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 3: Clark, GSU Perimeter, Houston, Lane, Suffolk  

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

I was pleased to see that I utilize several of these teaching/learning techniques. I credit Sean Tvelia who has discussed these tools with my colleagues. Sean is currently a Cohort III Peer Mentor. As is the case whenever we spend time in a workshop, it energizes us to keep doing what we are doing that is working and to try new strategies to change what is not working. It never hurts to be reminded of past workshop knowledge. I began teaching a fully online lab science course two years ago and was worried about making it as appealing to students as the traditional class. Now, I am thinking that the student engagement in my online course is superior to that of the traditional course. How cool is that?

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 will try to incorporate more think-pair-share in my Global Climate Change course. My entire opening class (75 minutes) is an ice-breaker that does just this, but then most of the rest of the semester is more standard lecture. I do use Kahoot! several times each class but that is not as strong as group collaboration. It is a very inclusive tool however and I highly recommend trying it out. Students love it.

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.

In my lab science online course, the lecture is discussion-based using Blackboard (Bb). I ask the same set of questions each week so students can benchmark to better responses over time. The questions include:
1. What did you find most interesting and why?
2. Did anything you learn surprise you? Explain.
3. Describe a concept you learned that you think will be useful after you leave this course. You must provide details to show how this concept will be used by you.
4. How might one or more of this week’s concepts be important to members of society in general? What professions might require understanding of these concepts? You must provide details to show how this (these) concept(s) will be used by a professional. Do NOT choose meteorology as the profession.
5. What, if anything, did you find confusing? What have you done to try to decrease the confusion?
You must also comment on at least two other student's threads.

Students are provided a detailed scoring rubric to guide their responses. (If anybody wants to see it I will send to you.) I also require an understanding of Bloom’s Taxonomy and require level four for the highest scores. That requires me to teach them about Bloom’s and key action words. I complement this with three videos about Bloom’s. One from a faculty perspective. One from a student perspective. One from various Harry Potter films where scenes demonstrate each level of thinking.

The questions above also add value to the content because students are asked to reflect on how the various concepts are important to society. In this manner, students move beyond thinking this is just random information in an elective course that “I will never use again.”

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I really like your discussion/reflection after labs. Those are questions that require some real thought and *could* result in some great answers.

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

I have previously learned about several of these strategies at SAGE workshops in the past, so I am happy to not be starting from scratch. Watching the video about think-pair-share gave some good insight to why this strategy is successful. Learning that students feel more confident answering as a "group" than when they go out on a limb as an individual really helped me to see the value in this kind of activity. This helps the shy students to contribute more to the discussion.


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 would like to implement jigsaw activities. I have participated in these in a SAGE workshop and thought the idea was really great. It was a pretty quick way to learn several things. I have thought about doing these in my classes several different times, but then scrapped the idea. It takes some additional prep on my part, but there are some things that easily lend themselves to it so I plan to make a concerted effort to use at least a couple of these in the near future. I have one planned for TOMORROW.


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 think-pair-share (though I didn't call it that) each semester when we begin igneous rocks. I have mini sets of 8 igneous rocks that I pass out to pairs of students and then ask them to decide how to group them into 2-3 different groups, based on anything they want. They report as a group about 2-3 rocks that would end up grouped together and why. THEN, we start a discussion of igneous textures and compositions. They usually see that they were on the right track just by using their logic. See, geology doesn't have to be difficult!

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Hi everyone - Here are my thoughts about our readings this week.

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

I was interested in the collaborative quizzes which were discussed in a video and on a poster. The video made an excellent point about how these fit well with classes where students have established groups and are used to working collaboratively. I realized the importance of this relationship before implementing this active learning technique. I also appreciated hearing that a follow-up collaborative quiz can capitalize on the students’ curiosity in that moment. When I cover correct answers for quizzes a week later, students do not have much motivation to learn the material and this technique addresses that challenge.

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 appreciated the overview of college group work. I use case studies in my classes and I have used POGIL previously. I find my groups express less concern if they know we will come back together as a whole group at the end and I will clarify “correct” answers or briefly lecture on the problem solving strategy again. I often let them work in the groups they have selected for labs, but I may orchestrate group member assignments more based off of the suggestions from the video.

I use student self and class assessments during the middle of our ten week quarters. This can help both the students and me adjust as we transition to the later part of the term. After reviewing Tanner’s article, I learned we should assess every student at every class. I will try to implement more of these metacognitive techniques more consistently.

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.

For my first lab activity of the quarter, I use a stations activity. Students work in small groups that move through five stations. Two of the stations ask them to review a concept from the reading that is foundational to the course. They record this in their notes in a diagram format and in writing. Other stations include evaluating scientific methodology in a proposed study, completing a fun fact “quiz”, and filling in a map that becomes part of their notes. The map is first done on a large classroom map where each team identifies key geographic locations relevant to our studies in one of the world’s oceans. Each team has a different ocean region and they later share their expertise with each other in a jigsaw activity so each student has a complete map.

I appreciate your thoughts,
Rebecca

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Hello Group 3! Here are my responses to the three questions:

1. What did I learn from the resources?
-I learned that I already use many of the active learning strategies presented in the nine posters as well as many of the engagement and equity strategies listed in the reading. At the same time I noted plenty of areas for growth promoting engagement and equity in my courses.
-I learned more about one of the activities that I very rarely to almost never do: collaborative quizzes/exams, and look forward to learning more.
-I also just learned that there is a set of established lecture tutorial worksheets out there for introductory geoscience content, and plan to get a copy of them.

2. What will I implement or change?
I completed the self-assessment of equitable teaching strategies in the reading and decided that I would work on the following:
-Continue to pare down the content (“Try not to do too much”)
-Assign student reporters more regularly, and using varying techniques.
-Be more vigilant about monitoring student participation (perhaps taking more notes in class about this).
-Begin integrating culturally diverse and relevant examples.
-Ask more open-ended questions.
-Think more about how my first day/week of class better reflects what I want students to do all term. In this case-I do group work right away, but I do not involve enough geology, especially local geology examples or activities.


