1. What are one or more things you learned from looking at the posters, watching the video, and reading the article?
  2. Based on the posters, video, and/or article, what are your ideas for what you might implement? How might you apply this in your teaching? What is something you will do differently / what will you think about implementing?
  3. Briefly describe something that you do well in your teaching. For example, you might briefly describe an activity, assignment, or approach you use that is an example of a teaching strategy addressed in one or more of the posters, videos, or article.

« Activity 3 Discussions

Group 1: Anne Arundel, Leeward, Santiago, San Diego  

1. What are one or more things you learned from looking at the posters, watching the video, and reading the article?

Some of the things I learned dealt with metacognition (the "wrapper" technique) by having students regurgitating information that was taught from them in a prior lecture, or at the end of the lecture. For example, having students go in groups to discuss what they understand, and also not understand. Having the students digest information by forming groups (and not just 'talking' to them the whole lecture period. I also learned from the video (Interactive Lectures) about sea level rise and ozone concentration - students will become more engaged if they know ahead of time they will be placed in groups "sharing" information on topics, and thus, are more prone to participate fully.



2. Based on the posters, video, and/or article, what are your ideas for what you might implement? How might you apply this in your teaching? What is something you will do differently / what will you think about implementing?

I vehemently believe that students will absorb information better if they know they will be asked to participate (such as group discussions). Therefore, the video based on "Interactive Lectures" is something I plan on implementing. For example, I tie in current events, such as climate change or other events involving the earth sciences, into my lectures to make the students interested in these issues/topics; which are relevant to what is going on today. Moreover, I will implement even more strategies surrounding group sharing. One caveat is to try and avoid group-think from my students, which could occur with increased group work in my opinion.



3. Briefly describe something that you do well in your teaching. For example, you might briefly describe an activity, assignment, or approach you use that is an example of a teaching strategy addressed in one or more of the posters, videos, or article.

One strategy I try and employ with my students involve going over material from the most recent lecture. This way, students have to recall information from the past lecture. This allows students to refresh their memories on the topic(s) discussed previously, in an open environment such as a metacognition style, before moving on to the next topic.

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edittextuser=112367 post_id=43104 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

1. What are one or more things you learned from looking at the posters, watching the video, and reading the article?

I realized through the last video that my percentages for collaborative exams were a bit off and that I should re-assess/design them to be more 50/50. Overall, I like how my collaborative exams worked in the past, but changing this will give me a better gauge on the individual preparedness for the exams. From the article, I learned a few new ways to respond to students when they give an incorrect (or incomplete) answer to a classroom discussion. This has been really tough for me because I strive to make my classroom feel like a safe space and I state "any answer is fine even if it's wrong" because no one wants to answer. However, when it's wrong I find myself having a hard time adjusting/tweaking it so it's right or if it's flat out wrong I just say "okay great thank you, any one else?" which doesn't feel like it comes off well.


2. Based on the posters, video, and/or article, what are your ideas for what you might implement? How might you apply this in your teaching? What is something you will do differently / what will you think about implementing?

I really liked the "wrappers" poster. I have done a variation of the exam wrapper before but I really like the specific questions listed on the poster and I never thought of giving wrappers for projects/class activities/readings. This semester I definitely intend to incorporate more of these during my courses. I currently have students bring in a composition notebook to class (every class) where they write out answers to minute papers/think pair share etc and this would be a great addition to that. Because they keep the same composition notebook throughout the semester, they can refer back to their notes on how they did the last exam and what study habits they might want to change for the upcoming exam as well!

3. Briefly describe something that you do well in your teaching. For example, you might briefly describe an activity, assignment, or approach you use that is an example of a teaching strategy addressed in one or more of the posters, videos, or article.

I think one of the things I do well is think pair share. I like to ask students a question about how something will change and draw what that change will look like (ex. volcano pre-eruption, volcano with magma rising, volcano post eruption; coastline before coastal armoring, coastline after coastal armoring). They draw their thoughts in their notebooks, then pair up with their group mates to form one solid answer, then they draw it on the board. Once everyone's answers are up then I will go to the one that is the most correct and explain why it is most correct (if anything is wrong then I also correct it at this time).

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edittextuser=46961 post_id=43106 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

Robby - I like your idea of going over the material from the most recent lecture. One suggestion from James Lang's Small Teaching is to do it in a way where they have to come up with the information - perhaps a non-graded quiz, a quick clicker question, or an entry ticket. In any case, he would say that the results will be better if students have to recall the information themselves rather than being given it by you or another person. But no matter how you do it, it will really help them to practice!

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edittextuser=57 post_id=43110 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

Angela - your idea of having TPS groups draw somethign is lovely, and I will probably steal it!

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edittextuser=57 post_id=43111 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

1. What are one or more things you learned from looking at the posters, watching the video, and reading the article?

It finally clicked for me that one of the issues in my classes is the lack of metacognition. Last semester, after an exam that scored significantly lower than usual, I surveyed all of my students, asked them what they do to study for an exam, analyzed the data for any correlation between what they did and their exam score. The biggest correlation was about the online resources answer: students that answered “I use YouTube videos” scored 67% on average, students that answered “I do NOT use YouTube videos”, 80%. It now finally makes sense to me that the issue is not watching videos, the problem is the false sense of confidence that comes from watching someone else effortlessly solving a chemistry problem. Most of my students are not aware of how little they learned from passively watching a video.

2. Based on the posters, video, and/or article, what are your ideas for what you might implement? How might you apply this in your teaching? What is something you will do differently / what will you think about implementing?

I am going to add some type or “wrapper” at the end of each lecture and each exam, use the data collected to modify my lectures. Spend a few minutes of our exam review days talking about the most common traps my students might fall into, such as passively watching videos. I am sure that there are many more wasteful study techniques that I am not aware of; I am going to research what those are, share what I find with my students.

3. Briefly describe something that you do well in your teaching. For example, you might briefly describe an activity, assignment, or approach you use that is an example of a teaching strategy addressed in one or more of the posters, videos, or article.

I created a simple “clicker” web app that lets my students answer questions individually or as small groups from their phone/tablet/laptop. I believe that it is an effective way to do a number of activities in a simplified, faster way: I use it at times as a substitute for hand raising, quizzes, and whip around.

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edittextuser=137821 post_id=43113 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

Luca,

Completely agree re: metacognition. One quick technique I use:

Me: Raise your hand if you are an athlete, exercise, play an instrument, do crafts, play competitive gaming, etc.
Students: Most hands are raised.
Me: Do you practice?
Students: Of course we do.
Me: Why do you practice and how long do you practice?
Students: Because I want to get better. I spend many hours per week.
Me: Can you expect to get better if you do not practice often?
Students: No.
Me: So why is it that you expect to do well in this class if you do not practice outside of class?

This gets them to view school the same way they do anything else they wish to improve.

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edittextuser=46736 post_id=43115 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

1. I found the idea of cooperative exams to be intriguing. It is something I have never tried in the classroom, and it would allow for the benefits of group work that were mentioned in the video I watched. The group aspect is also key in preparing students for future geoscience careers. I would like to look more into that strategy.
2. I felt that, thanks to extensive professional development that we have been involved in both on and off-campus,I knew about a lot of the strategies presented in the posters, video and reading. I also have implemented some of them in the classroom. One idea I have, whether it would be in a face-to-face or online format, is to give more group work via shared documents. Perhaps it can involve more open-ended questions in geoscience, or it can simply be for small groups to review one aspect of a unit, which could allow the whole class to be able to have a set of review guides for a unit exam.
3. In my online oceanography classes, I really like the kinds of assignments that act as "wrappers" for exams. I created a post-exam reflection in which students discuss how they did on an exam in comparison to their goals, what they did well and can do better in achieving those goals, and if they feel they are on target for their overall grade goal in the course. I see many students take this seriously and give great effort in reflecting on how they did in their studying and their exams. I also have a group project on environmental issues in oceanography that has several parts, including an initial activity on how to work well in groups, a progress report, the final project and individual evaluations of other group members to ensure all gave significant contributions. It has been successful overall, but the typical challenges of group work still come up, including perceived vs. actual lack of participation, blatant discord among group members, and so on.

