Teaching101: Teri Balser's workshop at NCBS, Bangalore
1. Teaching For Dummies
Prof. Teresa Balser
Fulbright-Nehru Distinguished Chair
Dean, Teaching and Learning
Curtin University Science and Engineering
2. Welcome!
• Introductions
–Me, my purpose today
–You
• Who are we here?
• Why are we here?
–What would make today a success?
(Please write it down, and make sure we get to it.)
3. Welcome!
• Overview of today (3 parts)
1. What is teaching?
2. In-depth look at 4 dimensions of teaching
3. Planning for next steps?
• Format
–Breaks scheduled periodically
–Informal, please contribute and ask
4. Welcome!
Day 2: ADVANCED TOPICS (may include)
• Planning a class session
• Making rubrics
• Practice (deliver mini-unit)
• Eric Mazur video?
• Gamification/Games
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
• Developmental roadmap for the 4 areas
5. Teaching?
Today we are going to focus on teaching, rather than learning.
• What is it?
• How do you know when someone is
good at it?
• What makes someone good at it?
7. Great teachers are accomplished
in four domains
• CURATION – managing content
• ORATION – speaking/presenting
• FACILITATION – conducting class
• EVALUATION – assessing outcomes
8. 1. CURATION
• What is it?
• What skills are necessary to be good at it?
• Selection, presentation, analysis of content.
• Today: focus on selection of content
9. CURATION/CONTENT
• What are the factors to consider when looking
for content for a class?
– What to include
– How much
– What level
10. CURATION/CONTENT
• Steps to take with content
1. Select content that could be included (make a
full list of all possible topics)
2. (Decide on a “5 year message”)
3. Rank its importance, and decide what you
actually want to include.
• WIGGINS and McTIGHE, Backward Design
• Core/Essential, Important, Worth being familiar with
11. CURATION/CONTENT
• Find a 4 other people that work in a
similar area as yours in biosciences.
• Brainstorm a list of the topics that would
be included in your area in a typical
Introductory-level class.
• Decide on the content to include for a unit
in your area.
– Place your topics into the categories of:
Core/Essential, Important, Worth being
familiar
12. Share your message and your “map”
Essential/Core
Important
Worth being
familiar with
22. LEARNING OUTCOMES
• With your group: consider your map of
Core+Important content.
• Write a sample learning outcome for
each domain: Cognitive, Affective,
Procedural
• Also, for the Cognitive domain write a
learning outcome for at least three
different Bloom’s levels
23. Reflect
• What did you notice?
• What was easiest?
• What was hardest?
• What do you want to know more about?
24. 2. ORATION
• What is it?
• Who do you know that is a good
orator?
• What are the important skills we need
to learn or have? (What factors do we need
to consider?)
25. 2. ORATION
What are the important skills we need to
learn or have? (What factors do we need to
consider?)
• Body Language
• Facial expression
• Voice
• Movement
• Visuals
• Pacing
• Other?
26. 2. ORATION
What can you do to improve or develop
skill in these?
• Body Language
• Facial expression
• Voice
• Movement
• Visuals
• Pacing
• Other?
34. Lots of “techniques” exist to
make a lecture active…
• What ones have you seen modeled so
far today?
• What ones have you heard of before?
• What ones can you imagine?
35. Lots of techniques to make a class active
Some examples:
• Clickers/technology
• “One Minute Paper”
• “Muddiest/Clearest Point”
• “Turn to your neighbor and discuss”
• Brainstorming – generating ideas
• Group work
• Group exams
• Case studies
37. Example:
Clearest/Muddiest point
On a sheet of paper write down and hand in
your answers to the following:
•What was the clearest point about the
consequences of lecturing?
•What is least clear to you?
38. Lecture isn’t necessarily bad…
But lecture alone may not produce learning.
• Must go beyond passive listening
• Must build in moments to reflect or discuss
every 10-15 minutes
• Must allow students to practice with the
material they are learning
41. What to do when you have stopped?
• Ask them questions or use a “technique”
• Take a break
• Show a video
• Give them a problem to solve
• Make a demonstration
• Nothing
42. POINT:
It doesn’t have to be complicated!
Almost ANYTHING that focuses their
attention and makes them think is effective
43. STOP ASK LISTEN
• With your group: consider your map of
Core+Important content
• Choose a content point that you would
explain in a lecture.
• How long would it take to explain that
point? Where could you stop? And
what might you do in that pause?
45. 3. FACILITATION
• What is it?
• Who do you know or have seen that is
a good facilitator?
• What are the important skills we need
to learn or have? (What factors do we need
to consider?)
46. FACILITATION
What are the important skills we need to
learn or have?
