Simon.Bates@ubc.ca
bit.ly/batestalks @simonpbates

What research can tell us about how we learn

What is known about learning
• is a process not a product
• involves change in knowledge, beliefs, behaviors,
or attitudes
• is not something done to students, but rather
something students themselves do

What is known about learning
Effective teaching has to be rooted
in what improves learning
The instructor can advance learning only by
influencing what the student does to learn

Bridging
• What is needed is a framework that bridges
learning research and teaching practice
• Fortunately, such frameworks already exist.

http://goo.gl/CzvyP

What HLW is about:
• A bridge between research about learning and
implications for teaching practice :
– Why certain teaching approaches are or are not
supporting students’ learning
– Teaching approaches that effectively foster student
learning in specific contexts
– Transferring and applying these principles

About the 7 principles
• Research in brain science, cognitive,
developmental, and social psychology,
anthropology, education, and diversity studies
• K-12 and higher education
• Domain-independent
• Experience-independent
• Cross-culturally relevant

7 Principles
1. Students prior knowledge can help or hinder
learning
2. How students organize knowledge influences
how they learn and apply what they know
3. Students’ motivation determines, directs, and
sustains what they do to learn
4. To develop mastery, students must acquire
component skills, practice integrating them,
and know when to apply what they have
learned

7 Principles
5. Goal-directed practice coupled with targeted
feedback enhances the quality of students’
learning
6. Students’ current level of development
interacts with the social, emotional, and
intellectual climate of the course to impact
learning
7. To become self-directed learners, students
must learn to monitor and adjust their
approaches to learning

Knowledge
Structure
Motivation
Mastery
Practice
Climate
Metacognition

Principle 2:
Knowledge Structure and Organization
How students organize knowledge influences how
they learn and apply what they know

Principle 2:
Knowledge Structure and Organization
How experts
and novices
structure and
organize
knowledge
Source HLW Fig 2.1

Principle 2:
Knowledge Structure and Organization
Consider the following
code key
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0

Principle 2:
Knowledge Structure and Organization
Write down your phone number in the
symbolic code

Principle 2:
Knowledge Structure and Organization
Consider the following
code key
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0

1 2 3
64
98
5
7

What the research shows
• When students are provided with a structure for
organizing new info, they learn more and better
• Students show better learning gains when given
an advance organizer i.e. a set of principles that
provide a cognitive structure to guide
incorporation of new knowledge

Additional example available in slides:
test enhanced learning

Take home: research
Familiarity with and application of principles
that support long term retention can enhance
teaching design and student learning

What students say about how they learn

24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH95h36NChI

25

26
For a full explanation, see Stephen Chew’s excellent resources
"How to get the most out of studying"
https://goo.gl/HHjEP7

27

“I have learned so much in this course!”
A preliminary glimpse into students’ perceptions
of their learning in a fourth year biology course.
Pam Kalas and Sylvia McLellan
Science Supper Series
January 26, 2016
kalas@zoology.ubc.ca

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What do students in my Biology 463 course think they
are learning, and how does this align with the course
learning objectives?
2. What kinds of evidence do students rely on to
determine that they have learned something, and how
does that align with the evidence used by the
instructor?

METHODOLOGY
week 1 week 3 week 8 week 11

METHODOLOGY
Factual knowledge
Brief description of one or
two new pieces of
knowledge developed since
your last learning journal
How do you know that you
have acquired this
knowledge? Please describe,
or refer to and attach,
evidence
Code
Code

32
J. Kruger, and D. Dunning, “Unskilled and unaware of it: how dif:iculties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to in:lated self-assessments.”, J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 77(6), 1121–1134 (1999).
The effect of research-based instruction in introductory physics on a common cognitive bias RK Galloway, SP Bates, J Parker, E Usoskina
2012 PHYSICS EDUCATION RESEARCH CONFERENCE 1513 (1), 138-141 AIP Conf. Proc. 1513, 138 (2013); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4789671
• Well known cognitive bias regarding the
extent to which one can predict one’s
own ability (Dunning-Kruger effect)
• Less competent markedly overestimate
their own ability — “calibration error of
the self”
• More competent tend to underestimate
their ability — “calibration error about
others”
• Graph right shows first year students
discrepancy in predicting test scores,
split by performance (Q1 high score —
Q4 low score)
How well do you know what you know?

Take home: students
We need to understand more about what students believe
supports their learning and embrace instructional
approaches that explicitly aim to develop metacognitive skills

Where technology can drive the student as producer model

Technology - scale and pace
Slide credit: Eric Grimson (MIT)

Technology - scale and pace
Slide credit: Eric Grimson (MIT)

37
http://bgr.com/2014/05/29/smartphone-computer-usage-study-chart/

Technology implications
• Woven in, not an add-on; collaborative not
adversarial
• Consider assessments:
- issues of authenticity and relevance
e.g. paper vs online exams
e.g. digital media artefacts vs standard
problem sheets
e.g. group vs individual contributions

39
http://www.slideshare.net/EdPER_talks/ntu-innovations-in-teaching-seminar-students-as-co-creators

