1. Experts in the classroom
Julanna Gilbert
Director, Center for Teaching & Learning
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

2. Knowledge Experts
Experts are not necessarily able to teach their field to others
Experts need knowledge about how to teach in particular disciplines (“pedagogical content knowledge”)
Shulman, L., “Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform”, Harvard Educational Review 57:1-22 , 1987.

3. Knowledge Processing Experts Novices
Significant knowledge of field, new information easy to retain/interpret
See patterns of information & organize knowledge to support understanding
Have “conditionalized” knowledge
Can easily retrieve & use relevant information
Novices
Little knowledge of field – new information hard to retain/interpret
See surface characteristics, organize information sequentially to support recall
Have difficulty considering conditions
Struggle to retrieve & use relevant information
Disconnects that exist between experts and novices in knowledge processing
National Research Council, “ How people learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School”, eighth printing, 2003.

4. Feedback
Summative assessment
– measures what students have learned at the end of a course or part of a course
Formative assessment
– learner friendly feedback to improve learning & teaching
Formative – not the Friday quiz for which info is memorized the night before, or anything for which the student is given a grade that ranks him or her with respect to classmates. – Provide student with opportunities to revise and improve their thinking, help students see their own progress over the course of weeks or months, help teachers identify problems that need to be remedied.
Summative: When students participate in formative assessment techniques, they will be better prepared for the TEST!

5. Learning Issue Teaching Strategy
Little knowledge of field, new information hard to retain/interpret
Teaching Strategy
Be aware of knowledge level of students
Frequent formative assessment helps here.
The knowledge and misunderstandings they bring with them into the class will shape what they learn in the class. Teachers must draw out and work with the preexisting understandings that their students bring with them.
In the beginning:
Ask students to write a brief description of what they think your course (field) is about
Ask students for a brief description of any experience they have in your area
As course proceeds:

6. Learning Issue Teaching Strategy Make thinking visible
See surface characteristics, organize information sequentially to support recall
Teaching Strategy
Make thinking visible
Student thinking. Frequent formative assessment helps here.
Have students engage in activities that make visible the processes of their thinking, rather than merely the conclusions of their thinking. Provide a template of general points to be considered, have small groups interact so that students bounce their thinking off of each other before reporting in class
Expert thinking. Model expert thinking, being careful to make explicit the strategies and techniques that are implicit in expert thinking. (don’t just give the result, but explicitly show all of the steps that you take to lead to the result)

7. Learning Issue Teaching Strategy
Have difficulty considering conditions
Teaching Strategy
Make use of contrasting examples
Contrasting cases – two examples whose differences highlight a particular point or set of points – can illustrate the particular points you are highlighting as an instructor. Note that experts are more likely than novices to see the relevant contrast between two complex cases that are similar in many respects. So, it’s best to start with relatively simple cases and then move to complexity as understanding deepens.
Provide a list of issues/problems ask students (in small groups) to categorize the list.
Ask different groups for their categories.
Discuss
Give examples that appear similar, but will be treated differently because of the conditions of the examples.

8. How did I really learn law?
How can I implement some of my successful learning techniques directly into my classroom?

9. Final comments Depth vs. breadth
Just because it was “covered” doesn’t mean that the students got it
Focus class time on the essential elements
The most important people in the classroom are the students who are there to learn. Rejoice in their learning.
Students are smarter than you think!
Elements from which students will be able to elaborate if they really understand these

10. To learn more The New Faculty Workshop Series
The Center for Teaching & Learning
Penrose Library, top floor southeast corner