Enhancing Our Teaching by Understanding How Our Students Learn

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Slides available for download at:

www.learnercenteredteaching.wordpress.c

University of Houston Enhancing Our Teaching by 4/16/12

What was Then

Guido Sarducci Five Minute University

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2012 Understanding Learning

We have accumulated enough knowledge about the mechanisms and molecular underpinnings of cognition at the synaptic and circuit levels to say something about which processes contribute (James Bibb of the University of Texas Southwestern
Medical Center)

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What We Know about the Brain and Learning

What we know about the brain comes from biologist who study brain tissue, experimental psychologist who study behavior, cognitive neuroscientist who study how the first relates to the second. (Medina, 2008).

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Left Brain-Right Brain Myth

According to the myth, we would all be more successful and fulfilled people if we learned to tap the full potential of both hemispheres.

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Left Brain-Right Brain Myth

Individuals do differ in the way they think through problems and reflect on the world, but this has nothing to do with different balances of power between their hemispheres.

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Left Brain-Right Brain Myth

WRONG

"But boiling it down into a left brain 'logical' and right brain 'creative' approach does not follow from what we see in how the brain operates. It also suggests you could be using one hemisphere more than the other and that's not really how it works.
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Left Brain-Right Brain Myth

The two sides communicate with each other and work together via a complex wodge of neural cabling known as the corpus callosum. The two sides of the brains are complementary and work in concert. ( Scott,2011)
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We are Born to Learn

The brain was meant to explore and learn

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The Brains Needs

The brain needs to function effectively: 1. Exercise 2. Sleep 3. Oxygen 4. Hydration 5. Food (glucose)
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Learning in the Brain

Learning occurs when an experience imposes a pattern of activity on groups of neurons. The patterns alter the cells Neuroscientist John Castro interconnections,

www.virtualgalen.com/.../ neuronssmall.jpg

Teachers Definition of Learning?

Learning is the ability to use information after significant periods of disuse and it is the ability to use the information to solve problems that arise in a context different (if only slightly) from the context in which the information was originally taught.
(Robert Bjork, Memories and Metamemories, 1994)

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It is the one who does the work who does the learning
2008).

Basic Finding from Brain Research as it Impacts Human Learning

( Doyle ,

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Part One Our Students Mindsets

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Two Kinds of Mindsets

Growth Fixed

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Growth Mindset
Students believe-

that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts They believe that a persons true potential is unknown (and unknowable); 4/16/12

Growth Mindset

Students with a growth mindset take learning risks and view failure only as a message that they need to figure out what they did wrong and work harder to improve.

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Mindset-Fixed
In a fixed mindset students believe that intelligence is a fixed trait -- that some people have it and others don't -- and that their intelligence is reflected in their performance (Dweck,
2006).

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Fixed Mindset
Fixed mindsets believe they either shouldnt need to work hard to do well

or
putting in the effort wont make any difference in the outcome.

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Mindset
Fixed VS. Growth Intelligence is malleable and can be improved. Intelligence is unchangeable.

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Mindset
Fixed Look smart. vs. Growth Desire to learn is paramount.

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Mindset
Fixed Avoid challenges. to learn. VS. Growth Failure is seen as an opportunity

Risks are necessary for growth.

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Mindset
Fixed VS. Growth Effort is necessary for growth and success. Make excuses and try to avoid difficulties.

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Mindset
Fixed VS. Growth Criticism is directed at their current skills level. Students know they can improve.
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Criticism is taken personally.

Mindset and Intelligence

There is no relation between students' abilities or intelligence and the development of a growth mindset.

A mindset is contextualnot held in all areas of learning.

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Feedback and Mindset

Teachers should focus on students' efforts and strategies. Praise their efforts or their strategies, not their intelligence.

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Part Two

Teaching for Long Term Recall

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We Use all our Senses

The traditional belief among neuroscientists has been that the human senses operate largely as independent systems. However, mounting data suggest interactions between vision, hearing, smell, touch and taste are the rule, rather than the exception.
(Seitz, Kim & Shams, 2006)
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Multisensory interactions may be exploited to render the processing of sensory information more effective in terms of encoding and learning as well
(Seitz, Kim & Shams, 2006).