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edittextuser=23788 post_id=43117 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

Robert,

Like Eric, I'm a big proponent of reviewing material from the previous lecture. I've tried it in a variety of ways, and I've never had a student react poorly. One semester, we did a two-minute review at the start of every class. In those two minutes, I addressed any lingering questions from the previous class, sometimes had students chat with each other about something they questioned or something learned from the class before, or did short activities like quick annotated sketches of previous material.

You mentioned implementing new strategies around group sharing. What do you think you are going to try? Students engage group work often in my class, and by the middle of the semester, students know to expect that they will often be in a new and different group. Thus, they have to contribute, because they are not able to rely on who they perceive as the strong student in the group, since they don't know who is in the group!

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edittextuser=3840 post_id=43118 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

Angela, your post really resonated with me in terms of the focus we had for each question. So, it appears you have done a lot with cooperative exams....what classes have you given them in? How have you administered them? Maybe this is an offline discussion, but an example of one you have given would be amazing!

I also think the composition book to write the short end-of-class assessments is a great idea! I usually run of time to have them do this often, so maybe having a book would allow them to jot it down outside of class, and then we can discuss the next time. Thank you for the idea!

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edittextuser=23788 post_id=43119 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

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edittextuser=23788 post_id=43120 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

Hi Everyone,
I found a lot of useful information in the posters and the articles we read. This was a fun assignment.

Here are my answers to the questions:
1.) The article "Structure Matters:..." inspired me to reevaluate the culture of my classroom. It is very common for me to have one or two students blurting out answers to my questions. I feel I do an okay job of getting other students to participate, but this article gave me not only some new ideas to try, but a different way to think about my class participation.

2.) I plan to try: multiple hands, multiple voices. I will ask students to raise their hands, and if I am only getting one student to raise their hand, I will say that I won't continue until there are at least three hands in the air.

I also plan to implement a two-stage group quiz. I did some group quizzes last semester and it was eye opening--My students did worse than when I gave the same questions as an individual quiz. I think the students didn't study for the group quiz because they thought they didn't have too--it would be easy. With a two-stage quiz, I think the students would have a different attitude about the quiz.

3.) For over twenty years, I have been giving my students an advanced organizer for their lecture notes. The pages they download and bring to class is a cross between a lecture outline and a lecture tutorial. One of the things that make it like a lecture tutorial is the guided practice and independent practice. So when we I go over the problem solving steps to solve difficult physics problems, we will do a problem together--the guided practice--with detailed explanations about each step in the problem. Then I have the students try a problem on their own--the independent practice--and finally, I have the students turn to their neighbor to check their answer. (Almost like a think-pair-share.) While students are working in groups, I will walk around the room. I find when I walk around the room, many students who don't like to raise their hands when they are confused will ask me questions one-on-one.

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edittextuser=137822 post_id=43128 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

Robby -- I have been doing group discussions and group work for a long time, and I have never experienced group-think. I imagine it could depend on the discipline or the topic of discussion, but in my physics classes I would say they are better independent thinkers after doing group work. Working in groups helps students understand better, exposes them to new ways to think about concepts, and builds confidence. I would also say that when students don't fully understand a situation, they are more likely to parrot answers, and when they fully understand, they are able to form an educated opinion.I hope these comments are helpful :-)

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edittextuser=137822 post_id=43129 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

Hi Anthony,
Regarding the cooperative exams, I’ve done a few different versions of this and I think what is most interesting about it is that I get to hear students discuss the exam questions. Sometimes the students would be confused on how the question was worded or focused on a word that wasn’t part of a course concept. So, the cooperative exams helped me to write better exam questions.

~Waverly

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edittextuser=20692 post_id=43130 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

Hello all,
Here are my responses:
1. Overall, I learned that there are a lot of research-supported strategies for increasing the inclusivity of a science classroom. I hadn’t heard of the “multiple hands, multiple voices” strategy on page 325 of the journal article.


2. I’m curious about using the “whip around”. I am trying to think about what concepts would be good to pose to students in order to get a variety of answers. My classes have about 45 students, so I think I’ll need to limit it to one row of students and then alternate that through the semester. If anyone has used this method, let me know what questions worked for you.

3. I think I’m pretty good at facilitating small group activities. I assign roles like timekeeper, spokesperson, notetaker, cheerleader, and facilitator. The facilitator makes sure that everyone has the opportunity to participate in the discussion if they want. And, each group gets plastic cups (green means they are working okay, yellow means they have a question but can continue working, and red means the group is stuck). Because there will be at least nine groups working at once in a class of 45, the cup system helps me figure out who needs help. And, I always have some sort of full class discussion after a group activity to emphasize the key ideas.


~Waverly

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edittextuser=20692 post_id=43131 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

Hello & Good Day!

I've taken some education courses along with some education workshops and so the "think-pair-share" strategy is one I've found to be fairly popular. I've also found that this method can be sometimes misinterpreted or misconducted (I think that's a word). I've observed how students simply "talking amongst themselves" was thought of as an accaeptable form of the strategy.

When I've used it, I've adjusted it as a "think - write - read answers - group share - larger group share - instructor summary." Instead of restricting to "pairs" (2), I've used groups of 3 (or sometimes 4) in an attempt to save some of my classroom time. So I try to pose a good discussion-type question to the whole class and give them specifically a couple of minutes to "write" down their thoughts. Then they have another couple of minutes to read their ideas to their assigned small group members. After that the group members then have about 5 minutes to share additional thoughts about the issue, and one assigned member from the group will eventually be the spokesperson for the small group when the whole class gets to share and hear each group's ideas.

I've felt that I should keep a somewhat close timeline during the process to help maintain everyone's focus (and to avoid the group conversations from spilling too much outside the intended topic).
Finally I think the instructor should have a chance to give some sort of summary or chance to clarify certain things. Just before that point, the strategy could be so effective in the students' learning that any previous misconceptions should be cleared. I always felt I needed to give clarifications, possible re-direction of ideas, and a wrap up to make sure that the learning moved in the intended direction.

One other interesting thing I found in the readings had to do with being mindful not to heap too much praise on a particular student (especially early during a semester), at the same time trying to still carefully encourage good answers & good performance. Interestingly, I think I first found myself making the mistake of acknowledging too much attention during the 1st week of one of my early online course attempts. In my eagerness to show my how I wanted to closely engage with all the students, during the "introductions" I saw that I would go on and on responding to certain students' intros because I had similar interests with them. And then I found that I really had minimal responses to other students. After looking at the conversation threads for that initial introduction topic, I saw that I may have given a very early perception of favoritism towards some of the students.

Anyway, I hope I didn't blab on too much -

Thanks!
-Dan-

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edittextuser=52284 post_id=43132 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

1. What are one or more things you learned from looking at the posters, watching the video, and reading the article?

My Physical Geology course includes a lab where group work is a fundamental component. Besides teaching the students about geology, I endeavor to stress the value of collaboration through hands on activities that requires being able to successfully work as a team. For that reason, I think the ‘two-stage’ assessment approach is interesting, and it would be a good fit for my course.

Up until this point, my rational was that I was holding all students accountable for the information gained during lab by assessing everyone individually. In other words, even though students are working as a group, they should be able to complete every group task on their own without the ability to consult with classmate. I think I’ve missed the point here and, honestly, I feel a little bad! If the intention is to work together where everyone can contribute to the overall success of the group through their individual strengths, why shouldn’t the students be assessed the same way?

2. Based on the posters, video, and/or article, what are your ideas for what you might implement? How might you apply this in your teaching? What is something you will do differently / what will you think about implementing?

I plan to incorporate two-stage assessments into my courses.

