Pathways to Scientific Teaching Diane Ebert-May Department of Plant Biology Michigan State University ebertmay@msu.edu http://first2.org Q uickTim e™ and a G r aphics decom pr essor ar e needed t o see t his pict ur e. Engage Question 1 Where on the continuum is the ideal classroom ? • Question 2 Where on the continuum is your classroom ? • Teacher to Learner Centered Continuum: What does it look like? Where are you? How People Learn Bransford et al 1999, 2004 Explore: Out of Thin Air What is going on? • Teaching without Learning! • Brainstorm: • Diagnose situation - the learning challenge • Where is the missing link?..misconception? How and when do you identify student learning difficulties? Don’t have to grade Pre-test (e.g., diagnostic questions - identify misconceptions) Engagement activity - brain teaser, discussion starter, ‘need to know’ questions Surveys or polls (clickers?) Others May use pretest or diagnostic (clicker) question Example Problem Experimental setup: Weighed out 3 batches of radish seeds each weighing 1.5 g. Experimental treatments: 1. Seeds placed on DRY paper towels in LIGHT 2. Seeds placed on WET paper towels in LIGHT 3. Seeds placed on WET paper towels in DARK Problem (cont) After 1 week, all plant material was dried in an oven overnight (no water left) and plant biomass was measured in grams. Predict the biomass of the plant material in the various treatments. • • • • No Water, light Water, light Water dark No idea Results Mass of Radish Seeds/Seedlings 1.46 g 1.63 g 1.20 g Write an explanation about the results. Explain the results. Write individually on carbonless paper. Misconceptions about Photosynthesis, Respiration, and the Carbon Cycle • Photosynthesis as Energy • Biomass from Soil • Energy as Biomass • All Green • Plant Altruism • Thin Air • Respiration as ‘breathing’ • One Earth - All together now What is assessment? Data collection with the purpose of answering questions about… students’ understanding students’ attitudes students’ skills instructional design and implementation curricular reform (at multiple grain sizes) Informing BOTH instructors and students about learning. Jigsaw New groups: 5 groups of 4 Count off -- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 All 1s work on same paper ....2s, 3s, 4s, 5s Return to ‘home’ groups and share what you found in each of the papers. Report out Paper Assignments Group 1: Climate change.... Group 2: Novel assessments... Group 3: Practicing scientific inquiry... Group 4: Unleashing problem solvers... Group 5: Active homework... In your groups: Read the paper, discuss, record... 1. What are the student learning goals? 2. What is the Bloom-level of each goal? 3. Describe the type of assessment used in the unit. Do the assessments align with the goals? 4. What are the active learning strategies? Return to “home” groups: Select two types of assessments that you learned about in the papers. 1.Compare two types of assessments. 2.Brainstorm other types of assessments. Explain Assessment and Feedback Approaches • Subsample= You don’t need to grade everything!! • Classroom Assessment Techniques (Angelo & Cross 1993); Muddiest Point, Minute papers etc.. • Pyramid Exams- Individual 75% + Group 25% • Diagnostic Questions & Clickers • Rubrics Assessment Gradient High Ease of Multiple Choice, T/F Diagrams, Concept maps, Quantitative response Assessment Short answer Essay, Research papers/ reports Low Oral Interview Theoretical Framework • Ausubel 1968; meaningful learning • Novak 1998; visual representations • King and Kitchner 1994; reflective judgment • National Research Council 1999; theoretical frameworks Low Potential for Assessment of Learning High Instructional Design How do you go about developing a unit on the Carbon Cycle? How would you start? What would you do? Backward Design Learning Objective Identify desired results Learning Outcome Determine acceptable evidence Like This? Assessments Data collected & Feedback given Instructional Design & Activities Planned learning experiences and instruction Adapted from Wiggins and McTighe 1998, 2005 Backward Design Instructional Design Worksheet How do you go about developing a unit on the Carbon Cycle? Activity: • Misconception- List a common misconception for carbon cycle. • Learning objective- Write the correct version of the concept. • Learning outcome- Describe the specific performance or behavior that will demonstrate student understanding. (Use Bloom’s Taxonomy of another resource to help articulate the outcomes.) • Activity- Describe the activity that will engage students and help them achieve the learning objective • Assessment- Describe the evidence you will collect and the type of feedback you will give students to define their progress towards understanding. How am I going to grade all this stuff?? Case: Workshop Woes? “I attended a workshop about assessment, and the main thing I learned is that I am suppposed to assess students before class so I can target what the students need to know. So, I created a series of pre-class quizzes for the students, but most students don’t do them because they are not graded. However, I don’t have time to grade 320 of