Tricks of the trade: how to improve interactions with your students

1. Gordon E. Uno Department of Botany and Microbiology University of Oklahoma guno@ou.edu Tricks of the trade: how to improve interactions with your students

2. Christopher Columbus With hocked gems financing him, our hero bravely defied all scornful laughter that tried to prevent his scheme Your eyes deceive he had said, an egg, not a table describes this unexplored planet Now three sturdy sisters sought proof, forging along through calm vastness Days became weeks as many doubters spread fearful rumors about the edge At last welcome winged creatures appeared, signifying momentous success.

3. 10% of what we read Reading 20% of what we hear Hearing Words Passive 30% of what we see Looking at Pictures 50% of what we see and hear Watching a Movie/Videotape Looking at an Exhibit Watching a Demonstration Seeing it Done on Location After Two Weeks We Tend to Remember… 70% of what we say Participating in a Discussion Giving a Talk Active Simulating a Real Experience Doing the Real Thing (Conducting “Authentic” Research) Teaching Something to Someone Else 90% of what we say and do Adapted from: Edgar Dale Audio-Visual Methods in Teaching, Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

4. CHARACTERISTICS OF EXCELLENT INSTRUCTORS • Enthusiastic • Present Information Clearly • Prepared and Organized • Knowledgeable • Able to Stimulate Students’ Critical Thinking

5. CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS • Observe and Ask Good Questions • Hypothesize and Predict • Design an Investigation • Collect, Process, and Interpret Data • Draw Conclusions • Infer and Generalize • Communicate/Discuss • Relate Cause and Effect (vs. correlation) • Recognize Assumptions and Evaluate • Apply Knowledge to New Situations • Determine What You Don’t Know

6. INQUIRY PROCESS SKILLS • STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO: • Make Observations • Ask Questions • Plan Experiments • Explain Predictions • Collect And Interpret Data • Draw Conclusions Based on Evidence • Discuss/Communicate

13. IF YOU WANT TO INTERACT WITH YOUR STUDENTS, THEN USE INQUIRY • WHAT IS INQUIRY? • INQUIRY is a pedagogical method in which students use an investigative process to discover (biological/botanical) concepts for themselves.

14. KINDS OF INQUIRY • GUIDED INQUIRY • Instructors direct student investigations • and lead students to discover concepts on their own • OPEN-ENDED INQUIRY • Instructors facilitate independent studies • by students • COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY • Instructors and students work together on “authentic” investigations

15. SUGGESTED INQUIRY ACTIVITIES 1) Allow students to design, conduct, and carry out an independent research project. This can be simple and inexpensive, but should allow students to hypothesize, correctly design an experiment, collect data, and interpret the results. Plants make good experimental organisms in these projects because they can be subjected to a wide variety of conditions without objection. Give your students pots, soil, and seeds, and see what ideas they propose to study. 2) Provide data in the form of tables or graphs and have students determine trends or identify main points. Introduce them to the use and importance of statistical analyses, which then may be used with their independent projects.

20. SUGGESTED INQUIRY ACTIVITIES 1) Allow students to design, conduct, and carry out an independent research project. This can be simple and inexpensive, but should allow students to hypothesize, correctly design an experiment, collect data, and interpret the results. Plants make good experimental organisms in these projects because they can be subjected to a wide variety of conditions without objection. Give your students pots, soil, and seeds, and see what ideas they propose to study. 2) Provide data in the form of tables or graphs and have students determine trends or identify main points. Introduce them to the use and importance of statistical analyses, which then may be used with their independent projects.

24. 3) Have students explain a complicated or difficult subject via drawings, essays, demonstrations to other students, student-produced films, etc. A lot of learning takes place as a person attempts to understand a concept well enough to explain it to others USING THEIR OWN WORDS OR ILLUSTRATIONS. 4) Show students a natural phenomenon (or take them to a natural area), have them make observations about it and speculate as to what factors contribute to its occurrence. For instance, show a tree with bare ground underneath it, or a plant showing photo- or geotropism. In natural areas, plant-animal interactions are good sources of questions for investigation. Get students to think about familiar objects in a new way. 5) Provide students with materials that can be compared, for instance a group of ferns versus a group of cycads, or a group of arachnids versus a group of insects. What are the similarities, what are the differences? What makes a fern, a fern?