Students often come to me after an exam wanting to know whether they answered a question correctly. By allowing the students to complete the exam as an individual and then again as a group, students will be able to immediately discuss exam questions and evaluate their level of comprehension. This allows assessments to become more of a discussion rather than a demonstration of knowledge. In addition, it gives students an opportunity for a ‘2nd chance’ and still accomplishes the overall goal of assessment: the students learn from the experience.

3. Briefly describe something that you do well in your teaching. For example, you might briefly describe an activity, assignment, or approach you use that is an example of a teaching strategy addressed in one or more of the posters, videos, or article.

I incorporate an iteration of the lecture worksheets in my courses. The difference is rather than having the students complete the worksheet after the lecture, I encourage the students to ‘fill in the blanks, etc.’ during the instructional period. This often keeps students on task and makes the lectures easier to follow since they aren’t frantically worrying about what’s important or what they should be writing down.

At the end of the lecture, I ask the students if there was anything they missed on the worksheet or if they found a topic or idea particularly confusion as a springboard for further discussion. This becomes a useful tool for both of us – I can gauge if I am successfully conveying the information and the students end up with a comprehensive summary of the lecture topic that includes the most important take-aways.

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edittextuser=129206 post_id=43135 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

1. What are one or more things you learned from looking at the posters, watching the video, and reading the article?

I learned several new strategies from the posters, videos, and article. While I have been exposed to group testing, I think the collaborative exam gave me the best grasp of this idea. Students consistently ask for group exams and I have been reluctant because I don't want students to become lazy with learning and rely on their group members to answer the question. Or have each group member only learn part of the material to complete the exam. I like the collaborative exam because instead of having 50/50 individual and group grading, they suggested 70/30 or 80/20 so that students are held accountable for learning the material on their own instead of relying on the group. In the Effective Group Work and Two-Stage Exam videos, they highlight the importance of working collaboratively in class and on exams/quizzes because you learn more from teaching others. It also takes the stress of asking the professor a question because your classmates will not judge your question.

I had also never been exposed to the gallery-walk idea and I want to look into this further for my Introductory Biology classes. The challenge of my survey course is that we have to cover 24 chapters in 16 weeks, so students are overwhelmed with information. This may be an effective strategy to organize the overarching concepts presented so students can share their knowledge in areas like ecology, organ systems, etc. and how the different topics are interconnected. I already use concept mapping to help with this idea, but having students discuss the topics may deepen their knowledge and help my auditory and kinesthetic learners.

2. Based on the posters, video, and/or article, what are your ideas for what you might implement? How might you apply this in your teaching? What is something you will do differently / what will you think about implementing?

As I mentioned above, I am interested in implementing the collaborative exam and gallery walk in my class. I already utilize the worksheets, concept mapping, collaborative documents, ConcepTest, and think-pair-share throughout the semester, so having these other strategies will help me "use varied active learning strategies" so students can deepen their knowledge of Biology, as suggested by Tanner in her publication.

3. Briefly describe something that you do well in your teaching. For example, you might briefly describe an activity, assignment, or approach you use that is an example of a teaching strategy addressed in one or more of the posters, videos, or article.

I like to include problem-based learning strategies in the class (think-pair-share) and place-based learning in the lab for my Introductory Biology II course (which was not discussed). For example, when learning about the endocrine system, there is a wonderful problem-based activity where students assess "virtual rats" to determine with what hormone they have been injected. I present all the background information in class, the students are sent home to fill in the table at the end of the document (attached) and they use this table to determine what their rat has been injected with at the beginning of the next class period. They work on the concept on their own for 2-3 minutes and spend 5 minutes with a partner until they come to an agreement, then they present their conclusion to the class along with their justification (think-pair-share).

For place-based learning, we have partnered with the Division of Forestry and Wildlife on Oahu to do research in Pouhala Marsh behind our campus. We do plant, insect, and water quality surveys each semester during our ecology labs. This data is shared with DoFAW, which encourages students to be diligent with their lab work. I discuss the history of the site, both pre- and post-colonization, and the current efforts to restore the site. I have also had my ecology class research native plants, cultivate, and plant them in the marsh to determine their survival rates. This data was useful for restoration efforts in the marsh.

Attachments:

Chapter 32 - Virtual Rat Hormone Activity ANSWERS.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 2MB Feb8 20)

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edittextuser=137828 post_id=43160 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

This post was edited by Dan Ferandez on Feb, 2020
"... I strive to make my classroom feel like a safe space and I state 'any answer is fine even if it's wrong' because no one wants to answer. However, when it's wrong I find myself having a hard time adjusting/tweaking it so it's right or if it's flat out wrong I just say 'okay great thank you, any one else?' which doesn't feel like it comes off well..."

- - - - -

Good Day, Angela!

I know I started really becoming more aware and concerned about responding to "wrong" (or incomplete or a little inaccurate) answers to questions after I started handling "discussions" in the online environment. Instead of my responses to students only being heard for a few fleeting seconds, within the online format, all my posts are there till the end of the semester. I then realized that I needed to, as you mentioned, somehow still give the students the feeling of being in a safe place.

So I've been trying to frontload my introduction to questions & answers (and more importantly "wrong initial answers") as a real and important part of scientific discovery (what's the story of Thomas Edison's many failures prior to finally inventing his light bulb?...). I've been trying to emphasize how those wrong initial ideas are welcome so we can all learn from the mistakes.

To try & show a practical (and I guess entertaining) example of this, I'll often show a Tom Hanks produced movie about the Apollo 15 mission (from the HBO series special "From the Earth to the Moon," episode titled "Galileo Was Right") where the Apollo 15 astronauts were being prepared for their Moon mission. In the movie, a big part of the preparations included learning practical geology, and in the course of their learnings, the astronauts were constantly being asked "tell me what you see, tell me what you think," and during most of their early training there were a lot of wrong answers (really wrong answers!). So if astronauts could give wrong answers, it should be okay for students to also make mistakes.

Anyway the "Galileo Was Right" episode is very geological (actually it's almost all about geology and teaching & learning)!!

If you have the time, (the video is about 55 minutes long) you can view the video from:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4isiyl

Thanks!
-Dan-

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edittextuser=52284 post_id=43162 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

Hi Everyone,
The thing I found most interesting in reviewing these materials—and something I’d like to think about incorporating in my courses—is the idea of a two-stage exam. I already implement many of these strategies, but I’ve never dabbled in a group portion of an exam. Initially, it seems like it would be difficult to grade, and it would be possible for some students to skate by with the answers of their peers. But I think in the right class it would work. In my larger course, which is primarily composed of non-majors, I’m not sure how well it would work. Enthusiasm for the subject is pretty variable. In my smaller course though, it’s a much more interactive environment already (there’s a lab associated with it), and their lab assessments already contain group work. So implementing a group portion of exams in the lecture sections of the course would probably be doable and might be a lot of fun for the students.

In terms of engaging students and ensuring everyone is participating, I have two strategies that I feel are pretty effective. My first is that we play Pictionary to review. It can get pretty rowdy, everyone has to draw, and there’s no throwing shade. The students get really into it, and they seem to have a good time. It breaks down the barriers among students when they’re on teams together, and the quiet ones don’t have to talk, just draw. The second strategy allows timid or uncomfortable students to give answers that they’re worried are wrong, or for which their classmates will judge them. I call it “heads up, 7-up,” which is only because it reminds me of a game we used to play in elementary school. I’ll have everyone put their heads down on the desks, close their eyes, and then ask a series of questions where they raise their hands. I’m the only one who can see the answers, and I feel like the students are more open about their thoughts on the course in this format. I usually ask some content-related questions, but also pepper in a number of “how’s this course going for you” type questions to get a read on the room. (It also, when done at the beginning or end of class, gives everyone a moment to get together and either become present for class, or reflect on the class, respectively.)

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edittextuser=81317 post_id=43163 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

This post was edited by Dan Ferandez on Feb, 2020
“…I’m curious about using the ‘whip around’. I am trying to think about what concepts would be good to pose to students in order to get a variety of answers. My classes have about 45 students, so I think I’ll need to limit it to one row of students and then alternate that through the semester. If anyone has used this method, let me know what questions worked for you…”

- - - - -

Good Day, Waverly!

