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Alternative Instructional Strategies: Part I General Intro on Active Learning and Motivation and Creative Thinking. Dr. Curtis J. Bonk Associate Professor, Indiana University http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk, cjbonk@indiana.edu. Expectations List. Why is Class Important. For Students:
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Alternative Instructional Strategies: Part I General Intro on Active Learning and Motivation and Creative Thinking Dr. Curtis J. Bonk Associate Professor, Indiana University http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk, cjbonk@indiana.edu
Why is Class Important • For Students: • Variety, variety, variety • Address preferences • Provide challenges and supports • Allows some autonomy • Better prepared for changing times • For Instructors: • Get to know students better • More reflection on teaching • More confidence
My Intentions: Who Targeted • Update teaching methods and philosophies • Build collaborative teams • Provide labels for what already do • Create long-range goals • Design usable curricula • Foster interaction and collaboration • Stop being giant yellow highlighters
Test Question #1 • When will active learning meet active teaching?
Charles I. Gragg (1940: Because Wisdom Can’t be Told) “A student of business with tact Absorbed many answers he lacked. But acquiring a job, He said with a sob, How does one fit answer to fact?”
Traditional Teachers • Supposed sage, manager, conveyer • King of the mountain • Sets the agenda • Learner is a sponge • Passive learning & discrete knowledge • Objectively assess, competitive • Text- or teacher-centered • Transmission model • Lack interconnections & inert • Squash student ideas
Must Statistics and Math teachers be boring?
“It's an embarrassment that we can tell people almost anything about education except how well students are learning.” Patrick M. Callan, National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education
What Really Matters in College: Student Engagement “The research is unequivocal: students who are actively involved in both academic and out-of-class activities gain more from the college experience than those who are not so involved.” Ernest T. Pascarella & Patrick T. Terenzini, How College Affects Students
Evidence of Student Engagement(Kuh, 2003) • To what extent are students engaged in effective educational practices? • How can we obtain and best use such information?
National Survey of Student Engagement(pronounced “nessie”)Community College Survey of Student Engagement(pronounced “sessie”) College student surveys that assess the extent to which students engage in educational practices associated with high levels of learning and development (Kuh, 2003)
Benchmarks of Effective Educational Practice (Kuh, in press)
Level of Academic Challenge Challenging intellectual and creative work is central to student learning and collegiate quality. Colleges and universities promote high levels of student achievement by emphasizing the importance of academic effort and setting high expectations for student performance (Kuh, 2003).
Level of Academic Challenge • (Kuh, 2003) • Sample of 10 questions: • Number of assigned textbooks, books, or book-length packs of course readings • Number of written papers or reports of 20 pages or more • Coursework emphasizes: Analyzing the basic elements of an idea, experience or theory • Coursework emphasizes: Synthesizing and organizing ideas, information, or experiences • Coursework emphasizes: Making judgments about the value of information, arguments, or methods
Active and Collaborative Learning (Kuh, 2003) Students learn more when they are intensely involved in their education and are asked to think about and apply what they are learning in different settings. Collaborating with others in solving problems or mastering difficult material prepares students to deal with the messy, unscripted problems they will encounter daily during and after college.
Active and Collaborative Learning • (Kuh, 2003) • 7 questions: • Asked questions in class or contributed to class discussions • Made a class presentation • Worked with other students on projects during class • Worked with classmates outside of class to prepare class assignments • Tutored or taught other students • Participated in a community-based project as part of a regular course • Discussed ideas from your reading or classes with others outside of class (students, family members, co-workers, etc.)
Are senior transfer students generally more or less engaged compared with native students? Lessengaged(Kuh, 2003)
What We’re Learning About Student Engagement From NSSE George Kuh (in press). Change Indiana University Bloomington
What We’re Learning About Student Engagement From NSSE George Kuh (in press). Change Indiana University Bloomington
Active & Collaborative Learning • Samford University makes extensive use of problem-based learning (PBL) strategies to induce students to work together to examine complex problems.
