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Revolution in Education Addressing Paradigm Shifts to Benefit Today’s Students. Amanda L. Lewis Collaborator: Dr. John J. Feldmeier November 17 th , 2011. ASTRO 1504. YSU general science course Descriptive Astronomy (ASTRO 1504) 1,200 students per year at YSU. Dr. Feldmeier’s 1504.
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Revolution in EducationAddressing Paradigm Shifts to Benefit Today’s Students Amanda L. Lewis Collaborator: Dr. John J. Feldmeier November 17th, 2011
ASTRO 1504 • YSU general science course • Descriptive Astronomy (ASTRO 1504) • 1,200 students per year at YSU
Dr. Feldmeier’s 1504 • Utilizes Student-Centered Learning (SCL) • Paradigm shift from traditional lecture • Uncommon in modern introductory science courses • Revolutionizing the way general sciences are taught
Tools of SCL in ASTRO 1504 • Student Assistants • Socratic Dialogue • Lecture Tutorials (LTs) • Think Pair Share
Student Assistants • Science or non-science majors • Used as exemplar students
Socratic Dialogue in SCL • Lecture itself • Interaction between instructors and students • Found in LTs “Most ideas about teaching are not new, but not everyone knows the old ideas.” –Euclid
Lecture Tutorials • Reinforce Lecture • Students helping students • Contain Socratic Dialogue
Lecture Tutorial Example Consider the following discussion between two students. Student 1: Since all the galaxies we observe are moving away from us, we must be at the center of the universe. Student 2: If you look… it is pretty clear that all the galaxies move away from each other, so I think each galaxy must be at the center of the universe. Do you agree or disagree with either or both of the students? Explain your reasoning.
Think Pair Share • Poll Students • Ungraded Informative Assessment • Low-cost
An Interactive Example of Think Pair Share A first quarter moon can be seen rising on the eastern horizon at what time? A. 6:00 pm B. 12:00 am (midnight) C. 6:00 am D. 12:00 pm (noon)
Something Closer to Home This statement is false. A. True B. False
Philosophical Underpinnings of SCL • Normative Approaches • Progressivism • Perennialism • Unschooling
The Problem • Average first exam grade is 55% • Two ways to fix: • Make test easier • Improve students’ behavior • Suspected lack of metacognition • Student population background • Self-regulated learning
First Day Questions: Collected from Fall 2007 – Fall 2010 Metacognition Studies
Metacognition Studies Peer Feedback: Collected from Fall 2008 – Fall 2010
The Proposed Solution • Develop a formative self-assessment survey
The Survey • Goal: change student behavior • 20 optimal behaviors • Use results to seek correlation and any other useful information
Results Show Student Improvement • Shift to higher grades • Bootstrap Sampling
Statistical Data • Mean shift • Fall 2010: 54.26% • Fall 2011: 58.48% • Median shift • Fall 2010: 54% • Fall 2011: 58% • Bootstrapping Sample: 80% success rate • Overall gain of 4%, believed to be caused by survey
Future Plans • Revise Survey • Only humor • Anonymous • Compare next semester’s results for additional verification • Publish work • Continue looking for other ways to improve student metacognition
“All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of the youth.” -Aristotle