• Style
• Toolbox! (Tool selection and use)
• Classroom facilitation skills
–Including all people, attention to the
room, planning the class session
47. FACILITATION
• Today: Focus on the active learning
tools.
• Feb 4 (Day 2) – more on classroom
facilitation skills (advanced)
48. We’ve seen how to improve lecture:
What else could they be DOING?
49. Active Cooperative Learning
• Case studies
• Group work
• Games
• Flipped classes
• World Café
• Role playing
• Jigsaw learning
• Technology
GroupMap
Today’s Meet
Twitter
• Group exams
• Others?
NOTE: My goal with this list is overview and raise awareness
50. Case - Discuss
Professor Singh teaches a large introductory engineering class at a
well-known IIT. His class is required, and regularly has 70-80 students
enrolled. In the past he has been told he is a good teacher, and he
used to believe it was true. But lately he has been wondering. Fewer
students attend his classes regularly, and even when they do come
they don’t pay attention. Last week he gave his favourite set of
lectures and less than half of the class showed up, despite that he has
told them it was required and gave them work to do in advance. He
might as well have not bothered. They rarely do any work beyond the
minimum required. Dr. Singh really wants his students to learn, but
they just don’t seem to care. He doesn’t know what to do.
• What factors might be contributing to the situation?
• What advice do you have for Professor Singh?
• Have you been in a similar situation before? What did you do?
51. Jigsaw
• The jigsaw technique is a method of organizing classroom activity that
makes students dependent on each other to succeed. It breaks classes
into groups and breaks assignments into pieces that the group assembles
to complete the (jigsaw) puzzle.
• The technique splits classes into mixed groups to work on small problems
that the group collates into a final outcome. For example, an in-class
assignment is divided into topics. Students are then split into groups with
one member assigned to each topic. Working individually, each student
learns about his or her topic and presents it to their group. Next, students
gather into groups divided by topic. Each member presents again to the
topic group. In same-topic groups, students reconcile points of view and
synthesize information. They create a final report. Finally, the original
groups reconvene and listen to presentations from each member. The final
presentations provide all group members with an understanding of their
own material, as well as the findings that have emerged from topic-
specific group discussion.
52. World Café
• Small groups of four or five participants sit around a table and
discuss an open-ended question for a structured amount of time.
Notes and drawings are often made by participants on the paper
tablecloths used in most events. Individuals switch tables after the
agreed upon amount of time, where (if they are being used) a
"table host" at the new table briefly welcomes people and fills
them in on highlights of the previous discussion.
• Participants have multiple rounds of conversation in response to
defined questions, taking the ideas from one group and adding to
them, developing insights through multiple conversations with a
diverse number of people, and expanding the collective knowledge
of the group. In this way participants gather a wide range of inputs
that help strengthen the ‘ecology’ of the conversation. A round of
conversation lasts between 20–30 minutes. A "table host" may be
used to anchor each table, welcoming incoming participants and
relaying any key insights from the last round of conversation.
53. Process Orientated Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL)
• There are two crucial aspects to the design of a POGIL activity. First, sufficient appropriate
information must be provided for the initial “Exploration” so that students are able to develop the
desired concepts. Second, the guiding questions must be sequenced in a carefully constructed
manner so that not only do students reach the appropriate conclusion, but at the same time
various process and learning skills are implemented and developed.
• Typically the first few questions build on students’ prior knowledge and direct attention to the
information provided by the model. This is followed by questions designed to help promote the
recognitions of relationships and patterns in the date, leading toward some concept development.
The final questions may involve applying the concepts to new situations and generalizing students’
new knowledge and understanding. Thus, POGIL activities follow the structure of the learning cycle
of exploration, concept invention and application, and has a strong basis in constructivism.
• In contrast to traditional classrooms, students in a POGIL classroom work in small groups (of 3 or 4)
on a specially designed activity. Each student is assigned a role, such as manager, recorder,
spokesperson or reflector. The instructor serves as a facilitator who listens to the discussion and
intervenes at appropriate times to guide student learning. In groups, students discuss the answers
to carefully crafted questions that lead them to consider the general ideas in question and to
construct their own understanding of important course concepts. As ideas are formulated, groups
share their findings and understanding to new and increasingly difficult problems or contexts.
• Rather than having the instructor begin class by defining terms and laying out concepts, students
work actively to master material and formulate a deeper understanding of content. Built into the
experience is the support of a variety of important process skills, including communication,
teamwork, and critical thinking, which translates to a more complete understanding of the entire
concept, and a lasting understanding of the material.
54. Group Exams
• Students complete an individual exam as usual then hand
in their test sheets.
• They then get into groups of four and work together to
complete the same exam again (possibly with the addition
of one or two very challenging questions). The students
must come to consensus on their answers as they hand in
only one sheet for the group portion of the exam.
