A Scientific Approach to Achieving Learning in Your Course

Leilani ArthursDepartment of Earth & Atmospheric SciencesUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln

Welcome!

Every participant will have a participant number.We’ll count off.Please remember what your number is.

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What kind of institution is closest to the kind of institution that you teach at?

A. Elementary to Middle schoolB. High schoolC. 2-year collegeD. 4-year primarily teaching collegeE. 4-year research university

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In which department or discipline do you primarily teach your course(s)?

A. Geology / Geoscience / Earth ScienceB. Geography / Environmental StudiesC. Meteorology / ClimatologyD. Astronomy / Physics E. Chemistry

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How much do you already know about developing learning goals, classroom activities, and assessments?A. I consider myself an expert in these areas, and I

could totally be giving this workshop! B. I have a high level of familiarity with these, and

am always trying to learn more about them.C. I have a high level of familiarity with 1 or 2 of

these areas, but not all 3.D. I have a modest understanding of these areas.E. Developing these 3 things myself is new to me.

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What is one thing that you hope to get out of this workshop?

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What does “effective learning” mean to you?

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What is your target course (e.g. Historical Geology, Environmental Geochemistry, Intro Astronomy)?

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A basic scientific approach to achieving learning in your course involves a systematic three-step process.

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1. Set & comm. learning goals for

self & students

2. Use activities to help students achieve goals

3. Assess whether students achieved

goals

A learning goal is a statement of what students should be able to do and at what level.

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Knowledge

ComprehensionApplicationAnalysis Synthesis

Evaluation

Levels of intellectual behavior,Bloom’s taxonomy (1956).

Receiving

Responding

ValuingOrganizing

Internalizing

Levels of attitudinal behavior,Krathwohl’s taxonomy (1973).

Incr

easi

ng le

vels

of s

ophi

stica

tion

These statements are written with specific language (esp. verbs) and are assessable.

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Students will be able to …

A. understand how surface properties affect albedo.B. appreciate the connection between the chemistry of

Earth’s atmosphere and Earth’s climate.C. define latent heat.D. apply knowledge of feedbacks to predict possible climate

outcomes given a hypothetical scenario.E. compare temporal CO2, CH4, and temperature data and

interpret what they mean.Useful Action Words: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html

LGs can be written to address different levels of the course structure.

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Course-level LGs provide the “Big Picture” for the overall desired learning outcomes after taking your course.

Topic-level LGs are behaviors students should be able to do after learning about a specific topic.

LGs can be written to address different levels of the course structure.

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Course-level LGs provide the “Big Picture” for the overall desired learning outcomes after taking your course.

Topic-level LGs are behaviors students should be able to do after learning about a specific topic.

1. Take out a piece of paper.2. If you haven’t already, write the name of target course.3. Write 3 overall course-level LGs for your target course.4. List 3 topics addressed in your target course.5. For each topic, write 1-3 topic-level LGs.

What are some examples that you all came up with for course- and topic-level LGs? “Students will be able to ….”

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C = course-level LG; T = topic-level LG

C:

C:

C:

T:

T:

T:

After establishing learning goals for your students, it’s time to ask: What can I do to help my students achieve these learning goals?

Traditional lecture vs. Transformed teaching Many options for transformed teaching

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After establishing learning goals for your students, it’s time to ask: What can I do to help my students achieve these learning goals?

Traditional lecture vs. Transformed teaching Many options for transformed teaching• ConcepTests & peer instruction (Mazur, 1997)• Contrasting cases (Swartz, 1998) • Authentic performance tasks (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005)• Process-oriented guided-inquiry learning (Hanson, 2006)• Lecture tutorials (e.g. Prather et al., 2008; Kortz & Smay,

2010)• Integration of instructional technology: GE, sims, clickers..• and more!

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Activities that enhance student learning share several common characteristics.

• They are associated with a specific learning goal(s).• They are based on a single well thought out and well

designed question or series of questions.• They engage students beyond the lowest levels of

intellectual or attitudinal behaviors.• They promote communication and discussion between

students about course concepts.• They are spring boards for instructor-facilitated class

discussion about students’ current level of understanding.

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After setting goals and structuring learning activities to aid in their attainment, it’s time to ask: To what extent did students achieve the learning goals?

Formative Assessments• Done throughout the semester• Often not graded• Informs instructional decisions• e.g. CATs (Angelo & Cross, 1993)

Summative Assessments• Done at the end of semester, module, chapter• Usually graded• Generally, does not inform instructional decisions (for that

semester/term)• e.g. exams, final projects, final papers

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After setting goals and structuring learning activities to aid in their attainment, it’s time to ask: To what extent did students achieve the learning goals?

Formative Assessments• Done throughout the semester• Often not graded• Informs instructional decisions• e.g. CATs (Angelo & Cross, 1993)

Summative Assessments• Done at the end of semester, module, chapter• Usually graded• Generally, does not inform instructional decisions (for that

semester/term)• e.g. exams, final projects, final papers

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The results of assessments can help to inform you on matters such as …

• To what extent your students achieved the learning goals• How effective the activities and classroom practices were at

facilitating student learning• Whether and how you might revise one or more activities• Whether and how you might revise a learning goal(s)• Where there may be room to improve the alignment

between what you expect students to learn, how you help them meet those expectations, and how you assess their learning

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Aligning these three aspects of a course can be an iterative and energy/time intensive process, but is extremely worthwhile in terms of helping students learn.

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Be patient with yourself and have fun when undertaking this process!

1. Set & comm. learning goals for

self & students

2. Use activities to help students achieve goals

3. Assess whether students achieved

goals

Thank you for your participation in this workshop!

Questions?

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