How to thrive at UST: What Faculty Development offers Ann Johnson and Nancy Hartung August 2013.

How to thrive at UST: What Faculty Development offers

Ann Johnson and Nancy Hartung

August 2013

Structure for our session: What we can learn from the BEST teachers

Some tips for early success: Week 1

What Faculty Development offers to help you thrive

Presentation of the major features of an integrated course design model (Fink)

• Application to a course you will teach

What can we learn from the BEST college teachers?

Who are these best teachers?

What do they do that makes them exceptional?

What the Faculty Development Center offers to help you thrive at UST

Workshops Grants New faculty lunch discussions about

teaching and learning Individual classroom consultation

http://www.stthomas.edu/fdc/

Interested in ImprovingStudent Learning?

Initial Grade Distribution

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From: Workshop by Karl Wirth, Macalester College, 2009

What can make a difference?

Cohen (1987): Learning can often be improved by as much as two standard deviations with alignment of course objectives, assessment and learning activities.

From: Workshop by Karl Wirth, Macalester College, 2009

Integration of the Course

Learning Goals

Assessment Learning Activities

Situational Factors

1.Sizing up the Situation

Kind of students Role of this course for those students Where does the course fit in the curriculum? External standards? Internal requirements? Your strengths as a teacher Learning space you will use

Assignment (Worksheet 1):

Choose a course you will be teaching this year

Fill out Worksheet 1 with key information about the “Situation” for that course

Identify situational factors for which you need to get more information

Integration of the Course

Learning Goals

Assessment Learning Activities

Situational Factors

Starting with Key Goals/Objectives

Puts the focus on student learning Focuses on skills and abilities that are

central to the discipline Helps inform students about faculty

intentions—Increases learning! Helps integrate your planning with IDEA–

our student ratings of instruction system

How will they get there…

…if they don’t know where they are going ?

Why Not Give Them A Map?

From: Workshop by Karl Wirth, Macalester College, 2009

2. Choosing Key Goals How would you want your students to be

different from those who did not take your course?

In 3-5 years, what should your students• Know• Be able to do• What attitudes would you want

them to have?

Bloom’s taxonomy:

From:http://ww2.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm

Five years out……

Do you want your students to….. Remember enduring concepts Transfer knowledge to new situations Engage in critical analyses Be curious and engage in learning Know how to get quality information Communicate well Seek, respect and use diverse perspectives See ethical problems and make ethical choices

When Choosing a KEY Goal:

ASK yourself whether: Goal will be ASSESSED

LEARNING ACTIVITIES will be used to promote that goal/objective

Assignment (Worksheet 2):

Identify Learning Goals for Your Course Make a list of learning goals you have for this

course -- many examples are provided at your table.

Choose 3-5 would you find to be important or essential for students in that course?

Write these on the Worksheet 2

Integration of the Course

Learning Goals

Assessment Learning Activities

Situational Factors

3. Evidence of learning? Assessment

How will you know that your students have learned what you hope they will learn?

Remember: How you assess learning will drive how your students study, approach the course

Assessment Can Be

Backward looking-- We have covered topics X, Y and Z. Did you get it?

Forward looking -- Imagine yourself in a situation where people are using this knowledge. Can you use your knowledge of X,Y and Z to do [some type of realistic application of this knowledge]?

Forward looking(authentic):

Realistic Require judgment and innovation Ask the student to DO the subject Replicate contexts adults face in the workplace,

civic life, personal life Educative in nature

Wiggins, 1998, Educative Assessment

Assessment can be Formative-- the “Coach” role

Is evaluative but not part of the grade Provides information on how to improve Is done in dialogue Is frequent, immediate

“Classroom Assessment”

Short non-graded assignments that provide feedback to the students and to you about how the learning is going

• Minute Paper• Muddiest Point• Clicker questions (class participation pts)

Our first lunch/discussion will look at a variety of methods for formative feedback!

Assignment: For your course– On Worksheet 2:

For each goal, list at least one assessment

Share one goal and its assessment with 1-2 people around you.

4. Learning Activities

Learning Goals

Assessment Learning Activities

Situational Factors

Model: L. Dee Fink, Creating Significant Learning Experiences, 2003

Plan learning activities that help the student make progress on EACH goal

Learning Activities

ASK yourself: Who’s doing the work??

From: http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/education2.shtml

Short-Term Memory

Sensory Memory

Long-Term Memory

Sight

Sound

Taste

Touch

Smell

Attention

Elaboration and

Organization

Retrieval

Rehearsal

Lost Lost

Memory Processes

From:web.pdx.edu/~caskeym/caskey_web/Brain_NMSA02.ppt by Micki M. Caskey Barbara Ruben & Lorraine Morgan

Working & Long-Term Memory

From:http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/how-to-get-your-learners-to-remember-more/

Brain-Based Learning Theory

Learning is an active process of constructing knowledge

Students connect new ideas to what they already know

For long term retention– ideas need to be connected in meaningful ways (conceptual framework)

Brain image from:http://www.willamette.edu/~gorr/classes/cs449/brain.html Concepts from:http://cte.illinois.edu/resources/topics/theories.html; & from: Mastascusa, E. et al. Effective Instruction for STEM Disciplines, 2011, Jossey-Bass

Learning Activities might: Provide context & application; opportunities

to organize concepts

Give constructive feedback

Have students develop/compare conceptual frameworks

Have students self-assess their own learning (metacognition)

Plan “In Class” and “Out of Class” Activities

Castle Top Diagram

In class

Outside of class

Problem solving homework

In class problems: compare and contrast

Review

Exam

Read & answer questions

Short lecture with clicker questions; application problems

Watch Out for Breaks in Integration of the Course

Learning Goals

Assessment Learning Activities

Situational Factors

References Cohen, S.A., 1987, Instructional alignment: Searching for a magic

bullet: Educational Research 16:8, p.16-20.

Fink, L. D., 2003, Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. 1998. Understanding by Design. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Wirth, Karl, 2009, Getting Aligned II: Aligning the Elements of a Course using Reverse Design (workshop)

http://cte.illinois.edu/resources/topics/theories.html Mastascusa, E. et al. 2011. Effective Instruction for STEM

Disciplines, 2011, Jossey-Bass: San Francisco