College of Nursing presentation August 20, 2013

citl.illinois.edu

Teaching MetacognitionHelping Students Self-Assess

Their Own Learning

Jim Wentworth & Ava WolfCenter for Innovation in Teaching and Learning

http://citl.illinois.eduUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Schedule:

10:30 – 11:00 Metacognition Presentation

11:00 – 11:40 Self-Assessment Hands-On Activity

11:40 – 11:50 Break

11:50 – 12:30 Student Response and Peer Instruction

12:30 – 1:00 Question and Answer Period

Outcomes:

Describe the concepts and value of developing metacognitive skills

Identify methods for developing and supporting self-learners

Demonstrate learning assessment techniques through hands on activities

Describe and demonstrate an approach to classroom response systems and peer instruction

“Teaching is the Art of Changing the Brain”

James Zull

During this talk we’ll be using the Poll Everywhere classroom response system.

In your browser go to:pollev.com/metacognition

When you think of the term metacognition, what comes to mind?

respond at PollEv.com/metacognition

Metacognition involves an active awareness of the processes of thinking and reasoning that we engage in when attempting to learn

Why Teach Metacognition?

Not all students enter the university with the necessary skills to succeed in their chosen discipline.

There is almost no relationship between how well students think they know material and how well they perform on an exam.

Plotnik & Kouyoumdijan, 2011

Over the past four decades there has been a dramatic rise in the number of freshman students that rate their abilitiesabove average.

“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge”

- Charles Darwin

Why Teach Metacognition?

By teaching metacognitive skills we can help students to overcome any bad study habits and gaps in their understanding and we can encourage them to assume responsibility for their own learning.

Helping students to recognize and retain what they’ve learned

Helping students compare their understanding to that of their classmates

Helping students review and assess their work against a set of stated expectations

Student Benefits

Making Learning Transparent

Provide clearly stated learning outcomes or assignment objectives

Use grading rubrics that align with objectives

Have students help create self-assessment quiz questions

Discuss Bloom’s taxonomy with students

Bloom’s TaxonomyShow of hands, how many of you are familiar with Bloom’s taxonomy?

Metacognitive Tools & Activities

Self-Assessment QuizzesGrading RubricsAssignment WrappersFormative FeedbackAuthentic AssessmentClassroom CritiquePeer Review / AssessmentSmall Group DiscussionStudent Response SystemsOne-Minute PaperMuddiest PointReiterative Projects

PortfoliosWeekly ReportsProcess AnalysisStudent-Generated Quiz QuestionsBackground Knowledge ProbeCategorizing GridOne Sentence SummaryProject ProspectusAnalytic MemoChain NotesReflective JournalConcept Maps

Metacognitive Activities Large Lecture Course

Small Blended Course

Online Course

Self-Assessment Quiz X X X

Grading Rubrics X X X

Assignment Wrapper X X

Reflective Journal X X

One Minute Paper X X

Muddiest Point X X

Classroom Critique X

Peer Evaluation / Assessment X X X

Small Group Discussion X X X

Student Response Systems X X

Authentic Assessment X X

Reiterative Projects X X

Key Ideas Building off of prior knowledge is

essential for all learning

Formative feedback is necessary for students to address their own weaknesses

Expert knowledge can get in the way of teaching

Think about your own thinking

What works for you? How do you gain understanding of new concepts? What tools or tricks work for you to remember and recall information when needed?

In your mind, follow your travels from home to work and see what associations are triggered.

What comes to mind as you imagine yourself traveling this route?

How do people learn?

Please write your first idea or thought on a piece of paper

How do people learn?

Then add your response to the list atpollev.com/metacognition

If learning involves attaching and integrating new information and

ideas to existing knowledge structures in the brain,

then . . .

Teaching is the Art of Changing the Brain

James Zull

Which letter below would be most associated with motor function?

respond at PollEv.com/metacognition

Which letter below would be most associated with motor function?

respond at PollEv.com/metacognition

The 4 letters Represent:

Frontal Integrative cortex

Premotor and Motor

Sensory and Postsensory

Temporal Integrative Cortex

Which letter would be most associated with reflection?

respond at PollEv.com/metacognition

Which letter below would be most associated with reflection?

respond at PollEv.com/metacognition

The 4 letters Represent:

D = Frontal Integrative cortex

A = Premotor and Motor

B = Sensory and Postsensory

C = Temporal Integrative Cortex

Important functions of the cortex

Matching stages of the experiential learning cycle

The sensory cortex receives information from the outside world

Matches with the common definition of concrete experience

The temporal integrative cortex integrates sensory information to create images and meaning

Matches what happens during reflection, for example remembering relevant information, free association & mentally reviewing experiences

The frontal integrative cortex is responsible for short term memory, problem solving, making decisions and directing action.