3. What do I do well?
I already involve a variety of active learning strategies, especially those involving groups. Here are two recent, yet very different, examples:

-Today we worked on practice problems about radiometric dating. I presented questions on slides about the different steps involved in finding a numerical date for an igneous rock, starting with: “You have a sample of granite, which isotopes could you use?” and ending with “You have these XXX numbers of parent/daughter isotopes…how old is this igneous rock?” Then students would look up the answers, have a discussion with their tablemates, and then vote on the answers as a group using voting cards. I guess this might be a Think-Pair-Share and ConceptTest combo.

-I will be returning an exam in class on Monday, and will give the students an “Exam wrapper “ document to fill out as they review the exam. On this document I ask them to list:
o Which parts of the exam they did well on and why they thought they did so;
o How long they studied;
o Which study strategies they used and which they thought were most effective;
o What ways they plan to prepare differently for future exams; and
o What ways their instructor could better support them.
We then have a group discussion where I present a summary of what the students listed and we discuss my role in particular. It’s usually a great discussion where students get ideas from each other, and I get ideas from them as well.

Thanks for reading! I look forward to reading your posts as well!

-Michelle

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To reply without the message embedded, just remove all the code before you start typing. You can also just keep the relevant content by deleting parts.

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Hi there, Group 3!

What are one or more things you learned?

- I was very surprised that the “Lecture Wrapper” technique resulted in such dramatic improvements!
- Think Pair Share seems to have great potential to help students develop their "science identity" by participating in collegial and scientific discussions.

- The Tanner article convinced me that broadening participation relies on getting all students to participate - not just the students most willing to answer questions. 


Briefly describe something that you do well in your teaching
- I regularly use two active learning methods in class (Lecture Tutorials, and ConcepTests using the Plicker website). 

- I assign multiple metacognitive reflections - a weekly reflection to gauge muddy points, and a twice-weekly short reflection as part of the online homework, asking what students “wonder about,” how material connects to what they already know, what was most “surprising or amazing,” and what “lingering questions” they still have.

- I provide additional scaffolding for pre- and post-class work (the supplementary article, “Getting under the Hood,” by Eddy and Hogan, defines structure to include graded pre-class work, active learning inside the classroom, and graded post-class review). I use the online Mastering Astronomy interface for both pre-class reading questions and post-class review assignments. I find that my students who consistently use Mastering Astronomy perform better on my weekly in-class quizzes, and I am hopeful that this will translate to better performance on the final exam.
 I also create a "Session Guide" for each chapter. Some students use these as reading questions, others use them to outline their class notes, and some students don't use them at all.

What might I implement?
 How can I improve?

First I want to note that some methods can be combined! I will highlight my ideas and I hope you will point out any downsides to the combinations I propose.

Some things I might implement:

1. Collaborative quizzes: these would take a bit longer than my current quiz setup, but it’s worth a try! I see real value in the interactivity of the collaborative model. I would probably leave the hardest multiple choice questions, and then add a more applied question that builds on the the same concepts. I would also leave a free response question on the individual portion, because open-ended written work is so valuable for me to see what vocabulary and metaphors my students are using (or abusing). A wrapper question could also be included on the individual quiz part. 

2. Lecture wrappers: Students list the 3 key points of lecture, and I can reveal the most important points on a “key” as they walk out the door.  This is such an easy and quick metacognitive intervention. This could be combined with the principle of “Collect assessment evidence from every student, every class” by including a “Check Your Understanding” question or two - quiz-like multiple choice or free-response questions. It could also be combined with “muddiest point” (though I already do this as part of our weekly reflection assignment). 

3. Jigsaw: The logistics for 46 students in a non-flexible classroom environment seem challenging, but I am game to give it a try. Jigsaw could be combined with a collaborative document, as the first jigsaw group (folks who worked on the same idea) could post a summary of their results (before class, graded for completion) to a forum or wiki. 


Some ways I could improve: 

1. Allow students time to write (can be combined with think-pair-share)

2. Asking for everyone to share ideas. Instead of explaining things myself, try to crowdsource that knowledge. Try to randomize this with the “multiple hands, multiple voices” rule, or reporters for group work (such as lecture tutorials)

3. Use more varied strategies - I use lecture tutorials and ConcepTest almost every session, but never use jigsaw or concept mapping, or gallery walks (which seem like a nightmare in my classroom environment, in which 46 students occupy 46 chairs in the class).

4. Collect assessment evidence for every student, every time: This is something I did better in my physics class last term than I do now. I collect the lecture tutorials, but these often better reflect a group’s effort than an individual effort. Instead of gathering these, I could be asking “checkpoint” questions near the end of each class. This could easily be tied together with a lecture wrapper, and take just 5 minutes of class time but give me a better sense of every individual’s learning without waiting until the quiz.


Looking forward to learning what everyone else is doing well and has learned so far!

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Originally Posted by Deniz Ballero


I'd like to do a 'gallery walk' online but i'm not sure this is possible :)



I wonder if you could do a "gallery walk" online using forums or collaborative documents? Give each forum a different question to discuss. You could give each student a color to highlight their response in (if a collaborative doc like a Google Doc), and maybe designate individuals to report out for each of the gallery stops on some central forum so that you don't have to read every gallery stop - just skim for the colors.

Also, I'm looking forward to hearing how your "muddiest point" forum works out!

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This post was edited by Kathleen Perillo on Feb, 2020
Hi Everyone!

I spent some time pondering over all that I saw and read this week so I may be the last or one of the last posts this week.

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

I learned that there are many ways to engage our students and that I am already doing a lot of them and didn't have the proper names for these activities. I learned that group work is a great way to help keep students interested and give them a different perspective (not always the teacher's) about a concept or topic. I learned that there is value in collaborative quizzes.

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?