Thanks for sharing your ideas –

You got me also thinking about “whip around.” Do you think that posing the topic of all the different pieces of evidence that supported the credibility of plate tectonics theory (there should be about a dozen of them) would work?

Responses may not be so much about various alternate points of view about a topic, but actual different pieces of a puzzle that helped put together all the components of the idea of plate tectonics.

At this point, I haven’t tried this myself (but you now have me contemplating this) so I may try it shortly when I get to my upcoming ‘Plate Tectonics’ lesson.

Thanks a bunch for letting me think about more interesting things for my own classroom!
-Dan-

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edittextuser=52284 post_id=43164 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14234

Hi Everybody,
Here are my two cents on those three questions posed:

1. What are one or more things you learned from looking at the posters, watching the video, and reading the article? I admit that there was a quite a bit of stuff to digest, however, some of the approaches and techniques sounded familiar to me even though the classroom execution might be slightly different. Two approaches from the article jumped at me immediately: multiple hands, multiple voices and allowing students time to write. Typically, when I pose a question during my lecture, usually the same one or two hands always come up, the rest of the class remains silent. From now on, I will not proceed unless at least three hands come up.. along the same line, allowing students extra time to write down a few ideas how they will answer the question, either on index card or a cut-up half sheet of paper, will give chance all the students to think about geology or earth science topics..

2. Based on the posters, video, and/or article, what are your ideas for what you might implement? How might you apply this in your teaching? What is something you will do differently / what will you think about implementing? Even though I heard about Think-Pair-Share approach before, I never got around to implement in my lectures. I will first pose a question about a geologic topic of discussion on that day, then give all students a few minutes to think and jot down a few ideas on paper about that question. After everybody finishes, I will either ask students to form groups of 4-5 people either randomly or I can assign them in advance. Afterwards, they will talk and compare ideas, identify points of agreement & disagreement. At the end, I will ask each group to designate a spokesperson to present their ideas to the rest of the class..

3. Briefly describe something that you do well in your teaching. For example, you might briefly describe an activity, assignment, or approach you use that is an example of a teaching strategy addressed in one or more of the posters, videos, or article. One of teaching strategies I frequently use in classroom is lecture worksheets. I hand out these worksheets before the beginning of my lecture and pause at different points in the lecture and fill out these worksheets together with the students. I will also solicit input about the “muddiest” points in the topic and ask the students if any part of the lecture needs to be revisited. I also post these lecture worksheets (both blank & filled-out) on Canvas in case a student missed a class or skipped any blank spaces on the worksheet.. With this activity, I can observe that all students are paying attention especially when I emphasize that a lot of exam questions will come from those worksheets..

Bulent

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Hi everyone; here are my responses...

1.What are one or more things you learned from looking at the posters, watching the video, and reading the article?

Watching Greg Hancock’s video on think-pair-share (TPS) activities, I appreciate how important it is to choose a topic that is data intensive, but also not so complicated that it’s easy for students to get lost in the weeds. In my experience, it’s not always clear ahead of time how a particular exercise or activity will be received by the students, but I found Greg’s advice helpful in this regard. I was encouraged by Greg’s comment that it may be necessary to cut out less important course material to make room for the sort of detailed analysis built into TPS activities. I’m always felt sort of guilty at not being able to cover all of the material I’d like to in my physical geology course because I go into a lot of detail on some topics. In effect, Greg’s comments about being okay cutting out less important material were validating. Finally, I liked Greg’s suggestion about picking topics for TPS activities that may be controversial, and topics that students think they know more about than they really do.

I was also intrigued with the information presented on wrappers. This seems like a great way to help students learn metacognitive skills. After handing back exams, I typically lead a short discussion with my class about strategies that worked well; however, I like the idea of having each student reflect on successful and unsuccessful exam preparation strategies.

2.Based on the posters, video, and/or article, what are your ideas for what you might implement? How might you apply this in your teaching? What is something you will do differently / what will you think about implementing?

I’m interested in the jigsaw activity. One idea that occurs to me would be to create such an activity to investigate the interior of a hypothetical exoplanet using seismic data. For example, one group could be given only S-wave data, and another only P-wave data, and still another only data about seismic shadow zones. Then, each group would have to confer with other groups to build a conceptual model of the interior of the planet using insights from their own group as well as the other groups.

I’d also like to implement the lecture wrapper activity. I envision combining this activity with a think-pair-share activity, where students first pick out the three most important points of a lecture on their own, after which they meet in pairs or small groups to share their answers with each other.

One thing I’ve started doing differently this semester is to ask for volunteers to answer a question rather than “cold calling” students. My original thought was that students would pay more attention to what was happening in class if they knew they could be called on; however, in practice, I think some students resented me for calling them out and (from their perspective) making them feel stupid when they didn’t know an answer. I’ve had more success so far this semester by inviting students to contribute rather than calling on them at random. I’ve noticed too that if I invite certain subsets of students to contribute I sometimes get a better response. For example, rather than asking a question of the entire class, I sometimes instead say something like, “Would anyone who hasn’t yet contributed to the discussion like to add something?”


3.Briefly describe something that you do well in your teaching. For example, you might briefly describe an activity, assignment, or approach you use that is an example of a teaching strategy addressed in one or more of the posters, videos, or article.

Lately I’ve been using more concept tests throughout my lectures. I’ve noticed that interspersing my lectures with simple concept tests every few slides keeps students engaged by giving them periodic breaks from the lecture. As the poster indicates, concept tests are a great way to obtain prompt feedback. Sometimes I’m surprised when students struggle with what I perceive as a simple concept question. This affords me an opportunity to clarify certain ideas I assumed were clear but weren’t, judging from the concept test results. I like the Kahoot ap for concept tests, and the students seem to get energized when competing with their fellow students to answer concept questions correctly.

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I really enjoyed Greg Hancock's think-pair-share video. This is a technique I use pretty often in class, but the idea of using it for controversial topics, or making students say something that counteracts what they "know to be true" is a great idea. It makes me want to reevaluate my think-pair-shares from my lectures to make sure that they aren't too trivial/complicated, and that they are part of the routine and well thought out.

1. What are one or more things you learned from looking at the posters, watching the video, and reading the article?

I was broadly familiar with the active learning techniques presented in the posters. It was nice to see them all presented together with examples. I don't think I've been formally presented with most of them, rather other instructors have passed on individual techniques, so I didn't have a good grasp on all of them. The article really got me thinking more about how I interact with my classes. I'm good at waiting to get a response, I think from my time teaching in middle school, but I don't usually have students raise hands. I encourage them to yell out. My experience is that this is preferable to raising hands and calling on students, but I'm rethinking this. At the very least, I should explicitly keep track of who has spoken and make sure that everyone gets a chance to speak. I also think I instinctively respond to student comments and questions with praise like "good" or "great" to reward speaking. I think I need to monitor myself to see if I actually do this.

2. Based on the posters, video, and/or article, what are your ideas for what you might implement? How might you apply this in your teaching? What is something you will do differently / what will you think about implementing?

I've never used a gallery walk, but I'd like to try using it. I need to figure out how it would be most effective. Maybe I can organize the gallery walk geographically as well as by topic/question. Perhaps for lessons on ocean circulation or upwelling? That way the movement of circulating between stations can help students intuitively get the pattern of movement, as well as give them an opportunity to think about the process.

3. Briefly describe something that you do well in your teaching. For example, you might briefly describe an activity, assignment, or approach you use that is an example of a teaching strategy addressed in one or more of the posters, videos, or article.

I use a "thumbs up/thumbs down/thumbs sideways" technique, where I ask the students a question. If they think the answer is "yes" then they give me a thumbs up, "no" a thumbs down, and if they really have no idea then show me a sideways thumb. I can look around the class and make sure every student is showing me a thumb in some orientation (and I can say "I'm not seeing a thumb from everyone"). I also occasionally do this by giving them three or four options and asking them to hold up the number of fingers that matches their choice (and again an option for no choice removes an excuse for no participation). This is similar to a clicker technique, but it means students don't need clickers.