Senses Create Multiple Pathways for Learning and Memory

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The more senses used in learning and in practicing what has been learned the more pathways are available for recall.

Senses Create Multiple Pathways for Learning and Memory

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Multisensory Learning
Those in multisensory environments always do better than those in unisensory environments. They have more recall with better resolution that lasts longer, evident even twenty years later. (Medina, 2008).

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A Multisensory Learning Experience

20 ounces of Coke

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A Burger King Whopper and Fries

40 +17 = 57grams of fat

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Sight and Touch in Learning

In a study done in 2003, learners were compared for their recall of correct answers using the sense of touch alone, sight alone and touch and sight combined. In the findings below we can see once again the advantage of a multisensory approach.
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Smells and Learning

Proust Effect is the unusual ability of smell to enhance recall. Best results when smells are congruent with the situation.
Medina, 2008, Brain Rules, p.212

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Smell and Memory

The smell of roses delivered to people's nostrils as they studied and, later, as they slept improved their performance on a memory test by about 13 percent. The new study, published in The Journal Science, was the first rigorous test of the effect of odor on human 4/16/12 memory during sleep.

Smell and Memory

Re-exposure to the odor during slowwave sleep (SWS) improved the retention of hippocampus-dependent declarative memories.

(Rasch,Bchel,Gais and Born, 2007)

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Smell and Learning

In a study published in 2010, found that after a time delay, scent enhances recall of verbal information.

Scent-based retrieval cues potentiate the facilitative effect of pictures on recall as well.
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Vision Trumps All

Vision trumps all other senses

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Vision Trumps All

Text and oral presentations are not just less efficient than pictures for retaining information they are way less efficient
(Brain Rules p.234)

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Vision Trumps All

Oral information has a recall of about 10% after 72 hours Add a picture and the recall increases to 65%

4/16/12 Rules, P.234) (Brain

192.107.108.56/.../m/murray_k/final/img004.jpg

Crammin g 4/16/12
192.107.108.56/.../m/murray_k/final/img00 4.jpg

Cramming

The shortHowever, if term the goal of advantage

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Cumulative Tests Work

These studies show that reviews in general and cumulative tests in particular lead to improved student performance (Thomas Edmonds, 1984)

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Using Cumulative Exams

If the intervening test includes correct answer feedback, it is not surprising that testing often improves long-term retention (Cull, 2000; McDaniel & Fisher, 1991;
Pashler, Cepeda, Wixted, & Rohrer, 2005);

.
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Memory Rules
1. Repetition over time (distributive

practice) 2.Elaboration of material

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Listen to the Music

Do you know the lyrics to songs that you did not try to learn and do not want to know the lyrics to?

YES
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Practice over Time

Practice, Use , Repetition, Review, Reflection or other meaningful ways we engage with new learning over time is a major key to its recall.

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Review
Reviews may do more than simply increase the amount learned; they may shift the learners attention away from the verbatim details of the material being studies to its deeper conceptual structures(Dempster, 1986)

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How to Use Review

Review is most effective when spread out over timeevery few days rather than two reviews in the same day is twice as effective and increases as the frequency of review increases.
(Dempster,1986)

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Elaborations are the Key

For better or worse, our recollections are largely at the mercy of our elaborations (Daniel
Schacter author of the Seven Sins of Memory)

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Elaboration is a Major Key to Recall

Step One. Step Two: Step Three: Step Four: Charts 4/16/12

Accuracy Reflection Regular Review Mapping, Images,

Keeping Memories
The best way to minimize memory decay is to use elaborative rehearsal strategies

Visualizing Singing Writing Semantic Mapping

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Why Students Forget

Review helps to limit the 3 Sins of Memory that commonly occur among students.
1.

Blocking information stored but cant be accessed (Schacter, 2001) Misattribution attributing a memory to the wrong situation or source (Zola, 2002) Transience memory lost over time

1.