One of the ideas that got me thinking differently is that in the video on group work I watched was that it is important to group students accordingly and not just randomly as I had been doing. Ideally the researched said, we should not just have one minority student in a group. I found this fascinating as I always kind of prided myself on showing students that randomness was how we would operate and that I didn't socially engineer the groups in any way. Apparently that's not helpful to our URM students! This was a real eye opener for me. I have group work in each lecture and every lab and the groups are always different and based on a random type grouping system. I will see about changing the way I group since it is a huge part of my classes. One thing I used today in my lecture class was a bit of caution with praise and a bit of openness with a question I posed in a think, group, share type fashion. This process seemed to help students understand there was no one correct answer I was searching around for. I asked a question that had many possible answers about the evolutionary benefit of precocial and altricial young in the bird world. I gave students time to reflect on their answers in writing before grouping up with those at their table for a short discussion of their ideas. Then I asked for students to share answers with the whole class. After a student would share an answer I would look around and ask if anyone wanted to add to that idea or present a new idea. I waited. Many ideas were floated and I stayed neutral towards them (even though I thought some were exceptionally thoughtful and others a bit far-fetched) but in a manner that showed I was listening and considering all ideas. It was so much fun to see how giving them a short time to write their thoughts and then discuss them with others, added to a lot of novel ideas and discussion from students who had not previously participated verbally before in the class. I had a couple of students who even stayed after class to bat more ideas around with me. So this was a great, usable technique that came right from my reading and viewing this week. It's an amalgamation of a bunch of discreet ideas that I learned and it enhanced my class greatly.

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 the things I think I do well is learning students names, getting a little background about them on an index card and then connecting with them where I can. For example, I'll learn that someone likes dogs and I'll strike up a conversation with that student about how their dog is doing and if it might get along with my dog, etc.

I also use culturally relevant role models in a series I call my "Hero Series". I teach environmental science and it can be quite depressing for students to learn about the issues we are faced with today. Each week I present a hero story (usually a short video) featuring someone doing or who has done amazing work. These people are usually not from the dominate culture. I always start with Wangari Maathai and the Greenbelt Movement and show two very short videos. One is her work, featuring the greenbelt movement and the other is her story of the hummingbird (doing the best it can). This sets the tone for the class. I feature people from all walks of life, nationalities, socioeconomic groups etc. I love when I can find young people - Greta Thunberg etc. The Heroes all relate to the topic we are studying for a particular week. The very last day of the class I show a slide with a class picture I take of the students out in the field at one of our project sites planting native plants. The heading is "Heroes of the Day." It never fails to touch the students when they see themselves up in the Hero series. I want them to understand what it takes to be a hero is what they are already doing by learning about and participating in environmental restoration. And I want ALL students to see themselves in the Hero Series as well as people that look like them and people that don't look like in all corners of the world working to make it a better place. This idea came to me after I saw Per Espen Stoknes TED talk on Apocalypse Fatigue and why we don't take action on climate change. That very same term I had a student tell me he was so depressed with what he was learning in my class that he didn't think he could take it anymore. I initiated the Hero series that very week. It's been a real highlight for both the students and me.

Thanks for reading!

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Hi everyone! I am really late in posting here - been one of those weeks. However, I finally have had some time to view and read, and here's my responses:

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

First off, I had no idea there was so much out there on this topic! I have attended some SAGE workshops previously, so I am familiar with some of the techniques presented, but I have been hesitant to use them due to the large amount of prep work that many seem to require. Having a heavy teaching load at a 2YC, and no assistants available to help, leaves little time to move "outside the box" to get the material prepped for a class. However, I was very intrigued to read and listen about the many techniques that involve little to no prep time. I especially liked the index cards / minute papers and just waiting longer for answers to my questions. In fact I did just that this week in my non-majors class and was rewarded with several students participating who had not done so before.

One thing I know is that I will be going back and viewing these pages again to glean more. Once around was not enough for me!


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 definitely will continue to count my seconds and wait longer for answers to my questions. And I also want to implement the index cards to gather information about points of confusion and as lecture wrappers. I know I have some students who are on the extreme end of the shy scale and do not want to speak in class at all. This would give them an outlet and allow them to participate in responding. I have been using worksheets in class but I think I will expand on that, and be more consistent. And I also want to make use of the Jigsaw technique. I've seen it done but not used it myself - of course this is where the prep time comes in.




3. Briefly describe something that you do well in your teaching.

One activity I have been using in my physical geology lecture is the use of groups when we study relative dating. The groups are all given the same time puzzles and have to work out the sequence of events. I like to call them teams, and the students seem to enjoy this activity very much and get into the spirit of competition. Then one reporter is selected to report each groups' results. As a class we go through the reasoning that was used to get their results. It is a fun activity, but the students practice their logic skills, and it helps those students who have not quite gotten the concepts yet.

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I love your Hero Series idea! I also teach Environmental Science and find that as we go through the topics the students start becoming depressed about all the negative issues we are dealing with. Crisis fatigue is real. I occasionally point out success stories in class, but this idea is so positive. I definitely want to copy this.

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This post was edited by Scott Gianelli on Feb, 2020
1. What are one or more things you learned from looking at the posters, watching the video, and reading the article?

I learned that many things and many different techniques for learning are not so hard to implement in different classes.

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’d certainly like to implement “think-pair-share,” but that might be easier in some classes more than others. The steps in the “Structure Matters” paper about building an inclusive and fair classroom community are very useful, and an aspect of teaching that I’ve overlooked. Step one would be to get to know every students’ name quickly, and then talk to them on a more personal level.


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 do well at getting the students to work in groups to solve physics problems. I make sure every student comes up to the board to demonstrate a solution. Also, when they're up on the board but they get stuck at a point, they have the opportunity to ask the other students in their class for help.

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

I am already doing several of the teaching strategies, but I found the posters in the PowerPoint very helpful because they give examples. I had heard about Jigsaw, ConcepTests, Wrappers,and Muddiest Point several years ago, but I really did not understand how they work or know how to implement them in my classes. The PowerPoint was very helpful because it gives details about how each of them work, along with good examples. The examples are great.


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 would like to try lecture tutorials and exam wrappers first, and eventually do more of the teaching strategies.


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 love using Think-Pair-Share in my classes. I have questions embedded into PowerPoint presentations, such as "what are some fossil fuels?" or "what are some renewable energy sources?". Students think and write, then pair up with those sitting nearby, discuss what they came up with, and then I have them report back to the class.

I do a Gallery Walk using graphs of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over varying time spans (week, month, several months, year, multiple years, etc.) and I post them going down the hall outside the classroom, along with questions (such as describe the trend, what do you think is causing it? etc.) with large sheets of paper to write on, and hand out markers to students. They discuss and write on the paper beside each of the graphs.

