Deepening Student Engagement with Active Learning Strategies Debra

Deepening Student Engagement with Active Learning Strategies Debra Rudder Lohe, Ph. D. Director, Reinert Center Saint Louis University ASV Annual Meeting ~ July 21, 2013

Session Overview �Examining Assumptions Yours, Mine, Ours �Understanding Active Learning What, Why, How �Making Choices Goals, Objectives, Philosophies

Session Goals This session will. . . �Introduce a range of “active learning” strategies appropriate for varying types and sizes of classes �Provide examples of small, interactive lecture techniques for efficient student engagement �Prepare you to make decisions about active learning techniques appropriate for your context �Model active learning strategies I. e. , make you do stuff!

Session Objectives After this session you should be able to. . . �Identify a range of active learning strategies appropriate for your own teaching situation �Explain why interactive techniques are important for learning �Connect specific active learning strategies with your goals for student learning and engagement

Examining Assumptions Yours, Mine, Ours

Assumptions: You �You care about teaching �You may not have been taught how to teach �You’re busy! And you’ve got “coverage” issues �You want deeper learning from students “Think like a virologist” vs. “Regurgitate stuff I tell you” �Students sometimes frustrate you And you sometimes frustrate them!

Assumptions: Teaching Virology �There is a lot of content to “cover” And it’s growing all the time? �The signature pedagogy is lecture Maybe with some discussion of primary literature �It happens in a lot of different contexts Graduate, undergraduate, and medical Small classes and large ones Labs, clinics, and other non-classroom “learning” spaces

So. . . what assumptions do you make about “active learning”? It’s t oo cons timeumin g! ver o c t ’ I can rial e t a gh m enou activities. o and d or f k r wo s I t ’ on asse w It cl the each. t It is e ssent ia real l earni l to ng. ut o b a ust It’s j rtaining ente ents. stud It’s b u (for m sy work e my s and for tude nts).

Assumptions: Active Learning � Learning is “active” � Students learn more (and more deeply) when they’re engaged � Lots of things constitute “active learning” – and you may already be doing some of them � Even very small active learning exercises can make a difference � Active learning strategies can be applied in any size/type class

Understanding Active Learning What, Why, and How

The What: What is A. L. ? “anything that students do in the classroom other than merely passively listening to an instructor’s lecture” (Paulson & Faust) Active Learning activities are “instructional activities involving students in doing things and thinking about what they’re doing” (Bonwell & Eison) “Active learning means that the mind is actively engaged. Its defining characteristics are that students are dynamic participants in their learning and that they are reflecting on and monitoring both the processes and the results of their learning. ” (Barkley) It’s an approach, not a specific method. “The core elements of active learning are student activity and engagement in the learning process. ” (Prince)

The Why: What do cognitive psychologists say? “. . . active learning involves the development of cognition, which is achieved by acquiring ‘organized knowledge structures’ and ‘strategies for remembering, understanding, and solving problems’. . active learning entails a process of interpretation, whereby new knowledge is related to prior knowledge and stored in a manner that emphasizes the elaborated meaning of these relationships. ” So, for cognitive psychology, this means doing 3 key things: 1. Activating Prior Knowledge 2. Chunking 3. Practicing Meta-cognitive Awareness Suzanne M. Swiderski “Active Learning: A Perspective from Cognitive Psychology” (2010)

The Why: How Learning Works Ambrose et al. Students’ prior knowledge helps / hinders new learning How they organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know. 3. Motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn. 4. To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned. 5. Goal-directed practice, coupled with targeted feedback, enhances the quality of learning. 6. Students’ current level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and intellectual climate of the course to impact learning. 7. To become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning. 1. 2.

How Learning Works: What Matters Ambrose et al. Students’ prior knowledge helps / hinders new learning How they organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know. 3. Motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn. 4. To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned. 5. Goal-directed practice, coupled with targeted feedback, enhances the quality of learning. 6. Students’ current level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and intellectual climate of the course to impact learning. 7. To become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning. 1. 2.

The Why: Average Retention Rate from Different Teaching Methods (% of learning students can recall after 24 hours) 2% 4% 7% 11% 18% 27% 31% Lecture Reading Audiovisual Demonstration Discussion Group Practice by Doing Teach Others Immediate Use of Learning David A. Sousa How the Brain Learns (2000) Cited in Barkley, Student Engagement Techniques

The Why: Average Retention Rate from Different Teaching Methods (% of learning students can recall after 24 hours) 2% 4% 7% 11% 18% 27% 31% Lecture Reading Audiovisual Demonstration Discussion Group Practice by Doing Teach Others Immediate Use of Learning David A. Sousa How the Brain Learns (2000) verbal processing verbal + visual processing doing / applying Cited in Barkley, Student Engagement Techniques

The Why: We Want More than Recall � We want the so-called “higher-order” cognitive skills, not just repetition and regurgitation (à la Bloom) � Achieving higher levels of thinking requires students to do something, to engage actively in the learning process. Also, students learn best when they’re aware of where they are on this pyramid (meta-cognitive). � Sitting passively in class won’t promote higher-order thinking. � Neither will activities that only ask for remembering & understanding. (Caution: misalignment)

The How: What “active learning” strategies do you already use?

The How: How Do Others Do It? �Interactive Lectures �Problem-Based Learning �Case-Based Learning �Other Inquiry-Guided Learning �Service-Learning �Collaborative and Cooperative Learning

Interactive Lecturing � Feedback Lecture � One-Minute Papers � Guided Lecture � Think / Pair / Share � Responsive Lecture � Other: Discussion Mini-Cases “Flipped” Classroom � Pause Procedure � Lecture Quiz � Concep. Tests

Making Choices Goals, Objectives, and Philosophies

Barriers? �Class size and/or type �Time (or lack of it!) �Student perceptions, motivation �Faculty perceptions, lack of knowledge �“Content tyranny” (Prince 2004)

Decisions? �Start with course goals and your student learning objectives for each lecture / lesson. What’s the difference? �Consider your teaching situation. �Reflect on your teaching philosophy and teaching style.

Tips for Getting Started: You �Start small – a little goes a long way, and you need different things at different times �Consider whether you really are “losing” something for content �Podcast in class �Begin lectures, have students doing things to let students help prepare / teach / model / demonstrate things in class

Tips for Getting Started: Them �Provide �Give rationale (so students know “why”) them a little research on learning �Introduce Bloom; use to structure exams �Set expectation from the first day �Ask students to devise or propose activities

What’s the I D E A? List all the concepts, ideas, points you can recall from this session. 1. 2. 3. 4. Identify the most important idea for your teaching. Describe / define why it’s important for you / your courses. Elaborate new questions it raises / calls to mind. Apply the concept: how would you use it in class? IDEA activity adapted from Feb 2010 issue of National Teaching and Learning Forum.

Questions? Debie Lohe dlohe@slu. edu

Bloom’s Taxonomy for Thinking BLOOM (1956) ANDERSON & KRATHWOHL (2001) http: //www. learnnc. org/lp/pages/4719

Goals vs. Objectives COURSE GOALS LEARNING OBJECTIVES � General, broad � Specific, concrete � About you/course � About students � State what you or the � State what students will � Describe hopes & ideals � Describe observable, � May describe kind of � Can be cognitive, affective, course will do / teach for student learning experience know and/or be able to do measurable actions or psychomotor

Teaching Situation Subject Class Teacher Learner

Teaching Styles Expert Delegator Facilitator Anthony F. Grasha, Teaching with Style (1996) Formal Authority Personal Model