CONSTRUCTIVISM Problembased learning Collaborative Learning CaseBased Learning Engaged

CONSTRUCTIVISM

Problem-based learning Collaborative Learning Case-Based Learning Engaged Learning Active Learning Scaffolding Cognitive Coaching Modeling Reciprocal Learning Think-Alouds

Problem-Based Learning Francisco wants to invite some friends over for a cookout. He has four and one-third pounds of hamburger and is trying to figure out how many friends he can invite over. Step 1: Problem-Solving 1. Determine what your group knows about solving the problem. 2. Identify what your group needs to know that they do not presently know. 3. Where can you get the information Francisco would need?

Problem-Based Learning Francisco wants to invite some friends over for a cookout. He has four and one-third pounds of hamburger and is trying to figure out how many friends he can invite over. Step 2: Members of the group engage in selfdirected study for additional information. For us: Changing Mixed Numbers to Improper Fractions http: //www. aims. edu/student/assessment/ Arithmetic. rtf Dividing Proper/Improper Fractions http: //argyll. epsb. ca/jreed/math 8/strand 1/12 06. htm

Problem-Based Learning Francisco wants to invite some friends over for a cookout. He has four and one-third pounds of hamburger and is trying to figure out how many friends he can invite over. STEP 3: The learners then return to the problem and apply what they learned to their work with the problem in order to more fully understand resolve the problem.

Problem-Based Learning Francisco wants to invite some friends over for a cookout. He has four and one-third pounds of hamburger and is trying to figure out how many friends he can invite over. STEP 4: After they have finished their problem, the learners assess themselves and each other to develop skills in self-assessment and the constructive assessment of peers. Self-assessment is a skill essential to effective independent learning. Make Presentation

Traditional versus PBL learning Traditional Learning: Problem-based Learning: In contrast to the more traditional approach of assigning an application problem at the “end of a conceptual unit”. The primary distinction is the focus on “introducing concepts to students by challenging them” to solve a real world problem. www. udel. edu/pbl/cte/spr 96 -phys. html

Constructivism: a Philosophical View Primary Propositions 1. Understanding is in our interactions with the environment. What we understand is a function of the • content, • the context, • the activity of the learner, • and, perhaps most importantly, the goals of the learner. Since understanding is an individual construction, we cannot share understandings but rather we can test the degree to which our individual understandings are compatible.

Constructivism: a Philosophical View Primary Propositions 2. Cognitive conflict or puzzlement is the stimulus for learning and determines the organization and nature of what is learned. The learner’s goal is not only the stimulus for learning, but it is a primary factor in determining what the learner attends to, what prior experience the learner brings to bear in constructing an understanding, and, basically, what understanding is eventually constructed. The learner's "puzzlement" is the stimulus and organizer for learning

Constructivism: a Philosophical View Primary Propositions 3. Knowledge evolves through social negotiation and through the evaluation of the viability of individual understandings. At the individual level, other individuals are a primary mechanism for testing our understanding. Collaborative groups are important because we can test our own understanding and examine the understanding of others as a mechanism for enriching, interweaving, and expanding our understanding of particular issues or phenomena. Facts are facts because there is widespread agreement, not because there is some ultimate truth to the fact.

Constructivist learning is based on students’ active participation.

Active Learning Refers to techniques where students do more than simply listen to a lecture. • Less emphasis on transmitting information. • More emphasis on higher-order thinking. Research shows greater learning when students engage in active learning. Elements of Active Learning: dialog, debate, writing, and problem solving, as well as higher-order thinking, e. g. , analysis, synthesis, evaluation.

Active Learning The APQC/CQIN (2001) study -use of active learning techniques was frequently cited by best-practice institutions as a major factor in the success of developmental instruction. Community College Research Center’s study - a key component of successful developmental education (Perin, 2001). Mc. Keachie (2002) most effective teaching technique available to college instructors. Langer (2001), helps low-achieving students improve their reading and writing skills. (Grubb (1999), most appropriate for developmental students because active learning fosters more higher order thinking than nontraditional instructional techniques for students who have had the fewest opportunities to develop higher-order thinking and learning skills· Wlodkowski and Ginsberg - motivation of adult learners and that they are particularly useful in teaching of nontraditional students. Stahl, Simpson and Hayes - essential for "high-risk" students because it involves more involvement in their own learning. (above citations in Hunter Bolyan's "What Works)

Constructivist learning is based on students’ active participation in • problem-solving • critical thinking

Constructivist learning is based on students’ active participation in • problem-solving • critical thinking regarding a learning activity which they find • relevant • engaging

Social Constructivism Social constructivism emphasizes: • the collaborative nature of much learning.

