What every teacher should know about cognitive research
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From the Colorado Science Conference (Nov, 2011) In the past few decades, we’ve gained a wealth of information about how people learn. The results of this cognitive and education research can help us become more effective teachers. In this interactive talk, we’ll explore some of the main findings of cognitive research in a language accessible to everybody, and discuss how they can be used in our teaching.
![What every teacher should know about cognitive research Or How People Learn Dr. Stephanie Chasteen Physics Department University of Colorado at Boulder [email_address] Colorado Science Conference November 2011](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/what-every-teacher-should-know-2011-111121164040-phpapp02/85/what-every-teacher-should-know-about-cognitive-research-1-320.jpg)
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What every teacher should know about cognitive research
- 1. What every teacher should know about cognitive research Or How People Learn Dr. Stephanie Chasteen Physics Department University of Colorado at Boulder [email_address] Colorado Science Conference November 2011
- 2. This presentation is copyrighted under the Creative Commons License Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike That means: Please watch it, share it, and use it in your presentations. Just give us credit, don’t make money from it, and use the same kind of license on the works that you create from it. More information about Creative Commons licenses here: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Credit should be given to: Stephanie Chasteen and the Science Education Initiative at the University of Colorado, http://colorado.edu/sei
- 4. cognitive psychology brain research classroom studies Major advances past 1-2 decades Consistent picture Achieving learning
- 11. If letter = vowel, then number = even If drink = alcohol, then age>21 Gin/Tonic Age: 16 Coke Age: 52 E 2 L 5
- 14. Stroop test
- 15. Stroop Test ][
- 16. Stroop /// rot , grün , blau , gelb , rosafarben , orange , blau , grün , blau , weiß , grün , gelb , orange , blau , weiß , braun , rot , blau , gelb , grün , rosafarben , gelb , grün , blau , rot
- 17. Strong indication: Prior knowledge matters
- 19. Foreground / Background From: R. McDermott ‘93
- 22. Visual Models
- 24. Circuit Construction Kit (CCK)
- 26. actively engaging students is important Learning is changing our brain “ constructivism!”
- 27. What makes an expert thinker? It’s not just that an expert knows more An expert thinks about a subject in different ways than a novice does “ New wiring!” We can see that the brain changes through brain activation and imaging studies, and in what experts do
- 29. No need for feedback in traditional model
- 32. How much do you remember from this talk already? Probably 10% of you remember any non-obvious fact from 15 minutes ago
- 33. Working Memory Capacity Mr. Anderson, May I be excused? My brain is full. Without great care, exceeded in almost every lecture. VERY LIMITED! every added demand hurts learning (“cognitive load”) (remember/process max 4-7 unrelated items)
- 35. H. Roediger, J. Karpicke Psych. Sci. Vol.17 pg 249
- 37. “ hooks” for memory Hooks for retention-- mental connections e.g. lesson on fasteners-- here are all the types and how they are used. vs. Here is an interesting job problem, here are possible types of fasteners for solving problem, and here is how a certain type of fastener solved it. 6 kg
- 41. A study… Graph Data Graph Data Factual Test Activity 1 Activity 2 Assessment Graph Data Lecture on Theory Schwartz, Bransford and Sears, 2005. Efficiency and Innovation in Transfer. A C B Which do you think did better on the test? A B C or D- other Lecture on Theory Summarize Chapter
- 42. A C B Activity-only Reading + Lecture Activity + Lecture
- 44. Assessment Design Graph Data Graph Data Factual Test Lecture on Theory Summarize Chapter Activity 1 Activity 2 Assessment Graph Data Lecture on Theory Transfer Test Add a new “transfer” assessment Asked to predict outcomes of a novel experiment.
