Close your eyes and do the following with your neighbor: 1. Pick something in your teaching area that is either interesting or challenging to teach. 2.In turns, with your eyes still closed, start describing it to your neighbor (whose eyes should be open). Reflect on what happens…. (Opening Slide) DRAWING TO LEARN Exercise 1

Drawing to Learn Paul Heideman Professor of Biology College of William & Mary The Role that Visualization and Drawing Can Play in Learning The “notes” part of this presentation has some explanatory text.

Three goals: (1)Convince you to get your students to draw (if you don’t already; if you do, ways to help convince OTHERS to accept it) (2) Ways to do it (3) Traps, Pitfalls & ways out

Are there reasons to draw?

For me, yes -- students need better skill at: (1)converting concepts and procedures to internalizable chunks. (2) organizing and integrating concepts for problem solving. (3) developing fluent recall with understanding (e.g., of essential concepts and procedural rules).

& (4) To help teachers (me--maybe you) assess understanding. Are there reasons to draw? For me, yes -- students need better skill at: (1)converting concepts and procedures to internalizable chunks. (2) organizing and integrating concepts for problem solving. (3) developing fluent recall with understanding (e.g., of essential concepts and procedural rules).

I’ve trained students in many active study methods… but students rarely adopt them. & (4) To help teachers (me--maybe you) assess understanding. Are there reasons to draw? For me, yes -- students need better skill at: (1)converting concepts and procedures to internalizable chunks. (2) organizing and integrating concepts for problem solving. (3) developing fluent recall with understanding (e.g., of essential concepts and procedural rules).

from an unsolicited in 2003 “… The most amazing part of all this for me was when I was looking over MCAT materials over the summer and realized the only things I truly remembered in great detail were the ones I outlined [drew] for Animal Phys. I could still draw my pictures, and I was amazed. ” & a recent spontaneous from a former student “… I'll admit that I hated the minute sketches at first, but the sketches I drew as an undergrad, I actually remember and I am using right now to study for my graduate cell biology class. The next time your zoology sophomores complain about minute sketches, tell them a PhD student at Vandy [Vanderbilt University] still uses them because they are that useful!” More than anything else, students find drawing useful & they keep on drawing.

Some Reasons to Draw (1)Students think about meaning to sketch a concept (2) & simplify to essentials for a sketch in 30 seconds (3) Reasoning from representations helps solve problems (4) Communicates to us (teachers) understanding (or not) (5) Drawing uses an independent learning pathway (neostriatal cortex & ‘skill’ memory--different from visual and auditory memory) (6) & more (see the references) - The best, most current, short review I know: “Drawing to Learn in Science” Shaaron Ainsworth, V. Prain, R. Tytler Science 333: ALSO MUST SEE: ”Drawing Attention to Diagram Use” E. Manalo & Y. Uesaka Science 334:761

Exercise 2 Words represent things, but are not things. Is it true that: Words can provide a memorized solution to a problem, but words alone cannot give new solutions? Think, Pair, Share with your neighbor: agree or disagree

Exercise 3 Can you put a square peg in a round hole? Provide a proof: (a) in words (b) in a sketch

Provisionally: Drawing is often useful (though my students who keep drawing say: “…except in English classes…”)

Part 2: Getting students to Draw (1)Model(+ instructions & guidelines) (2) Encourage (class, homework, exams) (3) Explain (persuasively) (4) Feedback(formative assessment & coaching)

Simple rules (1)Fast (30 seconds to redraw sketch) (2) Correct(Does it capture the idea?) (3) Words (ONLY to the side; never on the sketch; & only a list of terms) (4) Explanations (The drawing should BE the explanation) (This is my starting grading rubric)

Simple rules I offer three sets of directions for students: (a)this one. (b)1-page expanded. ( me at (c)Ten-page detailed step-by-step with examples. ( me…) (1)Fast (30 seconds to redraw sketch) (2) Correct(Does it capture the idea?) (3) Words (ONLY to the side; never on the sketch; & only a list of terms) (4) Explanations (The drawing should BE the explanation)

Exercise 4 In a sketch, explain the meaning of (your choice—these or others) the terms: Geoscience : “ revolve” and “rotate” in planetary motion Biology (Molecular) : “DNA” and “allele” Chemistry : “ionic bond” and “covalent bond” Physics : “Boltzmann constant” and “entropy” Biology (Ecology) : “territory defense costs” Mathematics : “first and second order equation”

With a word definition of “revolve” and “rotate” in planetary motion, how do you know what students know?

From Ainsworth et al 2011 Science 333: Supplemental materials

Exercise 5: Simplify the sketch on the left to essentials -fewest possible lines, capturing EVERYTHING essential -Do two versions; one with word labels on your sketch, and the other with word labels in a list off to the left side.

Review your sketch from exercise 4. (1)Fast (30 seconds to redraw sketch) (2) Correct(Does it capture the idea?) (3) Words (ONLY to the side; never on the sketch; & only a list of terms) (4) Explanations (The drawing should BE the explanation) (This is my starting grading rubric)

Exercise 6 My drawing for the phrase “territory defense costs” Resource cost (fewer eggs) Risk cost (predator) Opportunity cost (lost time)

Predict the consequences for territory defense if a plague kills most predators. Resource cost (fewer eggs) Risk cost (predator) Opportunity cost (lost time) Exercise 6

Resource cost (fewer eggs) Risk cost (predator) Opportunity cost (lost time) X Predict the consequences for territory defense if a plague kills most predators. Exercise 6

Resource cost (fewer eggs) Risk cost (predator) Opportunity cost (lost time) X Predict the consequences for territory defense if a plague kills most predators.

