Active Learning and Scientific Teaching II

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Active Learning and Scientific Teaching II

• MINORITY ACCESS TO RESEARCH CAREERS WINTER
  INSTITUTE January 2005

Terry Derting, Ph.D. Murray State University, KY
Kathy Williams, Ph.D. San Diego State
University, CA
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Goals for Today

• Consider assessment as an embedded component of
  effective course design.
• Use/review multiple forms of assessment to gather
  data about students understanding and enhance
  learning.
• Shift thinking from assessment for accountability
  to assessment for improvement and
  decision-making.
• See an example of assessment of curriculum reform.

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Consensogram Directions

• Take one color-coded post-it for each question,
  write the question in the corner.
• 2. Write a number between 0-100 on each post-it
  in increments of 10.
• 3. Do not share responses.

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Consensogram Questions

• Please respond on a scale of 0 -100 in increments
  of 10(0 disagree 100 agree)
• To what extent do you agree with the following
  statements?
• The assessment of your students is aligned with
  the learning goals in your course. YELLOW
• It is important to use multiple kinds of data to
  assess your students. PURPLE
• I use data to make instructional decisions.
  PINK
• Faculty are interested in assessing their
  students leraning better, but just dont know
  how. BLUE
• Lack of meaningful assessment in undergraduate
  education occurs because faculty are satisfied to
  be less accountable in their teaching than they
  are in their research. YELLOW

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Question

• 
  How does assessing student learning in science
  parallel what scientists do as researchers?

• State one way (if you think it does).

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Major Components of Teaching
Knowledge of subject matter
Interaction with students
Designing course
Course management
Beginning of Course
L. Dee Fink, 2003
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Major Components of Teaching
Knowledge of subject matter
Interaction with students
Designing course
Course management
Beginning of Course
L. Dee Fink, 2003
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Effective Course Design
(Felder Brent, 1999)
EC 2000
Blooms Taxonomy
Course-specific goals objectives
Classroom assessment techniques
Technology
Cooperative learning
Students
Assessment
Other experiences
Tests
Other measures
Lectures
Labs
Situational Factors
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My Dream Class

After this course is over my hope is that
students will..
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drawkcaB Design
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Backward Design
Wiggins and McTighe 1998
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Backward Design
Stage 1. Identify Desired Results (i.e., what do
we want our students to know and be able to do?)
Filters To what extent does the idea, topic, or
process

• represent a big idea or have enduring value
  beyond the classroom?
• reside at the heart of the discipline?
• require uncoverage?
• offer potential for engaging students?

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Stage 2. Determine Acceptable Evidence (i.e.,
what evidence will we accept that students know
and can do?)
Types of Assessment

• Quiz and Test Items
• Simple, content-focused test item
• Academic Prompts
• Open-ended questions or problems
  requiring
  critical thinking
• Performance Tasks or Projects
• Complex challenges that mirror the
  issues or problems faced by
  graduates, they are authentic

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Stage 3. Plan Learning Activities Instruction
(How will we help students get there?)

• What enabling knowledge (facts, concepts, and
  principles) and skills (procedures) will students
  need?
• What activities will equip students with the
  needed knowledge and skills?
• What will need to be taught and coached, and how
  should it be taught, in light of performance
  goals?
• What materials and resources are best suited to
  accomplish these goals?
• Is the overall design coherent and effective?

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What is assessment?