Resources for use in class
http://blogs.ubc.ca/phys101

41
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli3035.pdf

42
# SIS
# Connect
# SIS API # CTC3
# IAM
# LTI
# Building
Block
* CoursEval (CEV)
# CTC3 (CTC)
* Exam Prep DB (EDB)
# Grade Export (FGE)
* Identity Detective (IDE)
Collaborative Learning
Annotation System (CLA)
* Copyright Alerts (COA)
* Collaborate (COL)
# Kaltura (KAL)
* Macmillian (MAC)
* Pearson (PEA)
* Wiley (WIL)
* CengageiLrn (CEN)
# Blackboard Mobile
(BLM)
* iClicker (ICK)
* iPeer (IPE)
* Videoscribe (VOS)
* PeerScholar (PRS)
# Grade Export (FGE)
* Camtasia/Snagit (CSN)?
# MediaSite (MDS)
Learning Technology Ecosystem: Current State
# Library OCR (LOC)
ActiveMQ, Rules, Web UI
Application Owner
* CTLT
# UBC IT
Others
Integration
Point
Application
Legend
Data Integration Patterns
Section catalog
Section registration
Student eligibilities
Student names, preferred names
Student email addresses
Instructor/TA assignment
Identifiers, e.g. student number, PUID
* WP Spaces (WPS)
# Web
Services # RISe
Moodle (MOL)
* Turnitin (TIN)
cIRcle (CIR)
Online Evaluation Form
(OEF)
ExamSoft (XSM)
# TeachEval
* UBC Blogs (UBL)
Abacus (ABA)
* Piazza (PIA)
Chem233 (CHM)
* edX – edge (EDX)
* Sapling Learning (SAL)
* Reef (REF)
FOMVideo Server (FOM)
BCC Internship DB (BID)
* WeBWork (WWK)
* Response Map (RPM)
* Calibrated Peer Review
(CPR)
FoMIDManagement
(MID)
Computer Lab Support
(CLS)
# SEoT Datamart (SED)
Panopto (PAN)
Computer Lab Support
(CLS)
* edX – edge (EDX)
* UBC Blogs (UBL)
*# FluidReview (FLU)
* UBC Wiki (UWI)
* Content Management
System (CTS)
January 2016
Not Integrated
Content Authoring Content Delivery Publisher Simulations
Adobe Creative Suite Livescribe Arts File Share Kaltura UBC Blogs / WordPress (Content) Cengage (PIC) Google Cardboard
Articulate Studio MediaSite Cengage iLrn LearnDash UBC Blogs / WordPress (LMS) Macmillan (PIC) Layar
Audacity Microsoft Excel
Connect (Content
Management)
Library Online Course
Reserves (LOCR)
UBC iTunes McGraw-Hill (PIC) Mannequin Simulations
Bb Collaborate Voice
Authoring
Microsoft PowerPoint Document Cameras Lyryx UBC Wiki Pearson (PIC) Motion Control
Camtasia One button Studio DropBox MDID UBC YouTube Sapling Learning (PIC) NeoReality
Collaborative Learning
Annotation System (CLAS)
Panopto Drupal Moodle Vimeo Wiley (PIC) Phet Simulations
Explain Everything Pearson MyTest Dspace Omeka Vitalsource Praxis
Final Cut Pro Prezi edX Owncloud WebAssign VCER
Form Builder Respondus Quiz Entrada Perusall Wikipedia
Hot Potatoes Respondus Studymate Evernote Piazza Wistia
Jing Snagit Exam Prep Database Plone Workspace Portfolios
Keynote Timeline JS Github Podcasts Zimbra Chalk and Wire
Lectora UBC Studios Google Docs Reflector Zoomify Connect (ePortfolio)
Lightboard VideoScribe HTML 5 Flash Cards SourceTree Document Cameras Pep
iBooks SugarSync
Assessment Response System
ACJ Mechanical TA Aplia
Aplia Moodle iClicker
Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) Open Badges UBC Kahoot!
Cengage iLrn PeerScholar Learning Catalytics
Crowdmark PeerWise Poll Everywhere
Entrada Poll Everywhere REEF polling
ExamSoft REEF polling Top Hat
Grade Grinder Remark Turning Point
iClicker Scantron
iPeer Turning Point
LearnDash WebAssign
Learning Catalytics Webwork
Analytics Course Evaluation Course Admin Other
Arts Datamart Blackboard Outcomes Assessment Cengage iLrn 3D printing
Blackboard Outcomes Assessment CoursEval Connect (Grade Center) Google Earth
Connect (Performance Center) SEoT Datamart Doodle iStudiez Pro
Google Analytics TeachEval Entrada SCORM
IBM SPSS Google Calendar Tin Can API (Experience API)
JMP LearnDash
Microsoft Excel Moodle
SEoT Datamart One45
Stata Turnitin
Tableau UBC Blogs / WordPress (LMS)
WebAssign
LEARNING TECHNOLOGY TOOLS - FUNCTIONAL MAP
CONTENT ASSESSMENT
COURSE MANAGEMENT & EVALUATIONINTERACTIONS
Discussion Survey Tool Social Media VC
Piazza Connect (Enterprise Surveys) Facebook Adobe Connect
PulsePress Connect (Surveys) Figure 1 Bb Collaborate Web Conf.
Slack FluidSurveys Google+ BlueJeans
UBC Blogs / WordPress (Discussion) Gravity Forms LinkedIn Google Hangouts
LimeSurvey Twitter Lifesize
Qualtrics Skype
Survey Monkey VC (MedIT)
Vovici WebEx

Take home: technology
We need to continue to develop authentic ways to embed
technology easily into all aspects of academic programs (and
the infrastructure, processes and support to enable this)

Image / Icon credits
• Figures from How Learning Works, Ambrose et al. Chaps 2 and
3
• Icons:
– Stack of Books designed by Jeremy J Bristol from The Noun Project
– Mesh Network designed by Lance Weisser from The Noun Project
– Excited designed by Austin Condiff from The Noun Project
– Components designed by Iris Q. Li from The Noun Project
– Group designed by Alexandra Coscovelnita from The Noun Project
– Brain designed by Martha Ormiston from The Noun Project

Resources - HLW
• 1 page summary : from CM website
• 2 page summaryBrent, R. & Felder, R. (2011). Chemical
Engineering Education 45(4). 257-8. “Random thoughts… how
learning works.”
• 5 page summary : http://goo.gl/lqmSI
http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/principles/index.html