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

I learned that a classical instructor-focused lecture is not the best way to teach in the classroom. According to the posters, videos and article, the best way to support students learning is when the instructor designs a learning environment where all students have the same opportunity to think, share, and learn.

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?

Based on the provided material, I will definitely implement teaching activities that will support “giving opportunities to students to think and talk about (marine) biology”. I would like to apply the following teaching strategies: a) Think-pair-share, b) Wait time, c) Do no try to do too much (this will be a hard one for me), d) Random calling, e) Teach them from the moment they arrive, f) Cooperative exam, and g) Gallery work. Something that I will do differently is to support my students on working and participating more during 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.

Something that I do well in my teaching is as follow:
a) Whip (Around), I usually do a review about the study guide questions before the exam. I have seen that even though the students have access to the study guide with at least four days in advance, almost no one reaches out with questions about the study guide; nevertheless, in class right before I give the exam, there are always several questions that arise.
b) Use varied active-learning strategies, I usually had several extra credit activities in which I tried to offer students a more diverse way to demonstrate their knowledge, from drawing, writing a poem, building a model with play-dough, selecting a YouTube video, writing their own questions and answering themselves, etc.

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Use varied active-learning strategies, I usually had several extra credit activities in which I tried to offer students a more diverse way to demonstrate their knowledge, from drawing, writing a poem, building a model with play-dough, selecting a YouTube video, writing their own questions and answering themselves, etc.
[/quote]

I think it's neat that you incorporate other approaches for students to show their knowledge especially in a non-typical science fashion. I am incorporating drawing into my birds of the PNW class this quarter and find that students are loving it, even those who say they can't draw. It gives their mind a little break from the linear science thinking and allow them to be creative. I think the poems, models, drawings and other activities can be incorporated directly into a class by offering points for a student "choice" activity. Thanks for the inspiration.

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Hi Deniz - If you work out the intricacies of using the collaborative exam online, I'm interested in learning more about it. I'm concerned the first students to contribute or those most concerned with their grade would complete most of the work so it seems difficult to administer (but not impossible).
-Rebecca

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edittextuser=138539 post_id=43180 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14236

Hi everyone, so sorry to be late posting this. In general I found value in seeing some of these active learning strategies laid out so explicitly. There are many things that I implement in a sort of ephemeral way, it was good for me to think of them in a more structured way.

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

I personally found the article the most valuable of the three resources. I had read it a few years ago, but have not thought about it since I began teaching in a classroom specifically designed for active learning last year. I used the assessment again, really focusing on the way that I have been teaching in this new space, and found that the strengths and “holes” in my teaching strategies have changed. For example, I am better now at creating an inclusive classroom (especially stations/small groups and diverse active learning strategies), but managing participation and assessment have become less structured and less intentional/thoughtful. This may be a result of the new physical setting, but also perhaps a result of shrinking enrollment. I generally have about 10 - 12 students now (when I used to consistently have 24), so it’s easier for me to assume I am hearing from everybody and have a good handle on how they are all doing.

I took the posters as an opportunity to check in with myself for each method. Am I implementing this technique appropriately and successfully? How could I do this better? If I don’t incorporate this method regularly, why not?

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 found the data regarding lecture wrappers and student ability to correctly identify key points very compelling! In my lab class (Physical Geology) I always start the lab portions with a “guiding question”, but I wonder if my non-lab classes (Environmental Science and Earth Science) might benefit from the introduction of a “focus question”. This focus question could be presented as the framework for what we will cover in class that day, and then repeated as a wrapper (crossed with a minute paper?) at the end of the class session.

The lecture tutorials reminded me that I have been considering providing my Earth Science for Non-majors students with some graphic organizers and note-taking shells. I find that they are frantically trying to write down everything I say (which is a lot!) and I hope that providing them with some time & structure to write down key points will allow them to feel more focused on listening and understanding while I “lecture”.

I appreciated the idea of “multiple hands, multiple voices” in the Tanner paper, and I realized that I need to call on more students after one has answered, even if I think their answer will be the same. This is so simple - just getting in the habit of saying “Other student, what did you want to say?”

I also realized, in watching the Interactive Lectures video, that there is opportunity to use much more extensive think-pair-share activities. Somewhere along the line, I got the impression that it was a 2-3 minute activity, but I love the idea of asking for a detailed interpretation of a dataset.

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 have been using gallery walks frequently. The new active learning classroom I am teaching in is arranged in “learning pods” (fancy word for round tables) with their own white boards, computers, and monitors. This set up really lends itself to gallery walks. In Earth Science, we do not go as far as a full mineral identification lab, but we do cover some of the characteristics used to identify minerals. I have been trying out a mineral ID gallery walk that the students seem to really enjoy. I put 3-4 mineral samples at each learning pod and ask the group to observe them in as much detail as they can, and determine the hardness, streak, and cleavage of each. They note all of their observations on the white board. I do not give them any type of flow chart or mineral ID table as you would find in a lab manual, and I make very clear that I do not want them to actually identify the mineral, just describe it. Next, I have the groups rotate around and see if they agree with the observations or if they want to make changes or add anything. Finally, when there is class consensus on the characteristics, we work as one big group to identify a few of the minerals (now using some flow charts and tables). For example, I’ll tell them “this clear one is either calcite or gypsum - can you figure out which one?” or “this is definitely one of the metallic minerals, either limonite, galena, hematite or graphite - what characteristic can you use to tell the difference between those minerals?”. This gives them the experience of applying the concept without taking the time of a full lab, and puts the emphasis on observation rather than finding the right answer. I have found them to be very engaged during this activity (dynamic discussions, asking lots of questions, wanting more time and more samples, competitive about their observations, etc). I plan on continuing to refine this gallery walk (observation walk?) with future classes, and perhaps trying something similar with classifying igneous rocks.

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Originally Posted by Scott Mandia


That requires me to teach them about Bloom’s and key action words. I complement this with three videos about Bloom’s. One from a faculty perspective. One from a student perspective. One from various Harry Potter films where scenes demonstrate each level of thinking.



