Lesson Study: Building the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning One Lesson at a Time

1. Lesson Study: Building the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning One Lesson at a Time Bill Cerbin & Bryan Kopp UW-La Crosse

2. If you want to improve instruction, what could be more obvious than collaborating with fellow teachers to plan, observe, and reflect on lessons? Catherine Lewis, 2002If you want to build pedagogical knowledge, what could be more obvious than collaborating with fellow teachers to design and study lessons? Cerbin & Kopp, 2006

3. What is Lesson Study? Lesson study is a process in which a group of teachers jointly designs, teaches, observes, analyzes, & revises a single class lesson, called a Research Lesson.

4. Origins of Lesson Study In Japan, lesson study is a well developed system for improving teaching and learning at the elementary and junior high level. The College Lesson Study Project is the first effort to adapt lesson study practices to college teaching in a range of disciplines.

5. UW-Colleges (Barron, Fon du Lac, Marathon, Marshfield, Washington, Manitowoc, Sheboygan) UW-Green Bay UW-La Crosse UW-Madison UW-Milwaukee UW-Oshkosh UW-Platteville UW-River Falls UW-Stevens Point UW-Stout Lesson Study Teams in the UWS Participation 2006 40 teams 150+ instructors 16 campuses

6. Accountancy Agriculture Apparel & Communication Technologies Biology Communication Studies Economics Education English Geology/Geography History Human Development Humanistic Studies Library Mathematics Management Music Nursing Pharmaceutical Sciences Philosophy Political Science Psychology Public & Environmental Affairs Reading Education Recreation Theatre Arts Urban & Regional Studies Involvement by Discipline/Field

7. Profile of ParticipantsRecent poll of 22 current teams (89 instructors) Gender: 49 females and 40 males Rank: 29 assistant, 25 associate, 21 full, 5 instructors, 4 retired/emeriti Tenure: 48 tenured 39 not tenured Teaching experience: 47 (<10 years), 20 (11-20 years), 14 (> 20 years) Plan to present/publish: 64 Have presented/published: 16

8. The Lesson Study Cycle: What Teachers Actually Do in Lesson Study • Chose Topic & Develop Learning Goals • Design the Lesson & the Study • Teach & Gather Evidence • Analyze Evidence & Revise the Lesson/Study • Teach & Study the Lesson Again • Document & Share the Research Lesson and the Study More information at http://www.uwlax.edu/sotl/lsp/intro.htm

9. Goal: A Knowledge Base for Teachers PEDAGOGICAL KNOWLEDGE BASE practical and accessible teaching & learning materials focused on student learning ; ; LESSON STUDY CLUSTERS focused on similar disciplines, topics, goals, etc. INDIVIDUAL LESSON STUDIES

10. Lesson Study in Context • Avoiding hazards of isolation, redundancy, hoarding, and loss • Building on common ground: daily practices of teaching & learning (similar goals, challenges, subjects, courses, disciplines, students, etc.) • Balancing feasibility with complexity of teaching and learning practice • Educational research F teaching improvement Hiebert, J., Gallimore, R., & Stigler, J. (2002). A knowledge base for the teaching profession: What would it look like and how can we get one? Educational Researcher , 31, 5, pp.3-15.

11. Closing the Loop • Practical, concerned with daily teaching and learning issues • Detailed, concrete, specific, contextualized • Integrated(content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge) • Public • Storable • Shareable • Verifiable, subject to replication and peer review • Systematic, principled, informed, theoretical, scholarly

12. A Knowledge & Community Building System n n CREATION EXCHANGE USE Moving from Practitioner to Professional Knowledge—and Back Again

13. CREATION of Pedagogical Knowledge • Easy to get started • Collaborative inquiry & common enterprise • Backward design of instruction • Developing and capturing pedagogical content knowledge • Embodies full complexity of teaching and learning • Reflective practice and transformation • Local and regional communities of teaching practice

14. EXCHANGE of Pedagogical Knowledge A Lesson • Familiar genre • Keyed to discipline, topic, goal, curriculum A Study • Focused on student learning • Systematic and evidence based UNIT OF PRACTICE = UNIT OF ANALYSIS

15. USE of Pedagogical Knowledge • Easy for other teachers to adapt • SoTL and SoTL training ground • Replication & peer review of lesson/study • Teacher training and ongoing professional development • Link with assessment, standards, and outcomes • National and professional communities of teaching practice

16. A Comprehensive Approach • CREATION • Easy to get started • Collaborative inquiry • Backward design • Developing and capturing PCK • Embodies full complexity of T & L • Reflective practice • Local and regional communities of teaching practice • EXCHANGE • A Lesson • Familiar genre • Keyed to discipline, topic, goal, curriculum • A Study • Focused on student learning • Systematic and evidence based • UNIT OF PRACTICE = UNIT OF ANALYSIS • USE • Easy for other teachers to adapt • SoTL & SoTL training • Replication & peer review of lesson/study • Teacher training and professional development • Assessment • National and professional communities of teaching practice n n

17. Highlights • Lesson study provides a practical, integrated, and progressive model for professional pedagogical knowledge building across the disciplines. • Community building + knowledge building = Capacity building • We plan to use KEEP Toolkit to help develop a database of lesson studies.

18. More Information • Lesson Study Project website, guide, resources, and gallery: http://www.uwlax.edu/sotl/lsp • KEEP Toolkit: http://www.cfkeep.org/ • Dr. Bill Cerbin, Director of the Lesson Study Project (cerbin.will@uwlax.edu) • Dr. Bryan Kopp, Associate Director of the Lesson Study Project (kopp.brya@uwlax.edu)