How To Engage Students in
Active Learning
Robert W. Schwartz
Materials Science & Engineering
University of Missouri-Rolla
Materials Science & Engineering
Overview
• Effective Teaching Methods
– The key points
– Learning styles
• Active Learning
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What is it?
Why do it?
Methods and how to do it
Examples
• Summary, Resources, and Advice
Materials Science & Engineering
Aspects to Effective Teaching
• Preparation
– Thoroughly prepare
– Time management (course may not be perfect the first time)
• Make some time to utilize resources
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Formal programs
Mentorship (learn from effective teachers; also Mentornet)
E&T Funds
Many others
• Know something about how students learn
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Bloom’s Taxonomy (knowledge, comprehension, … evaluation)
Educational objectives (specific measurable outcomes)
Learning styles
Techniques for problem solving
Newer philosophy – more focus in class toward concepts;
problem solving remains focus for homework
• Figure out what works for you
– Not every method will work for every person
Materials Science & Engineering
Active Learning and Learning Styles
Index of Learning Styles
Myers-Briggs and others
Sample Question:
I understand something better after I:
a. Try it out
b. Think it through
Learning Style:
Active processing
Teaching Style:
Student Participation
Typical instructional strategy:
Variety of techniques to address
learning style differences
NETI, 1998
Materials Science & Engineering
What is Active Learning?
• Active learning
– Activities that engage students in doing something besides listening to a
lecture and taking notes to help them learn and apply course material
– Students may be talking or listening to one another, writing, reading, or
reflecting individually
• Collaborative learning
– Subset of active learning
– Engage students in interacting with one another
• Cooperative learning
– Subset of collaborative learning involving students interacting with one
another under certain conditions (more structured activities)
NETI, 1998
Materials Science & Engineering
Why Active Learning?
Confucius (400 BC):
• What I hear, I forget.
• What I see, I remember.
• What I do, I understand.
Silberman (1996):
• What I hear, I forget.
• What I hear and see, I remember a little.
• What I hear, see, and ask questions about or discuss with
someone else, I begin to understand.
• What I hear, see, discuss and do, I acquire knowledge and skill.
• What I teach to another, I master.
Silberman (Active Learning; 1996)
Materials Science & Engineering
Why Active Learning?
Seeing and Hearing is Not Enough
• Brain does not function as audio or visual tape recorder.
• Incoming information is being processed; i.e., the brain
is asking questions:
– Have I heard or seen this information before?
– Where does this information fit in? What can I do with it?
– Can I assume that this is the same idea that I had yesterday or
last month?
• Active classrooms give opportunities for information to
be better processed
Silberman (Active Learning; 1996)
Materials Science & Engineering
Leaning Improved when Students Asked to do
Something with the Information
• Partner discussions – up to two letter grade
improvement
• State the information in their own words
• Give examples of it
• Recognize it in various guises and circumstances
• See connections between it and other ideas
• Make use of it in various ways
Silberman (Active Learning; 1996)
Materials Science & Engineering
Ten Methods to Get Participation
Open Discussion – not simply “Are there any questions?”
Response Cards – answers to posed questions on submitted index cards
(more anonymity)
3. Polling – a short survey that is passed out and tallied to focus discussion
4. Subgroup Discussions – share and record information; develop questions
and promote further consideration
5. Learning Partners – work on tasks or discuss key questions with the
student next to them
6. Whips – go around group and obtain short answers to key questions
7. Panels – small group of students may present views in front of entire class
8. Fishbowl – discussion circle with remainder of class listening in.
9. Games – Family Feud, Jeopardy, Millionaire
10. Calling on the Next Speaker – student view sharing and calling on next
student
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Silberman (Active Learning; 1996)
Materials Science & Engineering
Informal Cooperative Learning Structures – In
Class (Problem Solving) Teams
• Get together teams of 2 – 4 and choose team recorder
– Can use birthdays, locations, other to pick teams or recorder
• Give teams 30 seconds to 5 minutes to:
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Recall prior material
Answer a question
Start a problem solution
Work out the next step in a derivation
Think of an example or application
Sketch and label a flow chart (free body diagram, etc.) for this system
Sketch a plot of the problem solution
Give several reasons why you might need to know the solution
What variations to this problem might I put on the next test?