I have started to talk a bit about Bloom's with students (in the context of the new, algorithm-based reading assessments that go along with the eTexts). I would love a link to the videos, especially the Harry Potter scenes!

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Hi Rebecca,
I love your first lab! It seems to me that it accomplishes what many of us set out to do in the first week: make the course accessible and provide opportunities to build community by working together.

One thing I really appreciated about this session (as a cohort 2 CA) is that is really helped me reflect on what my goals of each class are, and then choosing the active learning technique that can best help meet those goals. Basically, I think I've become more metacognitive about my teaching. It's great to see you going down this road as evidenced in your post.

Originally Posted by Rebecca Martin


Hi everyone - Here are my thoughts about our readings this week.

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

I was interested in the collaborative quizzes which were discussed in a video and on a poster. The video made an excellent point about how these fit well with classes where students have established groups and are used to working collaboratively. I realized the importance of this relationship before implementing this active learning technique. I also appreciated hearing that a follow-up collaborative quiz can capitalize on the students’ curiosity in that moment. When I cover correct answers for quizzes a week later, students do not have much motivation to learn the material and this technique addresses that challenge.

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 appreciated the overview of college group work. I use case studies in my classes and I have used POGIL previously. I find my groups express less concern if they know we will come back together as a whole group at the end and I will clarify “correct” answers or briefly lecture on the problem solving strategy again. I often let them work in the groups they have selected for labs, but I may orchestrate group member assignments more based off of the suggestions from the video.

I use student self and class assessments during the middle of our ten week quarters. This can help both the students and me adjust as we transition to the later part of the term. After reviewing Tanner’s article, I learned we should assess every student at every class. I will try to implement more of these metacognitive techniques more consistently.

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.

For my first lab activity of the quarter, I use a stations activity. Students work in small groups that move through five stations. Two of the stations ask them to review a concept from the reading that is foundational to the course. They record this in their notes in a diagram format and in writing. Other stations include evaluating scientific methodology in a proposed study, completing a fun fact “quiz”, and filling in a map that becomes part of their notes. The map is first done on a large classroom map where each team identifies key geographic locations relevant to our studies in one of the world’s oceans. Each team has a different ocean region and they later share their expertise with each other in a jigsaw activity so each student has a complete map.

I appreciate your thoughts,
Rebecca

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Hi Michelle,
Thanks for sharing and good to "see" you! I think it's always a wonderful confirmation to read a paper and realize how much we already do.

Last December I got to participate in a workshop with Kimberly. She assigned group reporters by stating something like "the person that will travel the farthest over spring break," will be the reporter. I've been using this winter term and I like it because it helps students build the learning community, and it allows opportunities for everyone to participate as a reporter, rather than the one student that always wants to, and hits on your mention of improving classroom equity.

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Hi Kathleen,
Your Hero's series sounds great. A challenge I often face in teaching courses revolving around these grand environmental challenges is that students feel a sense of grief and want a way to take action. Your series probably helps students see the role models and changes they are making.

As far as groups go, maybe consider giving students a survey on the first day about their past experiences with group work, their confidence with science, and if they see themselves as a leader. This basic information might help you form groups if that's a goal.

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Originally Posted by Scott Mandia


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

...
The questions above also add value to the content because students are asked to reflect on how the various concepts are important to society. In this manner, students move beyond thinking this is just random information in an elective course that “I will never use again.”



I like how you show Bloom's through 3 different perspectives. I'd also love to see your rubric for the discussion posts as far as how their responses to other posts are evaluated, so that they actually have meaningful comments. That is where I struggle with online discussion boards in a class.

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Hi Andrea,
I really agree with your point that Tanner makes that active learning is really a tool to improve classroom equity, and really give every student that opportunity to participate.

I like that you are considering jigsaws in a large enrollment class. I was just at a workshop that Kimberly Tanner ran, and her advice to all of us is, "break the rules!" So, I bet she would say go for it.

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Originally Posted by Pamela Gore


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

...

I do a Gallery Walk using graphs of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over varying time spans (week, month, several months, year, multiple years, etc.) and I post them going down the hall outside the classroom, along with questions (such as describe the trend, what do you think is causing it? etc.) with large sheets of paper to write on, and hand out markers to students. They discuss and write on the paper beside each of the graphs.



I like the Gallery Walk that you do in the hallway. Exam wrappers are a great place to add because they are probably the easiest thing to incorporate into your classes. It really helps provide insight for both you and your students about how they are preparing for exams. I have 3 short questions that I ask:
1. What letter grade do you think you earned? How sure are you of it?
2. How did you prepare for the exam and how long did you spend doing that?
3. Where do you think you may have lost points on the exam? Refer to aspects of the rubric and specific questions.

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Hi Edgar,
Great to see how open you are to these non-classical active learning techniques. I've found think-pair-share is the "low hanging fruit" of active learning. Any question I would ask to the class, I now frame as a think-pair-share. For instance, I might pose a question, give students a minute to write silently, and then share with their neighbor. It really gets everyone discussing material.

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edittextuser=10235 post_id=43193 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14236

Hi Scott-
I have never considered having geology students also know something about Bloom' Taxonomy (although I have plenty of education majors in my class), and I am not sure why I never thought of that! This seems like a great way to have students take more control over their learning, as well as have them reflect on what they do in any course. I am a little daunted by yet another thing to add to my curriculum. About how much time do you spend reviewing Bloom's? Are you willing to share what you include from the Harry Potter movies?

Thanks for the ideas!
-Michelle

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edittextuser=25762 post_id=43194 initial_post_id=0 thread_id=14236

Originally Posted by Robin Nagy


Hi everyone, so sorry to be late posting this. In general I found value in seeing some of these active learning strategies laid out so explicitly. There are many things that I implement in a sort of ephemeral way, it was good for me to think of them in a more structured way.


