Slides for a workshop on teaching students to think like experts using peer instruction at the Cal State University Symposium on University Teaching. Peter Newbury UC San Diego March 13, 2015

1. Thinking like experts1
“Cows,” said the
frog.“Cows!They
have four legs,
horns, eat grass
and carry pink bags
of milk.”
From “Fish is Fish” by Leo Lionni (1970)
How to teach your students
to think like experts

2. How to Teach Your Students
to Think Like Experts
Peter Newbury
Center forTeaching Development, UC San Diego
Unless otherwise noted, content is licensed under
a Creative CommonsAttribution-Non Commercial 3.0 License.
pnewbury@ucsd.edu peternewbury.org
@polarisdotca #CSUgrit
March 13, 2015

3. My goals for you
3
By the end of this workshop, you will be able to
illustrate with examples how effective peer instruction
builds on the key findings of how people learn, in
particular, how it help to develop expertise
recount the “choreography” of peer instruction
critique peer instruction questions, identifying their
strengths and weaknesses
show excitement, not anxiety, when someone suggests
you use “clickers” in your class
walk out with a collection of questions you can adapt to
your own discipline

4. Why are we here?
Thinking like experts4
What do you think students are doing in a typical
university class?
A) listening
B) absorbing
C) learning
D) note-taking
E) distracted

5. How People Learn
Thinking like experts5
3 Key Findings
3 Implications forTeaching
3 Designs for Classroom Environment

6. Key Finding 1
Thinking like experts6
Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about
how the world works. If their initial understanding is not
engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and
information that are taught, or they may learn them for the
purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions
outside of the classroom. (How People Learn, p. 14)

7. Implications for Teaching 1
Thinking like experts7
Teachers must draw out and work with the preexisting
understandings that their students bring with them.
(How People Learn, p. 19)
Schools and classrooms must be learner centered.
(How People Learn, p. 23)
Classroom Environments 1

8. Key Finding 2
Thinking like experts8
To develop competence in an area, 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.
(How People Learn,p. 16)

9. 9 Thinking like experts

10. Implications for Teaching 2
Thinking like experts10
Teachers must teach some subject matter in depth,
providing many examples in which the same concept is at
work and providing a firm foundation of factual
knowledge.
Classroom Environments 2
To provide a knowledge-centered environment, attention
must be given to what is taught (information, subject
matter), why it is taught (understanding), and what
competence or mastery looks like.
(How People Learn,p. 20)
(How People Learn,p 24.)

11. Key Finding 3
Thinking like experts11
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. (How People Learn, p. 18)

12. Aside: metacognition
Thinking like experts12
Metacognition refers to one’s knowledge concerning one’s
own cognitive processes or anything related to them. For
example, I am engaging in metacognition if I notice that I am
having more trouble learningA than B.
([2], [3])
cognitionmeta

13. Key Finding 3
Thinking like experts13
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. (How People Learn, p. 18)

14. Implications for Teaching 3
Thinking like experts14
The teaching of metacognitive skills should be integrated
into the curriculum in a variety of subject areas.
Classroom Environments 3
Formative assessments — ongoing assessments designed to
make students’ thinking visible to both teachers and
students — are essential.
(How People Learn, p. 21)
(How People Learn, p. 24)

15. What the best college teachers do
Thinking like experts15
More than anything else, the best teachers try to create a
natural critical learning environment: natural
because students encounter skills, habits, attitudes, and
information they are trying to learn embedded in questions
and tasks they find fascinating – authentic tasks that arouse
curiosity and become intrinsically interesting, critical
because students learn to think critically, to reason from
evidence, to examine the quality of their reasoning using a
variety of intellectual standards, to make improvements
while thinking, and to ask probing and insightful questions
about the thinking of other people.
(Bain, p. 99)

16. In natural critical learning environments
Thinking like experts16
students encounter safe yet challenging conditions in
which they can try, fail, receive feedback, and try again
without facing a summative evaluation.
fail
receive
feedback
(Bain, p. 108)
try

17. Peer
Instruction
Thinking like experts17

18. Introductory Chemistry
Thinking like experts18
Today, we’ll be learning about changes of state. Remember,
there are 3 states (also called “phases”) of matter:
solid
liquid
gas

19. Thinking like experts19
Melt chocolate over low heat. Remove the chocolate
from the heat.What will happen to the chocolate?
A) It will condense.
B) It will evaporate.
C) It will freeze.
(Question: Sujatha Raghu from Braincandy via LearningCatalytics)
(Image: CIM9926 by number657 on flickr CC)

20. Chemistry learning outcomes
Thinking like experts20
Students will be able to
name all 6 changes of state
translate back and forth between technical (“melt”) and
plain English (“solid into liquid”)
Imagine… misconception?

21. PI promotes expert-like thinking
Thinking like experts21
students teach each other while
they may still hold or remember
their novice preconceptions
students discuss the concepts in
their own (novice) language
each student finds out what s/he does (not) know
the instructor finds out what the students (do not)
know and reacts, building on their initial understanding
and preconceptions.
students practice
how to think and
communicate
like experts

22. Typical Episode of Peer Instruction
Thinking like experts22
1. Instructor poses a conceptually-challenging,
multiple-choice question.
2. Students think on their own and vote using clickers,
ABCD cards, PollEverywhere,…
3. The instructor asks students to “turn to your neighbors
convince them you’re right.”
4. After that conversation, students may vote again.
5. The instructor leads a class-wide discussion concluding
with why the right answers are right and the wrong
answers are wrong.