Brainstorm a question
NETI, 1998; Feldman, Chem. Eng. Educ. V. 26 (1) 18 – 19 (1992)
Materials Science & Engineering
Informal Cooperative Learning
Structures – Think-Pair-Share
• Students think of answers individually
• Students then form pairs to produce joint answers
• Students share answers with class
• Option: Two (or more) pairs may share answers with
each other before sharing with class
NETI, 1998
Materials Science & Engineering
Informal Cooperative Learning
Structures – Note Taking Pairs
• Students form pairs to work together during class
• After short lecture segment, one partner summarizes
notes for the other partner
• Second partner adds information or corrects
• Goal: For everyone to improve his or her notes
NETI, 1998
Materials Science & Engineering
Other Informal CL Structures
• Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning
– Student provided generic question stems (e.g., “What is the
difference between …. and …
– Each student prepares questions using stems
– Each student takes turns asking questions
• TAPPS (Thinking Aloud Pair Problem Solving)
– Students form pairs
– Instructor defines activity
– Problem solver talks through first part of solution; listener
questions and prompts
– Reverse roles
NETI, 1998
Materials Science & Engineering
Implementing Informal CL
• Have students form in groups of 2 – 4 where they are sitting
• Assign crucial roles (note taker, time keeper)
• Explain the task
– For more complicated task, use overhead
• For longer exercises, circulate about the room, listening and
giving hints
• Remember the value of variety
NETI, 1998
Materials Science & Engineering
Formal Cooperative Learning
• Team homework
• Team projects
– Student prepared tests
• Jigsaw
– Teams comprised of expert groups
• Pairs Testing
– Results seem positive
Materials Science & Engineering
Ex. 1: Subgroup Discussion
First Class in Crystallography
• Instructional Objectives
– At the conclusion of this lecture, the student will be able to:
• Describe in general terms to a friend, what is meant by the term
“growth morphology.”
• Recognize general characteristics of two different crystal classes
• Lecture prior to exercise
– Preface exercise with questions to class about what is a crystal and
additional discussion regarding relationship between atomic and
macroscopic properties
• Active Learning Exercise
– Instructions
• Split up into groups of four and identified three different crystal
stations for each group to visit
• Spend 5 minutes per station noting observations about
characteristics of crystals that they observed at each station
• Reconvene in class room in 15 minutes prepared to share their
observations with the class
Materials Science & Engineering
Ex. 1: Crystallography Exercise (cont.)
• Concepts introduced by discussion
– Morphology – shape of cubic (fluorite) and trigonal (quartz)
– Relationship between atomic arrangement of species and
macroscopic behavior
– Others
• Definition of a crystal
• Polycrystalline nature of materials
• Oriented growth of materials
• Fracture planes
• Other aspects of discussion
– Real world examples: diamonds (rings)
– Stick and ball atomic models of two crystals
Materials Science & Engineering
Ex. 2 – Learning Partners; Game
The Periodic Table
• Instructional Objectives
– At the conclusion of this lecture, the student will be able to:
• Describe the electronic configuration of atoms and ions
• Lecture prior to exercise
– None; used to introduce topic
• Active Learning Exercise
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Match the Dude and the Date with the Scientific Contribution
Handout given to each student
Students assigned to work in teams of two (variety)
Class reconvenes to compare answers
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Ex. 2 – The Periodic Table (cont.)
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Basic layout is a one page handout with the statement of the
contributions and fill-in-the-blank lines
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Sample statement from five question form:
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The world is made up of tiny indivisible particles called “atomos”
meaning “indivisible.” Early speculation from Greek philosophers
about the fundamental “stuff” that makes up the world.
Dudes: Bohr, Dalton, Democritis, Rutherford, Schrodinger
Dates: 400 BC, 1807, 1910, 1914, 1926
Other aspects
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Handout lists accomplishment in chronological order; serves as
summary of information
Used to lead into lecture/discussion of atomic structure
• More information related to above structure presented
Used to introduce handouts on orbital shape and size
Goal: engage student and have a little fun while learning
Materials Science & Engineering
Ex. 3 – In-Class Reflection
Unit Cell, Bravais Lattice and Basis
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Instructional Objectives
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Lecture prior to Exercise
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At the conclusion of this section of the course, the student will be able
to:
• Define crystal structure, Bravais lattice, and basis.