Social Constructivism For knowledge to be internalized and a framework established, a social discourse must first take place. It is this discourse that leads to the conceptual framework in which to relate the new knowledge As a result, human cognitive structures are, Vygotsky believed, essentially socially constructed. Knowledge is not simply constructed, it is coconstructed.

Social Constructivism - Math In the Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics, NCTM indicates that: Classroom discourse, or "the ways of representing, thinking, talking, agreeing, and disagreeing, " is central to helping students develop mathematical understanding and skills (p. 34). The development of higher-order thinking cannot be achieved without teachers asking a variety of questions to challenge students' thinking-questions that require more than factual recall.

Critical Thinking The core of critical thinking is: “Discerning the value of information” The learner must be able to “discern the value of information” as they construct meaning.

Authentic & Relevant 2 Factors Essential in Constructivist Pedagogy: • Learning should take place in authentic and realworld places. • Content and skills should be made relevant to the learner. Learners process new information and knowledge in such a way that it makes sense to them in their frame of reference (their own inner world of memory, experience, and response). – Dan Hull

Vision of Engaged Learning Responsible for Learning • Students take charge of their own learning and are self-regulated. NCREL –Click to read source

NCREL - www. ncrel. org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/math/ma 2 lindi. htm Vision of Engaged Learning Energized by Learning • Engaged learners find excitement and pleasure in learning. • They possess a lifelong passion for solving problems and understanding ideas or concepts. • To such students, learning is intrinsically motivating.

Vision of Engaged Learning Strategic • Engaged learners continually develop and refine learning and problem-solving strategies. NCREL - www. ncrel. org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/math/ma 2 lindi. htm

Vision of Engaged Learning Collaborative • Engaged learners understand that learning is social. • They are able to see themselves and ideas as others see them, can articulate their ideas to others, have empathy for others, and are fair-minded in dealing with contradictory or conflicting views. NCREL - www. ncrel. org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/math/ma 2 lindi. htm

In class, Susan takes notes by writing down everything the instructor says. She has come to the conclusion that her note taking strategy is not very effective. 1 1. Divide into groups of 4. 2. Select a Leader, Recorder, Encourager, and Presenter 3. Solve the problem with information the group already possess. 4. Identify what the group needs to learn to better understand the problem and how to resolve it.

In class, Susan takes notes by writing down everything the instructor says. She has come to the conclusion that her note taking strategy is not very effective. 2 Go to Internet and explore this site: http: //www. ucc. vt. edu/stdysk/noteta ke. html

In class, Susan takes notes by writing down everything the instructor says. She has come to the conclusion that her note taking strategy is not very effective. 3 Reform your groups, and apply what you have learned to creating a more effective note-taking strategy for Susan. Group comes to consensus on a solution.

In class, Susan takes notes by writing down everything the instructor says. She has come to the conclusion that her note taking strategy is not very effective. 4 Presenter, with help of the group, presents the group solution to the problem.

Positive Interdependence Positive interdependence is the quintessential quality that defines collaboration and transforms group work into teamwork. – Joe Cuseo Assign complementary, interdependent roles to different group members. A sense of group interdependence may be increased if each member has a specific and indispensable role to play in achieving the group's final goal. Note: An additional advantage of role specialization is that the quality of each member's contribution to the final product can be readily identified and assessed by the instructor, thus individual accountability is ensured. FOR MORE: Cooperative/Collaborative Structures Explicitly Designed To Promote Positive Interdependence Among Group Members -Joe Cuseo

Traditional versus PBL classroom • Students are viewed as "empty vessels" or passive receivers of information. • Faculty members seek to encourage student initiative, empower students. • Students work in isolation. • Students interact with faculty and students to provide immediate feedback about performance for improvement. • Students absorb, transcribe, memorize, and repeat information for content specific tasks such as quizzes and exams. • Faculty members design course based on "illstructured" problems that provide a role for the student in learning.

