Quic k Ti me™ and a
T IFF (Unc om pres s ed) dec om pres s or
are needed to s ee t his pic t ure.
Learner-Centered Teaching:
Helping Students to Succeed
Qatar University
May 1, 2007
Chris Anson
North Carolina State University
Your Turn . . .
• Please read the sample assignment from
Political Science 300.
• With one or two other people, critique the
assignment.
• Be ready to share some ideas for revision that
would improve the assignment.
Biggs’ Levels of Thinking about Teaching
what the
student
is
what the
teacher
does
what the
student
does
Level 1 Thinking About Teaching
What the student is
•
•
•
•
Responsibility for success is placed on the student
Teacher separates “good” from “bad” students
Bad students lack motivation, interest
Teaching remains constant; students are often perceived
to be getting “worse”
• Reinforces a deficit model of learning (failure blamed on
student)
• Sees teaching as transmitting information
Example: Computer Programming
TEACHER
STUDENTS
LECTURES
TESTS
T. Jenkins, “Teaching Programming: A Journey from Teacher to Motivator.” www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/Events/conf2001
Level 2 Thinking About Teaching
What the teacher does
• Responsibility for success is placed on the teacher
• Teachers can be separated into “good” and “bad”
• Good teachers use engaging techniques (humorous
lectures, demonstrations, etc.); teacher is still the center
of attention (“sage on the stage”)
• Aim is to engage students through performance
• Reinforces a deficit model of learning (failure blamed
on teacher)
• Sees teaching as transmitting understanding
Example: Computer Programming
TEACHER
• Tosses balls to
show parameter
passing
• Wears different
hats to indicate flow
control
• Acts out algorithms
STUDENTS
TESTS
Level 3 Thinking About Teaching
What the student does
• Focus is on engagement in carefully designed activities
• Responsibility is on clear understanding of purpose for tasks
• Good teaching involves strategic thinking, motivation, and
support for learning
• Adopts an active learning model based on constructive
alignment
• Failure comes from lack of support and/or misalignment of
goals and assessment
• Sees teaching as creating an environment of activities and
assessments that students can’t escape without learning
Example: Computer Programming
TEACHER
• Explores students’
motivations
• Engages students
in writing programs
alone and in groups
• Problem-solves
programs in class
• Transmits in the
context of activities
STUDENTS
• Work on programs
• Identify problems
and collectively
solve them
• Provide evidence of
learning in multiple
tasks and
assessments
Constructive Alignment
•
Traditionally, educational systems are not aligned
•
The curriculum is usually a list of topics telling teachers
what to "cover"
•
The default teaching method is the lecture, in which
students are told about the topic—they don't have to
enact their understanding
•
Memorizing material to report back in an exam likewise
rarely requires students to put their understanding to
work
http://www.johnbiggs.com.au/constructive.html
Constructive Alignment
•
Achieved by expressing the intended learning outcomes
in terms of what students have to do to demonstrate
they have constructed knowledge at an appropriate level
of understanding
•
The outcomes contain a learning activity, a verb, that
they need to perform to properly achieve the outcome
•
Teaching requires students to engage in that same
activity as far as possible, while the same activity is
embedded in the assessment task so it can confirm how
well the outcomes have been achieved
http://www.johnbiggs.com.au/constructive.html
More Examples of Misalignment
• Missing, undefined, implicit, or mixed goals
• Activities in class ill-suited to achieving goals
• Assignments out of class ill-suited to achieving
goals
• Lack of support for learning what is necessary
to accomplish the goals
• Assessment does not match goal
Instructional Design Model
Design
Assignments
Develop Goals for
Student Learning
Low-stakes/
informal
Evaluate
Learning
High stakes/
formal
Create Supporting
Activities for Student
Learning
The Instructional Design Model
Develop Goals for
Student Learning
Design Writing
Assignments
Low-stakes/
What new knowledge,
skills,
and
High
stakes/
informal
processes do you wantformal
students
to be able to know or use?
