Active Engagement with Feedback as a Learning Strategy

2. Active Engagementwith Feedbackas a Learning Strategy By Patrice M. Bain, Ed.S. www.patricebain.synthasite.combain@htc.net

3. Project was completed in collaboration with a grant through Institute of Education Sciences, Washington University and Columbia Middle School, Columbia, Illinois

4. “Courses and instructional methods should be redesigned in ways that increase adolescent engagement and learning.” -National Research Council “Assessment can generate feedback information that can be used by students to enhance learning and achievement.” -C. Juwah Relatively rapid feedback is more effective than feedback after a day or more. –W. Haney Thorndike noted almost a century ago that good educational design involves the law of effect, which holds essentially that learning is enhanced when people see the effects from what they try.” -G. Wiggins “The knowledge about the efficacy of metacognitive processes indicates how marked a departure current learning theory has made from the behaviorist models that prevailed for much of the 20th century.” –Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education What does the research say?

5. My favorite quote • “Is it worthwhile pondering our current bad habit of defining assessment as testing and a test result as a score? How would the tennis player improve if all the coach did was shout out letter grades or stanines?” -G. Wiggins

6. 6th graders, Regular education students Columbia Middle School Columbia, Illinois Six sections Block schedule Participants

7. Materials • 6th grade social studies text • Classroom Performance System (CPS) • Smart board

8. Chapter Exam = The Bank Experimental Group Control Group Pre-test * anticipatory set *can’t teach the test Teach Post-Test Review-Test Chapter Exam * Free-Recall * Multiple Choice Design and Procedure

9. Classroom Performance System (aka Clickers)

10. CPS: Classroom Performance System:

14. Pre-test • How did each • student score?

16. Pre-test • How did each • student score?

17. Post-Test Students (and teacher) receive immediate feedback

19. Post-Test Students (and teacher) receive immediate feedback

20. Experiment 1 • ~123 Regular Education Students • Experimental Group 1 = Tested Questions • Control Group = Non-Tested Questions • If hypothesis is true, students should score higher on tested questions = the Bank (multiple choice chapter exam) How did students score on the multiple choice chapter exams?

21. Experiment 1 Table 1 Percentage of correct answers on tested vs. non-tested exam questions According to the experiment design for chapters 4-7, questions for the multiple choice chapter exams were divided into two groups: tested questions (experimental group 1) and non-tested questions (control group). A total of 492 chapter exams were used for the data for this portion of Experiment 1.

22. A further element was added in the final third of the study. Of course students will do better if they see the material! Read-only questions become Experimental Group 2

23. If “seeing” the information is as effective as active engagement… …scores should be the same.

24. Table 2 Percentage of correct answers on tested, read-only, and non-tested exam questions Table 2 compares the mean of correct answers for the experimental 1 group, experimental group 2, and the control group for each chapter. Table 2 also shows the mean of correct answers of experimental group 1, experimental group 2 and the control group for all 245 exams.

25. Active engagement, with feedback, is the more effective strategy Conclusion

26. Experiment 2 • 14 Special Education Students: Accommodations & modifications used • Experimental Group 1 = Tested Questions • Control Group = Non-Tested Questions • Does the hypothesis hold true when accommodations and modifications are used? = the Bank (multiple choice chapter exam)

27. Experiment 2 Table 1 Percentage of correct answers on tested vs. non-tested exam questions Table 1 compares the means of correct answers for the experimental 1 group to the control group for each chapter. Table 1 also compares the mean of correct answers of the experimental group 1 to the control group for all 54 exams.

28. IIf “seeing” the information is as effective as active engagement, scores should be the same Table 2 Percentage of correct answers on tested, read-only, and non-tested exam questions Table 2 compares the means of correct answers for the experimental 1 group, experimental group 2, and the control group for each chapter. Table 2 also compares the overall means of correct answers for experimental group 1, experimental group 2 and the control group for all 24exams.

29. Conclusion • Given the fact that students were given study cards containing all exam material and received additional study time with a special education teacher going over this material, students still scored an overall higher percentage of correct answers on tested-questions than on non-tested questions. • The margin between the percentages of correct answers on tested-questions over non-tested questions was less than that of regular education students who did not receive study cards over all of the material.

30. Experiment 3: Is active engagement with feedback an effective strategy for special education students when no accommodations or modifications are used?

31. Experiment 3looks at active engagement, with feedback, as a learning strategy using Pre-tests Post-tests Review-tests

36. Changes: Regular, non-block schedule Pre-tests + Reviews No post-tests Quia encouraged www.quia.com/pages/cms6bain.html Chapter Tests: Free Recall Short answer no multiple choice The following slides show the results of the class AVERAGES… 2008 – 09 School Year

37. 2008-2009 Class Averages in theActive Engagement Classroom

38. 2008-2009 Class Averages in theActive Engagement Classroom

39. Active engagement, with feedback, is an effective teaching strategy Conclusion

40. It is time for a paradigm shift. • If we want no child to be left behind, it is not high-stakes testing that will accomplish this goal.

41. Instead… we must redefine the strategies that lead to authentic learning. Active engagement, with feedback, is one of those strategies.