Traditional versus PBL classroom • Learning is individualistic and competitive. • Students experience learning in a collaborative and supportive environment. • Students seek "right answer" to achieve success on a test. • Faculty members discourage only one "right answer" but help students learn to frame questions, formulate problems, explore alternatives, and make effective decisions. • Performance measured on content specific tasks. • Students identify, analyze, and resolve problems using knowledge from previous experiences and courses, rather than simply recalling it.

Traditional versus PBL classroom • Instructor assumes the role of expert or formal authority. • Faculty member role is as a facilitator, guide, co-learner, mentor, coach, or professional consultant. • Faculty members organize content into lectures based on context of discipline. • Faculty members design course based on "illstructured" problem, andempower students. Faculty members enhance student motivation by providing real life problems and by understanding students' problems. Click to read source

Traditional versus PBL classroom • Grading is summative, and the instructor is the only evaluator. • Students evaluate their own contributions as well as other members and the entire group. Lecture based on one-way communication; information is conveyed to groups of students. Students work in groups to solve problems. Students acquire and apply knowledge in a variety of contexts. Students find resources, and faculty guide students to information and resources. Students seek useful and relevant knowledge to be able to apply toward job skills and employment.

Boyer Commission Report Strategies – Require student to engage actively in: • Framing of a significant question or set of questions, • Research or creative exploration to find answers, • Communication skills to convey the results. Such course structure encourages: • Inquiry is the norm • Problem solving becomes the focus • Thinking critically is the process

Collaborative Learning Problem: Bob’s friend, Jim, spends the same amount of time studying his textbook assignments that Bob does. Yet, Jim always remembers more and does better on his tests than Bob has been on the internet and has learned that research shows that there are things one can do while reading and studying a text that improves speed, concentration, comprehension, memory, also usually results in better grades on tests over the text material. STEP 1: What does the group already know and what do they need to learn about how to study a textbook. 1. Divide into groups of 5. 2. Select a Leader, Recorder, Encourager, and Presenter 3. Each member of the group will learn one piece of Bob’s research and teach it to the others in the group

Collaborative Learning STEP 2: Take Bob’s research and create a study strategy by deciding in what order Bob would perform each of the actions supported by research if he were studying a textbook. Come to consensus on the order of using the steps, and be prepared to explain the rationale for the order upon which the group decides. Research shows: Green: Research shows that reading to answer the question they have made up from heading results in students who also show remarkably better concentration. As you read, try to answer the questions that you formulated. Answering the questions gives your reading purpose and direction and increases your attention and concentration. There is now a reason for reading this passage and the material makes more sense!

Collaborative Learning Red: Research shows that if one stops ant each heading or subheading or the beginning sentence of each paragraph and changes them into a question before continuing to read, and read to answer the question they made up, then the student will not only answer the questions they ask better than students who do not do this step, but they also remember the detail and facts better on tests. Formulate questions about the material. Again, some authors provide questions either at the beginning or at the end of each Chapter. Change headings and subheadings into questions. Also change the first sentence of each paragraph in to a question. As you grow more skilled in the art of questioning, you may find more and more of your questions appearing in examinations!

Collaborative Learning Brown: Research shows that if one goes over (review) the questions and recite the answers, they made up while reading after completing a chapter or large section on a text will save 90% in review time. This is not just glancing over the material again, but is asking the questions. Come back to the chapter the next day - or next week and see how much of it you can restate in your own words. How much do you really remember? Now is the time to fill in the weak spots. If you spend one hour today studying, by next month you will be fortunate to retain 1520% of the material. BUT, if you spend 30 minutes today, then review for 15 minutes tomorrow, 10 minutes next week and 5 minutes next month, you may retain 80 -90%

Collaborative Learning Orange: Research shows that if one gets an overview of the chapter in a text before beginning to read the chapter that they read 24% faster and remember more than students who do not get an overview first. Take just a few minutes for a preliminary survey of the Chapter or section of your assignment. The goal of this step is simply to get an overall picture of the nature of the material and how it is presented (i. e. , the organization of the chapter). If you are not accustomed to doing this, you will be amazed at how clear many materials become, even before you start reading. Some authors make this step easy by providing Chapter Outlines, Descriptive Headings, Key Sentences, or Chapter Summaries. If so, read through these. The Outlines, Headings and Sentences will show you how the material is organized and the Summaries will tell you what the author considers to be most important in the Chapter. If you understand this first, it will be much easier to go back and fill in the details.

