1. Teaching and Learning - ICMed
Grenmarie Agresar, Ph. D.
Instructional Consultant
Center for Research on Learning and Teaching in Engineering

2. Goals for today
By the end of this session, participants should be able to:
Describe general principles of how people learn
Use strategies to actively engage students in learning
Define learning objectives and design lessons aligned with them

3. Before we begin… Write these words: TABLE REPLY HANDLE BELOW DEFINE
Write the following and fill in the blanks to create words:
BL _ _ _
PIA _ _
CLO _ _
STU _ _
DAN _ _
Then, please turn over your paper.

4. How do people learn?
Herb Simon, Nobel Laureate, Carneige Mellon University
Nobel Price in Economics

5. Science of Learning Evidence from different disciplines are converging
Education, Psychology, Social sciences, Anthropology
Neurobiology
Discipline Based Education Research (DBER)

6. Knowledge is constructed by the learner in a social context
We learn best when we
connect to prior knowledge
place it in larger context
think it is important
Cognitive conflict is common
We learn best by “doing”

7. To Learn Best We Need Goal-directed practice Metacognition
Sense of belonging

8. What is Active Learning?
Think-Pair-Share (3 mins):
Ask participants to come up with a definition for “active learning” Give them 30 secs to think on their own before asking them to exchange ideas with a partner. (1 minute). Be sure to let them know that you will call on 2-3 volunteers to share their definitions. Take about 1 minute for the “share” portion of the activity.
Language for consideration:
“Jot down on your paper, your definition of active learning. In a moment, we’ll provide you an opportunity to share with a partner.
Within your pairs, review each other’s definition and see if you can build upon your definition of active learning. We will call upon a few of you in 3 minutes to share your ideas with the entire group.”

9. What is Active Learning?
“Any instructional method that engages students in the learning process … [it] requires students to do meaningful learning activities and think about what they are doing.” M. Prince, Chemical Engineering, Bucknell University
General definition (1 min)
Language for consideration:
“Although there is no universal definition in educational literature, here are two definitions that support the ideas that you all mentioned:
Read definition on slide.
Michael Prince, is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Bucknell University. He wrote the pioneering review article on active learning called “Does Active Learning Work? A Review of the Research.

10. Why Should We Use Active Learning?
Promotes a range of learning
Reflection on why, what, how
Leads to higher student performance
Why use active learning (2 min)
Language for consideration:
“I want to spend a little bit of time giving you a bit of background on active learning and the impacts of using active learning in courses. Active Learning has been studied in the educational literature for many decades and I want to share a synthesis of some of the reasons researchers advocate active learning.
When implemented effectively, active learning has the potential to:
Promote a range of learning from mastery of facts to higher-order critical thinking (design intuition, analysis, problem solving)
Require students to do something and think about what they have done (speak, write, compute, organize, problem-solve, apply concepts, etc.)
Leads to higher performance on a variety of assessments. More specifically, a 2014 article which conducted a meta-analysis of 225 studies, indicated that active learning increases examination performance by just under half a SD (.47) and that lecturing increases failure rates by 55%. (Freeman et. al 2014).
(Davis, 2009; Freeman et.al., 2014; Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 2006; Prince, 2004; Wankat & Oreovicz, 1993)

11. What does research tell us about active learning?
Using Pauses for Students to Review Notes
45 Minute Lecture
Lecture with Three
2-Minute Breaks
Traditional Lecture
Research—Pause procedure (3 min)
Language for consideration:
“So, what does educational research say about active learning?
let’s look at a more simplified application of active learning….”
Excerpt from Michael Prince’s “Does Active Learning Really Work?”, Journal of Engineering Education, July 2004, p225
“One example of this is for the lecturer to pause periodically and have students clarify their notes with a partner. This can be done two or three times during an hour-long class. Because this pause procedure is so simple, it provides a baseline to study whether short, informal student activities can improve the effectiveness of lectures.
Ruhl et al. [33] show some significant results of adopting this pause procedure. In a study involving 72 students over two courses in each of two semesters, the researchers examined the effect of interrupting a 45-minute lecture three times with two-minute breaks during which students worked in pairs to clarify their notes. In parallel with this approach, they taught a separate group using a straight lecture and then tested short and long-term retention of lecture material. “
[33] Ruhl, K., C. Hughes, and P. Schloss, “Using the Pause Procedure to Enhance Lecture Recall,” Teacher Education and Special Education, Vol. 10, Winter 1987, pp. 14–18
Ruhl, K., C. Hughes, and P. Schloss, “Using the Pause Procedure to Enhance Lecture Recall,” Teacher Education and Special Education, Vol. 10, Winter 1987, pp. 14–18.