Evaluate
Learning
Create Supporting
Activities for Student
Learning
The Instructional Design Model
Develop Goals for
Student Learning
How does your assignment
help
Low-stakes/
informal
to accomplish those goals?
Evaluate
Learning
Design Writing
Assignments
High stakes/
formal
Create Supporting
Activities for Student
Learning
The Instructional Design Model
Design Writing
Develop Goals
for
Assignments
What activities
support the development
Students
of the (high-stakes, formal) assignment?
Learning
Low-stakes/
informal
Evaluate
Learning
High stakes/
formal
Create Supporting
Activities for Student
Learning
The Instructional Design Model
How do you judge whether the learning
Design Writing
Develop Goals for
goals are reflected in students’
Assignments
Students
products?
Learning
Low-stakes/
informal
Evaluate
Learning
High stakes/
formal
Create Supporting
Activities for Student
Learning
The Instructional Design Model
Develop Goals for
Student Learning
Design Writing
Assignments
Low-stakes/informal:
• Focus is on content of course
• Some aspects of form are de-emphasized
• Writing is usually brief (overnight)
• Use of the writing in class is essential
Evaluate
Learning
Minute Papers
• Students write for one minute at the
start or end of a class session, focusing
on specific problems, concerns,
confusions, etc.
• Research is showing that in
experimental sections that include
minute papers, students are performing
statistically higher on exams
Microtheme: Organic Chemistry
Respond to the following letter:
Dear Organic Chemistry Student: I take an aspirin tablet daily, as I
heard that it has many beneficial health effects (such as reducing the
risk of a stroke and/or heart attack). I usually buy large supplies, since it
is most cost effective. However, I have noticed that even before the
printed expiry date, the tablets have an increasingly strong smell of
vinegar. They cannot be contaminated with vinegar because I store
them in a medicine cabinet in my bathroom. Is the smell an indication
that the tablets have "gone off" and should be discarded? I also use
Paracetamol® (not daily, only when I have a headache). I have not
noticed the same change in smell although these tablets are stored in
the same place as the aspirin. Should I switch to Paracetamol® or
should I buy a different brand of aspirin, probably one manufactured by
a pharmaceutical company with a recognizable name?
MedCurious
Microtheme: Organic Chemistry
(cont’d)
Before responding, it is suggested that you find out the following:
1. What are the chemical names of the active ingredients of aspirin
and Paracetamol® tablets?
2. What are the chemical structures of the active ingredients?
3. What functional groups are present and what bonds are likely to
break easily?
4. Under what conditions would these bonds break and what can be
done to prevent such breakage?
5. What will be the likely decomposition products?
6. What are the modes of action of the active ingredients?
7. Would the decomposition products be as efficacious?
http://socrates.bmcc.cuny.edu/wac/assignments.html#informal
Example: Crop Science
• Goal: extend the study of genetics to
applications and solutions to problems
• Method: Students work in teams to
discover newsworthy items and do a minipresentation (10 mins. max.) to the class
and a follow-up low-stakes paper focusing
on the genetics in the item
Example Example
Double Entry Journal
Original Passage
Creative people, often
characterized as
"oppositional," may find
their innovative ideas
undervalued.
Excerpt of Response
Maybe . . . I think it depends on the
context. I also think that ordinary
people in their everyday lives can
come up with creative ideas that are
neither undervalued nor
oppositional. For example, I was
pleased that I came up with the
yellow post-it-notes passed around
as a new way to introduce "Send-aProblem.”
http://www.usafa.af.mil
Microtheme: Physics
The special theory of relativity rests on two experimentally
verified principles, one of which (the constancy of the
speed of light) is so surprising and hard to accept that after
hearing it for the first time, most people either miss the
point or think they must have misunderstood what was
said. Explain this non-intuitive property of light in a way that
would be clear and understandable to a non-scientist.
Using non-technical language and analogies from
everyday life, contrast the behavior of light with that of
familiar objects traveling at speeds much less than c.
Length: One page.