Purple: Research shows that if a student takes the time to understand what they have just read well enough to say it in their own words – out loud before they move on with their reading, they remember four times more than when they do not take the time to do this step. This step means exactly what it says. Actually recite or restate the important ideas from it -- preferably aloud in your own words. If you are in a public place and don't want to be seen talking to yourself, then put down the book and silently do your recitation, word by word. If you can't put your new-found knowledge into your own words, you don't really understand it! DON'T ALLOW YOURSELF TO CHEAT ON THIS STEP. If you can't restate the important points, go back and re-read that section until you can. At first, you may want to do this for each paragraph - then as you get better at it, use a sub-topic section, then a whole section, eventually maybe a whole chapter, but don't stop until you can put the material into your own words. Research has demonstrated that for most effective learning, at least one-half of your study time should be spent on Reciting. This step require your active participation. You can't be daydreaming while you are reciting what you have learned!

Collaborative Learning STEP 4: Presentation: Presenter, with help of the group, presents the group solution to the problem.

Collaborative Learning Collaborative learning highlights the contributions of individual group members, stresses the sharing of authority, and leads to consensus building on topics without a clear right and wrong answer. Dialogue among students is stressed; teacher intervention is not. Group governance and group processing remain in the hands of the students In cooperative learning, the instructor designs a task and a group structure for accomplishing the task, including the assignment of roles to group members. Cooperative learning has students interacting under specific conditions set up by the teacher: positive interdependence, face-toface interaction, individual accountability, collaborative skills, and group processing.

Collaborative Learning Collaborative learning occurs when small groups of students help each other to learn. CL is the process whereby each member contributes personal experience, information, perspective, insight, skills and attitudes with the intent of improving learning accomplishments of the others. The group's collective learning ultimately becomes possessed by each individual.

Collaborative Learning Tasks for the group work include: • linking course materials to personal experience, • developing arguments, • summarizing content, • problem solving, • analyzing data, • and question-generating.

Collaborative Learning Five Basic Elements 1. Positive interdependence (ROLES). Students need to believe that they are linked with others in a way that ensures that they all succeed together. Each participant may have a different role, but that role must be crucial to the group process. Example roles could include: a) a reader who reads and interprets the assignment to the group; b) an encourager who prods all members to participate in information gathering and discussion; c) a summarizer who restates the group's consensus findings; d) a checker who makes sure that all members can explain how to solve the assigned problem or generate the appropriate report material; e) an elaborator who relates the current concepts to what the group knows from previous experience; and f) a recording observer who keeps track of how the group is performing and how each member is fulfilling the assigned role.

Collaborative Learning Five Basic Elements 1. Positive interdependence (GRADING). Grading can promote negative interdependence if one simply gives every member of the group the same grade. A better way is to give each member added points if every group member can score above some criterion score on an examination. Alternatively, the teacher can assign individual bonus points based on peer ranking on the basis of who contributed the most to the group effort. In essence, each student is graded partly on how effective that student is in helping other students to learn. Some case-based CL programs, such as the one at Harvard Medical School, make this an explicit grading criterion.

Collaborative Learning Five Basic Elements 2. Positive interaction. Students help and encourage each other to learn. They do this by explaining what they understand by gathering and sharing knowledge. http: //commtechlab. msu. edu/sites/letsnet/noframes/bigideas/b 2 theor. html

Collaborative Learning Five Basic Elements 3. Individual accountability for the group's work. Each group member has to be accountable for three things: a) being active and engaged in group activity; b) doing a fair share of the work; and c) helping other group members to demonstrate competence and learning achievement. Not only is each person's performance assessed individually, but that evaluation is given to the rest of the group. Thus, each member of the group knows who needs what kind of help.

Collaborative Learning Five Basic Elements 4. Social skills. Simply placing students together and telling them to be a team does not assure that they will behave that way. Teamwork skills have to be taught to many, if not most, people. The group process experience must include the learning of skills needed in • leadership, • decision making, • trust building, • communicating, and • conflict management.

Collaborative Learning Five Basic Elements 5. Group Self-Evaluating. The group needs to evaluate its process effectiveness continually. This can include asking such questions as: "What is something that each member contributed that helped the group? What is something each member can do that will help the group even more in the next session?

