1. Activity-based /Active Learning
Presenters:
Stephen Othieno, Chris Squires
Feb 28, 2017

2. Mr. Chris Squires Experience
30 years teaching Chemistry in Canada
(Alberta, Nunavut, Ontario, and Newfoundland)
Dept. Head of Science
AP Chemistry Teacher
IB Chemistry Teacher

3. Mr. Chris Squires B.Sc.,B.Ed., M.ED

4. Mr. Stephen Othieno’ Experience
B.Sc (Forestry) PGDE (Education) 23 years teaching experience in: - Uganda - Rwanda - Kazakhstan School Principal (Eden International School, Uganda) IB Biology Teacher and Examiner

5. Mr. Stephen Othieno

6. Today, you will learn: What Active Learning is?
Why you should bother to do all this work?
Methods of Active Learning
Why would teachers not be implementing Active Learning all the time

7. 80% of what we experience, and 95% of what we teach others.”
"We Learn...
10% of what we read,
20% of what we hear, 
30% of what we see,  50% of what we see and hear 70% of what we discuss,
  80% of what we experience, and 95% of what we teach others.”

8. Benefits
Home
Next

9. Goal: Get students engaged
Get students; talking, moving, or emotionally
involved so what you teach gets into long-term
memory.
“You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.”   Richard Branson (Virgin Airlines)

10. WHAT ARE BENEFITS? WHY DO ALL THIS WORK?

11. Lesson and Activities
For all subjects, activities are about engaging the students productively
Give them something to do. ????!!!
Only support and guide their effort
If YOU do it; they will fall asleep, while you have all the fun

12. Cornell University Let the learner speak

13. Starter Activity
In this activity, in groups, you will determine the thickness of a sheet of paper provided.
1) Five (5) people per group, at most , why not 10?
2)Obtain paper, a measuring instrument and choose a rapporteur (reporter)

14. Do it Guess the thickness: ________mm
Thickness of 50 sheets: ________mm
Repeat step 2 for two other values taken at different places: ___mm and ___mm
Average thickness of 50 sheets ___mm
Thickness of one (1) sheet: _____mm

15. Discussion Compare your final and guessed value (Guessed = hypothesis)
A 10% difference is okay
How did it help to use 50 rather than fewer sheets?
Why did we find the average?
Your final answer had 2 decimal places why?
Do you know to how to find the thickness of a sheet of paper in other ways?
Paper ranges between roughly to inches (97 to 114 µm) in thickness

16. Density (optional)
 ρ = mass / (l x w x h) (for paper A4 = 7.6 x 10-4 g/cm3 )
where ρ is the density, m is the mass, and V is the volume
And on the package it says:
5 lb for a ream (500 pieces) is (x 454 g/lb) = 2270g / ream = 4.54 g / sheet
It also says 200 mm x 300 mm per sheet.
Thus
7.6 x 10-4 g/cm3 = 4.54 g
(300 x 200 x h)
Substituting height = 0.10 mm ,
or 100 µm
Paper ranges between roughly
to inches (97 to 114 µm) in
thickness

17. Opening Question:
Take a moment to reflect on your experience with active learning. Chat with a friend, or make a few notes
Come up with a positive and a negative example. Write them down.
Tell them we will first demonstrate a class period or lecture sequence as an example of how active learning can be incorporated into a regular lesson.
Rationale
In order for students to learn effectively, they must make connections between what they already know (prior knowledge) and new content to which they're exposed. The opening of a lecture should facilitate these connections by helping students exercise their prior knowledge of the day's subject matter.
We begin our class with the opening question (which of course you can adapt to your needs), and which in this case is not really question.
Does anyone care to share a positive example? A negative example?

18. In other words, so they will go from this
The secret to being a bore is to tell everything. Voltaire

19. To this.

20. Turn and Talk
You have jotted down your reflections and experiences with active learning.
Now, turn to a partner and share your knowledge and experience.
Do you have anything to share with the class, we need your reporter to state your groups findings?
Question, all write strategy in “Think” section. (Have students think and write before talking to partner.)
When used at the beginning of a lecture, a Think-Pair-Share strategy can help students organize prior knowledge and brainstorm questions. When used later in the session, the strategy can help students summarize what they're learning, apply it to novel situations, and integrate new information with what they already know. The strategy works well with groups of various sizes and can be completed in as little as two or three minutes, making it an ideal active learning strategy for classes in which lecture is the primary instructional method.