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Luca,

I'm curious, id you share your survey data with your students? If so, how did they respond?

I really like getting immediate feedback from students too. I always appreciate how honest students are when polled about study habits, class preparation, and the like. Sometimes I learn things I really don't want to know too! Over the years, my students and I have been able to have very meaningful discussion about metacognition, and I've been able to share research based resources. They have been open to receiving info when they recognize that my focus is on their overall success. Has this been true for you as well?

Also, what web app do you prefer for clicker questions? I've tended to always use low to no tech techniques like Donn described (thumbs up/down, etc), but have been curious about trying something a bit more tech savvy.

Thanks, Lynsey (Cohort 1)

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Anthony,

Shared documents is a great idea! I've found when I've used them, I needed to give students a primer on how to use and access them first. While many of the students were familiar with Google Drive, they had never really used it. One of my colleagues has used Google Drive extensively with students for group work, and found it worked best for her when she set up the first document for each group the first time, and then gave them direct feedback through the Drive.

Looking forward to hearing about your successes with this!

Lynsey (Cohort 1)

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This post was edited by Adrianne Leinbach on Feb, 2020
Anne,
It sounds like you may already be using lecture wrappers. I would love to hear how you use them, whether at the end of class and then perhaps start out the next class covering any issues you found or whether you will use them throughout a class.
I agree that letting students know that they will be sharing with a group at the start of the next class is a great way to get them prepared. Do you have any plans on how you might encourage those students who still don’t prepare well before class? You mentioned that you wanted to avoid group-think. How will you do that? My students know I will call on anyone at any given time. I have tried to make them comfortable enough with each other so that they do not get embarrassed if they don’t know an answer but typically it makes them stay on top of things more and actually pay attention in class.
It a great idea to start each class touching back on big concepts from the previous class. I hope to get to read about what techniques work best for you.

Adrianne Leinbach (Cohort 1)

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Angela,
I agree that responses to student’s responses to questions in class can be very tricky. Once a student came up to me after class and had an incorrect idea on a concept because I had not corrected the student when they commented in class. This will send home the message that I needed to find a way to keep it positive but definitely point out that the answer was not correct.
It is a great idea to start using some of the questions listed on the exam wrappers. Would you plan to use them as before each exam and then perhaps some variation after they get the test back each time or just once early in the semester?
I like the way you are using the think-pair share in your activities. Do you ever just use it as a quick turn to your neighbor and take 30 seconds during a lecture?

Adrianne Leinbach (Cohort 1)

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Luca,
It was very interesting that you saw the correlation with students who watched the YouTube videos versus those who did not. I agree that some bad study techniques do give students a false sense of security. I allowed students to use their notes on their exams last semester in hopes they would make better notes. Unfortunately it just gave those students who do not make good notes any way a false sense of security and they did not study for the test at all and were ill prepared.
The idea of using wrapper activities after each test and lecture is a great idea. It lets you take a look at where the students had the most trouble and to be ready to start the next class covering that material. I hope to get to read about how it worked in the future.

Adrianne Leinbach (Cohort 1)

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Cynthia,
Have you tried any of the techniques in class yet to increase participation? I also like the idea of waiting on 3 hands. Last year I started to use the strategy from the start that I may call on any student at any given time. I found it made students prepare a little better and always pay attention to what we were doing since I might ask them to answer or report out at any time.
I love your idea of using the organizer as a think-pair-share. I give my students an organizer with all lesson level learning objectives broken down and information on what they should be able to do on each, but I have never thought about having them share. Thank you for the great idea.

Adrianne Leinbach (Cohort 1)

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Donn,

I really like the thumbs up/thumbs down technique too! I also use it in class to get a quick gauge of how students are feeling about a topic. For example, after a class discussion, I may ask for students to do a thumbs down if they still feel like they are not understanding, a thumbs up if they feel like they totally get it, and a thumbs sideways for somewhere in between. I've also done the 1-5 finger Likert scale for this. So I have found it to work well for clicker like questions, but also to help me get a better sense of how students are perceiving their understanding.

I really like gallery walks but don't use them terribly often. Students always seem to like when we use them. I'll be curious to hear how your gallery walks go. What do you think you might use as prompts for one on ocean circulation?

Lynsey (Cohort 1)

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Seth,

Pictionary is always fun! I don't tend to do a review day in class, per se, but pepper review throughout each class period. I like that it is incorporating sketching too as that is something I'm working to incorporate more in my classes. But I like the interactive idea for review, and may try it. I'll let you know how it goes if I do!

I am curious about how you structure it. I'm imaging students drawing pictures to represent a discrete word. How do you engage the students in discussion and review about why that word/topic matters and what it relates to? Is there time for some follow-up questions after a correct answer?

Lynsey (Cohort 1)

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Bulent,

Reflecting on years of teaching some of the things I regret are not waiting longer on students to answer questions, and waiting on them to raise their hands in other words make them participate instead of answering for them when no one responds. Allowing them more time to write is also really important, do you plan to take up any of the index cards to use as some sort of formative assessments?
The think pair share idea during activities is a great idea. I observed a biology class recently where the instructor (our instructor of the year this year). Used think pair share multiple times during her lecture to keep students on the edge of their seats. She was so good I kept wanting to discuss it with my neighbor and raise my hand.

I love the way you described using worksheets during lecture. Great way to break up lecture and to make sure students are understanding the concepts you are covering.

Adrianne Leinbach (Cohort 1)

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Katherine,

Lecture worksheets are great! Depending on the topic, I sometimes use these as a pre-topic quick checks to help me get a sense of what students already know about a topic and what areas I should focus on. I would do this primarily for something that students would have likely encountered before, or in a sequence class where students should have prior knowledge about a topic. Other times, I've used them during a class, and have often incorporated the completion of these into think-pair-shares or small group work activities where students discuss their responses, and then we review as a whole class. I've also used them at the end of class for a short review.

Also, I really appreciated you sharing about your thoughts on group assessments in lab, in particular. I have found myself, over the years, being more intentional with aligning the structure of assessments with the structure of other activities we do in class. Lab is all about group work, and group assessment may not be so bad either! Heck, where would I be without the assistance of other folks in lab groups through undergrad and graduate school. I benefited greatly from group think, and I hope my classroom and lab now is welcoming and encouraging to group think too! Thank you for sharing as it got me thinking more about how I will structure lab assessments too!

Lynsey (Cohort1)

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Waverly,
I have used smaller groups in the “whip around.” I may do several during a class so students have an idea that their time is covering. I have been known to do the last row first then skip to the first row. It is a really good idea to start with this the very first day with a question the whole class can answer pretty quickly. This gets them comfortable with each other and answering questions in class. It is also great to use some of the ideas on how to respond to incorrect answers that help keep students comfortable with responding in the future.
I absolutely love your cup idea and hope you will not mind if I use it in the future.

Adrianne Leinbach (Cohort 1)

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Dan,

I too have found that students can get off topic with open discussion during think-pair-shares. While students are in pairs (or small groups), I often walk around the room to listen in on discussion. Most of the time it is to get a sense of what students are thinking, but it also gives me an opportunity to redirect unrelated conversation. Sometimes my think-pair-shares are very time directed (1 minute to think, 2 minutes to share) and other times they are a little more free-form in the the sharing aspect and I often use the volume of the voices in the room as a good indicator of when to draw everyone back in.

As a side note, sometimes I really enjoy the off-topic conversations! I've learned an awful lot about students over the years this way (sometimes things I really wish I didn't learn). While I don't want to get too off topic, I have found that allowing a little of this brings a bit more camaraderie, and helps the class gel a bit. Have you experienced this too?