• Data collection to answer questions about
• students understanding, attitudes, and skills
• instructional design and implementation
• curricular reform (at multiple grainsizes)

AND, assessment communicates expectations for the
student.
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In effect...
Assessment IS a form of learning.
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Advance Organizer
The most important single factor influencing
learning is what the learner already knows.
Ascertain this and teach him accordingly. David
Ausubel - Educational psychology A
cognitive approach, 1968.
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Informal Cooperative Learning and the Lecture
Advance Organizer
Summary
Bookends - Learning Cycle Johnson et al. 1998.
Active Learning.
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Common Misconceptions Photosynthesis
Respiration (Ebert-May et al. 2003 Bioscience)
Photosynthesis as Energy Photosynthesis provides
energy for uptake of nutrients through roots
which builds biomass. No biomass built through
photosynthesis alone. Plant Altruism CO2 is
converted to O2 in plant leaves so that all
organisms can breathe. All Green Plants
have chloroplasts instead of mitochondria so they
can not respire. Thin Air CO2 and O2 are gases
therefore, do not have mass and therefore, can
not add or take away mass from an organism.
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Multiple choice question (pre-post)

• 
  
  Plants gain a tremendous amount of weight
  (dry biomass) as they grow from seed to adult.
  Which of the following substances contributes
  most to that weight gain?
• a. compounds dissolved in soil water that are
  take up by plant roots
• b. water
• c. molecules in the air that enter through holes
  in the plant leaves
• d. organic material in the soil taken up directly
  by plant roots
• e. solar radiation

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Carbon Cycle Problem (post)
In addition to your drawing, provide a written
description of the steps the carbon atom must
take through each component of the ecosystem.
Describe which biological processes are involved
in the carbon cycle.
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Radish Problem

• Experimental Setup
• Weighed out 3 batches of radish seeds each
  weighing 1.5 g.
• Experimental treatments
• 1. Seeds not moistened (dry) placed in LIGHT
• 2. Seeds placed on moistened paper towels in
  LIGHT
• 3. Seeds placed on moistened paper towels in DARK

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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 (individually) the biomass of the plant
  material in the various treatments
• Light, No Water
• Light, Water
• Dark, Water

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Results Weight of Radish Seeds
1.46 g 1.63 g 1.20 g
Write an explanation about the results. (Remember
all treatments started as 1.5g).
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Quick Thinks

• Re-order the steps
• Paraphrase the idea
• Correct the error
• Support a statement
• Select the response
• Johnston, S. Cooper, J. 1997. Quick thinks
  Active- thinking in lecture classes and
  televised instruction. Cooperative learning and
  college teaching, 8(1), 2-7.

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Minute Paper

• What was the most useful or meaningful thing you
  learned during this session?
• What question(s) remain uppermost in your mind as
  we end this session?
• What was the muddiest point in this session?
• Give an example or application.
• Explain in your own words . . .
• Angelo, T.A. Cross, K.P. 1993. Classroom
  assessment techniques A handbook for college
  teachers. San Francisco Jossey Bass.

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What types of data do we gather?

• Depends on the evidence we will accept that
  students have learned what we want them to learn.
• Data must be aligned with course goals.
• Measures of knowledge, attitudes, and skills.
• tests, extended responses, concept maps
• research papers, teamwork, communication

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Assessments Linked to Goals
Goals articulated with outcomes that are
measurable or observable (actions).
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Do we have to "cover" topics for our students to
learn?
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The Problem ...

• Traditional approach cover in class all the
  material we want our students to learn.
• Constructivist strategies suggest that "less is
  more"

The Hypothesis ... Students will gain deeper
understanding of basic concepts by constructing
knowledge of higher-level concepts.
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Methods ...

• Focus of Class Activities
• higher-level evolution ecology concepts
• required students use communicate knowledge
  daily

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Activity Examples

• Short Answer Responses
• think questions - giving evidence, related to
  learning objectives
• Active reading assignments
• definition 3 words don't understand and compose
  definitions in terms relevant to the context
• In-class posters
• Predict and explain scenarios

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Methods ...

• Measured Student Performance
• basic knowledge from core
• pre-course
• repeated at end (post-course)
• higher-level evolution ecology concepts
  assessed mid-way
• unannounced mid-term

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The Course

• Coevolution
• evolutionary ecology course
• 40 students (UD Biology majors a few MS
  students)
• Use frequent classroom activities
• short quizzes writing assignmts
• posters, presentations
• collaborative (group) work
• works for larger classes too

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Basic knowledge

• 1. Asian elephants are similar to African
  elephants because
• a) they evolved from the same ancestor millions
  of years ago.
• b) they both evolved to suit identical climates.
• c) fossils show they have always been separate
  species.
• d) Asian elephants are descended from modern
  African elephants.
• e) both species live in the same part of the
  world.