• Name and draw the 7 crystal systems and the 14 Bravais lattices
• Use Bravais lattice and basis vectors to describe the spatial
relationship of a lattice point to the origin of the lattice.
Discussion of unit cells
Significant coverage of each of the Bravais lattice and basis concepts
Introduction of all of the 7 crystal systems and 14 BL
Consideration of vectors and origin choice for unit cell
Active Learning Exercise
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Practice exercise on drawing the unit cells of Pt and NaCl
Exercise passed out to students with instruction that they are to
provide input for teacher to fill in blanks and complete drawings
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Ex. 3 – Unit Cell, Bravais Lattice
and Basis (cont.)
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Ex. 3 – Unit Cell, Bravais Lattice
and Basis (cont.)
• Other aspects
– Worked as an instructor-led exercise via transparency;
student input requested at each step of the process
– Other approaches possible (e.g., instructor worked)
– Later exercises can build upon earlier exercises
• Example:
– Practice 3 tells you that the crystal structure = Bravais Lattice
plus Basis
– Practice 5 asks you for the data that you need
– Template for unit cell allows students to concentrate on class
participation
– Faster students can charge ahead if they want
– Extra copies of handout
Materials Science & Engineering
Ex. 4 – Subgroup Discussion
Internal Boundary Layer Capacitors
• Educational objective: develop higher level learning skills
• Senior course (CER 284) on Properties of Electronic Ceramics
• Technical focus:
• Microstructure effects on IBLC performance
• Microstructure consists of insulating grain boundaries and
semiconducting grains
• Lecture prior to exercise
– Polarization mechanisms in dielectrics
– Dielectric constant calculations for parallel plate capacitors
• Active Learning Exercise
– 30 minutes in groups; 20 minutes discussion
– Develop processing strategies to achieve the desired microstructure
– Develop a simple mathematical description of how you feel
microstructural properties (grain boundary thickness and grain size)
could be controlled to maximize the dielectric constant of the
“composite”
Materials Science & Engineering
Ex. 5 – In Class Reflection
The One Minute Paper
• At the end of class
– Student takes out a piece of paper (no name)
– Students are instructed to answer the following question(s):
• What is the most important topic that we covered today and why?
• Of the topics that we covered today (or this week), which topic do
you think you understand the best?
• Which topic do you feel you understand the least or find most
confusing?
• What would make this material clearer to you?
• Make up a question about an everyday phenomenon that can be
explained using material presented in class today.
– You may also ask them additional questions such as:
• The pace of the course is: too fast, about right, too slow
• In terms of teaching methods, the most effective for me has been:
__________________
• In terms of teaching methods, the least effective for me has been:
__________________
Materials Science & Engineering
Active Learning Exercises –
Personal Lessons
• When tasking teams, instructions need to be explicit.
• Identify clear ties between the task and instructional objectives.
• Make sure the active learning exercise will require (only) the amount
of time allotted.
• Make sure the task is pitched at the correct level (sophomore, junior,
senior, graduate).
• Consider using active learning exercises that build on material in
pre-requisite courses.
• Some resistance to active learning
– “Just tell me the minimum I need to do”
– Buy-in to individual, pair, and team exercises is highly dependent on the
particular class.
– Success with all levels of students; just need to find correct active
learning exercises
Materials Science & Engineering
New Spins on Effective Teaching
• Concept Learning/Peer Instruction – Eric Mazur
– Reading assignments
– Reading quizzes (completion not understanding)
– Concept tests
• Focus on concepts and application of topical material
• Individuals report answers
• Compare answers
• Revisit correct answer
• Lecture is focused on points that are unclear
• The Clicker Classroom
Materials Science & Engineering
Things that Have Been Important to
Me in Teaching
• Instructional objectives
– Pass out to students for each test
– Still need to review before examination (examples on next slide)
• Test review sessions
• Organization
• Use of active learning approaches
• Always clarify “why” you are covering a topic
• Availability outside of class
• Fairness – to the individual and to the class as a whole
• Make notes (at the time) of what works or doesn’t ; where the
course needs improvement
Materials Science & Engineering
Instructional Objective Examples
At the end of this section of the course, the student should be able to:
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State typical values for the conductivities and numbers of carriers in
metals, semiconductors and insulating materials.