(http://www.indiana.edu/~cwp/assgn/biomods/p300.html
Example: Zoology
Arrange the propositions below in a logical order, connect the
individual statements with appropriate transitions, and arrive at a
conclusion that is supported by your argument. Using all of the points
supplied below, write a 2-page essay on the topic, “The relationship
between coral and zooxanthellae.”
• Coral reefs are formed by scleractinian corals that typically occur in shallow (<60m)
water.
• Hermatypic corals contain photosynthetic algae (zooxanthellae) in special membranebound cavities inside the cells of the gastrodermis.
• Reef corals are limited to clear water because suspended material interferes with the
transmission of light.
• Over two-thirds of the metabolic requirements of corals are provided by zooxanthellae.
[Etc.]
cwp.missouri.edu/resources/samples
Example: Economics
• Goal: understand Adam Smith’s concept of the
“invisible hand” in a microeconomic context
• Method: Students enter a virtual market world
in which they must balance supply and
demand using a set of variables that, if
manipulated, will result in market failure. They
are then given Smith reading and they write a
low-stakes reflection paper on “why my market
failed or succeeded”
Instructional Design Model
Design
Assignments
Develop Goals for
Student Learning
Low-stakes/
informal
Evaluate
Learning
High stakes/
formal
Create Supporting
Activities for Student
Learning
Instructional Design Model
Develop Goals for
Student Learning
Design
Assignments
High-stakes/formal:
High stakes/
• Focus includes formal characteristics
formal etc.
such as appropriate style, structure,
• Writing usually assumes an audience
• Language conventions emphasized
• Multiple drafts are essential
Evaluate
Learning
Create Supporting
Activities for Student
Learning
Providing Support: Before the Text
• In-class practice of processes
required in assignment
• Discussion of materials relating to
assignment
• Applications
• Field work
• Work with readings
• Simulations
• Role play
• Analysis of sample data
Landscape Design: Assignment
Goal: Critically evaluate an existing design and express
the results in writing as a free assessment and
recommendations for the owner of the property.
Sketch of assignment: Professional critique of a
landscape of the student’s choice. The critique is
intended as a pro bono assessment written for the owner
of the space. It should be informative without including a
lot of technical jargon.
Landscape Design: Processes
• Observe space (site visit).
• Take critical notes: attention to elements
studied and discussed in class (including
form/function, color, etc.).
• Formulate opinion and work toward
critique.
• Write the analysis.
Landscape Design: Support
Support Most Needed: “Observe designed space; take
critical notes: attention to elements studied and
discussed in class.”
Supporting Activities: A 3-D interactive photo suite of a
designed landscape is shown onscreen in a computer
lab. Students can “walk” through it virtually and examine
it from different angles, taking notes on what they see
and doing low-stakes writing to begin the analysis. Fullclass follow-up draws on their observations collectively,
showing how to analyze various elements.
Nutritional Analysis: Assignment
Goal: Analyze and present known information
about nutrition within a specific culture while
respecting and valuing cultural traditions in
dietary practices.
Sketch of assignment: Students investigate the
dietary practices of a specific cultural or ethnic
group (Cuban American, Japanese, Hmong,
Pakistani, Southeastern U.S., etc.). They write
up a nutritional analysis in a way that balances
an understanding of and respect for the culture
or ethnic group.
Nutritional Analysis: Processes
• Collect information about what people in
the chosen culture/ethnic group eat
(typical daily menu).
• Consult data on food nutrition.
• Make conversions and calculations
based on estimated quantities
consumed daily.
• Write the report.
Nutritional Analysis: Support
• What Needs Support: “Consult data on food
nutrition; make conversions and calculations
based on estimated quantities consumed daily.”
• Supporting Activities: A sample daily menu from
the Tohono O’odham (Southwest U.S.) with
special focus on Indian fry bread provides raw
data in class. Students work in groups, using
nutritional tools, to figure nutritional values and
then do a low-stakes brief report which they
share with the class.
Business Principles: Assignment
Goal: To apply knowledge and perspectives from the
course to specific business situations and make critical
judgments about business contexts.
