Workshop for New Graduate Teaching Assistants

1. Workshop for New Graduate Teaching Assistants

2. Helping UndergraduatesLearn: The “Sage on the Stage” and Alternatives John F. Schmitt Associate Dean The Graduate School

3. OUR TOPICS • Lecturing • Collaborative Learning

4. LECTURING--the “Sage on theStage”

5. LECTURING • Good/Bad? • Learning Guaranteed? • Stimulating? • Simply One Method

6. LECTURING More than 50% of professors and GTAs report that “extensive lecturing” is still the primary instructional method they use

7. LECTURE FORMAT • The active role of the teacher makes lecturing an effective learning method...for the teacher.

8. Great teachers stimulate active--not passive--learning, and they encourage students to be critical, creative thinkers, with the capacity to go on learning after their college days are over.[adapted from Boyer, E. (1990). Scholarship Reconsidered.]

9. Effective Lectures • Enthusiasm • Nonverbal communication - vocalics, oculesics, chronemics, etc. • Vary the techniques

10. 3 RULES...Plus 2 • Recap prior class • Tell them what you’ll tell them • Tell them • Tell them what you told them • Tell them about next class

11. UNDERGRADS TODAY - current undergraduates were raised on Nintendo, MTV, AOL, laptops, Internet, etc. - using multimedia may be a more familiar, flexible and effective way for them to learn than sitting in huge classes

12. COLLABORATIVE LEARNING--the “Guide on the Side”

13. COLLABORATIVE LEARNING ActiveProblem-SolvingTechniques

14. Collaborative learning facilitates the educational process by “helping students converse with increasing facility in the language of the communities they want to join.” [Bruffee, K.A. (1993). Collaborative Learning.]

15. COLLABORATIVELEARNING • Promotes “positive interdependence” • Works well in both large and small classes

16. APPLICATIONS • Case Method Business, Law, Medicine • Writing, NS, SS, MA, Engineering classes

17. APPLICATIONS • “Learning Cell”- students are given common reading to prepare for class- random assignment to dyads at the beginning of class(cont’d. next slide)

18. LEARNING CELL (cont’d.) -take turns asking/answering questions - instructor engages in “MBWA” - SIG better exam results for learning cell vs. lecture

19. One-minute Paperstudents tell you :(1) what they learned(2) what’s still confusing

20. One-minute Paper(3 minutes) 1. 2.

22. Collaborative Learning DEMO • NO COLLABORATIONanswer/confidence level • COLLABORATIONrevised answer/revised con- fidence level • RESULTS?(see video)

23. Large Lecture • Chemistry Section COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

24. COLLABORATIVE LEARNING Of all the teaching techniques, it has shown the highest increase in usage by faculty and GTAs over the last 7 years

25. STUDENT RESISTANCE?

26. Comprehension Improves • Student is “tested” often in role of peer-teacher--not just on exams • Student is active during learning

27. RECALL • 25% of what we HEAR • 50% of what we HEAR & SEE • 75% of what we HEAR, SEE & DO[Hearing +Seeing +Doing = Collaborative Learning]

28. Final Thoughts ... • Lecture when it’s the bestmethod (not just most convenient) • Experiment with techniques & media • Design collaborative activities to  active learning

29. TEACHING METHODS • Goal: each semester, read 1 book or several articles on teaching • Many good references available • (see handout: “Selected Readings on the Development of Teaching Skills” in your handout binder)

30. To Recap... • LECTURING • COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

31. Helping Undergraduates Learn