28. 6) Have students measure objects or natural phenomena, discover trends within their measurements, and note sources of error. For example, students could collect and measure the size and weight of acorns, comparing those from one tree or locality to another. Is there a genetic basis for the variation seen, or what relationship does weight have with rate of germination? 7) Give students an article to review. Have them comment on experimental design, methods of investigation, and results, and tell whether they agree or disagree with the discussion. Have them look for sources of bias, determine the quality of sources, and determine the validity of supporting evidence. 8) Have students study a local ecosystem, such as a pond or field, investigating the kinds of plants and animals there, the interactions between them, and the physical factors that affect them. Compare the plants to next to a sidewalk versus 2 meters from the sidewalk, or the kinds of animals that feed on a plant at noon versus those that feed at dusk.

29. 9) Instead of explaining a concept to students and then having them conduct a laboratory that simply reinforces the idea, allow them to conduct the laboratory first with a minimum of introduction (how to use equipment properly). Follow this with a discussion of class results, the development of the concept, and an opportunity to conduct further studies. 10) Present students with a real environmental issue in your community concerning land use or energy and water conservation. Let them investigate the problem and suggest possible solutions to it.

30. 11) Get students to think about familiar objects in a new way. 12) Ask open-ended questions, or questions that require that students work with evidence.

31. In which of the following cities is the Texas Rangers baseball stadium? • Dallas • Ft. Worth • Arlington • Houston

32. The Yankees won an extra-inning ball game against the Rangers. The score was 10-5. Which was the home team?

33. HOW to CREATE INQUIRY ACTIVITIES • Identify the main idea/concept that you want your students to “discover” or investigate. • Look for a pattern in nature, a misconception students have, or some observable natural phenomenon that is related to that idea/concept. • Provide students with some background information that lays the groundwork for an investigation but does not reveal the concept. • 4. Ask a question or have students conduct a specific short activity that leads them to discover part of the whole story—to discover the pattern, to challenge the misconception, or to begin study of the cause of the natural phenomenon.

34. Supply additional information or let students conduct another activity(ies) that leads to the main point of the investigation. • Allow students to review what has been investigated and to tie the story together. • Encourage students to go beyond what they have just learned—provide them with an opportunity to apply their knowledge in the study of a related question of their own choosing or an experiment of their own design. • Ask open-ended questions.

35. How to develop discussion questions What misconceptions do students possess? What questions did students miss on an exam? (especially good for the future) What don’t they understand about the “big picture“ of the concept? What details are essential to understand and explain a concept (can students explain concept without using terms)? Avoid one-answer (right answer) questions. Question requires manipulation, consideration, or understanding of evidence. Can students interpret what they read in paper or magazines? Questions practice thinking or process skill.

36. Misconceptions Find out what students don’t know or misunderstand before you begin teaching a subject

37. HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT MISCONCEPTIONS YOUR STUDENTS POSSESS? • Ask them! • Use answers from old exams • Poll students before you begin a unit or after you have finished one • Focus on what is difficult for you or for students to understand • Use formative assessments

38. A Biology concept question (Diane Ebert-May) 1 2 3 Three identical plates of radish seeds are incubated under three conditions, with results as shown. Their dry weights in increasing order will be: a) 1, 2, 3 d) 3, 1, 2 b) 1, 3, 2 e) all the same c) 3, 2, 1

39. How much food does a plant get from the soil? a) All b) Some c) None d) Depends on the plant species

40. DOs • Learn the names of your students • Put everything you teach in context • Repeat everything • Repeat everything • Move around the room • Wait for answers • Focus on how to help your students learn, not on what to teach • Ask open-ended questions

41. DON’Ts Don’t become friends with your students Call on students, but don’t call out disruptive students in front of others Don’t let one student dominate the discussion Don’t just talk at students