1. 4/16/12

Emotion and Memory

Emotional arousal organizes and coordinates brain activity (Bloom, Beal &
Kupfer 2003)

When the amygdala detects emotions, it essentially boosts activity in the areas of the brain that form memories (S. Hamann & Emony, UN.)
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Emotion and Memory

Emotional arousal appears to increase the likelihood of memory consolidation during the retention (storage) stage of memory. A number of studies show that over time, memories for neutral stimuli decrease but memories for arousing stimuli remain the same or improve
(Lebar and Phelps, 1998).

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Which of the following slides would be easier to recall after two weeks?

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Slide One

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upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/th umb/...

Slide Two

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www.operationsudan.org/images/darfur_chi ld_st...

Multiple Senses with Emotion

Powerful memories can be created when using multiple senses and emotion

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Facilitating Students Learning

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Facilitating Learning
The greatest sign of success for a teacher . . . is to be able to say, The students are now working as if I did not exist. (Marie Montessori)

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Why do We Love to Lecture?

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Why do we love to lecture?

1. We worked very hard to learn the subject(s).

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Why do we love to lecture?

2. We know our students dont know most of what we have to tell them. AND We went into teaching to help students learn our subject areas.

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Why do we love to lecture?

3. We feel powerful when sharing our knowledgewe like to show off.

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Why do we love to lecture?

4. Lecture is expedient.

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Why do we love to lecture?

5. Lecture requires limited planning.

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Why do we love to lecture?

6. We remain in control of the learning process.

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What are the drawbacks to lecture?

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Drawbacks to Lecturing
1. Lecture when unisensory makes it a much less effective way to learn than many other learning approaches.

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Drawbacks to Lecturing

2. Requires extended attention for the learner which is difficult for todays learners.

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Drawbacks to Lecturing

3. It is natural for humans to daydreamwe all do it all the time.

(Smallwood &Schooler, 2006)

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Drawbacks to Lecturing
4. Students brains will begin to habituate the sound of our voice especially if it is unmodulated

Encyclopedia of Educational Psychology, Volume 1, Salkind.

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Drawbacks to Lecturing
5. Lecture doesnt cause the learners to do much work. Except multitasklistening and taking notes which diminishes the processing time needed for comprehension.

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Drawbacks to Lecturing

6. No movement on the part of the learners.

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What does it mean to facilitate?

In education, it most often means supporting students in learning their course material by 1. Providing an environment for engagement.

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What does it mean to facilitate?

2. Providing students a set of resources such as questions, articles, research findings, problems, and/or cases to engage with.

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What does it mean to facilitate?

3. Using authentic assessment tools that provide our learners with meaningful feedback that leads to further learning.

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Facilitation is a Learned Skill

The skill of facilitation is something that has to be learned.

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What do Facilitators Do?

1. Initiate activities that get the full participation of learners. 2. Cultivate shared responsibility for the learning between the teacher and the students.
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What do Facilitators Do?

3. Effective facilitation also involves thorough content knowledge. This role of teacher as expert does not change. What changes is how this expertise is used.

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Planning Starts with Learning Outcomes

Four steps Who will be doing the learning?

1.

2. When will the learning be completed? 3. What will the students be able to do 4/16/12

The Planning Process

Question 1 What is the best use of my time during class to help students successfully reach the learning outcome(s)?

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The Planning Process

Question 2 What will my students do both in and out of class to reach the learning outcome(s)?

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The Planning Process

Question 3 What resources will I need to provide my students so they can accomplish this learning?

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The Planning Process

Question 4 What resources will my students need to provide themselves so they can reach the learning outcome(s)?

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The Planning Process

Question 5 How much time do I need to allocate to the various parts of the instruction, practice, and feedback of this lesson?

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The Planning Process

Question 6 Will the students work alone, in pairs, or in groups?

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The Planning Process

Question 7 How will I assess my students learning?

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Really Important Question!!!

Do students need feedback on what they did in class before trying additional activities like homework?

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Now What?
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Assessing the Effectiveness of the Planning Process

Question 1. What additional help do students need to better understand the new material or become more proficient with the new skill?