Collaborative Learning Resistance Teachers • Loss of control in the classroom • Lack of self confidence by teachers Fear of the loss of content coverage • Lack of prepared materials for use in class • Teacher's egos Techniques • Students' resistance to collaborative learning techniques • Lack of familiarity with CL techniques and class management • Lack of Teacher training in collaborative teaching methods Students • Students' lack of familiarity with collaborative techniques • Fear of content and ability to achieve high grades

The PBL Learning Process STEP 1: 1. In the PBL learning process learners encounter a problem and attempt to solve it with information they already possess allowing them to appreciate what they already know. 2. They also identify what they need to learn to better understand the problem and how to resolve it.

The PBL Learning Process STEP 2: Once they have worked with the problem as far as possible and identified what they need to learn, the learners engage in self-directed study to research the information needed finding and using a variety of information resources. In this way learning is personalized to the needs and learning styles of the individual.

The PBL Learning Process STEP 3: The learners then return to the problem and apply what they learned to their work with the problem in order to more fully understand resolve the problem.

The PBL Learning Process STEP 4: After they have finished their problem, the learners assess themselves and each other to develop skills in self-assessment and the constructive assessment of peers. Selfassessment is a skill essential to effective independent learning. Make Presentation

Ill-Structured Problems In PBL literature the term “ill-structured” is used to describe open-ended problems that have • multiple solutions and • require students “to look at many methods before deciding on a particular solution. ” Francisco wants to invite some friends over for a cookout. He has four and one-third pounds of hamburger and is trying to figure out how many friends he can invite over.

Developing Ill-Structured Problems Ill-structured problems: • require more information for understanding the problem than is initially available. • contain multiple solution paths. • change as new information is obtained. • prevent students from knowing that they have made the “right” decision. • generate interest and controversy and cause the learner to ask questions. • are open-ended and complex enough to require collaboration and thinking beyond recall. • contain content that is authentic to the discipline.

PBL requires students to be Metacognitively aware. Students must learn to be conscious of: 1. What information they already know about the problem, 2. What information they need to know to solve the problem, and 3. The strategies to use to solve the problem. Being able to articulate such thoughts helps students become more effective problem-solvers and selfdirected learners.

PBL Problems Students learn best by constructing solutions to open-ended, complex, and problematic activities with classmates, rather than listening passively to lectures. These types of activities promote discussion among group members and keep students motivated to learn more about the subject. http: //ctl. stanford. edu/teach/speak/problem_based_learning. pdf

Tamara is now 26, a single mother of a 7 year old son. She still works 15 hours a week in a department store, and is in the nursing program. She is having a difficult time managing and juggling her time between her daughter, work and school. She knows she is going to have to manage her time better, but just doesn’t see how she can squeeze another minute out of her schedule. Step 1: Problem-Solving- Tamara Has a Time Problem 1. Determine what your group knows about time management and creating a time management plan for Tamara. 2. Identify what your group needs to know that they do not presently know. 3. Where can you get the information Tamara would need?

Tamara is now 26, a single mother of a 7 year old son. She still works 15 hours a week in a department store, and is in the nursing program. She is having a difficult time managing and juggling her time between her daughter, work and school. She knows she is going to have to manage her time better, but just doesn’t see how she can squeeze another minute out of her schedule. Step 2: Problem-Solving- Tamara Has a Time Problem Once your group has worked with the problem as far as possible and identified what they need to learn, and have identified where to begin searching for the information, your group will need to begin researching the information needed.

Tamara is now 26, a single mother of a 7 year old son. She still works 15 hours a week in a department store, and is in the nursing program. She is having a difficult time managing and juggling her time between her daughter, work and school. She knows she is going to have to manage her time better, but just doesn’t see how she can squeeze another minute out of her schedule. Step 3: Problem-Solving- Tamara Has a Time Problem Your group will then return to the problem and apply what they learned to their work with the problem in order to more fully understand resolve the problem. The group will come up with a time management plan to help Tamara learn to manage her time better.

Tamara is now 26, a single mother of a 7 year old son. She still works 15 hours a week in a department store, and is in the nursing program. She is having a difficult time managing and juggling her time between her daughter, work and school. She knows she is going to have to manage her time better, but just doesn’t see how she can squeeze another minute out of her schedule. Step 4: Problem-Solving- Tamara Has a Time Problem The group’s Presenter will, with the help of the group, will present their time management plan.

