Cooperative Inquiry-Based Learning

1. Cooperative Inquiry-Based Learning Karl A. Smith Engineering Education – Purdue University Civil Engineering - University of Minnesota ksmith@umn.edu http://www.ce.umn.edu/~smith Cooperative Learning for Critical Thinking Patrick Henry Community College December 16, 2008

2. Workshop Layout • Welcome & Overview • Cooperative Inquiry & Critical Thinking • Participant Survey • Problem-Based Cooperative Learning Example • Backward Design Approach – Course, Class Session, and Learning Module Design: From Objectives and Evidence to Instruction • Wrap-up and Next Steps 2

3. Session Objectives • Participants will be able to describe key elements of: • Cooperative Problem-Based learning • Research on How People Learn • Backward design process • Participants will begin applying key elements to the design on a course, class session or learning module 3

4. Shaping the Future: New Expectations for Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology – National Science Foundation, 1996 Goal – All students have access to supportive, excellent undergraduate education in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology, and all students learn these subjects by direct experience with the methods and processes of inquiry. Recommend that SME&T faculty: Believe and affirm that every student can learn, and model good practices that increase learning; starting with the student=s experience, but have high expectations within a supportive climate; and build inquiry, a sense of wonder and the excitement of discovery, plus communication and teamwork, critical thinking, and life-long learning skills into learning experiences. 4

5. Inquiry and the National Science Standards • Learners are engaged in scientifically oriented questions • Learners give priority to evidence, which allows them to develop and evaluate explanations • Learners formulate explanations from evidence • Learners evaluate their explanations in light of alternative explanations • Learners communicate and justify their proposed explanations National Academy of Sciences. 2000. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: A guide for teaching and learning. Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education, National Research Council. Washington, DC: National Academy Press (http://www.nap.edu) 5

6. Cooperative Learning and Critical Thinking • Please reflect on when and how to promote learning and critical thinking through cooperative learning • Jot down some of your ideas • Turn to the person next to you • Introduce yourself • Share thoughts on promoting learning and critical thinking using cooperative learning 6

7. Advance Organizer “The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly.@ David Ausubel - Educational psychology: A cognitive approach, 1968. 7

8. Lila M. Smith

9. Pedago-pathologies Amnesia Fantasia Inertia Lee Shulman – MSU Med School – PBL Approach (late 60s – early 70s); Stanford University, Past President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of College Teaching Shulman, Lee S. 1999. Taking learning seriously. Change, 31 (4), 11-17.

10. What do we do about these pathologies? – Lee Shulman Activity Reflection Collaboration Passion Combined with generative content and the creation of powerful learning communities Shulman, Lee S. 1999. Taking learning seriously. Change, 31 (4), 11-17. 10

11. Lila M. Smith

12. Pedagogies of Engagement 12

13. Pedagogies of Engagement: Classroom-Based Practices – Cooperative Learning and Problem-Based Learning http://www.asee.org/about/publications/jee/upload/2005jee_sample.htm 13

14. Book Ends on a Class Session 14

15. Book Ends on a Class Session • Advance Organizer • Formulate-Share-Listen-Create (Turn-to-your-neighbor) -- repeated every 10-12 minutes • Session Summary (Minute Paper) • What was the most useful or meaningful thing you learned during this session? • What question(s) remain uppermost in your mind as we end this session? • What was the “muddiest” point in this session?

16. Informal Cooperative Learning Groups Can be used at any time Can be short term and ad hoc May be used to break up a long lecture Provides an opportunity for students to process material they have been listening to (Cognitive Rehearsal) Are especially effective in large lectures Include "book ends" procedure Are not as effective as Formal Cooperative Learning or Cooperative Base Groups

17. Active Learning: Cooperation in the College Classroom • Informal Cooperative Learning Groups • Formal Cooperative Learning Groups • Cooperative Base Groups See Cooperative Learning Handout (CL College-804.doc) 17