• Grades from these exams are based on a combination of
each student’s individual mark and group mark. In most
situations, groups perform much better than individuals, so
the majority of the grade, often 85%, is based on the
individual mark.
55. FACILITATION
A note about advanced facilitation skills:
• They are critical for going beyond lecturing,
and for engaging students.
56. FACILITATION MATTERS!
• Good facilitation:
–Gets and keeps attention
–Creates participation
–Includes all voices/space for all types
–Sets a positive classroom tone
–Provides a framework/plan that
minimizes barriers to learning
• Structure
• Safety
57. Beyond Lecture
• With your group: consider your list of
learning outcomes
• Choose an outcome that you would
ordinarily achieve by lecture
• What cooperative learning technique
could you use to achieve your outcome
instead? Outline your idea to share it.
58. Reflect
• What stands out to you about Facilitation?
• How can you develop the capacity for good
facilitation?
• At what point in your teaching career would it
be good to try it?
59. 4. EVALUATION
• What is it?
• Why do we need it?
• What are the important skills we need
to learn or have? (What factors do we need
to consider?)
63. EVALUATION
What are the things we should evaluate?
• LEARNING
– Student work
– Student knowledge
– Success of our learning outcomes
• TEACHING
– Engagement (Participation, Attention, Motivation)
– Clarity/Organization
64. Example: What makes a class
successful?
Five categories of factors mentioned:
1. Instructor traits and behaviors
2. Student traits and behaviors
3. Course content (e.g. topics and assignments)
4. Course delivery (e.g. pedagogy and style)
5. Outcomes (e.g. grade received)
65. EVALUATION
HOW do I evaluate these?
• What does success “look” like?
• What can I measure?
• Two types of evaluation/assessment
– Formative: informal, ongoing
– Summative: formal, terminal/closed
67. EVALUATION
In your group – come up with an example for
each quadrant
Teaching
Learning
Formative Summative
68. EVALUATION
In your group – come up with an example for
each quadrant
Learning
Teaching
Formative Summative
Body language
Ungraded quizzes
Problems in class
Final Exams
Final projects
Learning
statements
69. Example of formative evaluation of
teaching/classroom/success
• What does it look like?
• What does it sound like?
• What are the students doing?
• What are YOU doing?
How do you know if your class is
actively engaging your students?
70. Evaluation
• With your group: consider your list of
learning outcomes and your active
ways of teaching to them
• Choose an activity
• What could you measure that would
indicate to you if it was successful?
72. Special topic: RUBRICS
• RUBRICS – what are they?
–See example from PULSE
–Can be used to evaluate QUALITY of
something, of PROGRESSION toward a goal
–Made up of factors and levels
73. Special topic: RUBRICS
• Why are they useful?
–Clarity
–Organization
–Consistency/fairness
–Efficiency
–Other?
77. Final
• With your group: consider your notes
from today.
• If you have to summarize today in a
word what would it be?
• What would be the #1 take-home
message? Write it down.
78. Your personal takeaways?
Take a couple minutes reflect and come up with one or
two key points or things that you want to try with
your own classes someday
Please answer these on a card and leave it for
me to keep:
• What stands out to you from today’s
session?
• What did you find useful or
interesting?
• What have you realized today about
teaching?
80. HOMEWORK
(Your mission, should you choose to accept it)
• Choose an active learning technique and a
learning outcome and prepare a mini-session
for us on Day 2.
• Choose a topic from today and be prepared to
summarize or discuss it for people just joining
us on Day 2.
• Create a “Map” of Core, Important, Worth
Familiarity for a class you might teach and
share it with us on Day 2.
81. Reminder, and looking ahead:
Day 2: ADVANCED TOPICS (may include)
• Planning a class session
• Making rubrics
• Practice (deliver mini-unit)
• Eric Mazur video?
• Gamification/Games
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
• Developmental roadmap for the 4 areas
86. Are all techniques equally
useful at all times?
(when might you use each type)
87. How can you apply
this to your own classes?
• What are the students DOING in your
class? (list of verbs)
(What are YOU doing in your class?)
(list verbs)
Choose a typical class you teach: How might
you increase the active verbs in that class?
88. Results?
“I learned a lot by listening to my group
members and hearing what they had to say. We
all came from different backgrounds and it was
interesting to see how this affected our
knowledge of global warming and other
environmental issues. Without the group, I felt I
would have been lost and would have learned a
lot less. The group has been valuable for me and
I wasn’t expecting that at the beginning of the
class.”
89. Why ACL?
• What have you realized today about
teaching?
• This session:
–creating space for learning to occur
–aligning our delivery with how people
learn
