CPR
What’s in it for you?
December 11th, 2006
Teaching Excellence Center
Sofia Carlos-Cuellar and
Tim Zauche
What is Calibrated Peer Review?
• It is a web-based free program that
allows you to
– 1. incorporate more writing in the
classroom
– 2. improve critical thinking skills, self
reflection
– 3. Increase communication abilities
– 4. Provides another way for students to
express their knowledge
Why CPR?
• Do you use writing in your
classroom currently?
• How long do you expect it would
take to grade?
• Do your students critique their peers
work as well as their own?
• How well constructed are your
assignments?
Why do we use CPR?
• What are some learning goals you
have for your class?
– 1. Increase knowledge retention
– 2. Improve written communication
– 3. Be able to critique writing
MAJORS USING CPR at TA&M
•Accounting
•Ed. Psychology
•Ag. Economics•Film
•Animal Science•French
•Archeology
•Kinesiology
•Biochemistry •Learn. Comm.
•Biology
•Math
•Botany
•Microbiology
•Bus. Admin. •Nutrition
•Chemistry
•Physics
•English
•Poultry Science
 Psychology
 Secondary Ed.
 Vet Integr. Bio. Sci.
 Wildlife & Fish. Sci.
 Zoology
How does CPR help exactly?
• Excerpts from: Arlene A. Russell, UCLA
19th BCCE, Purdue, IL
Shows how CPR has been used in various
disciplines to improve learning
Economics,
Biology,
General Chemistry,
Business Writing,
Engineering
Writing-to Learn Economics - CSUN
• Comparison of intact classes
• Ten case-study assignments
• Three sections (same instructor) of
Economics 200; 2 CPR-based, 1
traditional with essays but no
evaluation component
• Repeated over two semesters
Chapman, K.S. COBAE Faculty Report (19992000)
Average score by quint ile on midt erm
( Economics 2 0 0 , Fall 1 9 9 9 )
80
70
Average score on midterm
60
50
CPR
40
no CPR
30
20
10
0
q1
q2
q3
quint ile
q4
q5
Writing-to-Learn
Biology - CSUF
•One class, one instructor
•Ten topics, 5 taught through CPR,
alternately with 5 taught through lecture
and simulation
Pelaez, N.J. “Problem-based Writing with
Peer Review Improves Academic
Performance in Physiology” Advan
Physiol Educ, Sep 2002; 26: 174 - 184.
Score on multiple choice questions
100%
80%
60%
40%
CPR concepts
Lecture Concepts
20%
Linear (CPR concepts)
Linear (Lecture Concepts)
0%
500
600
700
800
900
1000
Total points for BIO310
Mean multiple choice test scores were significantly better for topics taught
using CPR compared with those taught using traditional instruction.
72 + 2% versus 65 + 2%, P < 0.001, Paired t-test.
Total score on exam essay questions
150
125
100
75
50
CPR concepts
Lecture Concepts
)Linear (CPR concepts
)Linear (Lecture Concepts
25
0
500
600
700
800
900
1000
Total points for BIO310
Mean essay exam scores were significantly better for topics taught
using CPR compared with those taught using traditional instruction.
123 + 4 versus 114 + 3, P = 0.004, Paired t-test.
Learning-to-Write Business Writing CSUN
• Pre-post comparison of three
experimental instructional groups
– CPR peer review, In-class group
review, Traditional instructor review
– All three methods resulted in
statistically similar gains in writing.
Plutsky, Susan, and B.A. Wilson. 2004. Comparison of
three methods for teaching and evaluating writing: A
quasi-experimental study. Delta Pi Epsilon 46(1):
50-61.
Taking the CPR tour
http://cpr.molsci.ucla.edu
UWP Learning Goals
• Students need to be better
communicators, specifically in
writing
• Students need to learn to critique
their own writing
• Students need to learn specific
concepts better
Why is writing
important?
Evaluation
Synthesis
Use of information
to solve problems;
transfer of abstract
or theoretical ideas
to practical
situations.
Restatement in your
own words;
paraphrase; summary
Analysis
Application
Interpretation
Translation
Bloom’s Taxonomy – categorizing
level of abstraction of questions
Recall
Identification of
connections and
relationships
Verbatim information;
memorization with no
evidence of
understanding
First Year’s Results from A&M Class
Percent of Students Who
Agree
SALG* Results on How Students View CPR
(*Student Assessment of Learning Gains)
50
Term - Chem Class
40
30
F'02-102
20
S'03-101
10
0
CPR is
Enjoyable
Helps us
Learn
Chemistry
Helps
Improve
Writing
Helps
Improve
Critiquing
Others
Should Do
CPR
This was not good…… Everyone but Leader stopped doing CPR.
She knew that scientific writing/critiquing were invaluable skills, so
She kept trying new approaches to improve student attitude.
Quantitative Results
Percent of Students Who
Agree
SALG* Results on How Students View CPR
(*Student Assessment of Learning Gains)
F'02-102
S'03-101
S'04-101
F'04-102
S'05-101
F'05-102
S'06-101
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
CPR is Enjoyable
Helps us Learn
Chemistry
Helps Improve Writing Helps Improve Critiquing Others Should Do CPR
Survey Questions
What she saw was a significant increase in student acceptance
and understanding of CPR over time.
Qualitative Results – Overview
Percentage (%)
Percentage of Positive Comments per Semester
70.0
60.0
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
Fall 2002
Spring
2003
Spring
2004
Fall 2004
Semester
Spring
2005
Fall 2005
Spring
2006
Ways to effect Student Opinion
• Be upfront with them
– Let them know you are experimenting to
help them learn better
• Write or edit your own assignments
– Everyone’s teaching style is different
• Be tough but understanding
– Give extensions when warranted
– Monitor the assignment progress & email
reminders
• Do your own homework
– Participate as a student
Difficulties of using CPR
• Zauche needed to be clearer of his
assignment goals
– What to put in an introduction section
– He is now a better teacher and writer
• About 10-15 hours for a mediocre
assignment
• Adding and getting usernames to
students
Improvements Made Over Time
• Prepared more thorough instructions and a supportive website
• Wrote most of my own assignments
• Told my students upfront in the syllabus that the class was a
writing-intensive class and included my teaching philosophy
• Invited students to let me review their essays before
submission
• Increased importance of the text entry
• Increased CPR’s worth from 3-5% to 12% of class grade
• Took classroom time to demonstrate CPR
• Used Bloom’s Taxonomy to show importance of critiquing
What classes have used CPR at UWP?
• Chem 105 (Sofia)
– Spring and Fall 06 (4 assignments)
• Chem 124 (Tim)
– Fall 05, Spring 06, Fall 06
• Chem 273 Inorganic Chemistry (Tim)
– Fall 06 Lab reports by section
• Abstract, Introduction, Results/Discussion
• Other Faculty
– Education (LoGuidice) Fall 06
– Biology (Sharon and Jeff) Spring 07
– Ag (Reddy) Fall 06
Comments from Chemistry Classes
• Students are aware CPR is more work
• Students are aware that they are
learning more
• Are the students learning the concepts
better?
– Final Exam results to be compiled
• Are the students writing better?
– Hard to assess currently
What have we accomplished?
• Determined the level of difficulty in
creating CPR assignments
• Determined the ability to use CPR at
UWP
• Better local understanding of how to
create a CPR assignment
• Held a training session and are
exploring the ideas of having a CPR
professional hold a training session
here
Support
• Assessment Activity Fund
• Teaching Excellence Center
– Presented a workshop to 6 faculty in Aug
• Faculty Professional Development
– Presented at the
• Biennial Conference on Chemical Education