Active & Collaborative Learning • Eckerd College developed Autumn Term, a month during which classes meet from 9 AM to noon, five days a week. Group projects and discussion-oriented pedagogies are coupled with a community service project.
Student-Faculty Interaction • Elon University added an extra hour of class meeting time for experiential learning. This allows students and faculty to dig deeper and promotes more frequent student-faculty contact.
Students are too often… • Not very interested in ideas • Not respectful of others ideas • Not well organized • Wanting learning to seem easy • Emotionally moody and sleepy • Preoccupied with previous class or hour • Expecting entertainment • Unable to concentrate for too long • Isolated or alienated
Learning Metaphors • Teacher or text-centered to Student or thinking skill-centered to Student generated or problem-centered • Transmission to Construction or Design to Discovery or Transformation • Boring to Active to Love of Learning • Sponge to Growing Tree to Pilgrim on a Journey
Smart Schools(Perkins, 1992) • Causes of educational shortfall • Trivial pursuit model • Ability counts most theory • Missing, inert, naïve, ritual knowledge • Poor thinking, rely on knowledge telling, cannot make inferences and solve problems • Educational Goals • Retention, understanding, and active use of knowledge
Consultative Teachers • Co-learner, mentor, tour guide, facilitator • Student and problem-centered • Learner is a growing tree and on a journey • Knowledge is constructed and intertwined • Many resources (including texts & teachers) • Authentic, collaborative, real-world tasks • Subjective, continual, less formal assess • Display student ideas--proud and motivated • Build CT, CR, CL skills
Active Learning Principles: 1. Authentic/Raw Data 2. Student Autonomy/Inquiry 3. Relevant/Meaningful/Interests 4. Link to Prior Knowledge 5. Choice and Challenge 6. Teacher as Facilitator and Co-Learner 7. Social Interaction and Dialogue 8. Problem-Based & Student Gen Learning 9. Multiple Viewpoints/Perspectives 10. Collab, Negotiation, & Reflection
7 Fundamental Principles of Learning(Kahn, 1993) • Learning is social • Knowledge is integrated into life of community • Learning is an act of membership • Knowing in engagement in practice • Engagement & empowerment are linked • Failure to learn results from exclusion from practice • We have a society of lifelong learners
Resources in a Learning Environment: • Teachers • Peers • Curriculum/Textbooks • Technology/Tools • Experts/Community • Assessment/Testing • Self Reflection • Parents
Sociocultural Ideas • Shared Space and Intersubjectivity • Social Dialogue on Authentic Problems • Mentoring and Teleapprenticeships • Scaffolding and Electronic Assistance • Group Processing and Reflection • Collaboration and Negotiation in ZPD • Choice and Challenge • Community of Learning with Experts and Peers • Portfolio Assessment and Feedback • Assisted Learning (e.g., task structuring)
Connections New Theories • Situated Learning--asserts that learning is most effective in authentic, or real world, contexts with problems that allow students to generate their own solution paths (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989). • Constructivism--concerned with learner's actual act of creating meaning (Brooks, 1990). The constructivist argues that the child's mind actively constructs relationships and ideas; hence, meaning is derived from negotiating, generating, and linking concepts within a community of peers (Harel & Papert, 1991).
Teacher Self-Assessment for active learning. (Bonk, 1995) In my classes... ___ 1. students have a say in class activities and tests. ___ 2. I help students to explore, build, and connect their ideas. ___ 3. students share their ideas and views with each other and me. ___ 4. students can relate new terms and concepts to events in their lives ___ 5. students work in small groups or teams when solving problems. ___ 6. students use computers to help them organize and try out their ideas. ___ 7. I give hints and clues for solving problems but do not give away the answers.
Teacher Self-Assessment for active learning. (Bonk, 1995) In my classes... ___ 8. I relate new information or problems to what students have already learned. ___ 9. students prepare answers with a partner or team b/4 sharing ideas with the class. ___ 10. I ask questions that have more than one answer. ___ 11. students take sides and debate issues and viewpoints. ___ 12. students develop ideas from a variety of library and electronic resources. ___ 13. students bring in information that extends across subject areas or links topics. ___ 14. students suggest possible problems and tasks. ___ 15. I provide diagrams or pictures of main ideas to make confusing info clearer.
