What do we think?
Diane Ebert-May
Department of Plant Biology
Michigan State University
ebertmay@msu.edu
http://first2.org
Engage
Question 1
Please respond on a scale of 1-5:
1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree
Active learning strategies enable students
to learn science better than passive
lectures.
Question 2
Please respond on a scale of 1-5:
1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree
Transition from a teacher-centered to a
learner-centered classroom must
accompany use of any learning resources.
Question 3
Please respond on a scale of 1-5:
1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree
At the beginning of each course, I
inventory my students’ learning styles and
adjust my classes according to the results.
Question 4
Please respond on a scale of 0-100
in increments of 10:
How important is it to use multiple kinds of
assessments to determine student
learning?
Question 5
Please respond on a scale of 0-100 (%)
in increments of 10:
The proportion of assessments I use in my
course that demonstrate students’ critical
thinking abilities is....
Question 6
Please respond on a scale of 1-5:
1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree
In my department, excellence in teaching
is highly regarded by my peers.
Question 1
Please respond on a scale of 1-5:
1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree
Active learning strategies enable students
to learn science better than passive
lectures.
Who are our
undergraduates?
Large Class Meeting
Scientific Teaching
Scientific teaching involves active
learning strategies to engage students
in the process of science.
Question 2
Please respond on a scale of 1-5:
1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree
Transition from a teacher-centered to a
learner-centered classroom must
accompany use of any learning resources.
Question 3
Please respond on a scale of 1-5:
1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree
At the beginning of each course, I
inventory my students’ learning styles and
adjust my classes according to the results.
Learning Styles and Strategies
1. Felder and Solomon..styles are:
Active and reflective
Sensing and intuitive
Visual and verbal
Sequential and global
2. VARK by Neil Fleming...styles are:
Visual, aural, read/write, kinesthetic
Question 4
Please respond on a scale of 0-100
in increments of 10:
How important is it to use multiple kinds of
assessments to determine student
learning?
Question 5
Please respond on a scale of 0-100 (%)
in increments of 10:
The proportion of assessments I use in my
course that demonstrate students’ critical
thinking abilities is....
What level of learning
do we ask of our students?
Bloom (1956)
Cognitive Domain of Educational Objectives
6 categories Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
Holistic Critical Thinking
Scoring Rubric
Facione and Facione 1994
Question 6
Please respond on a scale of 1-5:
1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree
In my department, excellence in teaching
is highly regarded by my peers.
Articles derived from journal papers
Explore
System
Model
Courses
How People Learn
Bransford et al 2004
Curriculum
Backwards Design
Identify desired
goals/objectives
Determine
acceptable
evidence
Design learning
experiences and
instruction
Wiggins and McTighe 1998
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 grainsizes)
Assessment Gradient
low
Potential for Assessment of Learning
high
Multiple Choice … … Concept Maps … … Essay … … Interview
high
Ease of Assessment
Theoretical Framework
• Ausubel 1968; meaningful learning
• Novak 1998; visual representations
• King and Kitchner 1994; reflective judgment
• National Research Council 1999; theoretical frameworks
for assessment
low
Explain
Consider the following statement:
“Many issues about student learning are
connected with motivating students to think
critically and inspire them to take ownership
and initiative for their own learning.” (Batzli et al
2006)
Question: How would you assess learning
resources designed to help students think
critically?
Talk-to-your-neighbor....
What is the role of models in
assessing critical thinking?
• Connections
• Organization
• Visualization
• Reasoning
• Testing mental models
www.ctools.msu.edu
Box Model
Can transgenes be kept on a leash?
•
Avida-Ed
Evolution of Prokaryotes
Next steps for analysis
1. Identify patterns of critical thinking.
Talk aloud protocol as students use tools
Code extended responses - align with
rubric
2. Ask questions and derive hypotheses about
student understanding.
Design classroom research
Faculty research goal:
Use both observational and empirical approaches
to answer a question about student learning.
Student goals:
Use effective and repeatable processes to address
ill-structured problems.
Demonstrate critical thinking.
Systematic observation
•
Design an ill-structured problem.
•
Students use guiding questions in groups.
•
Instructor uses systematic observations to
identify elements of the problem that are difficult
for students.
Comparison studies
What is the effectiveness of guiding questions
on problem-solving approaches to address illstructured problems?
Guiding questions
1.What things do you know or think you know about
this problem?
2.What things do you not know?
3.What things are not known in the scientific
community studying similar problems?
4.What things can you find out, given review papers,
primary scientific literature, and data?
Study designs
Challenge: determining the internal and external
validity of the study design.
Multiple-group comparison
•
Multiple sections one semester
•
Single course - multiple years
Intervention:
iii. Homework with guiding questions
iv. Homework without guiding questions
Concept 2 Concept 1
Day 2
Day 1
Split-group comparison
Pretest
In-class active
learning
Guiding Qs
No Guiding Qs
Pretest
In-class active
learning
No Guiding Qs
Class of 120 students
randomly assigned to 2
treatment groups (n=60)
Guiding Qs
Multiple Forms of Assessment
(midterm and final exams)
Students alternate between
completing guiding
questions and not using
guiding questions.
What about dissemination?
FIRST III 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
What is 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
•Why - study description
Do students learn better?
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)
Team at MSU
•Rett Weber - Plant Biology (postdoctoral researcher)
•Deb Linton - Plant Biology [Tri-C Community College)
•Duncan Sibley - Geology
•Doug Luckie - Physiology
•Scott Harrison - Microbiology (graduate student)
•Tammy Long - Plant Biology
•Heejun Lim - Chemistry Education (Korea)
•Rob Pennock - Philosophy
•Charles Ofria - Engineering
•Rich Lenski - Microbiolgy
•Janet Batzli - Plant Biology [U of Wisconsin]
•
How would you alter this design
for your course?
•
Objective: assess students’ higher-level thinking.
•
What is the question?
•
How would you change the problem?
•
Would students do the problem in class,
homework, lab, discussion section?
•
Schemes to evaluate work.
•
Classroom research design.
Objective (outcome)
Students will demonstrate
understanding of evolution by
natural selection.
Alternative Conceptions:
Natural Selection
•Changes in a population occur through a gradual
change in individual members of a population.
•New traits in species are developed in response
to need.
•All members of a population are genetically
equivalent, variation and fitness are not
considered.
•Traits acquired during an individual’s lifetime will
be inherited by offspring.
Instructional Design
Enable students to gain meaningful
understanding of evolution and natural
selection through active learning.
Pre-test: extended response. Explain the changes that
occurred in the tree and animal. Use your current
understanding of evolution by natural selection.
Hauser F. 1990. AAAS
Rubric: Code Responses
Misconceptions
Correct
P = Change in the individual
Change in the population
C = Need to Change/ Must
Change/ Choice
Change due to genes
V = All members of a population
are equally fit
Individuals within a
population have varying
fitness levels
G = Traits acquired during a
lifetime are passed on
Genetic traits help the
individual to survive and
reproduce
P __
C __
V __
G__
I = Incorrect
ND = No data
C =Correct
P = Partially correct