Scaffolding Students can become independent, self-regulated learners through instruction that is deliberately and carefully scaffolded. By providing the proper conditions, a teacher allows a student to progress from a level of overt support, where the teacher models strategies to illustrate cognitive processes, to a level where the student has internalized the cognitive processes and can successfully complete a task independently. http: //www. richlandclicks. org/Teacher/presentations/scaffolding/mainpage. htm

Cognitive Coaching Cognitive coaching is based on the idea that metacognition--or being aware of one's own thinking processes--fosters independence in learning. By providing personal insights into the learner's own thinking processes, cognitive coaching builds flexible, confident problem-solving skills. Dialogue: in the "scaffolded instruction" technique, teachers and students take turns leading dialogues about texts, asking each other to predict, question, clarify, summarize, and self-appraise. http: //www. funderstanding. com/cognitive_coaching. cfm

Cognitive Coaching Modeling includes: explanation of thinking/reading/calculating strategies by the instructor; • naming the strategy (such as "eliminating alternatives" or "finding the main idea, " • explaining why it should be learned, • explicit steps in how to use it, • how to decide when it's appropriate, • and how to evaluate it.

READING APPLICATION • Applications to college reading instruction are determined by the task demands of college courses. http: //www. ci. swt. edu/Dev. ed/PLAN_teach. frames

READING APPLICATION • Applications to college reading instruction are determined by the task demands of college courses. • Reading materials should be authentic required texts That is: • Learning should be relevant

READING APPLICATION • Applications to college reading instruction are determined by the task demands of college courses. • Reading materials should be authentic required texts That is: • Learning should be relevant • Instructional goals should be consistent with the learner’s goals

READING APPLICATION • Applications to college reading instruction are determined by the task demands of college courses. • Reading materials should be authentic required texts That is: • Learning should be relevant • Instructional goals should be consistent with the learner’s goals • Cognitive demands and tasks in the learning environment should be consistent with cognitive demands and tasks for the environment for which the learner is being prepared.

READING APPLICATION • Applications to college reading instruction are determined by the task demands of college courses. • Reading materials should be authentic required texts. • Constructivism is both guided and social in its interpretation.

READING APPLICATION • Applications to college reading instruction are determined by the task demands of college courses. • Reading materials should be authentic required texts. • Constructivism is both guided and social in its interpretation. • Through guided constructivism, the instructor models processes and guides students to task awareness and eventually to task control.

READING APPLICATION • Applications to college reading instruction are determined by the task demands of college courses. • Reading materials should be authentic required texts. • Constructivism is both guided and social in its interpretation. • Through guided constructivism, the instructor models processes and guides students to task awareness and eventually to task control. • Rather than depending upon the individual to learn alone with the text, the social constructivist approach engages the learner's unique sets of experiences with those of others and the social context

Cognitive Coaching READING APPLICATION Norms – Cognitive Coaching (Model to class first, then have students model to one another) Collaborative Learning READING APPLICATION Concepts – Collaborative Learning

Cognitive Coaching Collaborative Learning Reading Selection: “Concepts” from Psy Text Step 1: Class groups into pairs. Step 2: Students take turns reading to one another and providing a running commentary on their personal insights into their own thinking as they are reading. Step 3. students ask each other to predict, question, clarify, summarize, and self-appraise.

Cognitive Coaching Polynomials LEARNING OBJECTIVES After completing this tutorial, you should be able to: • Identify a term, coefficient, constant term, and polynomial. • Tell the difference between a monomial, binomial, and trinomial. • Find the degree of a term and polynomial. • Combine like terms. • Add and subtract polynomials.

Reciprocal Teaching Reciprocal teaching refers to an instructional activity that takes place in the form of a dialogue between teachers and students regarding segments of text. The dialogue is structured by the use of four strategies: • summarizing, • question generating, • clarifying, • and predicting. CLICK: Reciprocal Teaching

Reciprocal Teaching Summarizing provides the opportunity to identify and integrate the most important information in the text. Text can be summarized across sentences, across paragraphs, and across the passage as a whole. When the students first begin the reciprocal teaching procedure, their efforts are generally focused at the sentence and paragraph levels. As they become more proficient, they are able to integrate at the paragraph and passage levels. Question generating reinforces the summarizing strategy and carries the learner one more step along in the comprehension activity. When students generate questions, they first identify the kind of information that is significant enough to provide the substance for a question. They then pose this information in question form and self-test to ascertain that they can indeed answer their own question. Question generating is a flexible strategy to the extent that students can be taught and encouraged to generate questions at many levels. For example, some school situations require that students master supporting detail information; others require that the students be able to infer or apply new information from text.

