Workshop on Teaching Style and Content 19.2.2016 Albert Ali Salah

Workshop on Teaching Style and Content 19.2.2016 Albert Ali Salah Boğaziçi University, Dept. of Computer Engineering

Program Constructive alignment Ideas on Content Elements of Teaching Style TA presentations and feedback QA

Constructive alignment

Student orientation and engagement Three factors of student learning: Level of engagement Teaching method Student’s intrinsic factors

Learning Approach to study WHAT HOW structural aspect meaning aspect holistic atomistic deep whole, preserves structure parts distorts structure task level, relationships surface word-sentence level assessment

Good teaching Reflective teaching: general principles of teaching need to be adapted to your personal style, your personal strengths, and the teaching context. You may need feedback to improve your teaching, and reflect constantly on your teaching. Hint: You cannot change everything at once; every lecture decide on one aspect (stance, material, activation, voice projection, eye-contact, etc.) and seek to improve that dimension. «Good teaching is getting most students to use the higher cognitive level processes that the more academic students use spontaneously.» - John Biggs

Surface processing Student factors: Achieve a minimum passing grade Non-academic priorities Insufficient time, high workload Misundestanding requirements («memorization is enough») Cynicism High anxiety Inability to process

Surface processing Teacher factors: Bullet-list teaching (piecewise teaching) Assessing independent facts (short-answer tests, multiple choice) Teacher cynicism (This is boring, but we need to do it) Coverage at the expense of depth Creating unnecessary anxiety or low expectations of success («anyone who can’t do this, doesn’t belong here»)

Deep processing Student factors: An intention to engage the material and learn (intrinsic curiosity) Appropriate and rich background knowledge Ability to focus at a high conceptual level Genuine preference for working conceptually, rather than with unrelated detail

Deep processing Teaching factors: Teaching to bring out the structure of the topic or subject Teaching to elicit a response from the students (i.e. questioning, presenting problems, rather than teaching to expound information) Teaching by building on what the student already knows Confronting and eradicating misconceptions Assessing for structure rather than independent facts Creating a positive atmosphere, so that students are not afraid to make mistakes, and are willing to learn from these mistakes Emphasizing depth, rather than breadth of coverage Using teaching and assessment methods that are explicitly aimed for course objectives

The Bales learning Pyramid (1996) Average retention Lecture 5% Reading 10% Audio visual 20% Demonstration 30% Discussion in group 50% Practical exercise 75% Handling / Teaching to others 80% Universiteit van Amsterdam Instituut voor de lerarenopleiding

Constructive alignment

Constructive alignment Level 1: Focus: what the student is The teacher sees individual differences. The responsibility of the teacher is to know and present the material well, the responsibility of the student is to absorb and learn from it. The teaching activity is not flexible; not adapted. Level 2: Focus: what the teacher does The teacher seeks to transmit understanding and concepts, rather than information. «getting it across» is teacher’s responsibility now, the «blame» is the teachers as well. At this level, the teacher seeks methods of teaching, like an armoury. Level 3: Focus: what the student does Focus on what the student does as process and product, and how it relates to teaching goals.

Focus: What the student does Be clear about what it means to understand content what kind of activities are required to reach this understanding Helping questions: How do you define the levels of understanding? What do the students have to do to reach the level specified? How can you assess that?

7 principles for good practice in undergrad education 1. Encourage contact between students and faculty. 2. Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students. 3. Use active learning techniques. 4. Give prompt feedback. 5. Emphasize time on task. 6. Communicate high expectations. 7. Respect diverse talents and ways of learning. Chickering and Gamson, AAHE Bulletin, 1987. BKO, October 30 2009

7 principles for good practice 1. Encourage contact between students and faculty members. It improves student motivation and involvement BKO, October 30 2009

7 principles for good practice 2. Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students. Collaborative learning Association in groups BKO, October 30 2009

7 principles for good practice 3. Encourage active learning techniques. Talk, write, discuss Relate to past knowledge/experiences. Apply to new situations. BKO, October 30 2009

7 principles for good practice 4. Give prompt feedback. Constructive Suggestions for improvement Chance to reflect. No assessment without feedback BKO, October 30 2009

7 principles for good practice 5. Emphasize time on task. Effective time management. Time investment expectations and responsibility. BKO, October 30 2009

7 principles for good practice 6. Communicate high expectations. Expect more and you will get more. Day-to-day, week-in week-out expectations BKO, October 30 2009

7 principles for good practice 7. Respect diverse talents and ways of learning. Different interests Different styles BKO, October 30 2009

Ideas on Content

Teaching goals When you teach students, they will build skills and knowledge in several stages/layers. You should try to see the layers, and see how much each layer has accumulated.