12. Active Learning Enhances Recall
Short Term Recall
Based on number of facts recalled after a lecture
Long Term Recall
Based on average exam score
> 30%
Research—Pause procedure continued (3 min)
Have participants predict what they thought the outcomes would be. (1 min)
Excerpt continued from Michael Prince’s “Does Active Learning Really Work?”, Journal of Engineering Education, July 2004, p225
“Short-term retention was assessed by a free-recall exercise where students wrote down everything they could remember in three minutes after each lecture and results were scored by the number of correct facts recorded. Short-term recall with the pause procedure averaged 108 correct facts compared to 80 correct facts recalled in classes with straight lecture.
Long-term retention was assessed with a 65 question multiple-choice exam given one and a half weeks after the last of five lectures used in the study. Test scores were 89.4 with the pause procedure compared to 80.9 without pause for one class, and 80.4 with the pause procedure compared to 72.6 with no pause in the other class. Further support for the effectiveness of pauses during the lecture is provided by Di Vesta [34].”
[33] Ruhl, K., C. Hughes, and P. Schloss, “Using the Pause Procedure to Enhance Lecture Recall,” Teacher Education and Special Education, Vol. 10, Winter 1987, pp. 14–18
10% higher
Ruhl, K., C. Hughes, and P. Schloss, “Using the Pause Procedure to Enhance Lecture Recall,” Teacher Education and Special Education, Vol. 10, Winter 1987, pp. 14–18

13. What does research tell us about active learning?
Control
Experiment
Instructor: Experienced faculty member
Teaching Methods: pre-class readings & lecture
Instructor: 2 Graduate Student Instructors
Teaching Methods: pre-class reading & quizzes, concept questions, group tasks, and instructor feedback during the class (no lectures)
Research—Active Learning vs. Lecture (1 min)
Language for consideration:
“Deslauriers, Schelew, & Wineman (2011) examined student’s test scores in a physics course in a control and experimental section.  The control section was taught by an experienced faculty member (Carl Weinman) using a lecture-based approach with pre-class reading; while the experimental section was taught by two graduate student instructors who used an integrated active learning approach consisting of  pre-class reading & quizzes, concept questions, group tasks, and instructor feedback during the class.”  
Photo Credit
Photo Credit :
Deslauriers, L., Schelew, E., & Wieman, C. (2011, May 13). Improved Learning in a Large-Enrollment Physics Class. Science,

14. Active Learning Improves Performance
Research—Active Learning vs. Lecture (2 min)
Language for consideration:
“The students in the active learning class performed more than twice as well as the students in the lecture-based class even though the students performance  prior to the intervention was comparable for other physics concepts. Similarly, students in the active learning class report positive impressions of the experience (Deslauriers, et. al., 2011).”
Deslauriers, L., Schelew, E., & Wieman, C. (2011, May 13). Improved Learning in a Large-Enrollment Physics Class. Science,

15. Active Learning Strategies
Type
Description
Minute Paper
“Today, we discussed conductive heat transfer. List as many of the principal features of this process as you can remember. You have two minutes – go!”
Think-Pair-Share
Thinking Aloud Paired Problem Solving
Similar to pair-programming
One “explainer”, one “listener”
Switch roles
Brainstorming
Prompt students for ideas
Accept all without judgement
Access prior knowledge
Case Studies
real-life stories to prompt
make connections to the real-world
(eg.
Briefly describe these four strategies (summarize the text below):
Minute Paper: At an appropriate point in the class. ask the students to take out a blank sheet of paper. Then, ask the topic or question you want students to address; for example, “Today, we discussed conductive heat transfer. List as many of the principal features of this process as you can remember. You have two minutes – go!” Notice that this was also one of the classroom assessment techniques (the technique is the same, the reason for using it is different. If you collect the writing and read it, then is also serves as a CAT). In fact, all CATs involve students in active learning!
Think-Pair-Share (we did this earlier, and will again shortly): Have students first work on a given problem individually, then compare their answers with a partner and finally share ideas with the class. The individual time to think makes the other engagements more useful.
Thinking Aloud Paired Problem Solving: In pairs, students describe in detail how they would solve a problem, approach a case study, or interpret data. Taking turns, one student would serve as the “explainer,” while the other student listens and asks clarifying questions. After a while, the students switch roles. Key here is that students say what they are thinking (make their thinking visible). Tie to metacognition from the science of learning.
Brainstorming (we just used this with the Learning Activities): Introduce a topic or problem and then ask for student input. Give students a minute to write down their ideas, and then record them on the board. For example, “What are possible safety (environmental, quality control) problems we might encounter with the process unit we just designed?” could be a brainstorm topic in an engineering class.
Case Studies: Use real-life stories that describe what happened to a community, family, school, industry or individual to prompt students to integrate their classroom knowledge with their knowledge of real-world situations, actions, and consequences. (See for sample cases)
(2 min)

