the college classroom (fa14) session 6: cooperative learning and peer instruction

The College Classroom Session 6:

Cooperative Learning and Peer Instruction

November 20 and 25, 2014

Unless otherwise noted, content is

licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-

Non Commercial 3.0 License.

Please try to sit

with others in your

subject area: Look

for colored cards

like yours.

Active Learning

Last week This week

Cooperative learning - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu 2

Freeman et al. (2014) show

active learning in class

enhances student

learning

reduces withdrawals

and failures

What kinds of active

learning activities are more

effective?

(“2nd generation research”)

What do you see?

3 Cooperative learning

collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

2010–2011 Higher Education Research Initiative (HERI)

Faculty Survey of 23,824 full-time faculty at 417 four-year

colleges and universities [1]

What do you see?

4 Cooperative learning - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

2013–2014 Higher Education Research Initiative (HERI)

Faculty Survey of 16,112 full-time faculty at 269 four-year

colleges and universities [2]

Cooperative Learning[3]


Cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups so

that students work together to maximize their own and each other’s

learning.

(Rique Campa)

constructivism social constructivism

recognizes that knowledge is

constructed in the mind of the

learner by the learner

([1], p.262)

implies that this “building”

process is aided through

cooperative social interactions

([1], p. 262)

Why use cooperative learning?[3]

6

emulates work environment: professionals work in teams

enhances communication skills

improves efficiency, effectiveness, and success of team work

can deal with complex problems

What skills are employers looking for? teamwork

critical thinking / reasoning

oral and written communication

Cooperative learning - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

Cooperative learning groups


group type description advantages tasks for instructor

informal groups of 2-4 students

formed spontaneously

in class

• for example, during

peer instruction

with clickers

• good for large classes

• can be used at any time

• opportunity for students

to practice learning goals

describe, define, draw,

rank,…

• opportunity for students

to process what they just

read or heard

• be explicit about

expectations and

responsibilities

• be explicit about how

much time they have

• reinforce benefits of

group interaction

• can be difficult to make

both individual and

group accountable




formal students stay in same

group throughout

term for

• in-class activities

• presentations

• group exams

• study group

Groups formed

• randomly

• engineered for

diversity

• self-selected

• formal group is closer to

real, professional setting

• groups can accomplish

bigger tasks like group

presentations

• students learn each

other’s strengths and

weaknesses, earn each

other’s trust

Instructor must give more

structure/guidance:

• objectives of tasks

• tell groups how to make

decisions

• explain positive

interdependence

• explain individual and

group accountability

• mentor groups on

conflict resolution, group

management

• regular, formative

feedback




base long-term, stable

group of 3-5 students

to accomplish large,

complex task

• build a robot, create

an app

• write a paper

• form mock (or real)

company

• groups meet regularly

(typically outside of class

time)

• self-selected or formed

by instructor by students’

skills

• facilitate and scaffold

meeting schedule, how

to share resources, how

to support each other

• regularly check on

groups, meet with each

group (don’t form and

forget)

• may need to scaffold

students through project:

objectives, methods,

results, presentation, etc.

(there should be no

surprises at end of term)

Key to successful cooperative learning


If you choose to use cooperative learning so that students

learn how to work effectively as a team,

you need to teach the students

how to work effectively as a team

You can’t leave it up to them to figure out

positive team member traits

team-building, management, conflict-resolution skills

how to remain inquiry-based: asking questions of each

other, making recommendations, receiving feedback

how to make effective, professional presentations

Signs of a successful CL group


positive interdependence between group members

individual and group accountability

face-to-face meetings (with meeting minutes?)

group and interpersonal skills

group can process and facilitate itself through tasks,

challenges, set-backs

What to watch for

and what to do about it


lack of group maturity

insufficient guidance and training from instructor about

how to work together

“free-riding”

instructor hasn’t built in enough individual accountability

loss of motivation

instructor needs to stay in touch with groups frequently

lack of skills and abilities

instructor needs to create groups with more diverse

skills and abilities


active learning

cooperative

learning

peer

instruction

What is expertise? [4]

To develop competence in an area of inquiry, student must

(a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge

(b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual

framework, and

(c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and

application


Cooperative learning

teachingmethodsinpublichealth.ucsd.edu 15

knowledge


teachingmethodsinpublichealth.ucsd.edu 16

knowledge

framework

17

knowledge

framework

retrieval


teachingmethodsinpublichealth.ucsd.edu

What the best college teachers do[5]


More than anything else, the best teachers try to create a

natural critical learning environment: natural

because students encounter skills, habits, attitudes, and

information they are trying to learn embedded in questions

and tasks they find fascinating – authentic tasks that arouse

curiosity and become intrinsically interesting, critical

because students learn to think critically, to reason from

evidence, to examine the quality of their reasoning using a

variety of intellectual standards, to make improvements

while thinking, and to ask probing and insightful questions

about the thinking of other people.