- 45. A C B Activity-only Reading + Lecture Activity + Lecture
- 48. The infinity of perceptual possibilities. Circle Biggish Empty Solid White Line Left Side of Screen
- 49. But we do learn to perceive…
- 52. Orienting Task: Inventing an Index Dan Schwartz
- 62. “ This class is very hard and many of you will fail so you need to study really hard.” How do you think this affects university student motivation to learn the material? a. increases b. decreases Focus groups and interviews indicate is demotivating for university students. Psychology studies support.
- 64. Attitudes and Beliefs* Assessing the “hidden curriculum” - beliefs about physics and learning physics Examples: • “ I study physics to learn knowledge that will be useful in life.” • “ To learn physics, I only need to memorize solutions to sample problems” *Adams et al, (2006). Physical Review: Spec. Topics: PER, 0201010
- 66. Can we affect students’ beliefs? Shift (%) -6 -8 -12 -11 -10 -7 -17 +5 (All ±2%) Real world connect... Personal interest........ Sense making/effort... Conceptual................ Math understanding... Problem Solving........ Confidence................ Nature of science....... “ CLASS” survey of Expert-like beliefs Students come out of introductory classes with more negative views of physics than they came in with! The good news: yes… Worse for females!
- 67. why does this happen?
- 68. Trad’l Model of Education Individual Content
- 70. It’s not about our teaching, it’s about student learning
- 72. Fin Much more at: per.colorado.edu
Editor's Notes
- Many Thanks… - Marty G. for ceding his spot… I look forward to it in the spring I’m excited to be speaking with you all today and will be focusing on the field of PER, the broad reseach lines, and some specifics… Basically a bit of the how, when where going of PER --- with the caveat that this is my take. 15 min intor - through CC (10 intro 5 CC) 20 min reps/ analoogy 15 min tutorials 2 min conclusion.
- Change Labels (Ack, Fac, etc..)
- Why physicists is implicit… need to make more explicit? Include APS backing etc? #’s stats… etc Mention the bags, and those who give particularly good answers or examples get a free RAFT bag.
- Why physicists is implicit… need to make more explicit? Include APS backing etc? #’s stats… etc
- Galileo - Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences (early part of 17th C) This is thrm 1 of 6
- Need to flip over the E to see if there is an even number on other side Need to flip over 5 to see if there is mistakenly a vowel on the other side. Give out DVDs or pencils for giving an answer. Make sure to make it clear what the right answer is and why.
- Time for 30 seconds and see how far we get
- Time for 30 seconds and see how far we get
- Time for 30 seconds and see how far we get
- Analogy to lecturing… students can’t make meaning without the context of laundry… A problem with powerpoint?
- What do you see? Trace out the spiral Where is the spiral -- can it exist “decontextualized” I.e. w/o th ebackground?
- Bring up states of matter. Show real world stuff, and also scaffolding from simple to complex.
- Talk in your group about these two . Share out. Specific learning goals –both lessons have the same learning goals But this one meets our guidelines for example: First it, Connects to students’ experiences - cell phone Next there is a Connection to students’ knowledge – prediction in A. There are Minimal directions- B just says test, no specifics about sim features given Students are asked to reason and make sense Students self-check understanding- B To get the most out of this lesson, students would be working in collaborative groups.
- Show sim. Attend to real life Make visual constrain
- Why physicists is implicit… need to make more explicit? Include APS backing etc? #’s stats… etc
- Timely specific feedback Tests, homework, peers, clicker questions
- Why physicists is implicit… need to make more explicit? Include APS backing etc? #’s stats… etc
- Spaced vs massed study. 1 hr for 5 days not 5 hrs for one day We learn by being tested, by retrieval. Explaining is a form of retrieval
- Need to flip over the E to see if there is an even number on other side Need to flip over 5 to see if there is mistakenly a vowel on the other side. Give out DVDs or pencils for giving an answer.
- Had students study a text, and then study it again. How much do they remember?