Specific questions about planning student learning

Learning outcomes Learning outcomes are the things your students can do after they leave your course with a good grade, that they could not do before. Stating the desired learning outcomes in advance has advantages for: planning the assessment in such a way that you can be sure that students who pass have truly achieved what you wanted them to learn, planning the course in such a way that it is likely that many students will achieve the desired learning outcomes.

Typical learning outcomes No learning The student reads a chapter on electric circuits. In the exam she needs to recall some components. She cannot. She needs to solve a problem by using several components, and she can’t (no knowledge transfer). Rote learning When studying the chapter, the student memorizes all the facts. Whe can not reall the components (retention test passed). But designing a solution to the problem is not possible, as the problem is novel (no knowledge transfer) Meaningful learning The student engages the material deeply, and struggles to clarify it, establishing semantic links, understanding causes and effects. Meaningful learning provides students with the knowledge and cognitive processes they need for successful problem solving.

Setting «Learning Outcomes» for the class Step 1: Formulate learning goals as sentences with the verb stating a cognitive process and a noun phrase stating the knowledge part. Use self-chosen verbs and noun-phrases, there is no requirement to take verbs from the left column for instance. Step 2: classify the self formulated goals: find out where they fit in the table. Aim: find out: how ambitious, how varied are your goals? Remembering is the least ambitious, but all the rest is built on it, of course!

Example: Linear Algebra

Assessment Answer the following question: What can your students do after the course, if they are successful, that they could not do before? Limit yourself to the one or two most important achievements. The exam, project, or assessment activity should check the following: Are students asked to perform the actions which you have mentioned in answering the first question? What part of the assessment activity is devoted to testing whether students can do those things? Do these desired learning outcomes have enough weight in the assessment activity?

Assessment The teaching activity can also be probed similarly: At what moment during the course are students performing the actions which you have mentioned in answering the first question? What part of the students’ assignments is devoted to learning to perform these actions? Do these desired learning outcomes have enough weight during the course?

Planning a single lecture Think about «phases» in the lecture; in each phase you will have a teaching activity, which will have one main purpose (which you have planned ahead) Take into account: Starting point Teaching aims Materials Questions to activate the students List of student and teacher activities, their timing, and assessment

Sample teaching plan

Sample teaching plan

Sample teaching plan

Elements of style

Elements of style Teaching in class is all about COMMUNICATION! All social signals are relevant, use them well. Your aim is to give an AUDIENCE FOCUSED lecture. Your stance is important. Always face the class, turn your back as little as possible. If you are using Powerpoint, never turn your face to your presented material. Always let them see your face clearly when you are speaking. Speak in a clear and loud voice. Always think of the person in the far back, and speak to them (voice projection: you can train this). Make sure you don’t appear shy or unsure of yourself. Use the space in front of the board, fill the space with movement and gestures.

Elements of style Keep eye-contact with students. All of them (not at the same time, obviously) If you think the students are looking blank, you are probably correct: Ask a question to check whether they are still with you or not (don’t let the people in the front answer) Do an interactive activity to see it for yourself Tell a joke If you know the names of students, use them. Learning the names is a big plus (but difficult) There are ways of making students speak: Gaze scanning and waiting, open hand scanning, prolonged eye contact, direct addressing

Elements of style Have a solid «opening» of the lecture. Always prepare the opening carefully! Make sure you explain the purpose of activities, examples, etc. clearly before you introduce them. (Assume there is a student who just woke up) People learn by association. Tell them why they need a particular material before lecturing about it. This will make them associate it with existing knowledge, and then you will get more questions, more engagement, and more retention. Do not be afraid to repeat material, remind the students of basic stuff, if this can be done quickly.

Elements of style Be somewhat flexible about your teaching plan, especially if you feel that one phase did not succeed, and others depend on it. Keep in mind about depth being more important than breadth. If a topic is not understood, you may need to devote more time to it. Get physically close to the students. The «socio-consultive zone» of interaction is 1.2 to 2.0 meters. Students in the back of the class are in the «public zone». Get them back into the socioconsultive zone. Give a small assignment, walk around and give individual feedback. Allow them to ask questions. If you realize that a question is relevant for all, go back to the board, and tell the class about that.

TA presentations and feedback

Assessment While watching the presenter, pay attention to: What takes our attention most? How is the stance, eye-contact, sound and clarity, writing size (if applicable) Is the presenter activating the students? What are the strengths? Points of improvement? Feedback is VERY important. Find yourself a feedback buddy, go to each others teaching sessions, and then provide (preferably written) feedback. Start with strengths, continue with points of improvements.

Q&A