these each week--- much less the 16 other assessments that the workshop suggested. I’ll just go back to trusting my gut to know how well the students are doing.” Case: Workshop Woes? • What issues might be contributing to this situation? • What is the professor’s definition of assessment? • Other than grades, what strategies could motivate the students to participate in assessments? • What suggestions do you have for the professor? • Have you faced similar challenges? What do the instructors need to know? What are students learning well? What are students learning poorly? How to promote learning by improving instruction, learning activities, assignments, classroom climate What do the students need to know? What are they learning well? What are they learning poorly? Information on how to improve-- not just grades, but feedback. How do we develop rubrics? Describe the goal/objective for the activity, problem, task... Select the assessment tasks aligned with goals Develop performance standards Differentiate levels of responses based on clearly described criteria Rate (assign value) the categories Results Mass of Radish Seeds/Seedlings 1.46 g 1.63 g 1.20 g Explain why the LIGHT, WATER gained about mass,the while the other Write an explanation results. treatments lost mass.. Write individually on carbonless paper. Practice with sample responses How would you go about grading these responses? What criteria would you use? Scoring Rubric for Quizzes and Homework Level of Achievement Exemplary (5 pts) General Approach • Addresses the question. • States a relevant, justifiable answer. • Presents arguments in a logical order. • Uses acceptable style and grammar (no errors). Comp rehension • Demonstrates an accurate and complete understanding of the question. • Backs conclusions with data and warrants. • Uses 2 or more ideas, examples and/or arguments that support the answer. Adequate (3 pts) • Does not address the question explicitly, although does so tangentially. • States a relevant and justifiable answer. • Presents arguments in a logical order. • Uses acceptable style and grammar (one error). • Demonstrates accurate but only adequate understanding of question because does not back conclusions with w arrants and data. • Uses only one idea to support the answer. • Less thorough than above. Needs Improveme nt (1 pt) • Does not address the question. • States no relevant answers • indicates misconceptions. • Is n ot clearly or logically organized. • Fails to use acceptable style and grammar (two or more errors). • Does not demonstrate accurate understanding of the question. • Does not provide evidence to support their answer to the question. No Answer (0 pts) Ebert-May http://www.flaguide.org/cat/rubrics/rubrics1.php Advantages of Scoring Rubrics Improve the reliability of scoring written assignments and oral presentations Convey goals and performance expectations of students in an unambiguous way Convey “grading standards” or “point values” and relate them to performance goals Engage students in critical evaluation of their own performance Save time but spend it well Write a scenario that explains the phenotypic changes in the trees and animals. Use your understanding of evolution by natural selection. Coding Student Responses Misconceptions Correct Change in the individual Change in the population Need to Change/ Must Change/ Choice Change due to genes All members of a population are equally fit Individuals within a population have varying fitness levels Traits acquired during a lifetime are passed on Genetic traits help the individual to survive and reproduce Assessment Database Upload Student Data Spreadsheet Questions Spreadsheet Student ID Spreadsheet Link Qs and student answers EdML FIRST III Database De-identified student data Download Search Results eg. Excel, SAS, SPSS Search Faculty Computer Database Server “Educational Metadata Standard” EdMD • Based on Ecological Metadata Standards (Michener 1997) • Describe what collected, who collected, where collected, when collected, how collected, why collected What is in the Educational Metadata Standard? Where •Institution, class size How •Experimental and sampling design •Administration of assessments •Instructional design Who •Project personnel What Assessment instruments Rubrics and assessment concepts Why Classroom study How do I use the database? • Finding assessment instruments • Administer the instrument, teach, and prepare student data • Prepare metadata and upload student assessment data • Analysis and download • Results of analyses Do students learn better? Team at MSU •Rett Weber - Plant Biology (postdoctoral researcher) •Deb Linton - Plant Biology (postdoctoral researcher) •Duncan Sibley - Geology •Doug Luckie - Physiology •Scott Harrison - Microbiology (graduate student) •Tammy Long - Plant Biology •Heejun Lim - Chemistry Education •Rob Pennock - Philosophy •Charles Ofria - Engineering •Rich Lenski - Microbiolgy •Janet Batzli - Plant Biology [U of Wisconsin] Finally... “...we note that successful people are the ones who take advantage of those around them to ultimately benefit students.” •Ebert-May D, Weber R, Hodder J, Batzli J (2006)