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Assessing the Effectiveness of the Planning Process

Question 2 What is the best way to deliver this help? Teacher Peers Tutoring

A. B. C. D.

Media 4/16/12

Assessing the Effectiveness of the Planning Process

Question 3 What resources do students need to continue their learning?

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Assessing the Effectiveness of the Planning Process

These questions can help us decide what practice, assignments, tutorials etc. are most effective and keep outof-class learning from becoming busy work.

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Giving Feedback
Giving meaningful feedback that promotes improved learning is one of the greatest skills of an effective facilitator of learning.

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Giving Feedback

Feedback is the key to improved learning.

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Giving Feedback
Quality feedback is the difference between all of the hard work and planning that went into a great teaching activity paying learning dividends and the teaching activity being just a great show.

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Giving Feedback
The feedback process is most effective when both students and teachers are actively involved in the process. Students often see feedback as the sole domain of the teacher
(Taras, 2003).

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Giving Feedback
Assessments should be designed so that students can see the direct benefits of attending to the feedback.

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Examples of Effective Feedback

Divide assignments into stages and provide feedback that is essential to completing the next stage. Give students a provisional grade with opportunity to visit, discuss their work, and potentially earn a higher grade using the feedback.
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Giving Feedback
Give feedback that focuses more on instruction rather than correction. The message is how to improve.

(Hattie & Timperley, 2007)

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Giving Feedback

Link feedback to the specific assessment criteria. A rubric is helpful for this step.

(Nicol & Draper, 2008)

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Giving Feedback

Give feedback as soon as possible once students have made every effort to complete the task on their own

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Giving Feedback
Use language that the students can understand and that relates directly to the task and its improvement . Focus on the effort and the strategy used. Avoid references to their intelligence. 4/16/12

Feedback that Students Can Understand

Just as we want our students to consider the reader when they are writing, we must think of the receiver of the feedback when we are delivering it.

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Research on Feedback
The feedback needs to be very specific to the task and how the task can be improved.
--------Research shows that this type of feedback can have a significant effect on learning enhancement.
(Hattie &Timperley, 2007).

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Research on Feedback

Praise, reward, and punishment have little effect on improving learning.

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Research on Feedback
Feedback should be related to the learning outcomes. The feedback should reduce the gap between current levels of understanding and performance, and the ultimate learning outcome. (Hattie &
Timperley, 2007)

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Patterns and Learning

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Patterns and Learning

The brain is a pattern seeking device Sociology that relates whole concepts to one another and looks for similarities, Psycholo gy differences, or Anthropolog y relationships between them.
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(Ratey, 2002, pg.5)

Which of the following slides is easier to remember and WHY?

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SLIDE ONE

491580
Click to edit Master subtitle style 4/16/12

Slide Two

(491) 580-2979

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Slide One

NRAFBINBCUSAMT V
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Slide Two

NRA NBC FBI USA MTV

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Familiar Patterns
Clustering is used to organize related information into groups. Information that is categorized becomes easier to remember and recall. In Teaching Reading Topic Main Ideas-concepts, issues Significant Details Important Examples Lists Names, Dates, Places Terms, Definitions 4/16/12

Common Patterns for Learning

Similarity and Difference Cause and Effect Comparison and Contrast In students own words
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Teach your Students the Patterns in the Course

Hierarchal-- Chemistry Linear History, Math Rank OrderBusiness Pivot Concepts-- Social Sciences 4/16/12

References/Bibliography

Barkley, Elizabeth F., K. Patricia Cross, & Clair Howell Major. Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty. JosseyBass, 2005. Bonwell, Charles C. Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom. Ashe-Eric Higher Education Reports, 1991.

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References/Bibliography

Gagnon, George W. & Michelle Collay. Designing for Learning: Six Elements in Constructivist Classrooms. Corwin Press, 2000. Gass, Michael A. Book of Metaphors. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. 1995.
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References/Bibliography

Piskurich , George M. Rapid Instructional Design: Learning ID Fast and Right. Jossey-Bass, 2000. Piskurich, George M. (Ed), et al. The ASTD Handbook of Training Design and Delivery. McGraw-Hill. 1999.
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Progroff, Ira. At a Journal Workshop.