Matches well with the generation of abstractions, which requires manipulation of images and language to create new arrangements

The motor cortex directly triggers all coordinated and voluntary muscle contractions by the body

This matches with the necessity for action in the completion of the learning cycle. Active testing of abstractions requires conversion of ideas into physical action.

The Biology of Learning

Consider the word DUCK

What comes to mind when you hear the word duck?

respond at PollEv.com/metacognition

Consider the word DUCK

What comes to mind when you view the following image?

respond at PollEv.com/metacognition

Fish is Fish – Leo Lionni

Key Ideas Building off of prior knowledge is

essential for all learning

Formative feedback is necessary for students to address their own weaknesses

Expert knowledge can get in the way of teaching

Key Ideas Building off of prior knowledge is

essential for all learning

Formative feedback is necessary for students to address their own weaknesses

Expert knowledge can get in the way of teaching

Next we’ll focus on the use of online self-assessment quizzes for providing formative feedback

Shifting Gears

Formative Feedback

Helps students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work

Helps faculty recognize where students are struggling to address problems immediately

Show of hands

How many of you currently use online assessments in some form?

Online Self-Assessment

Use LMS to deliver online quizzes Computer scoring provides

immediate results for students, and comprehensive feedback

Question Pools to store and reuse questions

Item analysis in Blackboard

Question types in Blackboard that allow for immediate scoring and feedback?

Multiple Choice Fill in the Blank True / False & Either / Or Calculated Numeric Jumbled Sentence Matching Multiple Answers Opinion Scale / Likert

Formative Feedback

Revealing Unknown Unknowns

McGraw Hill’s LearnSmart system attempts to reveal to students their lack of awareness of unknown content by asking them to evaluate their confidence before responding to each question

“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge”

- Charles Darwinc

The system tracks the responses along with the level of confidence to reveal those questions that students don’t realize they do not know.

Revealing Unknown Unknowns

Aware and Unaware

Now it’s your turn

Go to http://compass2g.illinois.edu

Login with the guest account provided

Take the short self-assessment quiz

Compass Features

Formative Feedback Tips Questions align with objectives Provide good distractors – key into

common misconceptions Use images to help support recall Specific mention of related readings Links to additional information online Capitalize on “emotion” of moment

Pair and Share Worksheet Activity:

-- identify one learning outcome, and

-- create one multiple choice, self-assessment question with distractors and substantive feedback .

When completed share your question with another group – pass to the right.

Formative Assessment Rubric

Key Ideas Building off of prior knowledge is

essential for all learning

Formative feedback is necessary for students to address their own weaknesses

Expert knowledge can get in the way of teaching

Key Ideas Building off of prior knowledge is

essential for all learning

Formative feedback is necessary for students to address their own weaknesses

Expert knowledge can get in the way of teaching

Break

Please return in 10 minutes

Expert knowledge can get in the way of teaching

Which one does not belong?

Knowledge structures of experts and novices

Novice

Expert

Principles of Expertise

Experts notice meaningful patterns of information

Experts organize content knowledge in ways that reflect a deep understanding

Experts are able to flexibly retrieve rules, principles and applications

Experts can transfer knowledge beyond the original context

Show of hands

How many viewed at least some of Confessions of a Converted Lecturer?

Confessions of a Converted Lecture

Switch to media file to watch eight minute excerpt

Mazur’s Key Points

The better you know something the more difficult it is to teach the beginner

Much of our learning takes place outside of the classroom

Education is not just the transfer of information, it also requires assimilation

Teach by asking, not by telling

Poll Everywhere question

What are some of the building block concepts in your discipline?

respond at PollEv.com/metacognition

What makes a good polling question?

Return to poll everywhere results – What are some of the building block concepts in your discipline?

Form into groups and write at least one good polling question that would help students in the classroom to gauge their understanding of one of these difficult ideas.

Add your polling question to Poll Everywhere for display and archiving

respond at PollEv.com/metacognition

Classroom Response SystemsDiscuss the basics of these systems

Demonstrate Poll Everywhere reporting options

Expert Knowledge

Expert Knowledge

Key Ideas Building off of prior knowledge is

essential for all learning

Formative feedback is necessary for students to address their own weaknesses

Expert knowledge can get in the way of teaching

Key Ideas Building off of prior knowledge is

essential for all learning

Formative feedback is necessary for students to address their own weaknesses

Expert knowledge can get in the way of teaching

Questions?Feel free to e-mail us:

[email protected]@illinois.edu

Online course materials and resources available at:

compass2g.illinois.edu

The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled - Plutarch

citl.illinois.edu