ACTIVE LEARNING: Putting “how people learn” to work Robin Wright

Entrepreneurial teachers  What is active learning?

Active learning activity (ALA) example: think – pair – share

a new word… metadidaxis Learning objectives:  Define & experience metacognition  Apply that knowledge to metadidaxis

Metacognition… thinking about thinking  Awareness of my thinking processes What do I know? What do I need to know? Where will I find it? How will it be evaluated?  Planning my strategies How long will it take? What are my priorities? How should I organize my time? Am I on the right track? What approach should I use?  Reflection (formative/summative) What works best for me? What doesn’t? Is this approach generally useful? Why? Why not? What can I take away from this experience?

What are the three components of metacognition?

What happened in your brain? x-Brontosaurus_(PSF).jpg

Metacognition… consciously monitoring thinking x-Brontosaurus_(PSF).jpg

What are the three components of metacognition?

Metadidaxis… consciously monitoring your teaching  Awareness of my students & my goals What do my students know? What do they need to know? Where will they learn it? How will they (& I) evaluate it?  Planning how to achieve these goals How long will it take? What are my priorities? How should I organize my time? Am I on the right track? What approach should I use? What will they do?  Reflection (formative & summative) What works best for my students? What doesn’t? Is this approach generally useful? Why? Why not? What can I take away from this class?

Metadidaxis… consciously monitoring your teaching

What is learning? How do you know when you know something? How do you know when your students know something?

What do we know about learning?

What is learning? Information, ideas, & skills that a person can  Use after a significant period of disuse  Apply to a new problem PsychologyBiology

Key findings about learning 1. The person who _____ does the learning. 2. The brain is social; _____ learn better _____. 3. Each brain is _____. 4. Making memories requires _____, _____, and _____. 5. Human brains work best when _____ are activated, but _____ is most important. 6. Brains can’t NOT learn – capacity is essentially infinite. There’s always hope! After Terry Doyle,

Key findings about learning  The person who does the work (questing) does the learning.  The brain is social – groups of brains almost always learn better than individual brains.  Each brain is unique and elastic.  Making memories requires repetition, feedback, elaboration, and sleep.  Human brains work best when multiple senses are activated, but vision is most important.  Brains can’t NOT learn – capacity is essentially infinite. There’s always hope! After Terry Doyle,

ALA rubric  Is the student doing the work?  Are students working together & exchanging information, ideas, skills?  Does the activity engage multiple brains? Are students each learning in a meaningful way?  Does the activity offer multiple opportunities for repetition/practice, feedback, elaboration, and sleep?  Does the activity involve multiple senses?  Brains can’t NOT learn – capacity is essentially infinite. There’s always hope! After Terry Doyle,

What does active learning look like? Active Learning Activity (ALA) Rubric  The person who does the work does the learning.  The brain is social – groups of brains almost always learn better than individual brains.  Brains are different.  Making memories requires repetition, elaboration, and sleep.  Human brains work best when multiple senses are activated, but vision is most important.  Brains can’t NOT learn – capacity is essentially infinite. There’s always hope! After Terry Doyle,

ALA example: invoke humanity continuum

Alex Deford  From Alex, the Life of a Child  By Frank Deford (1983, 1997)  / ?v=glance&n= / ?v=glance&n=283155

Another key finding about learning  Emotion can promote or interfere with learning. After Terry Doyle,

GAINS LOSSES

Learner centered Knowledge centered Assessment centered Community centered acknowledge prior knowledge? promote metacognition? provide feedback? begin where students are? help organize information? focus on principles & concepts? Formative assessment? Summative assessment? Alignment with activities? provide social context? exportable outside classroom? Environments that Promote Learning