Small teaching: lessons from the science of learning James M. Lang @LangOnCourse

The Power of Small Changes “Much of what we’ve been doing as teachers and students isn’t serving us well, but some comparatively simple changes could make a big difference.” Brown, Roediger, McDaniel Make it Stick (Harvard UP, 2014)

The Power of Small Teaching “In the current study the procedure consisted of pausing for 2 minutes 3 times during each 45-minute lecture. During the pause, subjects formed dyads and discussed lecture content (e.g., asked each other for clarification of concepts or caught up on notes). No instructor-subject interaction occurred during the pauses.”

Retrieving Connecting Motivating Learning Principles Knowledge Predicting Retrieving Interleaving Understanding Practicing Connecting Self-Explaining Inspiration Growing Motivating Mastering

Small Teaching Innovations Brief (5-15 minute) interventions into individual learning sessions Limited number of interventions or activities within an entire course Minor changes to course design, assessment structure, or communication with students

REtrieval Strengthening Knowledge and Skills

Knowledge: “The Hidden Power” of Cognition “Learning skills grow organically out of specific knowledge domains—that is to say, facts . . . The wider your knowledge, the more widely your intelligence can range and the more purchase it gets on new information.” Ian Leslie, Curious

Retrieval Practice in the Laboratory

Limits of Long-Term Memory “In long-term-memory the limiting factor is not storage capacity, but rather the ability to find what you need when you need it. Long- term memory is rather like having a vast amount of closet space—it is easy to store many items, but it is difficult to retrieve the needed item in a timely fashion.” Michelle Miller

A Little Bit of Theory . . . “Memories . . . are encoded by modifications in the strengths of connections among neurons. When we experience an event or acquire a new fact, complex chemical changes occur at the junctions—synapses—that connect neurons with one another . . . with the passage of time, these modifications can dissipate . . . unless strengthened by subsequent retrieval and recounting.” Daniel Schacter

Thinking to Retrieve Retrieval is good; thinking + retrieval is even better.

The Minute Paper

Pre-Class and Mid-Class Retrieval “Recall testing of previously studied information can increase long-term retention of subsequently studied new information. The forward effect of testing is particularly striking because it is on learning of information that is not necessarily related to the previously tested material.” Pastotter and Bauml (2014)

Small Teaching: Retrieval Open class by asking students to “remind” you of previous content or summarize readings. Close class by . . . asking students to write down the most important concept from that day (i.e., the minute paper) and one remaining question. Use clickers or free recall activities halfway through class in order to renew attention and prepare for new learning. Build retrieval activities around the core concepts that underpin the cognitive skills you teach (writing, speaking, problem-solving). Think-pair-share.

https://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/x608p9ERvlVwPUM

Peer Instruction Activities Instructor poses a question or problem. Students work on question or problem individually and post response. Students turn to their neighbor and explain their response. Students re-submit their answers. Instructor solicits explanations from students. Instructor provides correct answer or solution.

https://www.polleverywhere.com/free_text_polls/jeI8INorQtfYUuu

Connecting Expanding Knowledge Networks

Connected Knowledge “One important way experts’ and novices’ knowledge organizations differ is the number or density of connections among the concepts, facts, and skills they know . . . as experts in our domain, we may organize our knowledge in a way that is quite different from how our students organize theirs.” How Learning Works

Student vs. Faculty Connections Novice Learners Expert Learners Novices whose knowledge is “disconnected and lacks coherence can simultaneously hold and use contradictory propositions . . . without noticing the inconsistencies.” “Experts tend to automatically process information in coherent chunks based on their prior knowledge and then use these chunks to build larger, more interconnected knowledge structures.” How Learning Works

Helping Students Make Their Own Connections Teacher Student

Concept Maps “Concept maps are associated with high rates of student engagement . . .They are an optimal group activity because, as students work together to create the map, they are actively processing and discussing the material. A meta-analysis of 55 studies found that students who completed concept maps on a topic had higher levels of knowledge retention and transfer compared to students who read passages of text, attended lectures, or participated in classroom discussions on the topic (Nesbit & Adesope 2006).” ABLConnect “Concept Map”

Concept Maps

Describe how today’s material connects to last week’s. Connection Questions Write down the most important thing they learned that day, and why it matters to them or to society. List one way in which the day’s course content manifests itself on campus or in their home lives. Identify a television show, film, or book that somehow illustrates a course concept from class. Describe how today’s material connects to last week’s. Explain how that day’s material connects to something they learned in another course.

Conceptual Speed Dating Students were randomly assigned a work from the class. A worksheet required them to write out key lines and connect the work to a major course theme and a historical event. Students had three “speed dates” with other students in which both pairs had to find a connection between their two works and write a quick summary of that connection.

Well-Wrought Learning “You now see why ‘cramming’ must be so poor a mode of study. Cramming seeks to stamp things in by intense application immediately before the ordeal. But a thing thus learned can form but few associations. On the other hand, the same thing recurring on different days, in different contexts, read, recited on, referred to again and again, related to other things and reviewed, gets well wrought into the mental structure.” William James (1899)

Small Teaching: Connections Require students to create concept maps multiple times or with different organizational principles. Consider using connection notebooks or discussions to help students connect course material to their lives. Invite students to participate in quick-connection activities like conceptual speed dating. Develop your own in-class connection activities as a review or idea-generating activity prior to major assessments.

Motivating learners Purposeful Learning

What the Best Teachers Do Problems Questions Challenges Ken Bain found this in his study of best teachers—this was how they framed and pitched both their courses and their individual class periods.

Building a Learning Experience 1. Articulate Problem or Question 2. Explain Significance or Relevance 3. Give Students Opportunity to Answer 4. Provide Answer 5. Conclude with Problem or Question

Curriculum: Teaching Great Problems at WPI “Can we feed the world? Does use of ethanol in gasoline cause food shortages? What are the dangers and benefits to genetic engineering of food plants? Learn about and work to solve the current paradoxes of our food situation – the malnutrition of too little AND too much food: deprivation and obesity. What solutions are there – political, economic, biological and chemical?”

What motivates students to persist through difficult learning tasks? Boring But Important What motivates students to persist through difficult learning tasks?

Previous Research Extrinsic Motivation Intrinsic Self-Oriented Motivation Intrinsic Self-Transcendent Motivation

Persistence in College “Participants were N 1,364 seniors in their final semester at one of 17 participating urban public high schools . . . Ninety-nine percent said that they had applied for college and were planning on attending college in the Fall semester.” “They were from low socioeconomic backgrounds: over 90% received free or reduced-price lunch . . . and only 9% had one parent who had completed a 2 or 4-year degree; by contrast, 25% of parents did not have a high school diploma. The sample . . . had a large proportion of students that are typically underrepresented in higher education in the United States, 38% African American, 48% Hispanic/Latino, 5% Asian, 4% White.”

Time Spent Per Question

Peer-to-Peer Social Engagement “Motivation is crucial . . . and emotional connections to others and to a community provide the strongest motivation.” Chambliss and Takacs How College Works

Motivating Learners Open your course or syllabus with descriptions of the problems, questions, or challenges of your course. Open individual lectures with the presentation of a problem, question, or challenge. Provide opportunities for the learning of your course to serve the campus, community, or world. Provide opportunities for students to help each other succeed as learners.

More Information and Resources . . . RetrievalPractice.org How Learning Works The Spark Of Learning What The Best College Teachers Do @LangOnCourse