Lately, I have been using gallery walks frequently. The new active learning classroom I am teaching in is arranged in “learning pods” (fancy word for round tables) with their own white boards, computers, and monitors. This set up really lends itself to gallery walks. In Earth Science, we do not go as far as a full mineral identification lab, but we do cover some of the characteristics used to identify minerals. I have been trying out a mineral ID gallery walk that the students seem to really enjoy. I put 3-4 mineral samples at each learning pod and ask the group to observe them in as much detail as they can, and determine the hardness, streak, and cleavage of each. They note all of their observations on the white board. I do not give them any type of flow chart or mineral ID table as you would find in a lab manual, and I make very clear that I do not want them to actually identify the mineral, just describe it. Next, I have the groups rotate around and see if they agree with the observations or if they want to make changes or add anything. Finally, when there is class consensus on the characteristics, we work as one big group to identify a few of the minerals (now using some flow charts and tables). For example, I’ll tell them “this clear one is either calcite or gypsum - can you figure out which one?” or “this is definitely one of the metallic minerals, either limonite, galena, hematite or graphite - what characteristic can you use to tell the difference between those minerals?”. This gives them the experience of applying the concept without taking the time of a full lab, and puts the emphasis on observation rather than finding the right answer. I have found them to be very engaged during this activity (dynamic discussions, asking lots of questions, wanting more time and more samples, competitive about their observations, etc). I plan on continuing to refine this gallery walk (observation walk?) with future classes, and perhaps trying something similar with classifying igneous rocks.



Wow, Robin, I love what you're doing with the mineral observations portion. I think that is such a good way to emphasize that it is less about coming up with a name, but actually being aware of all of these different properties in minerals and how they are observed. I wonder if you could also try it with rocks. Maybe as an introduction to rocks or even just igneous rocks or something.

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Originally Posted by Polly Bouker




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 would like to implement jigsaw activities. I have participated in these in a SAGE workshop and thought the idea was really great. It was a pretty quick way to learn several things. I have thought about doing these in my classes several different times, but then scrapped the idea. It takes some additional prep on my part, but there are some things that easily lend themselves to it so I plan to make a concerted effort to use at least a couple of these in the near future. I have one planned for TOMORROW.



Polly, how did your jigsaw go? What did it entail? I'm with you that it does take some prep the first time around, and sometimes it is hard in the middle of the semester, but if you can start to formulate the idea during the semester, it is a lot easier to just vow to make one new jigsaw before the start of each semester.

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Originally Posted by Michelle Stoklosa


Hi Scott-
I have never considered having geology students also know something about Bloom' Taxonomy (although I have plenty of education majors in my class), and I am not sure why I never thought of that! This seems like a great way to have students take more control over their learning, as well as have them reflect on what they do in any course. I am a little daunted by yet another thing to add to my curriculum. About how much time do you spend reviewing Bloom's? Are you willing to share what you include from the Harry Potter movies?

Thanks for the ideas!
-Michelle



Michelle,
I have seen several perks to taking time out of class to talk about Bloom's. You develop a greater bond with your students, when they realize that you care about more than just content, and that you are actually trying to help them become better learners. When you stress that this is something they can use in any class and how the studying methods of high school (where they may have focused on lower levels of Bloom's) may need to be revisited since in college, your courses are likely being assessed at higher levels of Bloom's. It always seem to resonate a little more with them. They also begin to understand why lab can be challenging - it is designed to be at higher levels (e.g., apply, analyze, evaluate).

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Originally Posted by Scott Mandia

I do use Kahoot! several times each class but that is not as strong as group collaboration. It is a very inclusive tool however and I highly recommend trying it out. Students love it.=



What is Kahoot!

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Originally Posted by Edgar Rosas Alquicira



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?

Based on the provided material, I will definitely implement teaching activities that will support “giving opportunities to students to think and talk about (marine) biology”. I would like to apply the following teaching strategies: a) Think-pair-share, b) Wait time, c) Do no try to do too much (this will be a hard one for me), d) Random calling, e) Teach them from the moment they arrive, f) Cooperative exam, and g) Gallery work. Something that I will do differently is to support my students on working and participating more during class.



Edgar, looks like you want to try a lot of new things, but also not to try to do too much. To help ease you into it, really try to slowly introduce new things throughout the semester. I went to a workshop during Spring Break, and I came back and changed so much. My students were really thrown off by my completely different approach. I hadn't thought to explain what I was doing and why. As you try new things, you may want to explain to them to some degree what you are trying to achieve, especially, if it is in the middle of the semester, and they are just used to you being more lecture-focused.

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Originally Posted by Scott Mandia

I began teaching a fully online lab science course two years ago and was worried about making it as appealing to students as the traditional class. Now, I am thinking that the student engagement in my online course is superior to that of the traditional course. How cool is that?



How do you get engagement in the online course?

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This post was edited by Dr. Bridget James on Feb, 2020
Hi everyone!

I noticed that many of you found collaborative testing intriguing. My colleague (and fellow Change Agent) at De Anza College, Christopher DiLeonardo, wrote a SAGE musing on this topic on what he has found successful in using this approach in his in-person "Introduction to Geology" classroom. It is worth a read:

https://serc.carleton.edu/sage2yc/musings/exams_for_learning.html

Bridget James
Peer Leader - Cohort 1 - Northern California

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Originally Posted by Kathleen Perillo



I also use culturally relevant role models in a series I call my "Hero Series". I teach environmental science and it can be quite depressing for students to learn about the issues we are faced with today. Each week I present a hero story (usually a short video) featuring someone doing or who has done amazing work. These people are usually not from the dominate culture. I always start with Wangari Maathai and the Greenbelt Movement and show two very short videos. One is her work, featuring the greenbelt movement and the other is her story of the hummingbird (doing the best it can). This sets the tone for the class. I feature people from all walks of life, nationalities, socioeconomic groups etc. I love when I can find young people - Greta Thunberg etc. The Heroes all relate to the topic we are studying for a particular week. The very last day of the class I show a slide with a class picture I take of the students out in the field at one of our project sites planting native plants. The heading is "Heroes of the Day." It never fails to touch the students when they see themselves up in the Hero series. I want them to understand what it takes to be a hero is what they are already doing by learning about and participating in environmental restoration. And I want ALL students to see themselves in the Hero Series as well as people that look like them and people that don't look like in all corners of the world working to make it a better place. This idea came to me after I saw Per Espen Stoknes TED talk on Apocalypse Fatigue and why we don't take action on climate change. That very same term I had a student tell me he was so depressed with what he was learning in my class that he didn't think he could take it anymore. I initiated the Hero series that very week. It's been a real highlight for both the students and me.

