Engagement: The Underlying Engine of WebQuests

The Underlying Engine of

WebQuestsBernie Dodge, PhD

San Diego State University

Engagement:

http://webquest.org/workshops/engagement9/

My Questions to the Twitterverse:

What is engagement? What does it look like?

What looks like engagement but really isn’t?

What does engagement mean to YOU?

What IS Engagement?

unklar @berniedodge I think "engagement" sometimes has to be taking notes, listening to the teacher, doing homework alone; oh, yeah, and STUDYING!

What IS Engagement?

mmuir @berniedodge Eye contact w Head nodding w a smile while the teacher presents looks like engagement but often isn't...

mmuir @berniedodge Kids asking their own questions and finding answers and being excited and teaching others about it is engagement

What IS Engagement?

thecleversheep @berniedodge Engagement: utterly tuned in, focused and undistractable; and they don't realize they're learning.

Informal Study

N = 265

Describe a learning experience you had that was boring

And one that was fun

The subject was the Civil War and we were discussing the tools, weapons, and clothing used during that era. We worked in small teams and moved from one artifact table to another.

We had to figure out what the artifact was, what it was used for, and why it was invented.

We then presented our findings to the class.

In my junior American Literature class, we were expected to write a narrative based upon a selected piece of famous art.

We were to study every aspect of the painting and then create a story around it. We were allowed to pick the painting we wanted from a selection and we were allowed to work with a partner.

This is gross, but we were learning what causes finger/toenails to become discolored or misshaped.

We looked at slides, read out loud, took notes and then took our shoes off and identified the things we had learned on each other.

We constructed hurricane proof houses that we tested using a fan and then a leaf blower. you were given little materials, expected to come up with your own design structure and to explain your selections to a group.

Expectations

ListenWatch

Interact with Other LearnersInteract with Instructor

Interact with an ArtifactSit still

Move aroundPerform or Present

RememberThink Creatively

Think Critically

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

FunBoring

Second Study

http://edweb2.net/lmf/index.php

http://edweb2.net/lmf/index.php

http://edweb2.net/lmf/index.php

Challenge

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

highmoderateeasy

# Stories

Teacher Enthusiasm

Series1

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

highmediumlow

Interaction with other learners

Series1

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

highmediumlow

Other Common Attributes

Instructor warmth

Human interest

More concrete than abstract

Sensory rich

Hands on

Physical activity

Out of 160 storiesonly 2 were about a lecture

Out of 160 storiesonly 2 were about a lecture

Engagement & Technology

They’re all digital natives… so all we need is more hardware, right?

Caught up in the moment, I actually bought things like this. (Well, not quite like this.)

Every day we hear about new tools

especially at conferences like this.

Each day is like a visit to a new country

We get excited and a part of our brain shuts down.

You’ve got to remember where you came from

Don’t forget what you already knew as a teacher

An ad I recently received

Reminded me of this…

And came with claims that make my BS detector light up.

Magazines are adopting new technologies in the name of engagement and so will textbooks.

Be skeptical. And excited.

OK, so what IS engagement?

Engaged Learning

Conrad & Donaldson Engaged Learning Model

Engagement Research

STROBE

Used in medical education

Cycle of observing teacher and students

Validated against self-reports

O’Malley, K. et al, (2003). Validation of an observational instrument formeasuring student engagement in health professions settings. Evaluation & the health professions, 2003, 26; 86.

Observation protocol

Interactions

Interactions

Interactions

Interactions

Interactions

To sum it up: Engagement…

is about lots of interaction,

about the thing you’re trying to teach,

using as much of the brain as possible.

WebQuest.org

It’s not easy to get this across to novice teachers

They’ve been damaged

If only we had a visual language for talking about this…

SDSU Playbook

Rhumba

Figure Skating

Teaching is at least as complicated as football

Or rhumba

Interactions Thick lines = intense interaction requiring deep processing

Interactions Thin lines = weak interaction requiring shallow processing

http://slatest.slate.com/features/news_dots/default.htm

News Dots

Interactions Teacher demonstrates the site. Learners watch

Engagement = low

Interactions Teacher gives URL. Learners explore.

Engagement = low to medium

InteractionsTeacher gives URL and a task: What is in the news that interests you least?

Learners explore and reflect.

Engagement = medium

InteractionsTeacher gives URL and a task: Within groups, become an expert on one aspect of the news. Then work together and decide on a prediction about what the top five topics will be tomorrow.

Engagement = high

The SAME tool leads to DIFFERENT engagement

It’s all about teaching, not technology

http://www.360cities.net/image/sanaa-sunset

360 Cities

How could you maximize engaged, powerful learning with the 360 cities

site?

InteractionsWorking in groups of

three,decide how to maximize this,

this, and this.

What did you come up with?

So how can we measure engagement in our own teaching?

EOP

EOP

Put a number from 1 to 10 to indicate the amount of interaction of each type.

EOP

Put a number from 1 to 6 to indicate the kind of thinking required by the interaction:1 = Remembering2 = Understanding3 = Applying4 = Analyzing5 = Evaluating6 = Creating

EOP

MEOP

Testing now in Oklahoma

Will be used in San Diego in our Qualcomm project

Quantified feedback

Immediate results

Learning by focused observation

Pre-Class

Setup

Random Student

Generation

3-Minute Cycles

0:00 – 0:59 Observe Teacher & Class

1:00 – 1:29 Observe Student A

1:30 – 1:59 Observe Student B

2:00 – 2:29 Observe Student C

2:30 – 2:59 Observe Student D

TeacherObservati

on

Student Observat

ion

Interactions Thick lines = intense interaction requiring deep processing

The Ebb & Flow of Teaching

Student-Teacher

Student-Student

Student-Data

Student-Self

0 2010 4030 50 60

Homework: Get a friend to watch you teach

And watch the interactions.Why? Because you’re too caught up in the moment to

catch it all, no matter how experienced you are.

So… What About WebQuests and Engagement?

WebQuest 1.0

Kosovo Crisis

WebQuest 2.0Incorporating blogs and wikis

Travel Account

Historical Story

Caste System

Compilation

Election 2004

Recommendation

Example WebQuest: India & Pakistan

WebQuest 3.0Incorporating handheld devices

Interactions

Interactions

Interactions

WebQuest 3.0 Tasks

Creating a field guide to a local parkMaking recommendations about

historical preservationAnalyzing the healthfulness of local

grocery storesGathering oral history for a

compilationCreating a documentary about energy

use

The Underlying Engine of

WebQuestsBernie Dodge, PhD

San Diego State University

Engagement:

http://webquest.org/workshops/engagement9/