Exercise 6 Resource cost (fewer eggs) Risk cost (predator) Opportunity cost (lost time) X Total cost Predict the consequences for territory defense if a plague kills most predators.

Exercise 6 Resource cost (fewer eggs) Risk cost (predator) Opportunity cost (lost time) X Total cost Expanded territory for same cost Predict the consequences for territory defense if a plague kills most predators.

Exercise 6b What if food becomes more abundant? Resource cost (fewer eggs) Risk cost (predator) Opportunity cost (lost time)

Getting students to Draw, revisited Redrawing (or visualizing) good minute sketches is much faster than rereading (time your students) and much easier to remember.

Getting students to Draw Redrawing (or visualizing) good minute sketches is much faster than rereading and much easier to remember. Need a definition? Describe your sketch.

Getting students to Draw Redrawing (or visualizing) good minute sketches is much faster than rereading and much easier to remember. Need a definition? Describe your sketch. Is a picture worth a thousand words? (Is a sketch as good as the text?) Yes, if all essentials can be recalled from the sketch. (If not, add a 2nd sketch)

Exercise 7 Make a minute sketch for: (a)Heat (b)If you have time… evaporation in relation to heat (c) You probably will not have time to sketch the water cycle…

Part 3: Traps and Pitfalls (students) (1)Motivation (2) Prior conclusions (3) Drawing Skill (4) Rotework (5) Impatience (6) Feedback

Part 3: Traps and Pitfalls (students) (1)Motivation(hard!) (2) Prior conclusions (learning styles) (3) Drawing Skill (nervous sketchers) (4) Rotework(copying without thought) (5) Impatience(months, not weeks) (6) Feedback(in large classes--hard)

Part 3: Traps and Pitfalls (students) (1)Motivation(Persuasiveness & Desperation) (2) Prior conclusions (improve what’s worst) (3) Drawing Skill (practice; even stick figures work) (4) Rotework(Tell them: think, think, think) (5) Impatience(explain: it’s gonna take months) (6) Feedback(clear instructions or few students)

Part 3: Traps and Pitfalls (instructors) (1)Drawing Skill (2) Teaching it (3) Excess pressure to sketch (4) Impatience (yours) (5) Student misapplication (6) Fear: I’m wasting time

Part 3: Traps and Pitfalls (instructors) (1)Drawing Skill(Practice) (2) Teaching it(Start small: one exercise) (3) Excess pressure (Don’t -- some students loathe me) (4) Impatience (yours)(This is as hard to learn as anything else you teach) (5) Student misapplication* (Repeat, repeat, repeat) (6) Fear: I’m wasting time(Start small on HARD topics) * SEE: ”Drawing Attention to Diagram Use” E. Manalo & Y. Uesaka Science 334:761

Part 3: Traps and Pitfalls (instructors) (7) Providing Drawings (Students need to create their own) Students all tell me: my own drawings are MUCH better than yours for MY learning.

Exercise 8 (start now, then a take-home exercise & send it to me) Pick one concept for students to convert to a sketch & use this in an in-class exercise. (1) One exercise, for a particularly difficult & essential concept - Provide a sketch - Students turn in an improved version, multiple copies - On an exam, require using the sketch to solve a problem - On the same exam, a question of similar difficulty but no sketch

Pick one concept for students to convert to a sketch & use this in an in-class exercise. (2) For a second particularly difficult or complex & essential concept -Have students develop own sketch -Give feedback using rubric -Reproduce sketch from memory in class on three different days; -Explain to classmate (different classmate each day) -Students use their sketch to solve a problem on an exam Exercise 8 (start now, then a take-home exercise & send it to me)

Want more? Next steps? me comments/questions/examples THINGS TO DO: There is lots more: I can not distill all of this into one workshop! Good luck.

Reasons to draw -- expanded, but still not exhaustive 1. Students have to think about what the words mean to convert text to their own drawing; requires understanding 2. Simplification to minimal content (easier to remember) 3. Reasoning using representation 4.Communication to instructor of what is/is not understood 5. Reviewing is faster using sketches next to lists of terms than re-reading/reviewing words 6. Memory formation by repeated drawing from memory while thinking - Retrieval practice (see Science article from early 2011) 7. Independent but interacting memory pathway: - Neostriatal cortex skill memory “Implicit learning” pathway versus hippocampus-dependent “Explicit learning” pathway 8. Problem solving

Drawing to Learn: The Role that Visualization and Drawing Can Play in Learning Paul D. Heideman, Department of Biology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA Visualization and drawing of structures, events or concepts are useful in (a) learning, (b) fast, efficient development of memory, and (c) problem-solving in science and mathematics. In addition, simple sketches made by students can be a fast, effective way to diagnose individual student weaknesses and misunderstandings. Sketches can be especially helpful when students feel it is enough to memorize terms and definitions for a test, but they do not internalize the concepts and cannot use their content to solve new problems. This presentation of materials from a Noyce add- on class (How Students Learn) includes a brief review of the literature on “Drawing to Learn” with examples on using simple student sketches effectively. The materials will include exercises in sketching, instructions for students, grading rubrics, and suggested uses for teaching in STEM disciplines. Unhappily, things can go wrong. In 15 years of experience using student sketches in teaching in most of his classes, the presenter has learned many ways to go wrong as well as ways to make sketching work. The presentation will include strategies to avoid or correct problems and apply these methods effectively.