Session 3 - How do we know if our learners "get it"?

Response to our three key questions from our session "Ticket Out"

Session 3 - January 27th

What are you curious about?

Faculty Focus

• It is really cool! Sign up for the email blast: http://www.facultyfocus.com/

I am thinking about what activities might help best get ideas across.

• Here is a link from the Cornell Center for Teaching Excellence that might help: http://cte.cornell.edu/teaching-ideas/engaging-students/index.html

What are the different lesson plan formats and which one is best for me?

• Time (and use!) will tell. Here is a resource from the University of Michigan: http://www.crlt.umich.edu/gsis/p2_5 

How do you interact with students following the lesson plan?

• I believe our conversation on assessment will help!

The method and value of close reading..

• Here is an article that might help: http://nieonline.com/tbtimes/downloads/CCSS_reading.pdf

How specific should course objectives be? At what cognitive level?

• We would hope that most of our objectives are at higher cognitive levels, here is a great handout to help with course objectives:  http://www.depts.ttu.edu/opa/resources/docs/writing_learning_outcomes_handbook3.pdf

How do you give guided practice in a lecture based course?

• Just because you are lecturing, does not mean you can not use different engaging strategies to allow students to apply content in some way. This resource from UNC-Charlotte might help: http://teaching.uncc.edu/learning-resources/articles-books/best-practice/large-classes/effective-instruction

Lessons and objectives for Urban Agriculture:

• Here are some examples: http://w23.columbiaurbanag.org/columbiaurbanag/on-farm-education/lessons-and-activities/index.html

How to effectively balance providing information vs. stopping for interactive activities if topic is very dense?

• Aren't we using interactive activities to help students learn? There is a difference between "teaching" and "providing info". If we just want to provide info, why not just give them a book or hyperlink?

How do "wrap up" or "Cognitive connect" with a class?

• Here are five tips! http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/five-tips-for-wrapping-up-a-course/

What did you learn?

1. Importance/value/Components of Learning Objectives
2. Taxonomy of Cognitive Behavior (Bloom's)
3. Elements of Lesson Plans
4. Many professors fail to use the great tool of lesson plans!
5. Mnemonic devices!
6. Criterion = ho will students know they are successful!
7. Action verbs are important.

What do you want to learn more about?

How will we select topics for workshops?

• What do folks need/want to learn about? What could you read? Who could you ask? Here is Canvas Discussion Thread to use: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1735974/discussion_topics/11309909 

How do different learners respond to crafted learning objectives and efforts!

• Ahh...Session 4 will help with this! Assess, modify, apply, assess!

What should a lecture focus on?

• Here is a link on improving lectures: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/best-practices-improving-lectures/, but note...active learning has been evidenced to trump lectures, read here: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/more-evidence-that-active-learning-trumps-lecturing/

How much info to put in the syllabus?

• Review our second session handouts on Google Drive!

What is "Guided Practice" and "Independent Practice"?

• We generally believe that most individuals "learn by doing", thus in class we would like to provide opportunity for students to apply the concepts we are teaching both when we are available to correct (thus guided) and on their own (independent)

Examples of Cognitive Connect

• Cognitive connect just means you are working to help your students build their internal schema by letting them know how this particular session connects to the previous session and the next session. 

How do you time material in a lesson?

• It comes from experience! Until you do it once, it is often "best guess". In addition, sometimes classes move at different speeds!

Alignment of objectives, lessons, and assessments?

• This is a great resource from Carnegie Mellon:  https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/alignment.html

Why are lesson plans not used in some courses?

• I have no idea.

How to link whole-course objectives with single lesson objectives?

• Think of your whole course objectives as broader larger goals. You break down those goals into manageable steps so they student can accomplish with specific lesson objectives. Example:
• Course Goal: Bake a Cake
• Lesson 1: Measuring Ingredients
• Obj 1: Using measuring cups
• etc

Periscope Reflections of Dr. Jackson and Dr. Foster