References/Bibliography

Thousand, Jacqueline S., Richard A. Villa & Ann I. Nevin (Eds). Creativity and Collaborative Learning: A Practical Guide to Empowering Students and Teachers. Paul H Brookes Pub. 2001. Ukens, Lorraine L. All Together Now!: 4/16/12 A Seriously Fun Collection of Training

References

REFERENCES Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (Eds.). (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching and assessing: A revision of Bloom's taxonomy of

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References

Bligh, D. A. (2000). Whats the use of lectures? San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass. Bloom, B. S., & Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals, by a committee of college and university examiners. Handbook 1: Cognitive domain. New York, New York: Longmans. 4/16/12

References

Crisp, B. (2007). Is it worth the effort? How feedback influences students subsequent submission of assessable work. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 32(5), 571-581. Cull, W. (2000). Untangling the benefits of multiple study opportunities and repeated testing for cued recall. Applied Cognitive 4/16/12

References

Ebbinghaus, H. (1913). A contribution to experimental psychology. New York, New York: Teachers College, Columbia University. Edwards, J., & Fraser, K. (1983). Concept maps as reflections of conceptual understanding. Research in Science Education, 13, 19-26.
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E-Health MD. (2011). What is AIDS?

References

Hart, P. (2006). How should colleges prepare students to succeed in todays global economy? Retrieved April 24, 2010, from http://www.aacu.org/advocacy/leap/d ocuments/Re8097abcombined.pdf Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77, 81-112. Herrington, J., Oliver, R., & Reeves,

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References

Kerr, N.L. (1989). Illusions of efficacy: The effects of group size on perceived efficacy in social dilemmas. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 287-313. Khatri, P., Blumenthal, J. A., Babyak, M. A., Craighead, W. E., Herman, S., Baldewicz, T., Madden, D. J., . . . Krishnan, K. R. (2001). Effects of exercise training on cognitive 4/16/12

References

Lombardi, M. M. (2007). Authentic learning for the 21st century: An overview. ELI Paper 1. Retrieved November 5, 2010 from http://www.educause.edu/ELI/AuthenticLe Lowinson, J., Ruiz, P., Millman, R., & Langrod, J.(1997). Substance abuse: A comprehensive textbook (3rd ed.). Baltimore, Maryland: Williams & Wilkens. 4/16/12

References

McKeachie, W. (1994). Teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers (9th ed.). Lexington, Massachusetts: DC Heath. McKeachie, W. J. (1978). Teaching tips: A guidebook for the beginning college teacher, (7th ed.). Lexington, Massachusetts: Heath. McKenzie, J. (1999). Scaffolding for

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References

North Central Regional Education Laboratory. (2011). Traits of Authentic Education. Retrieved October 14, 2010 from www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/ Novak, J. D. (1990). Concept maps and vee diagrams: Two metacognitive tools for science and mathematics education. Instructional 4/16/12

References

Ribeiro, S., Gervasoni, D., Soares, E. S., Zhou, Y Lin, S. C., Pantoja, J., ., Lavine, M., Nicolelis, M. A. (2004). Long-lasting novelty-induced neuronal reverberation during slowwave sleep in multiple forebrain areas. PLoS Biology, 2(1): e24. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0020024. Ribeiro, S. (2004). Sleeper effects: Slumber may fortify memory, stir 4/16/12

References

Soanes, C., Stevenson, A., & Hawker, S. (2006). Concise Oxford English dictionary (computer software) (11th ed.). Oxford University Press. Entry mnemonic. Spiller, D. (2009). Assessment: Feedback to promote student learning. Retrieved Nov 1, 2010 from http://www.docstoc.com/docs/244368 89/Assessment-Feedback-to4/16/12

References

Underwood, B. J., & Postman, L. (1960). Extra-experimental sources of interference in forgetting. Psychological Review, 67, 73-95. Voss, J., Gonsalves, B., Federmeier, K., Tranel, D., & Cohen, Neal. (2010). Hippocampal brain-network coordination during volitional exploratory behavior enhances learning. Nature Neuroscience. doi: 4/16/12

The End
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