Lynsey (Cohort 1)

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Dan,
I like the way you have modified the think-pair-share to make it more effective in your class. I have also noticed the same thing in my online classes about responding to early posts on students with whom I had similar interests. I now try to respond to all students equally in all online posts. I have also started in my seated and hybrid classes having students write me a short paragraph on some topic that they are the most comfortable in having a discussion about. I read each one and comment on it and make notes in my grade book and if I can find ways to relate their interests to some topic in class I do that. It really motivates students when you remember something they wrote about early in the semester.

Adrianne Leinbach (Cohort 1)

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Alyssa,

I'm excited to hear about your success with place-based learning! I'm working to incorporate more of this in my classes and am challenged with finding some partner organizations. I've had some success, but also some real struggles. For instance, I was hoping to do a project at a near-by marsh where students would be able to collect data throughout the semester, and then the work would be able to continue in future semesters, and would ultimately build a long-term data set. The land was on Department of Game and Inland Fisheries land, and they were interested in the work, but were not at all cooperative in the process of permitting, etc. Given your success with DoFAW, what advice would you give me? I imagine the students love this work.

Lynsey (Cohort 1)

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Katherine,
I will look forward to hearing how the two stage assessment works for you. One of our instructors has been really successful with using this. Students actually get extra points if every student in their group passes the individual portion of the exam. She has found that the more successful students take this to heart and put together study groups or work with those having problems.
Adrianne Leinbach (Cohort 1)

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Alyssa,
I think you will find that the gallery walk works great during class. The biggest learning process I have had with it is getting the questions worded where everyone interprets in the same and finding the best questions to use. I love your problem-based and placed based learning. The virtual rat hormone exercise is awesome.
Adrianne Leinbach (Cohort 1)

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Anthony,
One of the ways I have incorporated some active learning and group work in my online class is by using a Wiki. I put the students in groups and each group has a lesson note taking templates (SLOs for the lesson). Each group has their own WIKI to make lesson notes. They get credit for this and the group with the best notes get those posted for the entire class along with extra credit.
Adrianne Leinbach (Cohort 1)

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Seth,
I look forward to hearing how incorporating the group part of the exam goes for you. I mentioned in another post that one of our instructors gives extra credit to the group if everyone in their group makes above a certain score on the individual part of the exam. This often has some of the students making better grades encouraging those students who need some better study skills.
I love the ideas you gave on getting the class involved in studying and excited. When I feel like students may be shy about answering questions I often throw in a Kahoot during class. I can assign fun geology names to students or groups so that no one else knows who it belongs to. The students can answer questions with their phone or ipad. I get immediate feedback and the students don’t have to feel shy about answering.
Adrianne Leinbach (Cohort 1)

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Donn,
I definitely have had to rethink letting students yell out answers, especially if you have one student who likes to be the loudest and first every time. It really is amazing how much more attention some students will pay if they think they may get called on at any time.
Adrianne Leinbach (Cohort 1)

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Hi everyone,
Tania here from Cohort 2. It's so nice to read about all the wonderful things you are already doing, how reflective you are of your practices through various means (Luca, I liked your analysis of the effect of watching YouTube clips has on your students performance), and your excitement about trying out new things.
A number of you, as well as some of the posted material, discussed the variety of ways in which group work can be used. I recently read Susan Cain's book "Quiet- The Power of Introverts in a World that can't stop talking", according to which about 1/3 to 1/2 of the population is introverted. It's a good reminder that group work can be a wonderful and powerful tool but not necessarily for everyone. Think/Pair/Share (which many of you have tried) is often better suited for introverts. Time for reflection (like Angela's notebooks or Don's concept tests) is also an important tool, not just for introverts. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that it's important to be mindful of the diversity of students we have in the classroom and keeping a balance between group/individual work and utilizing a variety of teaching techniques.

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Anthony,

For my collaborative exams, I do not tell the students it will be a collaborative exam. Everyone that shows up early/on time is allowed to pick a partner. Those who are late will work on their own. I do a 45-question multiple choice as partners. They turn in that portion and receive an essay question that they complete on their own. I also have them move seats so that they are no longer near their partner. The first time I did this, they were allowed to sit in the same seats and I found they were still discussing with their partner when they shouldn't be. Right now the split is 90/10 but I'm going to reevaluate this and make it 70/30 or even 50/50.

I'm also interested in how you incorporate active learning activities in your online classes (if you do). I've never taken an online class and I've never taught on online class. My classes are pretty much all active learning based and I'm not sure how that would translate into an online course. Any insight would be great (but we can also side bar on this).

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Waverly,

I really like your cup system idea! I feel as if I'm constantly walking around unable to tell who is struggling because when I ask if they have questions one person in the group speaks up and says no. I feel that if I implemented a cup system it will give others an opportunity to say they need help. Do you ever find that students are too embarrassed to ask for help using this system? Any feedback on it from the student's perspective?

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Adrianne,

I plan on using the exam wrappers after the first exam (I set aside 5 minutes for a reflection before I give the exam back), then during the exam review (the day before the next exam) have them open up their notebooks and read their reflection. I usually only do this for the first exam but I'm now thinking that maybe I should do it for all the exams in hopes that their study habits will evolve throughout my course. We'll see!

For think pair share, I interbed them within my lectures and it's usually no more than 5 minutes. I don't think 30 seconds is enough processing time for my students. I find that usually the first 30 sec-1 minute is spent just trying to figure out what the question is and what I'm asking them to do. Then they still need to come up with their own thoughts/answers about it so that they can share with someone else. If you just jump right into sharing I find that it is usually one sided or they say "I don't know".

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Originally Posted by Lynsey LeMay


Luca,

I'm curious, id you share your survey data with your students? If so, how did they respond?

I really like getting immediate feedback from students too. I always appreciate how honest students are when polled about study habits, class preparation, and the like. Sometimes I learn things I really don't want to know too! Over the years, my students and I have been able to have very meaningful discussion about metacognition, and I've been able to share research based resources. They have been open to receiving info when they recognize that my focus is on their overall success. Has this been true for you as well?

Also, what web app do you prefer for clicker questions? I've tended to always use low to no tech techniques like Donn described (thumbs up/down, etc), but have been curious about trying something a bit more tech savvy.

Thanks, Lynsey (Cohort 1)



Lynsey,

I do share the data with my students. I tell them that the biggest impact on the average grade was watching YouTube videos, and they often nod in approval, expecting better grades; then I tell them that watching YouTube video actually decreased the average grade, and I explain them the difference between active learning and passive learning.

I made my own little web app for the clicker questions, I like being able to modify it however I like, and I like that it automatically keeps track of the SLO's:
http://www.starkchemistry.com/55374/cpanel.php

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“…I too have found that students can get off topic with open discussion during think-pair-shares. While students are in pairs (or small groups), I often walk around the room to listen in on discussion. Most of the time it is to get a sense of what students are thinking, but it also gives me an opportunity to redirect unrelated conversation… sometimes I really enjoy the off-topic conversations! I've learned an awful lot about students over the years this way (sometimes things I really wish I didn't learn). While I don't want to get too off topic, I have found that allowing a little of this brings a bit more camaraderie, and helps the class gel a bit. Have you experienced this too?...”

- - - - -

Good Day, Lynsey!

I often do enjoy “listening” to students’ off-topic conversations, and sometimes will expand on some of what they say to a relevant (or maybe even not-so-relevant, but very interesting) subject. I guess with the way I like to have certain things very structured, I tend to focus true think-pair-share activities to try & remain on topic as much as I can.

Now, before class formally starts, I like to subtly encourage the students to freely converse, and I also give them the opportunity to talk openly with one another when I have them doing their group lab work together (…and you’re right, at times there are things perhaps I did not necessarily want to hear…) and so during those times I can see the clear camaraderie between classmates.