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Basic knowledge

• 2. The human populations in different parts of
  the world are likely to gradually look more
  similar in future because of
• a) genetic drift
• b) the founder effect.
• c) mutation.
• d) the bottleneck effect.
• e) gene flow.
• ... directional stabilizing selection, convergent
  evolution, Hardy-Weinberg, fitness,' punctuated
  equilibrium

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Results - Pre-course

• Scores ranged from high to low.

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Advanced knowledge

• (2-3 phrases or sentences)
• 1. Give one possible advantage one disadvantage
  of being highly specialized (i.e., monophagous)
  on one food plant species.
• 2. Is coevolution is more likely to be involved
  in the evolution of Batesian or Mullerian mimics
  and models? Give one reason for your response.
• 3. Consider It is not likely for coevolution
  to occur in predator (carnivore)-prey
  interactions. Tell whether you agree or
  disagree with this statement and list two
  different arguments (or evidence) to support your
  answer.

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Unannounced Midterms

• gave recall exam based on midterm exams given
  in previous yr
• students could earn up to 10 points
• 5, 2-tiered questions
• compared pop-midterm to announced mid-terms

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Results - (pop) Mid-term

• 0-20 better than pre-course scores
• over 40 scored above 90

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Coevolution
? Performance on unannounced midterms equal or
better than before.
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Results - Post-course

• 9 scored above 90 correct initially
• 50 scored above 90 at course end
• even when basic topics werent the focus

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Conclusion

• We dont have to "cover" all the material we
  expect students to learn.
• When students construct use knowledge ...they
  understand basic ideas higher-level concepts
  better too.

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Worthwhile Assignments

• save time!!!
• make every moment count
• integrate grading, learning, and motivation
• assess the learning you and your students most
  want to achieve

(Walvoord and Anderson. 1998. Effective grading
a tool for learning and assessment)
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REVIEWED RESPONSES IMMEDIATELY

• Used assessment FOR learning
• Scored responses using a simple scoring rubric
  (grading scheme)
• Exemplary (6 pts)
• Adequate (4 pts)
• Needs Improvement (2 pts)
• No Answer (0 pts)
• FLAG www.flaguide.org
• Field-tested Learning Assessment Guide

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Logistics ???

• Use Scoring Rubrics!

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What is a RUBRIC?

• checklist of criteria for grading
• set of scoring scales
• standardized grading scheme
• Prior to the task, a rubric provides a set of
  criteria describing what expectations are being
  assessed or evaluated.

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Simple Rubric Three Levels of Achievement
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What a rubric can do

• Rubric includes descriptions of levels of quality
  for
• a) evaluating students work? reduces
  subjectivity in grading? grading papers or
  projects is quicker easier
• b) assessing understanding (lets me students
  know what they know)
• c) guiding students to desired performance levels
  ? allows students to assess their own
  performance ? gives students clear indication of
  how to improve

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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 - let you be more efficient

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Limitations of Scoring Rubrics

• Problem of criteria
• Problem of practice and regular use
• Borrow them and modify
• FLAG www.flaguide.org
• Field-tested Learning Assessment Guide

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How did the termite inquiry work?

• How would you assess your students understanding
  of scientific inquiry using the termite activity?
• What criteria would you use for assessing student
  learning?
• What would you have students do?
• How would you score student performance?

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Assessment Gradient
High Ease of Assessment Low
Multiple Choice, T/F Diagrams, Concept maps,
Quantitative response Short answer Essay,
Research papers/ reports Oral Interview
Low Potential for Assessment of Learning High
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