18. Cooperative Learning is instruction that involves people working in teams to accomplish a common goal, under conditions that involve both positive interdependence (all members must cooperate to complete the task) and individual and group accountability (each member is accountable for the complete final outcome). Key Concepts •Positive Interdependence •Individual and Group Accountability •Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction •Teamwork Skills •Group Processing

19. Individual & Group Accountability • ? 19

20. 20 http://www.ce.umn.edu/~smith/docs/CLHks.pdf

21. http://www.aacu.org/advocacy/leap/documents/Re8097abcombined.pdfhttp://www.aacu.org/advocacy/leap/documents/Re8097abcombined.pdf 21

22. Engineering Total Design – 36% Computer applications – 31% Management – 29% Civil/Architectural Management – 45% Design – 39% Computer applications – 20% Top Three Main Engineering Work Activities Burton, L., Parker, L, & LeBold, W. 1998. U.S. engineering career trends. ASEE Prism, 7(9), 18-21. 22

23. Teamwork Skills • Communication • Listening and Persuading • Decision Making • Conflict Management • Leadership • Trust and Loyalty 23

24. Inquiry and the National Science Standards • Learners are engaged in scientifically oriented questions • Learners give priority to evidence, which allows them to develop and evaluate explanations • Learners formulate explanations from evidence • Learners evaluate their explanations in light of alternative explanations • Learners communicate and justify their proposed explanations National Academy of Sciences. 2000. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: A guide for teaching and learning. Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education, National Research Council. Washington, DC: National Academy Press (http://www.nap.edu) 24

25. The Students Explain1 • In trying to make their thoughts clear for other people, student achieve greater clarity for themselves. • The students themselves determine what it is they want to understand. • People come to depend on themselves. • Students recognize the powerful experience of having their ideas taken seriously, rather than simply screened for correspondence to what the teacher wanted. • Students learn an enormous amount from each other. • Learners come to recognize knowledge as a human construction, since they have constructed their own knowledge and know that they have. • 1Duckworth, E. 1987. The having of wonderful ideas" & other essays on teaching and learning. New York: Teachers College Press.

26. Formal Cooperative Learning Task Groups

27. Professor's Role in • Formal Cooperative Learning • Specifying Objectives • Making Decisions • Explaining Task, Positive Interdependence, and Individual Accountability • Monitoring and Intervening to Teach Skills • Evaluating Students' Achievement and Group Effectiveness 27

28. Formal Cooperative Learning – Types of Tasks • Jigsaw – Learning new conceptual/procedural material • 2. Peer Composition or Editing • 3. Reading Comprehension/Interpretation • 4. Problem Solving, Project, or Presentation • 5. Review/Correct Homework • 6. Constructive Academic Controversy • 7. Group Tests

29. Challenged-Based Learning • Problem-based learning • Case-based learning • Project-based learning • Learning by design • Inquiry learning • Anchored instruction John Bransford, Nancy Vye and Helen Bateman. Creating High-Quality Learning Environments: Guidelines from Research on How People Learn 29

30. Kolb=s Experiential Learning Cycle Concrete Experience Testing implications of concepts in new situations Observation and Reflections Formulation of abstract concepts and generalizations

31. 5 E Learning Cycle Model • Engage • Explore • Explain • Elaborate • Evaluate http://faculty.mwsu.edu/west/maryann.coe/coe/inquire/inquiry.htm

32. START Apply it Problem posed Learn it Identify what we need to know Problem-Based Learning 32

33. https://repo.vanth.org/portal/public-content/star-legacy-cycle/star-legacy-cyclehttps://repo.vanth.org/portal/public-content/star-legacy-cycle/star-legacy-cycle 33

34. National Research Council Reports: How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School (1999). How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice (2000). Knowing What Students Know: The Science and Design of Educational Assessment (2001). The Knowledge Economy and Postsecondary Education (2002). Chapter 6 – Creating High-Quality Learning Environments: Guidelines from Research on How People Learn NCEE Report Rethinking and redesigning curriculum, instruction and assessment: What contemporary research and theory suggests. (2006). http://www.skillscommission.org/commissioned.htm 34