SCALCO (Bonk & Wisher, 2000) The online forum offered multiple perspectives. I received useful mentoring and feedback from others. I liked collaborating with others online. I had a voice within the discussion forum. I could count on others to reply to my needs.
Four Key Hats of Instructors: • Technical—do students have basics? Does their equipment work? Passwords work? • Managerial—Do students understand the assignments and course structure? • Pedagogical—How are students interacting, summarizing, debating, thinking? • Social—What is the general tone? Is there a human side to this course? Joking allowed? • Other: firefighter, convener, weaver, tutor, conductor, host, mediator, filter, editor, facilitator, negotiator, e-police, concierge, marketer, assistant, etc.
Online Learning Boring?From Forrester, Michelle Delio (2000), Wired News. (Interviewed 40 training managers and knowledge officers)
Motivation Research Highlights (Brophy) 1. Supportive, appropriate challenge, meaningful, moderation/optimal. 2. Teach goal setting and self-reinforcement. 3. Offer rewards for good/improved performance. 4. Novelty, variety, choice, adaptable to interests. 5. Gamelike, fun, fantasy, curiosity, suspense, active. 6. Higher levels, divergence, dissonance, interact with peers. 7. Allow to create finished products. 8. Provide immediate feedback, advance organizers. 9. Show intensity, enthusiasm, interest, minimize anxiety. 10. Make content personal, concrete, familiar.
Classroom Motivation Tips (Alexander, class notes, Pintrinch & Schunk, 1996; Reeve, 1996; Stipek, 1998): 1. Include positive before negative comments. 2. Wish students “good effort” not “good luck”. 3. Give flexibility in assignments and due dates. 4. Communicate respect via tasks select and control. 5. Design interactive and interesting activities. 6. Use coop learning, debates, group discussions. 7. Minimize social comparisons and public evaluations. 8. Use relevant, authentic learning tasks.
More Classroom Motivation Tips (Alexander, class notes, Pintrinch & Schunk, 1996; Reeve, 1996; Stipek, 1998): 9. Use optimal difficulty and novelty. 10. Use challenge, curiosity, control, and fantasy. 11. Give challenging but achievable tasks. 12. Create short term/proximal goals & vary goals. 13. Give students diff ways to demo what they know. 14. Encourage students to give and get help. 15. Attrib failure to low effort or ineffective strategy. (Attrib success to effort or competence) 16. Give poor performing student the role of expert.
150 To Motivate Your Lover(Raffini, 1996) • Ice Breakers (a. treasured objects—do you have a treasured object, why is it impt? B. who is like me?) • Goal Cards, Goal Notebooks, Expectations (BS ST and LT objectives and ideas on how to achieve) • Floating A, Escape Clauses, Volunteer Assignments (to be used on any assignment within a day) • Self Report Cards, Self Evaluation (make set of tests available on the Web)
150 To Motivate Your Lover(Raffini, 1996) • Discussion Questions, Issues, Problems (perhaps answer questions of another team; talking chips) • Team Competitions, Challenges, Puzzles • Success contracts and calendars (Guarantee an A or B if fulfill contract provisions) • Positive Statements, Self Reinforcements (Bury the “I can’ts”; save “I cans”; say “I think I can”)
150 To Motivate Your Lover(Raffini, 1996) • Celebrations, Praises, Acknowledgements, Thank Yous, Put-Ups (multicultural days, trips, class awards, helpers, end of term events) • Class Community Building (designated class Web Site or Class Forum, Portal, Digitized Web class photo, photo album, class project, teeshirts, field trips)
150 To Motivate Your Lover(Raffini, 1996) • Democratic Voting, Student Interest Surveys, Class Opinion Polls • Random Acts of Kindness, Service Learning/Teaching, Volunteerism • Change Roles or Status (Random roles, assume expert roles, switch roles for a day)