23. Peer
Instruction
Thinking like experts23
Think-Pair-Share
2-minute pause
with
thought-prompt

24. clarity Students waste no effort trying to figure out what’s
being asked.
context Is this topic currently being covered in class?
learning
outcome
Does the question make students do the right things
to demonstrate they grasp the concept?
distractors What do the “wrong” answers tell you about
students’ thinking?
difficulty Is the question too easy? too hard?
stimulates
thoughtful
discussion
Will the question engage the students and spark
thoughtful discussions?Are there openings for you
to continue the discussion?
What makes a good question?
Thinking like experts24 (Adapted from Stephanie Chasteen, CU Boulder)

25. Thinking like experts25
 clarity  context  learning outcome  distractors
 difficulty  stimulates thoughtful discussion

26. Try it yourself…
Thinking like experts26
1. Please form groups of 2 or 3 by discipline (look for
colored cards)
2. Critique questions in the collection closest to your
discipline
 for pairs of questions, which one is better?Why?
 for single questions, is it good or bad? Can you
write a better one?
 clarity  context  learning outcome  distractors
 difficulty  stimulates thoughtful discussion

27. Thinking like experts27
 clarity  context  learning outcome  distractors
 difficulty  stimulates thoughtful discussion

28. Thinking like experts28
 clarity  context  learning outcome  distractors
 difficulty  stimulates thoughtful discussion

29. Thinking like experts29
 clarity  context  learning outcome  distractors
 difficulty  stimulates thoughtful discussion

30. Thinking like experts30
 clarity  context  learning outcome  distractors
 difficulty  stimulates thoughtful discussion

31. Thinking like experts31
 clarity  context  learning outcome  distractors
 difficulty  stimulates thoughtful discussion

32. Thinking like experts32
 clarity  context  learning outcome  distractors
 difficulty  stimulates thoughtful discussion

33. Thinking like experts33
 clarity  context  learning outcome  distractors
 difficulty  stimulates thoughtful discussion

34. Thinking like experts34
 clarity  context  learning outcome  distractors
 difficulty  stimulates thoughtful discussion

35. Thinking like experts35
 clarity  context  learning outcome  distractors
 difficulty  stimulates thoughtful discussion

36. Thinking like experts36
 clarity  context  learning outcome  distractors
 difficulty  stimulates thoughtful discussion

37. Thinking like experts37
 clarity  context  learning outcome  distractors
 difficulty  stimulates thoughtful discussion

38. Thinking like experts38
 clarity  context  learning outcome  distractors
 difficulty  stimulates thoughtful discussion

39. t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e
Peer instruction helps students learn...
Thinking like experts39
BEFORE DURING AFTER
setting up
instruction
developing
knowledge
assessing
learning
Adapted from Rosie Piller, Ian Beatty, Stephanie Chasteen

40. t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e
Peer instruction helps students learn...
Thinking like experts40
BEFORE DURING AFTER
setting up
instruction
developing
knowledge
assessing
learning
Adapted from Rosie Piller, Ian Beatty, Stephanie Chasteen
The students have not
resolved Concept X.
But Concept X has been
activated and they know
why it is interesting.

41. t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e
Peer instruction helps students learn...
Thinking like experts41
BEFORE DURING AFTER
setting up
instruction
developing
knowledge
assessing
learning
Adapted from Rosie Piller, Ian Beatty, Stephanie Chasteen

42. t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e
Peer instruction helps students learn...
Thinking like experts42
BEFORE DURING AFTER
setting up
instruction
developing
knowledge
assessing
learning
Adapted from Rosie Piller, Ian Beatty, Stephanie Chasteen

43. Peer
Instruction
Thinking like experts43

44. Peer Instruction - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu44
1. identifying key concepts, misconceptions
2. creating multiple-choice questions that
require deeper thinking and learning
3. facilitating episodes of peer instruction that
spark and support expert-like discussion
4. leading a class-wide discussion to clarify
the concept, resolve the misconception
5. reflecting on the question: note curious
things you overheard, how they voted, etc. so
next year’s peer instruction will be better
before
class
during
class
after
class
Effective peer instruction requires

45. reduce course content by 25%
Effective peer instruction requires
How (you can help) People Learn (using peer instruction)45
students come to class prepared to engage in
conceptually-challenging discussions
TIME! 5 minutes of student-centered
activity every 10 – 15 minutes
means 25% of class time is
not lecturing.
Where does that time come from?
But I’ve got
material to fill
(more than)
100% of my
lecture!

46. Traditional classroom
Thinking like experts46
first exposure to material is in class, content is
transmitted from instructor to student
learning occurs later when student struggles alone to
complete homework, essay, project
learn easy stuff
together
learn hard
stuff alone
transfer assimilate

47. Flipped classroom
Thinking like experts47
student learns easy content at home: definitions, basic
skills, simple examples. Frees up class time for...
students are prepared to tackle challenging concepts in
class, with immediate feedback from peers, instructor
learn hard
stuff together
learn easy stuff
alone
transfer assimilate

48. Thinking like experts48
 
 
 

49. References
Peer Instruction - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu49
1. National Research Council (2000). How People Learn:Brain,Mind,Experience,and School:
Expanded Edition. J.D. Bransford,A.L Brown & R.R. Cocking (Eds.),Washington, DC:
The NationalAcademies Press.
2. Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.),
The nature of intelligence (pp.231-236). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
3. Brame, C. (2013).Thinking about metacognition. [blog] January, 2013,Available at:
http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2013/01/thinking-about-metacognition/ [Accessed: 14
Jan 2013].
4. Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.

50. How to Teach Your Students
to Think Like Experts
Peter Newbury
Center forTeaching Development, UC San Diego
Unless otherwise noted, content is licensed under
a Creative CommonsAttribution-Non Commercial 3.0 License.
pnewbury@ucsd.edu peternewbury.org
@polarisdotca #CSUgrit
March 13, 2015
effective #peerinstruction gives students opps to try,
fail, receive feedback, try again, says @polarisdotca.
Develops expertise. #CSUgrit