CPR What’s in it for you? December 11 th, 2006 Teaching Excellence Center Sofia Carlos-Cuellar and Tim Zauche

What is Calibrated Peer Review? It is a web-based free program that allows you to –1. incorporate more writing in the classroom –2. improve critical thinking skills, self reflection –3. Increase communication abilities –4. Provides another way for students to express their knowledge

Why CPR? Do you use writing in your classroom currently? How long do you expect it would take to grade? Do your students critique their peers work as well as their own? How well constructed are your assignments?

Why do we use CPR? What are some learning goals you have for your class? –1. Increase knowledge retention –2. Improve written communication –3. Be able to critique writing

MAJORS USING CPR at TA&M Accounting Ag. Economics Animal Science Archeology Biochemistry Biology Botany Bus. Admin. Chemistry English Ed. Psychology Film French Kinesiology Learn. Comm. Math Microbiology Nutrition Physics Poultry Science  Psychology  Secondary Ed.  Vet Integr. Bio. Sci.  Wildlife & Fish. Sci.  Zoology

How does CPR help exactly? Excerpts from: Arlene A. Russell, UCLA 19th BCCE, Purdue, IL Shows how CPR has been used in various disciplines to improve learning Economics, Biology, General Chemistry, Business Writing, Engineering

Writing-to Learn Economics - CSUN Comparison of intact classes Ten case-study assignments Three sections (same instructor) of Economics 200; 2 CPR-based, 1 traditional with essays but no evaluation component Repeated over two semesters Chapman, K.S. COBAE Faculty Report ( )

Writing-to-Learn Biology - CSUF One class, one instructor Ten topics, 5 taught through CPR, alternately with 5 taught through lecture and simulation Pelaez, N.J. “Problem-based Writing with Peer Review Improves Academic Performance in Physiology” Advan Physiol Educ, Sep 2002; 26:

Mean multiple choice test scores were significantly better for topics taught using CPR compared with those taught using traditional instruction % versus %, P < 0.001, Paired t-test.

Mean essay exam scores were significantly better for topics taught using CPR compared with those taught using traditional instruction versus , P = 0.004, Paired t-test.

Learning-to-Write Business Writing - CSUN Pre-post comparison of three experimental instructional groups –CPR peer review, In-class group review, Traditional instructor review –All three methods resulted in statistically similar gains in writing. Plutsky, Susan, and B.A. Wilson Comparison of three methods for teaching and evaluating writing: A quasi-experimental study. Delta Pi Epsilon 46(1):

Taking the CPR tour

UWP Learning Goals Students need to be better communicators, specifically in writing Students need to learn to critique their own writing Students need to learn specific concepts better

Why is writing important? Synthesis Analysis Application Use of information to solve problems; transfer of abstract or theoretical ideas to practical situations. Interpretation Identification of connections and relationships Translation Restatement in your own words; paraphrase; summary Recall Verbatim information; memorization with no evidence of understanding Evaluation Bloom’s Taxonomy – categorizing level of abstraction of questions level of abstraction of questions

First Year’s Results from A&M Class This was not good…… Everyone but Leader stopped doing CPR. She knew that scientific writing/critiquing were invaluable skills, so She kept trying new approaches to improve student attitude.

What she saw was a significant increase in student acceptance and understanding of CPR over time. and understanding of CPR over time. QuantitativeResults Quantitative Results

QualitativeResults – Overview Qualitative Results – Overview

Ways to effect Student Opinion Be upfront with them –Let them know you are experimenting to help them learn better Write or edit your own assignments –Everyone’s teaching style is different Be tough but understanding –Give extensions when warranted –Monitor the assignment progress & reminders Do your own homework –Participate as a student

Difficulties of using CPR Zauche needed to be clearer of his assignment goals –What to put in an introduction section –He is now a better teacher and writer About hours for a mediocre assignment Adding and getting usernames to students

Improvements Made Over Time Prepared more thorough instructions and a supportive website Wrote most of my own assignments Told my students upfront in the syllabus that the class was a writing-intensive class and included my teaching philosophy Invited students to let me review their essays before submission Increased importance of the text entry Increased CPR’s worth from 3-5% to 12% of class grade Took classroom time to demonstrate CPR Used Bloom’s Taxonomy to show importance of critiquing

What classes have used CPR at UWP? Chem 105 (Sofia) –Spring and Fall 06 (4 assignments) Chem 124 (Tim) –Fall 05, Spring 06, Fall 06 Chem 273 Inorganic Chemistry (Tim) –Fall 06 Lab reports by section Abstract, Introduction, Results/Discussion Other Faculty –Education (LoGuidice) Fall 06 –Biology (Sharon and Jeff) Spring 07 –Ag (Reddy) Fall 06

Comments from Chemistry Classes Students are aware CPR is more work Students are aware that they are learning more Are the students learning the concepts better? –Final Exam results to be compiled Are the students writing better? –Hard to assess currently

What have we accomplished? Determined the level of difficulty in creating CPR assignments Determined the ability to use CPR at UWP Better local understanding of how to create a CPR assignment Held a training session and are exploring the ideas of having a CPR professional hold a training session here

Support Assessment Activity Fund Teaching Excellence Center –Presented a workshop to 6 faculty in Aug Faculty Professional Development –Presented at the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education