University, United States -- Utah.