Sketch of assignment. Students must search
employment “codes” or “rules” on the Web. Applying their
knowledge from the course, they then write a report
analyzing the business principles and ethics of particular
regulations, looking for matches or mismatches between
advocated practice and actual practice, and/or exploring
certain legal or ethical problems associated with one or
more practices.
Business Principles: Processes
• Locate and explore the Web site, paying
special attention to its source.
• Collect statements, data, or other information
that explain specific practices.
• Analyze the practices using perspectives from
the course.
• Write up the analysis.
Business Principles: Support
• Support Most Needed: “Collect statements, data, or
other information that explain specific practices. Analyze
the practices using perspectives from the course.”
• Supporting Activities: A sample site is given (a large
department store chain’s code of conduct that prohibits
flirting among employees and has a hotline so they can
anonymously report violations to management). The
class unpacks the code a group, applying principles
from the course to an analysis of the employee
regulations, and exploring further legal and ethical
implications.
Your Turn . . . .
• Please read the vignette titled “Active
Learning and Constructive Alignment”
• In a pair or small group, please follow the
instructions at the end labeled “Task.”
• Be ready to share your ideas in the larger
group.
Providing Support for the Text
• Informal summaries
• In-class oral progress reports
and “most interesting finding”
reports
• Metacommentaries and reflection
• “Microthemes” and short, lowstakes papers
• Planning
• Peer response sessions
• Self-assessments
Teacher gives assignment
Student works alone
A traditional
model of writing
assignments
Student turns in best effort
(usually a first draft)
Teacher reads/views (edits)
the result
Student is supposed to
learn by trial and error
But the next assignment is
different . . . .
Your Instructional Goals
Your Assignment Design
Students' First Attempts
A goal-based model
of writing that
includes response
and revision
Revision Conference or Focus
Students' Revisions
Final Draft
Your Responses/Suggestions
High
Poten tial for
Leaning
Some
Poten tial for
Learning
drafting, rethinking, and revising
Submission for
final evaluation
Start of assignment
Places for Support
first attempt
prelim. exploration
& brainstorming
practicing skills &
strategies
topic selection
first full draft
second & nth drafts
most common
“rewrite”
Use Evaluation for Support
• Evaluation criteria are often hidden from
view
• If they are available, they are often
generalized across various assignments
• How can we help learners to internalize
standards for success? How can we make
evaluation productive?
What’s “Behind” a Rubric?
• Rubrics are “shorthand” methods for
categorizing desired features of responses
• Every category has more specific, underlying
features
• If students don’t understand a category, they
can’t use it productively
• Supporting the use of assessment rubrics for
students means helping them to internalize
the underlying features
[ ] reflects thoughtful response/critical
analysis
What
is
this?
Explain and Work With Categories
Thoughtful response/critical analysis:
The thoughtful response shows that you have read
the material thoroughly and reflected on it fully. It
demonstrates a careful and thorough application of
the question to the material at hand. It may offer
some interesting and creative insights that are
supported by material in the text. The response will
be generally well written and structured, with an
allowable informality considering the nature of the
task, and there will be few errors that distract or get
in the way of meaning.
Suggestions: Assessment
• It helps to craft criteria from learning goals.
• Avoid collecting and grading first drafts: use
revision and peer response to improve writing
before you see it.
• Match your evaluation methods to the formality
of your assignment.
• Use evaluation criteria formatively.
Making Criteria Formative
• Create evaluative criteria with direct reference
to your assignment goals.
• Make the criteria available to students in
advance of their beginning the assignment.
• Use the criteria:
•
•
•
•
•
in the evaluation of sample drafts
In any supporting activities that guide students’ work
in the response questions you give students
In the collaborative formulation of criteria
In the annotated models you provide on paper or electronically
Summary
• Writing has many potential roles in instruction;
clarity of goals is crucial
• Too often, we lose opportunities to maximize
learning in the “assign-and-collect” model
• Providing opportunities for supporting higherstakes assignments allows us to enrich
understanding, deepen learning, and improve
writing ability
Questions and Discussion