- Why physicists is implicit… need to make more explicit? Include APS backing etc? #’s stats… etc
- A. Analyze and graph data sets from classic memory experiements to find patterns. Requires analyzing contrasting cases. Then graph it again to see if missed patterns. Read book chapter and then write 1-2 page summary of ideas in chapter. Then hear lecture explaining experiments, results, and theories. Or, analyze and graph data, and then hear lecture on theory.
- From Efficiency and Innovation in Transfer As an approach to solving this problem, we asked students to analyzeand graph simplified data sets from classic memory experiments to find the “interesting” patterns. Table 1.1 provides a sample of the data sets the students analyzed. Afterward, we asked them questions about what they had studied and compared their performance to other students who had not seen the data but had read summaries of the studies. For example, given the true–false question, “Do people tend to remember the first thing they read?”, students who had graphed the data did not do well compared to students who had written a summary of a chapter on memory. Thus, by a standard (replicative) assessment of knowledge, our method of instruction fared poorly. To test this hypothesis, students in one condition analyzed the contrast-ing cases of data. In another condition, students read a modified book chapter that described the same studies and results (in words and graphs), and provided their theoretical significance. This latter group’s task was to write a one- to two-page summary of the important ideas in the chapter. A few days after students completed these tasks, both groups heard a com- mon lecture that explained the experiments, the results, and the theories that were designed to accommodate the results. The question was whether both groups of students had been equally prepared to learn from the lec- ture. We also included a third group that did not hear the lecture. This group also completed the data analysis activity, but instead of hearing the lecture, they analyzed the data a second time looking for any patterns they may have missed. All told, there were three conditions: Data Analysis + Lec- ture, Summarize Chapter + Lecture, Double Data Analysis. To assess whether the students learned from the lecture, we employedtwo assessments about a week later as part of a class exercise. The first assessment measured transfer by asking students to read the description of a novel experiment. The students’ task was to predict as many of the out- comes from the experiment as possible. Eight possible predictions were covered in the previous lessons (e.g., primacy). The second assessment used a recognition test that included factual assertions from the lecture. For example, “When people understand something they have read, they tend to remember it verbatim. True or false?”
- What if we add a transfer measure? A week later students received description of a novel experiment (no data). Had to predict outcomes, which were derivable from lecture. Very hard task, because the novel experiment was unlike what they had analyzed or read about.
- Without contrasts, it’s hard to know what information is relevant. what one notices about the circle depends on the contrast. For example, the fact that it is not filled only becomes apparent when contrasted to the circle that is filled. The information in the circle is infinite... it is on the projected screen, it is on earth, etc., etc., etc. Without contrasts, it is hard to know what information is relevant. Do not assume students already know what is relevant, given that is what you are trying to teach. Give them contrasts so they can figure it out.
- The example with chinese character and letter A. For people who do not know chinese, it is very hard to see that it is the same character in all the instances. However, with expertise (in english), it is easy to see that they are all the letter A. The point is that experts can see the underlying structure despite variation in surface features.
- : The blue circles show that the examples differ on the surface, but the have the same ratio. The red circles make a nice example of a contrasting case at work. Most students start this by just counting the number of clowns. But, by looking at the clowns in the red circles they discover that 2 can't be the right answer for both of them. Using contrasting cases. Like tasting glasses of wine side by side, helps people notice aspects of a situation they might otherwise overlook
- If students ask what reliability means, teacher encourages them to create definitely based upon characteristics a basebal coach would look for in purchasing a pitching machine. Uses contrasting cases. Different # of pitches so students notice solution has to handle different sample sizes. Prepares to understand why variability divide by n - Pitching machine with tight cluster of pitches, notice that variability is not the same thing as inaccuracy, which is a common confusion - There is more than one way to measure reliability, so they can generate many feasible solutions 45 minutes
- Study showed that trait of experts is that they work hard Survival trail
- NOT AFFECT
- Do we have any chaance of affecting student attitudes /beliefs: good news: yes Bad news worse
- Demotivating, and gives the wrong message about what science is about.