STACY WENZEL, PHD LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND MATH EDUCATION Educational Research Useful for College Instructors Using Ballooning 2015 Academic High Altitude Conference, DePaul University, Chicago Illinois

Need to know: to use ballooning with your students How to do it: Planning, logistics, technology, equipment, launching, data collection, analysis At my institution: Approval, costs, liability, consider career goals, peers With my students: Fit to learning goals, courses, curriculum Successfully: Instructional strategies and pedagogy, formative assessment, refining teaching and learning, professional community Student Learning Research findings Career success

How to do it: Planning, logistics, technology, equipment, launching, data collection, analysis At my institution: Approval, costs, liability, consider career goals, peers With my students: Fit to learning goals, courses, curriculum Student Learning Successfully: Engaged active learning, formative assessment, refining teaching and learning, professional community Research findings Career success Need to know: to use ballooning with your students

EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH: USEFUL FOR COLLEGE INSTRUCTORS USING BALLOONING  STEM undergraduate-specific studies  General research on how people learn and teach The DBER Report— Discipline-Based Education Research: Understanding and Improving Learning in Undergraduate Science and Engineering. Susan R. Singer, Natalie R. Nielsen, and Heidi A. Schweingruber, Editors; Committee on the Status, Contributions, and Future Directions of Discipline- Based Education Research; Board on Science Education; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; National Research Council. (2012) How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning with additional material from the Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice, National Research Council, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences National Academies Press, Aug 11, 2000  Student centered instructional strategies  More time engaging students in active learning during class  Frequent formative assessment  to provide feedback to students and the instructor on students’ levels of conceptual understanding

STUDENT CENTERED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES  More time engaging students in active learning during class  Frequent formative assessment  to provide feedback to students and the instructor on students’ levels of conceptual understanding

HOW DO INSTRUCTORS USE STUDENT CENTERED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES MORE SUCCESSFULLY?  Be aware  Understand the underlying pedagogical principles  Learn to implement new practices effectively (Henderson & Dancy, 2009; Singer, Nielsen & Schweingruber, 2012; Rogers, 2003) Changing one’s instructional practice is extremely difficult, and requires appropriate support, including time to try, reflect, revise, try again, and discuss with others

HOW?  Faculty professional learning community  Shared focus on student learning  ‘Deprivatization’ of practice  Collaborative, collective inquiry  Sustained enterprise

Study and share Lesson, class, project design and planning Approval and start up Implement and refine Document and sustain IMPROVING STEM EDUCATION VIA BALLOONING EDUCATION RESEARCH SUPPORT AT ALL STAGES Literature review points to Active learning Formative assessment Work within a Professional Learning Community Use research evidence to justify plans, lay out logic, write grants Share your experiences; add to the literature Assess your process, outcomes

SHARING QUESTIONS AND THOUGHTS