Use basic equations for conduction to determine quantities such as
resistivities and mobilities when given data such as resistance and material
dimensions.
State whether the observed behavior is representative of metallic or
semiconducting behavior when given resistance vs. T data .
Describe the basic differences between intrinsic and extrinsic conduction
behavior in materials such as Si, ZrO2, and NaCl.
Use Kroger-Vink notation to describe the defect chemistry of typical doped
semiconductor and insulator materials when provided with a specific
dopant.
Be able to calculate the activation energies associated with charge
transport and defect generation as well as the doping level of the material.
Calculate the equilibrium coefficient associated with a particular defect
reaction at a specified temperature.
Plot the pO2 dependence of the defect concentrations when provided
appropriate chemical equilibrium data.
Materials Science & Engineering
Other Aspects of Effective Teaching
• How to get started and to be effective “long term”
– Continuous improvement
– Make minor improvements each semester
– Set goals for each time you go through the course for what you want to
address
• More active learning exercises
• Instructional objectives
• New homework assignments or tests
– Review what you have been taught
– Explore new information (books, web-site)
– Become active in organizations such as ASEE and attend meetings
• Capitalize on your strengths
– Figure out what works for you and what doesn’t
– Know your own learning style
– Use evaluations and comments
Materials Science & Engineering
Still More Aspects to Effective Teaching
• Effective Teaching
– Develop your personal philosophy as to what is important
– Limit, as much as possible, the number of different courses that
you teach
– Use your summers wisely – try to obtain commitment from chair
about what you will be teaching in the following fall and winter
– Organize your course notes
• During the academic year – evolutionary
• During the summer – revolutionary
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Resources – Many Places to Seek Help
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Websites
– http://www.ncsu.edu/effective_teaching/ (Felder; NCSU)
– http://www.asee.org
– https://engineering.purdue.edu/ChE/News_and_publications/teaching
_engineering
– http://www.fie.engrng.pitt.edu
– http://mazur-www.harvard.edu/talks.php
– Many universities have course notes on-line (copyright)
Books and print
– Silberman, Active Learning: 101 Strategies to Teach Any Subject
– Wankat and Oreovicz, Teaching Engineering
– Educational journals
Workshops
– National Effective Teaching Institute (ASEE Sponsored)
– New Faculty Teaching Scholars Program
– ASEE
– Discipline Specific Activities (IEEE, ACerS, others)
Networking at technical meetings
Materials Science & Engineering
Silberman Book – Lots of Great Stuff
Active Learning: 101 Strategies to Teach Any Subject
• Classroom arrangement
• Team building strategies
• Immediate learning involvement strategies
• 101 Strategies
– “Lightening the learning environment” to
– “Inquiring minds want to know”
• Ex: How does a CD burner work?
ISBN 0-205-17866-9
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Final Advice
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Remember why you’re here: students and scholarship
– Enjoy your relationships with your colleagues and students
– Remember what you represent to the students
– Look for balance in teaching, research and service (see below)
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Stay organized!
– Only way to effectively multi-task for a long time period
– Find an approach to stay organized that works for you
– Strive for time management and recognize priorities
– Most of us are driven; always want to say “yes”
– Need to say “no.” If you place limits on what you promise, you will be
able to make time to fulfill the commitments that you make
– Other thoughts – 2nd time through and Askeland comments
“If you strive for perfection and miss, you may still hit excellence.”
Tommy Bowden, Head Football Coach, Clemson University
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Quotations
“I’m not just supposed to preach this stuff, I’m supposed to live it.”
“All you’re supposed to do is your best.”
“Some best.”
“Best is best.”
There will be times when, despite your best efforts, you haven’t
come up to your own standards. Always try to do the best that
you can, but don’t be too hard on yourself when you haven’t
done as well as you liked.
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Final Advice – Manage Your Time
Colloidal gold nano-particles
C. H. Liu, UIUC
Work hard, but don’t forget to have some fun along the way too!
Materials Science & Engineering