Sticky Teaching Adam Berman Nydia MacGregor

Today’s goals and agenda Teaching that Sticks The First Day Advice for the rest of the term

TEACHING THAT STICKS

Teaching that Sticks The curse of expertise Follow SUCCES Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotion Stories From Teaching that Sticks by Dan and Chip Heath

Teaching that Sticks Supported by best practices From the best Haas instructors From the larger world of education Easy to remember Can systematically apply to each class session to improve teaching overall

Simple What is the core message of the class or what are the BIG questions to answer? Communicate as simply as possible Small units Use analogies or familiar concepts

Unexpected Present a puzzle to solve…a mystery Show what the students are missing in their understanding Piques interest Gives students a Huh? Moment before the Aha!

Concrete Appeal to the senses – sight, sound, taste smell, touch - to explain material Use demonstrations or hands-on experiences

Credible How do we make something believable? Test it Experience it Statistics to show the relationships: e.g. The cost of water..

Emotion Appeal to something other than their heads:

Story Not surprising that everyone likes stories Did you know… Any story works, just try it The mental stimulation of visualization is the next best thing to practice for improving performance

SUCCES: Try it out Think of one concept from you class Take 5-7 minutes to apply as many of the six elements as you can - Simple, Unexpected, Credible, Concrete, Emotion, Story Share what you came up with

THE FIRST DAY

First Day What do you think an instructor needs to do on the first day of class? Why is the first day so important?

Building rapport Send a welcome prior to the first session Provide some background about yourself Begin learning their names Review photos Adam Berman B.S. Cal MBA Harvard Loves tennis and Bikram yoga Hopes someday to become one of America’s Iron Chefs.

Introduce yourself and course (number) Review the structure of the course, objectives, grading scheme, workload Explain procedures for enrollment, sections and policies on attendance Discuss what will be learned from course First Day: General strategies

It will be awkward…you (and they) may be apprehensive – try to appear confident and enthusiastic “Sell” the course – discuss the BIG, meaningful questions that can be answered by this course First Day: General strategies

First Day: Set expectations  Look the part – distinguish yourself from your students  Discuss how class time will be spent  Review the learning goals  Cover meaningful content e.g. work through a problem or mini case

First Day: Set expectations  Give students advice for how to succeed in your class  Discuss expectations around conduct and communication:  Respect, preparation, communication protocol, computers (or not), promptness

First Day: Create a positive environment Consider using an ice-breaker Ask small groups to discuss a topic and then share with the class Ask students to write their reaction to the first day – report to students next session and correct misconceptions Give an (ungraded) assignment for 2 nd session

THE REST OF THE TERM

Ongoing: Each session 22 Organize the topics and corresponding learning activities Use the SUCCES principles to explain the content Review the timing for each part of the class – include time for questions at the end Know how you will finish – take-aways, what homework to assign, a preview of next time

Ongoing: feedback Get early and ongoing feedback Solicit Share Incorporate 23 Give regular feedback to students

Last Class Review key take-aways: How did you answer the BIG questions? Give references for future learning of subject matter Motivate students to leave the course with excitement and passion for the material Parting advice 24

Questions