Reciprocal Teaching Clarifying is an activity that is particularly important when working with students who have a history of comprehension difficulty. These students may believe that the purpose of reading is saying the words correctly; they may not be particularly uncomfortable that the words, and in fact the passage, are not making sense. When the students are asked to clarify, their attention is called to the fact that there may be many reasons why text is difficult to understand (e. g. , new vocabulary, unclear reference words, and unfamiliar and perhaps difficult concepts). They are taught to be alert to the effects of such impediments to comprehension and to take the necessary measures to restore meaning (e. g. , reread, ask for help). Predicting occurs when students hypothesize what the author will discuss next in the text. In order to do this successfully, students must activate the relevant background knowledge that they already possess regarding the topic. The students have a purpose for reading: to confirm or disprove their hypotheses. Furthermore, the opportunity has been created for the students to link the new knowledge they will encounter in the text with the knowledge they already possess. The predicting strategy also facilitates use of text structure as students learn that headings, subheadings, and questions imbedded in the text are useful means of anticipating what might occur next

Think Alouds To model for students the thought processes that take place when difficult material is read. When using think alouds, teachers verbalize their thoughts while they are reading orally. CLICK: Think Alouds

Coaching Initially, however, many students are not capable of this sort of thinking on their own. For this reason, the instructor must become a tutor or “cognitive coach” who models inquiry strategies, guides exploration, and helps students clarify and pursue their research questions.

Other Examples of Constructivist Instruction Literature Circles Reader Response Workshop

Active Learning Questions and Answers – The "Socratic Method" Wait Time Student Summary of Another Student's Answer The Fish Bowl Quiz/Test Questions - Click to learn about techniques

Active Learning Immediate Feedback Finger Signals Flash Cards Quotations - Click to learn about techniques

Active Learning TECHNIQUES OF ACTIVE LEARNING Exercises for Individual Students The "One Minute Paper" Muddiest (or Clearest) Point – Affective Response Daily Journal Reading Quiz Clarification Pauses – Response to a demonstration or other teacher centered activity – Click to learn about techniques

Active Learning Cooperative Learning Exercises Cooperative Groups in Class – Active Review Sessions Work at the Blackboard Concept Mapping – Visual Lists Jigsaw Group Projects Role Playing – Debates Games Click to learn about techniques

Create Problem-Base Learning Activity 1. Select a learning outcome from one of the learning outcomes in a course you teach. 2. Create a Problem-Based Learning activity. STEP 1: In the PBL learning process learners encounter a problem and attempt to solve it with information they already possess allowing them to appreciate what they already know. They also identify what they need to learn to better understand the problem and how to resolve it. STEP 2: Once they have worked with the problem as far as possible and identified what they need to learn, the learners engage in self-directed study to research the information needed finding and using a variety of information resources. In this way learning is personalized to the needs and learning styles of the individual. STEP 3: The learners then return to the problem and apply what they learned to their work with the problem in order to more fully understand resolve the problem. STEP 4: After they have finished their problem, the learners assess themselves and each other to develop skills in self-assessment and the constructive assessment of peers. Self -assessment is a skill essential to effective independent learning. Make Presentation

Case-Based Learning Cases are: • narratives, • situations, • select data samplings, • or statements that present unresolved and provocative • issues, • situations, • or questions. Click to read source

Case-Based Learning Cases challenge participants to • analyze, • critique, • make judgments, • speculate • and express reasoned opinions. Cases which allow students to formulate their own opinions of a case by promoting group-coordinated research activities, debate, or simulated decision making are more closely aligned with social constructivism.

Case-Based Learning • Information can be real or invented, a case must be realistic and believable. • The information included must be rich enough to make the situation credible, but not so complete as to close off discussion or exploration. Cases (Case Method): Stories, actual events, or fictitious events approximating reality that require decision making and encourage critical thinking with respect to an ambiguous situation or problem for which there is no single correct answer or solution (e. g. , collegeadjustment cases based on, or constructed from instructors' personal experiences with first-year students).