16. Active learning works best when the activity is chosen to accomplish a specific learning goal.
Take home point & transition (1 min)
Language for consideration:
“Just to be clear, activity just for the sake a activity is not what’s driving these results. But rather, active learning works best when the activity is chosen to accomplish a specific learning goal. By goals, I mean, what do you want your students to be able to learn, know or be able to do after completing this activity?. For instance, the goal for the “definition exercise” was to activate your prior knowledge about this topic, so that as we discuss strategies, you can build upon your knowledge. This is a technique that is much supported by the science of learning.”

17. Learning Objectives are Central to Teaching and Learning

18. Lesson Planning – Backward Design
“Begin with the end in mind”
Learning Objectives
Classroom Assessment
Learning Activities
The last step in Backward Design, is to ask “what experiences can I offer my students that will help them master the objectives/succeed in the assessment?” – this leads to the learning activities [CLICK]
Planning in this order, ensures that the assessments and the learning activities are aligned with the objectives. (Everything is goal directed).
(30 sec)

19. Sample Objectives The objectives of this course are:
1) to provide fundamental background of thermodynamics principles, and
2) to develop analytic ability in real-world engineering applications using thermodynamics principles.
By the end of the semester, students will be able to: 
3) understand the importance of homeostasis in the human body.
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to: 
4) calculate the time-evolution of a 2-state system using Schrodinger’s equation.
Go back to science of learning, which of these are better?

20. Learning Objectives should be...

21. Bloom’s Taxonomy
Google “Bloom’s Taxonomy Wheel or follow link
Bottom three domains (purple) are higher order thinking, top three domains are lower order thinking.
Yellow – active verbs to use in learning objectives
Green – products that can be used to assess progress towards learning objectives in that domain

22. Traditional Lecture vs. Lecture with Active Learning
Please do NOT flip over your note card!
Do you remember those ten words your wrote down at the beginning of this session?
Please write them on the back of the note card.
Language for consideration:
“Ok, now it’s time for a quiz. On the back side of your index card write down as many words as you recall (let’s take one minute to do this. [Pause] How many did you remember? Raise your hand if you remember more of the words from the fill-in-the-blank column (second column).
Remember … Learning and retention is better when self-generated and active. In our example here, we’re recalling factual knowledge, but this idea extends to higher-order learning. People are more likely to retain learning that they’ve constructed themselves.
We’d like to acknowledge Thad Polk, Arthur F Thurnau Professor and Professor of Psychology, for this exercise.”
Additional ideas for consideration:
“Common lecture-based practices: The instructor introduces material and expects the students to take home and study/master. The lecture is not a great tool for information/skill mastery. It’s great for information delivery, synthesize and integrate diverse information, and highlight connections and relationships. Using more active learning strategies engages students in the process of mastering the material.”

23. Final Thoughts Start small Plan ahead Identify a goal
Specific and measurable
Give clear instructions
Explain your reasoning
Don’t give up if one strategy doesn’t work
Final thoughts (2 minute)
Refer students to the handout about overcoming barriers to active learning
Language for consideration:
“When using a new teaching method, start small. Don’t overhaul your entire course, but try out one activity and increase your confidence and skill with implementing a new teaching method. Be prepared and plan ahead so that you can clearly align your activity with a goal that you have for students. Offer clear directions so students know what is expected of them and how much time they have to complete the exercise. Further, some students may be reluctant to engage, so be sure to share your reasoning, (you can even highlight some of the educational literature that points to the increase in student performance). Start early and try out techniques often. Don’t give up if one strategy doesn’t work, think about both the strengths and areas of improvement to inform your choices for the next time. A nice summary of some best practices for making active learning work can be found in your resources packet.”

24. Where Do I Find Out More? Teaching and Learning Centers
crlt.umich.edu
crlte.engin.umich.edu/resources/faculty-videos/
American Society for Engineering Education
Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER)
Several Books