Thanks for reading!



Kathleen - I love your hero series, thank you for sharing! I have also noticed students feeling overwhelmed and discouraged in environmental science. This is such a great idea, and I am going to incorporate it in my environmental science class, too!

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Originally Posted by Bryn Benford



Wow, Robin, I love what you're doing with the mineral observations portion. I think that is such a good way to emphasize that it is less about coming up with a name, but actually being aware of all of these different properties in minerals and how they are observed. I wonder if you could also try it with rocks. Maybe as an introduction to rocks or even just igneous rocks or something.



I'm going to try it with igneous rocks next week, so stay tuned!

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Originally Posted by Kathleen Perillo


Use varied active-learning strategies, I usually had several extra credit activities in which I tried to offer students a more diverse way to demonstrate their knowledge, from drawing, writing a poem, building a model with play-dough, selecting a YouTube video, writing their own questions and answering themselves, etc.
[/quote]

I think it's neat that you incorporate other approaches for students to show their knowledge especially in a non-typical science fashion. I am incorporating drawing into my birds of the PNW class this quarter and find that students are loving it, even those who say they can't draw. It gives their mind a little break from the linear science thinking and allow them to be creative. I think the poems, models, drawings and other activities can be incorporated directly into a class by offering points for a student "choice" activity. Thanks for the inspiration.



It seems like students really appreciate being able to express themselves creatively and share a bit of their own personality and style. I imagine this would help to develop an inclusive classroom, too. This semester my students have been using Adobe Spark to create webpages with definitions for key terms and they love it! They have created some really fun and funny stuff, and I have really enjoyed seeing the way they are expressing both their learning and their personality.

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Originally Posted by Robin Nagy


I found the data regarding lecture wrappers and student ability to correctly identify key points very compelling! In my lab class (Physical Geology) I always start the lab portions with a “guiding question”, but I wonder if my non-lab classes (Environmental Science and Earth Science) might benefit from the introduction of a “focus question”. This focus question could be presented as the framework for what we will cover in class that day, and then repeated as a wrapper (crossed with a minute paper?) at the end of the class session.



Robin, thank you for the idea to include a focus question in the lecture wrapper. I always start class with a question (pertaining to our course-wide "metaquestion") but never return to it at the end! I had students take 5 minutes at the end of my last class to make a concept map of the day's ideas and list the key points, then revealed my own. I heard some small cheers when students had overlap with my key points, and it also forced me to summarize my material in a way that I don't usually do.

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This post was edited by Michelle Stoklosa on Feb, 2020
Originally Posted by Polly Bouker



I would like to implement jigsaw activities. I have participated in these in a SAGE workshop and thought the idea was really great. It was a pretty quick way to learn several things. I have thought about doing these in my classes several different times, but then scrapped the idea. It takes some additional prep on my part, but there are some things that easily lend themselves to it so I plan to make a concerted effort to use at least a couple of these in the near future. I have one planned for TOMORROW.



Hi Polly
I just wanted to check and see if you implemented that Jigsaw activity that you thought you would implement right away. I would love to hear how it went.

You may already use this, but here is a link to a fun jigsaw activity for studying the data that support Plate Tectonics: https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/intro/activities/29360.html It is a modified form of an activity called Discovering Plate Boundaries (which is referenced at the link I posted). I modify this activity, too, and use it almost every term.

-Michelle

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Originally Posted by Deniz Ballero




Polly and I are redesigning our online geology labs and we are presenting content in a 'chunk' manner so for the week they are working on one lab but it has 5 parts, for example. They complete a part (whatever, video, task, that they have to do) and answer questions. This is reminiscent of the ConcepTest approach but just in online version. We can intervene with misconceptions at each task/step/assessment and know students actually 'got it' before they move on. This is especially important in an online class.



Hi Deniz-
I teach online labs as well, so am very interested in how you presented the lab in a "chunk" manner. Do they submit their answers after each part of the lab, or all at once? I have one lab activity due per week, and it is somewhat grouped into sections that build on each other. I get their answers, however, all in one lab document. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

-Michelle

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Originally Posted by Andrea Goering



- I assign multiple metacognitive reflections - a weekly reflection to gauge muddy points, and a twice-weekly short reflection as part of the online homework, asking what students “wonder about,” how material connects to what they already know, what was most “surprising or amazing,” and what “lingering questions” they still have.




Hi Andrea-
You included lots of ideas in your post, but I wanted to follow up on one in particular.
I have never been good at having students write their "muddiest point" or lingering questions at the end of a class, and then actually do something productive with this information. Often the questions are so broad (the muddiest point is: Igneous Rocks, for example) that I don't know how to have the students really reflect and ask more in-depth questions and not just throw up their hands, in a sense, and essentially tell me they do not understand anything. Do you ever have this sort of response, and if so, how do you approach it?

Thanks for the ideas!

-Michelle

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Originally Posted by Lorraine Carey




I definitely will continue to count my seconds and wait longer for answers to my questions. And I also want to implement the index cards to gather information about points of confusion and as lecture wrappers. I know I have some students who are on the extreme end of the shy scale and do not want to speak in class at all. This would give them an outlet and allow them to participate in responding. I have been using worksheets in class but I think I will expand on that, and be more consistent. And I also want to make use of the Jigsaw technique. I've seen it done but not used it myself - of course this is where the prep time comes in.



Hi Lorraine-
I am inspired to hear that you have already noticed some results in your class by waiting a few more seconds! I know what you mean when you say you have very little prep time to add all of these activities that you would like to do. There are some jigsaw activities out there that are already "done" for you that you might like. I included a link to a plate tectonics activity already in this discussion thread, but here it is again in case you are interested: https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/intro/activities/29360.html. There are lots of other activities at the SERC site, but this is one jigsaw activity that I have used and requires some copying, but not much prep time.