On a slightly different view, in my online courses, I have a “Let’s Shoot the Breeze” area in my asynchronous ‘discussions’ section where students can share stories somewhat outside the formal coursework. Each section will have different dynamics, but some online sections will have students posting & sharing many interesting & even exciting topics, and I can sometimes see an engagement between students that is so much more than can be found in a physical classroom. Sometimes I’ll hear that a big limitation or drawback about online teaching & learning, is that you don’t really get to know your students. In actuality, I’ve found that I get to know more about many of my online students more compared to those in the classroom… with designed asynchronous conversations (such as we’re having right now) and with discussion posts counting as part of their grade, you can really get to know your online students, not the same way as with students in the classroom, but in different ways… you just might not recognize your online students’ faces if you see them around campus. :)

Thanks!
-Dan-

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This post was edited by Donn Viviani on Feb, 2020
Originally Posted by Lynsey LeMay



I really like gallery walks but don't use them terribly often. Students always seem to like when we use them. I'll be curious to hear how your gallery walks go. What do you think you might use as prompts for one on ocean circulation?

-----

I too have found that students can get off topic with open discussion during think-pair-shares. While students are in pairs (or small groups), I often walk around the room to listen in on discussion. Most of the time it is to get a sense of what students are thinking, but it also gives me an opportunity to redirect unrelated conversation.
Lynsey (Cohort 1)



Hi Lynsey,

I'm still trying to figure out my prompts for the gallery walk! Perhaps take an ocean basin, and have stations be the boundary currents and one station for deep water. Prompts could be questions like "why is this current (the western boundary current) faster than the eastern boundary current?", or a diagram showing the boundary current and the coast and asking which way the wind would have to blow for upwelling?

If you've got suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

I also like to circulate between groups during the think-pair-share and get that feeling for what they thinking. The downside is they tend to look at you for approval, sort of an "am I on the right track" look.


Donn

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Originally Posted by Adrianne Leinbach


Dan,
I like the way you have modified the think-pair-share to make it more effective in your class. I have also noticed the same thing in my online classes about responding to early posts on students with whom I had similar interests. I now try to respond to all students equally in all online posts. I have also started in my seated and hybrid classes having students write me a short paragraph on some topic that they are the most comfortable in having a discussion about. I read each one and comment on it and make notes in my grade book and if I can find ways to relate their interests to some topic in class I do that. It really motivates students when you remember something they wrote about early in the semester.

Adrianne Leinbach (Cohort 1)



On the first day of class, I have students fill out an index card, and one of the things I ask is "what is a specific thing you want to learn from this class". I put the responses in a spreadsheet, and usually the topic of interest is covered, but if I know a couple students in one class are interested in a specific topic, I can throw in a little more detail.

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I’m making one post to reply to those who replied to me :)

Hi Dan,
Your suggestion is helpful – it makes sense like concepts that have lists associated (evidence of plate tectonics, types of paleoclimatology data, etc.) would work. I’ll try it this semester.

Hi Adrianne,
Feel free to use the cup system – I’m pretty sure I learned it at previous NAGT workshop :)

Hi Angela,
I’m sure some students continue to feel embarrassed to ask questions so I think it’s important to send signals of support to students who do ask questions. Page 329 of the 21 teaching strategies article talks about not judging responses and using praise with caution. I’m not sure how effective I am at implementing these strategies but I do try to have students feel that their questions are low stakes. And, if there’s a group that hasn’t asked any questions, I might interrupt them and say something like “a lot of groups had questions on number 4, how did you tackle that one?”. Because groups work at different levels of success, I think it’s important at the end to have a full-class review to emphasize key learning outcomes.

Sometimes I put candy in the cups, and students seem to appreciate that :)

When I explain my rationale for putting students in groups (I want to hear them express the vocabulary, they’ll ask each other questions they won’t ask me, addressing the issues of today require hearing from diverse perspectives, their future careers require teamwork, etc.), they seem to appreciate group work more. In my syllabus FAQ, I include the following statements:

1. I hate group work. Why do we need to be in groups? Most learners benefit from peer-to-peer interactions to help clarify their thinking, build their scientific vocabulary, and challenge their assumptions. But don’t worry, there are no out-of-class group projects for this course and you are graded for your work individually.

2. I love group work. Why can’t we be in groups more? I’ve found that some topics are best explained in a lecture format, by watching a video, or by independent reading.

So, I try to communicate to the students that I care about their learning and that seems to go a long way. I don’t have any tests – there is homework due just about every class and there are some low-stakes group assessments, and experiential learning projects. Having no tests is a bargaining chip for me – if students seem like they don’t want to do group work, then I’ll ask if they’d rather have a test. While some students are great test-takers and would prefer a test, most students appreciate that they don’t have to worry about tests.

I can’t believe I wrote this much! Sorry for the long-winded reply!!

~Waverly

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Don - I liked your approach in asking volunteers instead of cold calling. I was asking a question to class and then using the index card introductions students turned in, picking a person randomly, still a cold calling of sorts, maybe I can try your tactful approach..
Bulent

Originally Posted by Don Barrie


Hi everyone; here are my responses...

1.What are one or more things you learned from looking at the posters, watching the video, and reading the article?

Watching Greg Hancock’s video on think-pair-share (TPS) activities, I appreciate how important it is to choose a topic that is data intensive, but also not so complicated that it’s easy for students to get lost in the weeds. In my experience, it’s not always clear ahead of time how a particular exercise or activity will be received by the students, but I found Greg’s advice helpful in this regard. I was encouraged by Greg’s comment that it may be necessary to cut out less important course material to make room for the sort of detailed analysis built into TPS activities. I’m always felt sort of guilty at not being able to cover all of the material I’d like to in my physical geology course because I go into a lot of detail on some topics. In effect, Greg’s comments about being okay cutting out less important material were validating. Finally, I liked Greg’s suggestion about picking topics for TPS activities that may be controversial, and topics that students think they know more about than they really do.

I was also intrigued with the information presented on wrappers. This seems like a great way to help students learn metacognitive skills. After handing back exams, I typically lead a short discussion with my class about strategies that worked well; however, I like the idea of having each student reflect on successful and unsuccessful exam preparation strategies.

2.Based on the posters, video, and/or article, what are your ideas for what you might implement? How might you apply this in your teaching? What is something you will do differently / what will you think about implementing?

I’m interested in the jigsaw activity. One idea that occurs to me would be to create such an activity to investigate the interior of a hypothetical exoplanet using seismic data. For example, one group could be given only S-wave data, and another only P-wave data, and still another only data about seismic shadow zones. Then, each group would have to confer with other groups to build a conceptual model of the interior of the planet using insights from their own group as well as the other groups.

I’d also like to implement the lecture wrapper activity. I envision combining this activity with a think-pair-share activity, where students first pick out the three most important points of a lecture on their own, after which they meet in pairs or small groups to share their answers with each other.

One thing I’ve started doing differently this semester is to ask for volunteers to answer a question rather than “cold calling” students. My original thought was that students would pay more attention to what was happening in class if they knew they could be called on; however, in practice, I think some students resented me for calling them out and (from their perspective) making them feel stupid when they didn’t know an answer. I’ve had more success so far this semester by inviting students to contribute rather than calling on them at random. I’ve noticed too that if I invite certain subsets of students to contribute I sometimes get a better response. For example, rather than asking a question of the entire class, I sometimes instead say something like, “Would anyone who hasn’t yet contributed to the discussion like to add something?”


3.Briefly describe something that you do well in your teaching. For example, you might briefly describe an activity, assignment, or approach you use that is an example of a teaching strategy addressed in one or more of the posters, videos, or article.

Lately I’ve been using more concept tests throughout my lectures. I’ve noticed that interspersing my lectures with simple concept tests every few slides keeps students engaged by giving them periodic breaks from the lecture. As the poster indicates, concept tests are a great way to obtain prompt feedback. Sometimes I’m surprised when students struggle with what I perceive as a simple concept question. This affords me an opportunity to clarify certain ideas I assumed were clear but weren’t, judging from the concept test results. I like the Kahoot ap for concept tests, and the students seem to get energized when competing with their fellow students to answer concept questions correctly.