21. What is active learning?
So active learning is an approach of instruction where students engage the material they study through reading, writing, talking, listening, and reflecting.
University of Minnesota Center for Teaching and Learning

22. Basic Elements of Active Learning
Active learning strategies use one or more of these elements:
Talking and listening
Writing
Reading
Reflecting
- University of Minnesota Center for Teaching and Learning

23. Categories of Active Learning Strategies
Individual activities
Paired activities
Informal small groups
Cooperative student projects
- University of Minnesota Center for Teaching and Learning

24. Activity #2: Paired Activity
Focused Listening

25. Focused Listing
Take out a sheet of paper and list as many characteristics of good active learning as you can.
These activities are leading to a connection between active learning and active lecturing. Focused listing is a strategy in which students recall what they know about a subject by creating a list of terms or ideas related to it. To begin, the instructor asks students to take out a sheet of paper and begin generating a list based on a topic presented on a PowerPoint slide. Topics might relate to the day's assigned reading, to a previous day's lecture material, or to the subject of the current session. Instructors often move around the room and look at students' lists as they write, briefly summarizing major trends or themes as a way of closing the exercise. Others ask students randomly to share the contents of their lists before moving on with their lecture. In either case, focused listing need not take more than a few minutes. It's an effective way to get students to actively engage material, and it offer feedback that the instructor can use to tailor the subsequent presentation of material to students' needs.

26. NOTE CHECK Summarize the most important characteristics
Take a few minutes to compare characteristics with a partner:
Summarize the most important characteristics
The note check is a strategy in which the instructor asks students to partner with someone near by and compare their notes, focusing on summarizing key information and locating misconceptions. Students can also generate questions or solve a problem posed by the instructor. The exercise can be completed in as little as two or three minutes.

27. Here are some, what do you have?
Learning activities to attract students.
Was exciting
All learners are actively involved
Encourage students to think and be creatively.
Respect the opinions and work (work) friend.
Encourage curiosity of learners to ask.
Encourage learners perform exploration (exploration).
Encourage students not to fear making mistakes.
Create an atmosphere of fun
Encourage learners to work together to develop social skills.
Learning activities involving many different senses.
Using the tools, materials, or facilities when required by the learning activities.
Engaging activities do, such as observation, experiments, investigations, role playing, games
10/29/2014
Prepared by: Keeling Small,Victor Avasi, and Stephen Othieno

28. Activity #3: Think, Pair and Share Activity
Your Ideas on Active Learning Strategies

29. Think-Pair-Share
Think about how you might use active learning strategies in your class.
Turn to a partner and discuss.
Share your findings with the large group.
Use this and the next 2 slides as middle of lecture examples. Include our own.
Think-Pair-Share and the other active learning strategies we've discussed can be used at transition points in the lecture. Employed in this way, these strategies give students an opportunity to think about and work with material just presented before moving to new information. They also help the instructor gauge how well students have understood the content, perhaps shaping what the instructor discusses during the remainder of the period.

30. Summarize the most important points in today’s lecture.
Two Minute Paper
Summarize the most important points in today’s lecture.
Sum it up, make it short , sweet and memorable!
In this strategy, the instructor pauses and asks students to write in response to a question presented on a PowerPoint slide. The strategy can be used at any point in a lecture, but it's particularly useful at the end as a way of encouraging students to summarize the day's content. The minute paper forces students to put information in their own words, helping them internalize it and identify gaps in their understanding.
When collected at the end of the period, the minute paper can serve as a classroom assessment technique to help instructors gauge how well students are learning the material, what they understand, and what the instructor needs to spend more time on.

31. FEEDBACK 3-2-1 3 things you gained 2 things you will use
1 thing you want to learn more about
In the spirit of active learning, please write this down as your ticket out the door.

32. 4 min Clip on Transitioning from Lecturer to Coach
Or active learning (music and driving a car)

33. Home
Conclusion
I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do, and I understand. (Asian proverb)
Next

34. BENEFITS

35. 10/29/2014
Prepared by: Keeling Small,Victor Avasi, and Stephen Othieno