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37. Designing Learning Environments Based on HPL (How People Learn) 37

38. Some Important Principles About Learning and Understanding The first important principle about how people learn is that students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works which include beliefs and prior knowledge acquired through various experiences. The second important principle about how people learn is that to develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must: (a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, (b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and (c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application. A third critical idea about how people learn is that a “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them. Jim Pellegrino – Rethinking and redesigning curriculum, instruction and assessment: What contemporary research and theory suggests 38

39. Problem Based Cooperative Learning Format TASK: Solve the problem(s) or Complete the project. INDIVIDUAL: Estimate answer. Note strategy. COOPERATIVE: One set of answers from the group, strive for agreement, make sure everyone is able to explain the strategies used to solve each problem. EXPECTED CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS: Everyone must be able to explain the strategies used to solve each problem. EVALUATION: Best answer within available resources or constraints. INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTABILITY: One member from your group may be randomly chosen to explain (a) the answer and (b) how to solve each problem. EXPECTED BEHAVIORS: Active participating, checking, encouraging, and elaborating by all members. INTERGROUP COOPERATION: Whenever it is helpful, check procedures, answers, and strategies with another group. 39

40. http://www.udel.edu/pbl/ 40

41. Cooperative Base Groups • Are Heterogeneous • Are Long Term (at least one quarter or semester) • Are Small (3-5 members) • Are for support • May meet at the beginning of each session or may meet between sessions • Review for quizzes, tests, etc. together • Share resources, references, etc. for individual projects • Provide a means for covering for absentees 41

42. Cooperative Learning Research Support Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., & Smith, K.A. 1998. Cooperative learning returns to college: What evidence is there that it works? Change, 30 (4), 26-35. • Over 300 Experimental Studies • First study conducted in 1924 • High Generalizability • Multiple Outcomes Outcomes 1. Achievement and retention 2. Critical thinking and higher-level reasoning 3. Differentiated views of others 4. Accurate understanding of others' perspectives 5. Liking for classmates and teacher 6. Liking for subject areas 7. Teamwork skills January 2005 March 2007

43. It could well be that faculty members of the twenty-first century college or university will find it necessary to set aside their roles as teachers and instead become designers of learning experiences, processes, and environments. James Duderstadt, 1999 [Nuclear Engineering Professor; Dean, Provost and President of the University of Michigan] 43

44. Goals and Objectives Instruction Effective Course Design (Felder & Brent, 1999) ABET EC 2000 Bloom’s Taxonomy Course-specific goals & objectives Classroom assessment techniques Technology Cooperative learning Students Assessment Other experiences Tests Other measures Lectures Labs 44

45. A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning L. Dee Fink. 2003. Creating significant learning experiences. Jossey-Bass. 45

46. Backward DesignWiggins & McTighe Stage 1. Identify Desired Results Stage 2. Determine Acceptable Evidence Stage 3. Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction Wiggins, Grant and McTighe, Jay. 1998. Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD 46

47. Worksheet 1 Worksheet for Designing a Course/Class Session/Learning Module 47

48. Backward Design Stage 1. Identify Desired Results Filter 1. To what extent does the idea, topic, or process represent a big idea or having enduring value beyond the classroom? Filter 2. To what extent does the idea, topic, or process reside at the heart of the discipline? Filter 3. To what extent does the idea, topic, or process require uncoverage? Filter 4. To what extent does the idea, topic, or process offer potential for engaging students? 48

49. Backward Design Approach: • Desired Results (Outcomes, Objectives, Learning Goals) • 5 minute university • Evidence (Assessment) • Learning Taxonomies • Plan Instruction • Cooperative Learning Planning Format & Forms 49

50. Backward Design Stage 2. Determine Acceptable Evidence Types of Assessment Quiz and Test Items: Simple, content-focused test items Academic Prompts: Open-ended questions or problems that require the student to think critically Performance Tasks or Projects: Complex challenges that mirror the issues or problems faced by graduates, they are authentic 50