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Adrianne,
Sometimes rewording the same question slightly differently, I noticed that students answer right away, but still allowing them more time seems to work..yes, I will use the index cards for formative assessments. For the think-pair-share activities, I am planning on using essay-type questions I was asking students on Canvas quizzes..
Bulent

Originally Posted by Adrianne Leinbach


Bulent,

Reflecting on years of teaching some of the things I regret are not waiting longer on students to answer questions, and waiting on them to raise their hands in other words make them participate instead of answering for them when no one responds. Allowing them more time to write is also really important, do you plan to take up any of the index cards to use as some sort of formative assessments?
The think pair share idea during activities is a great idea. I observed a biology class recently where the instructor (our instructor of the year this year). Used think pair share multiple times during her lecture to keep students on the edge of their seats. She was so good I kept wanting to discuss it with my neighbor and raise my hand.

I love the way you described using worksheets during lecture. Great way to break up lecture and to make sure students are understanding the concepts you are covering.

Adrianne Leinbach (Cohort 1)

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Dan,
Thanks for posting the link for the video on Apollo mission when I did lots of geological investigation of the moon... Being a geologist, I am always fascinated by the lunar geology..
Bulent
Originally Posted by Dan Ferandez


"... I strive to make my classroom feel like a safe space and I state 'any answer is fine even if it's wrong' because no one wants to answer. However, when it's wrong I find myself having a hard time adjusting/tweaking it so it's right or if it's flat out wrong I just say 'okay great thank you, any one else?' which doesn't feel like it comes off well..."

- - - - -

Good Day, Angela!

I know I started really becoming more aware and concerned about responding to "wrong" (or incomplete or a little inaccurate) answers to questions after I started handling "discussions" in the online environment. Instead of my responses to students only being heard for a few fleeting seconds, within the online format, all my posts are there till the end of the semester. I then realized that I needed to, as you mentioned, somehow still give the students the feeling of being in a safe place.

So I've been trying to frontload my introduction to questions & answers (and more importantly "wrong initial answers") as a real and important part of scientific discovery (what's the story of Thomas Edison's many failures prior to finally inventing his light bulb?...). I've been trying to emphasize how those wrong initial ideas are welcome so we can all learn from the mistakes.

To try & show a practical (and I guess entertaining) example of this, I'll often show a Tom Hanks produced movie about the Apollo 15 mission (from the HBO series special "From the Earth to the Moon," episode titled "Galileo Was Right") where the Apollo 15 astronauts were being prepared for their Moon mission. In the movie, a big part of the preparations included learning practical geology, and in the course of their learnings, the astronauts were constantly being asked "tell me what you see, tell me what you think," and during most of their early training there were a lot of wrong answers (really wrong answers!). So if astronauts could give wrong answers, it should be okay for students to also make mistakes.

Anyway the "Galileo Was Right" episode is very geological (actually it's almost all about geology and teaching & learning)!!

If you have the time, (the video is about 55 minutes long) you can view the video from:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4isiyl

Thanks!
-Dan-

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Hi Donn,

I enjoyed your post. I can relate about the importance of giving students enough time to answer a question. Lately, I've been attempting to inject humor and irony into my waiting by saying, with a smile on my face, something like, "Oh, there's that awkward silence again! I know someone is dying to speak up".

Like you, I've used the thumbs up/down/sideways technique in class, and find that students are more willing to express their lack of understanding this way than speaking up.

I too liked having all the active learning techniques presented in one place, along with their benefits nicely summarized on each poster. Very helpful.

I like your idea of encouraging students to yell out an answer. This works well, in my experience, for some students. For others who like to raise their hands, I'll occasionally call on these students too even when other students are just yelling out their answers. Sometimes, I'll attempt to blend the responses by saying something like, "OK, we just heard Jane describe the process this way. Bob, what's your perspective? Anything to add?"

cheers,

Don


Originally Posted by Donn Viviani


I really enjoyed Greg Hancock's think-pair-share video. This is a technique I use pretty often in class, but the idea of using it for controversial topics, or making students say something that counteracts what they "know to be true" is a great idea. It makes me want to reevaluate my think-pair-shares from my lectures to make sure that they aren't too trivial/complicated, and that they are part of the routine and well thought out.

1. What are one or more things you learned from looking at the posters, watching the video, and reading the article?

I was broadly familiar with the active learning techniques presented in the posters. It was nice to see them all presented together with examples. I don't think I've been formally presented with most of them, rather other instructors have passed on individual techniques, so I didn't have a good grasp on all of them. The article really got me thinking more about how I interact with my classes. I'm good at waiting to get a response, I think from my time teaching in middle school, but I don't usually have students raise hands. I encourage them to yell out. My experience is that this is preferable to raising hands and calling on students, but I'm rethinking this. At the very least, I should explicitly keep track of who has spoken and make sure that everyone gets a chance to speak. I also think I instinctively respond to student comments and questions with praise like "good" or "great" to reward speaking. I think I need to monitor myself to see if I actually do this.

2. Based on the posters, video, and/or article, what are your ideas for what you might implement? How might you apply this in your teaching? What is something you will do differently / what will you think about implementing?

I've never used a gallery walk, but I'd like to try using it. I need to figure out how it would be most effective. Maybe I can organize the gallery walk geographically as well as by topic/question. Perhaps for lessons on ocean circulation or upwelling? That way the movement of circulating between stations can help students intuitively get the pattern of movement, as well as give them an opportunity to think about the process.

3. Briefly describe something that you do well in your teaching. For example, you might briefly describe an activity, assignment, or approach you use that is an example of a teaching strategy addressed in one or more of the posters, videos, or article.

I use a "thumbs up/thumbs down/thumbs sideways" technique, where I ask the students a question. If they think the answer is "yes" then they give me a thumbs up, "no" a thumbs down, and if they really have no idea then show me a sideways thumb. I can look around the class and make sure every student is showing me a thumb in some orientation (and I can say "I'm not seeing a thumb from everyone"). I also occasionally do this by giving them three or four options and asking them to hold up the number of fingers that matches their choice (and again an option for no choice removes an excuse for no participation). This is similar to a clicker technique, but it means students don't need clickers.

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Hey Cynthia,

I liked your thought in Question 3...walking around the room answering individual questions. This has been my experience as well. Sometimes, students who aren't willing to ask a question aloud in class will talk to me one on one. In fact, this is the kind of student I am, typically, so I can relate to such students.

Sometimes when only one student raises their hand, I'll say something like, "Good for you. I know you know the answer; let's see if a few other people do." I find that this validates the student raising their hand even when I don't call on them while also sending a message to the class that I'm wanting others to participate.

cheers,

Don


Originally Posted by Cynthia Swift


Hi Everyone,
I found a lot of useful information in the posters and the articles we read. This was a fun assignment.

Here are my answers to the questions:
1.) The article "Structure Matters:..." inspired me to reevaluate the culture of my classroom. It is very common for me to have one or two students blurting out answers to my questions. I feel I do an okay job of getting other students to participate, but this article gave me not only some new ideas to try, but a different way to think about my class participation.

2.) I plan to try: multiple hands, multiple voices. I will ask students to raise their hands, and if I am only getting one student to raise their hand, I will say that I won't continue until there are at least three hands in the air.

I also plan to implement a two-stage group quiz. I did some group quizzes last semester and it was eye opening--My students did worse than when I gave the same questions as an individual quiz. I think the students didn't study for the group quiz because they thought they didn't have too--it would be easy. With a two-stage quiz, I think the students would have a different attitude about the quiz.

3.) For over twenty years, I have been giving my students an advanced organizer for their lecture notes. The pages they download and bring to class is a cross between a lecture outline and a lecture tutorial. One of the things that make it like a lecture tutorial is the guided practice and independent practice. So when we I go over the problem solving steps to solve difficult physics problems, we will do a problem together--the guided practice--with detailed explanations about each step in the problem. Then I have the students try a problem on their own--the independent practice--and finally, I have the students turn to their neighbor to check their answer. (Almost like a think-pair-share.) While students are working in groups, I will walk around the room. I find when I walk around the room, many students who don't like to raise their hands when they are confused will ask me questions one-on-one.

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