Just a thought...
-Michelle

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Hi Michelle - thanks for the link! With me, sometimes it's a matter of accessing all the information and ideas that are "out there". I sometimes feel overwhelmed with all of them and find myself in analysis paralysis. Having 1 or 2 canned activities makes it so much easier to take the first step and get started.
Thanks again!




Hi Lorraine-
I am inspired to hear that you have already noticed some results in your class by waiting a few more seconds! I know what you mean when you say you have very little prep time to add all of these activities that you would like to do. There are some jigsaw activities out there that are already "done" for you that you might like. I included a link to a plate tectonics activity already in this discussion thread, but here it is again in case you are interested: https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/intro/activities/29360.html. There are lots of other activities at the SERC site, but this is one jigsaw activity that I have used and requires some copying, but not much prep time.

Just a thought...
-Michelle
[/quote]

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I couldn't get my document to post. Thought that I had done it on the 8th. What am I doing wrong?? I've tried cutting and pasting , control c an v, downnloading a PDF file. I"ll try once more .
Hi to my colleagues in the Cohort!
What are one or more things I learned:
I learned that there is a lot of material available for examples from many of the Posters. I’m excited to look at them further. The article was especially enlightening. We are not very ethnically diverse here in Eugene and building inclusiveness can thus be a challenge. I’d never thought of the overall classroom setting as being that impactful for students to feel included. I was unaware of the possible negative impact of not learning my student’s names closer to the beginning of the course instead of having them towards the end of the term. I now understand how that could well make them feel undervalued.
What would I maybe implement/ apply to my teaching/do differently:
The article spoke about the practice of many instructors on the first day of class spending time on the syllabus, and specifically the grading system for the course. I realized that I spend time on the mechanics of the course, and then leave the listing of the weeks of the course, and the content of the material to be covered, to the students to look at themselves. I’m going to turn that around. I plan on handing out the syllabus, letting students have some time to review it, asking if there are any specific questions about the mechanics of the course, and then move on to an overview of course content. I guess I’ve always thought I had to go through the syllabus line by line to make sure the students understand what I expect of them (and it seems like asking modern students to actually read a comprehensive syllabus doesn’t always work!), but the article was right, my courses are about environmental science, or general geology, not the grading scheme.
In the larger classes (80 & 200) that I teach at the local University (science classes for non-science majors), I typically have what I call In-class sheets. These have questions on material from maybe the previous day’s lecture, and some from that day’s lecture, and give the students about 10 minutes to get up and use the rest room if they need to and answer the questions. I go over the correct answers for those questions before starting up lecture again. This is like the Minute Paper, and is done to encourage attendance (typically worth 8% of a 100% term), plus also a small learning session for the content covered. I’ve tried to use Clickers, but it is more of a hassle for me to integrate the results into the on-line learning system for grading purposes (and students forget their Clickers but still want the credit for being there) that I went back to the In-class sheets. I haven’t done that with my smaller (20-26) person classes here at LaneCC, but now think I should. Also, breaking up lecture blocks with Think-Pair-Share, Minute Paper, ConcepTest, or Lecture Tutorials would keep student interest better than an elongate lecture. Another way would be to incorporate those shorter exercises (especially the Lecture Tutorials) into the lab component for each of the subject blocks I teach in a course. I should also ask more open-ended questions.
I liked the idea of making Name Tents for each of the students. For the first 2 weeks I think I’d have the students grab them on the way into the classroom so that they have them with them at their place (we use group tables in our classrooms, not individual seating). But after that I would try to place them myself. I know that this would really help me learn their names more quickly than the haphazard non-method I have/use now.
Briefly discuss something you do well:
The article mentioned that telling stories from the history of the science we teach, or present day discoveries is a way to engage students. This is something I’ve done for all the courses I teach. I’ve had students, later when I see them on campus, tell me that they enjoyed my classes more because of those anecdotal addition, and that it helped them to learn the course material itself as they could make “connections”.
Hand Raising: I often poll my classes, asking if any of the students have a certain experience, such as Anyone here a scuba diver? as a way of introducing the concept of water pressure increasing with depth in the ocean. Or Anyone here ever had a pet snake? so that I can ask them about how often they fed their snake, as a lead-in to the concepts of Endothermic compared to Ectothermic metabolisms. I feel that engaging other students to help explain concepts makes the material more accessible for the entire class.

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Originally Posted by Michelle Stoklosa


I have never been good at having students write their "muddiest point" or lingering questions at the end of a class, and then actually do something productive with this information. Often the questions are so broad (the muddiest point is: Igneous Rocks, for example) that I don't know how to have the students really reflect and ask more in-depth questions and not just throw up their hands, in a sense, and essentially tell me they do not understand anything. Do you ever have this sort of response, and if so, how do you approach it?



Hi Michelle, I by no means have this ironed out. I find that students are more specific when I ask them for "muddiest points" during the homework reflections, to the point of giving me specific problem numbers that confused them, and why. I often see common questions across many students from the homework, and in this case they have primed themselves for what they are looking to get out of the class on that topic.

On the weekly reflections, I get less of this. But I do get students saying "I am not getting anything this week!" and most of the time, they explain that they haven't kept up with the reading or missed a class. In that case I reply with encouragement and advice.

An interesting observation this week: I gave a few survey questions on last week's quiz, including asking what about the course structure students found most and least helpful to their learning. Two things stuck out.

1) I had one student who replied that the weekly reflections make her "anxious." In the class when I returned the quiz, she read my comment and explained she was anxious because 1) she was behind in the reading and wasn't sure if she could still do them (I said sure) and 2) said she isn't sure what she's supposed to be getting out of each week's reading, and the question "what were the main points this week" was intimidating to her as a first gen student. This was definitely not intended, but I am glad she felt safe bringing this up!

2) About 1/5 of students found the weekly reflections "least helpful," yet many of them said they were happy to do them because they knew they were valuable to me. They are well aware that I read the weekly reflections and use their feedback, but I must have failed to emphasize the reason I thought they would be useful to the students.

To the point of doing something productive with the information: Maybe the muddiest point should have two parts. One is identifying the muddiest point (helpful to the instructor). The next is asking "what could you do to clarify this point?" I haven't tried that, but maybe that would make the reflections more valuable to my students and also reinforce their sense of responsibility for their own learning.

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