In natural critical learning environments


students encounter safe yet challenging conditions in

which they can try, fail, receive feedback, and try again

without facing a summative evaluation.[5]

try

fail receive

feedback

Discussion (Economics)


For which of the following professionals is driving an

expensive car a sign of their success, compared to others in

the same profession?

A) a carpenter

B) a realtor

C) a politician

D) a major league baseball player

(Steve Morris, Bowdoin College, ME)

Typical Episode of Peer Instruction


1. Instructor poses a conceptually-challenging

multiple-choice question.

2. Students think about question on their own and vote

using clickers, colored ABCD cards, smartphones,…

3. The instructor asks students to turn to their neighbors

and “convince them you’re right.”

4. After that “peer instruction”, students may vote again.

5. The instructor leads a class-wide discussion concluding

with why the right answer(s) is right and the wrong

answers are wrong.

Peer instruction is successful when


students teach each other while

they may still hold or remember

their novice preconceptions

students discuss the concepts in their

own (novice) language

each student finds out what s/he does (not) know

the instructor finds out what the students (do not)

know and reacts, building on their initial understanding

and preconceptions.

students practice

how to think,

communicate

like experts


1. identifying key concepts, misconceptions

2. creating multiple-choice questions that

require deeper thinking and learning

3. facilitating episodes of peer instruction that

spark and support expert-like discussion

4. leading a class-wide discussion to clarify

the concept, resolve the misconception

5. reflecting on the question: note curious

things you overheard, how they voted, etc. so

next year’s peer instruction will be better

before

class

during

class

after

class

Effective peer instruction requires

t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e

Peer instruction helps students learn...


BEFORE DURING AFTER

setting up

instruction

developing

knowledge

assessing

learning

Adapted from Rosie Piller, Ian Beatty, Stephanie Chasteen




BEFORE DURING AFTER

setting up

instruction

developing

knowledge

assessing

learning





BEFORE DURING AFTER

setting up

instruction

developing

knowledge

assessing

learning


The students have not

resolved Concept X.

But they’re know X exists

and why X is interesting.




BEFORE DURING AFTER

setting up

instruction

developing

knowledge

assessing

learning





BEFORE DURING AFTER

setting up

instruction

developing

knowledge

assessing

learning


Students have had opportunities to

try, fail, receive feedback and

try again without facing a

summative evaluation.




BEFORE DURING AFTER

setting up

instruction

developing

knowledge

assessing

learning


Writing Good

Peer Instruction Questions


clarity Students waste no effort trying to figure out what’s

being asked.

context Is this topic currently being covered in class?

learning

outcome

Does the question make students do the right things

to demonstrate they grasp the concept?

distractors What do the “wrong” answers tell you about

students’ thinking?

difficulty Is the question too easy? too hard?

stimulates

thoughtful

discussion

Will the question engage the students and spark

thoughtful discussions? Are there openings for you

to continue the discussion?

What makes a good question?

Cooperative learning - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu 31 (Adapted from Stephanie Chasteen, CU Boulder)

Sample Questions


With others in your group, look through the collection of questions (start with the questions in subjects you’re familiar with. )

WARNING: Some are good, some are not.

Try to identify at least one characteristic (clarity, context,…) that makes each question good (or bad).

References


1. Hurtado, S., Eagan, M. K., Pryor, J. H., Whang, H., & Tran, S. (2012). Undergraduate

teaching faculty: The 2010–2011 HERI Faculty Survey. Los Angeles: Higher Education

Research Institute, UCLA. www.heri.ucla.edu

2. Eagan, M. K., Stolzenberg, E. B., Berdan Lozano, J., Aragon, M. C., Suchard, M. R.,

& Hurtado, S. (2014). Undergraduate teaching faculty: The 2013–2014 HERI Faculty

Survey. Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA. www.heri.ucla.edu

3. Derek Bruff, Henry (Rique) Campa, III, Trina McMahon, Bennett Goldberg (2014).

“An Introduction to Evidence-Based Undergraduate STEM Teaching” (coursera

MOOC) class.coursera.org/stemteaching-001

4. National Research Council (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School:

Expanded Edition. J.D. Bransford, A.L Brown & R.R. Cocking (Eds.),Washington, DC:

The National Academies Press.

5. Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University

Press.