Case-Based Learning Formats for Cases • “Finished” cases based on facts —for analysis only, since the solution is indicated or alternate solutions are suggested. • “Unfinished” open-ended cases, where the results are not yet clear (either because the case has not come to a factual conclusion in real life, or because the instructor has eliminated the final facts. ) Students must predict, make choices and offer suggestions that will affect the outcome. • Fictional cases entirely written by the instructor —can be openended or finished. Cautionary note: the case must be both complex enough to mimic reality, yet not have so many “red herrings” as to obscure the goal of the exercise. • Original documents— news articles, reports with data and statistics, summaries, excerpts from historical writings, artifacts, literary passages, video and audio recordings, ethnographies, etc. With the right questions, these can become problem-solving opportunities. Comparison between two original documents related to the same topic or theme is a strong strategy for encouraging both analysis and synthesis. This gives the opportunity for presenting more than one side of an argument, making the conflicts more complex.

Case-Based Learning Managing a Case Assignment Design discussions for small groups: 3 -6 students is an ideal group size for setting up a discussion on a case. Design the narrative or situation such that it requires participants to reach a: • judgment, • decision, • recommendation, • prediction • or other concrete outcome. If possible, require each group to reach a consensus on the decision requested.

Case-Based Learning Structure the discussion. The instructor should provide a series of written questions to guide small group discussion. Pay careful attention to the sequencing of the questions. Early questions might ask participants to make observations about the facts of the case. Later questions could ask for comparisons, contrasts, and analyses of competing observations or hypotheses. Final questions might ask students to take a position on the matter. The purpose of these questions is to stimulate, guide or prod (but not dictate) participants’ observations and analyses. The questions should be impossible to answer with a simple yes or no. Debrief the discussion to compare group responses. Help the whole class interpret and understand the implications of their solutions. Allow groups to work without instructor interference. The instructor must be comfortable with ambiguity and with adopting the non-traditional roles of witness and resource, rather than authority.

Case-Based Learning Managing Discussion and Debate Effectively • Delay the problem-solving part until the rest of the discussion has had time to develop. Start with expository questions to clarify the facts, then move to analysis, and finally to evaluation, judgment, and recommendations. • Shift points of view: “Now that we’ve seen it from [W’s] standpoint, what’s happening here from [Y’s] standpoint? ” What evidence would support Y’s position? What are the dynamics between the two positions? • Shift levels of abstraction: if the answer to the question above is “It’s just a bad situation for her, ” quotations help: When [Y] says “_____, ” what are her assumptions? Or seek more concrete explanations: Why does she hold this point of view? ”

Case-Based Learning Managing Discussion and Debate Effectively (cont) • Ask for benefits/disadvantages of a position; for all sides. • Shift time frame—not just to “What’s next? ” but also to “How could this situation have been different? ” What could have been done earlier to head off this conflict and turn it into a productive conversation? Is it too late to fix this? What are possible leverage points for a more productive discussion? What good can come of the existing situation? • Shift to another context: We see how a person who thinks X would see the situation. How would a person who thinks Y see it? We see what happened in the Johannesburg news, how could this be handled in [your town/province]? How might [insert person, organization] address this problem?

Case-Based Learning Managing Discussion and Debate Effectively (cont) • Follow-up questions: “What do you mean by ___? ” Or, “Could you clarify what you said about ___? ” (even if it was a pretty clear statement—this gives students time for thinking, developing different views, and exploration in more depth). Or “How would you square that observation with what [name of person] pointed out? ” • Point out and acknowledge differences in discussion—“that’s an interesting difference from what Sam just said, Sarah. Let’s look at where the differences lie. ” (let sides clarify their points before moving on).

Case-Based Learning Reporting Group Results • Students should share the results of their group with the class at large. • They can do so verbally, on newsprint flipchart, blackboard or overhead, through photocopies, or web pages. • Even if they are reporting in printed or electronic format, be sure to have some presentations in class. • You do not have to hear from everyone; calling on a few groups at random makes everyone prepare in case they are picked to discuss their project. • Use this time to give feedback and debrief the students as to the lessons they might have learned from the group work.

Active Learning Critical Thinking Motivators The Pre-Theoretic Intuitions Quiz Puzzles/Paradoxes Share/Pair Discussion Note Comparison/Sharing Evaluation of Another Student's Work - Click to learn about techniques

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