Ceramic Engineering

How To Engage Students in Active Learning

Robert W. SchwartzCeramic Engineering

University of Missouri-Rolla

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Overview

• Effective teaching methods– The key points– Learning styles

• Active learning– What is it?– Why do it?– Methods and how to do it– Examples

• Summary, advice and resources

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Aspects to Effective Teaching

• Preparation– Thoroughly prepare – Time management (course may not be perfect the first time)

• Make some time to utilize resources– Formal programs– Mentorship (learn from effective teachers)– E&T Funds– Many others

• Know something about how students learn– Bloom’s Taxonomy (knowledge, comprehension, … evaluation– Educational objectives (specific measurable outcomes)– Learning styles – Techniques for problem solving– Newer philosophy – more focus in class toward concepts;

problem solving remains focus for homework• Figure out what works for you

– Not every method will work for every person

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Active Learning and Learning Styles

NETI, 1998

Learning Style:Active processing

Teaching Style: Student Participation

Index of Learning StylesMyers-Briggs and othersSample Question:I understand something better after I:a. Try it outb. Think it through

Typical instructional strategy:Variety of techniques to address learning style differences

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What is Active Learning?

• Active learning– Activities that engage students in doing something besides listening to a

lecture and taking notes to help them learn and apply course material

– Students may be talking or listening to one another, writing, reading, and reflecting individually

• Collaborative learning– Subset of active learning

– Engage students in interacting with one another

• Cooperative learning– Subset of collaborative learning involving students interacting with one

another under certain conditions (more structured activities)

NETI, 1998

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Why Active Learning?

Confucius (400 BC):• What I hear, I forget.• What I see, I remember.• What I do, I understand.

Silberman (1996):• What I hear, I forget.• What I hear and see, I remember a little.• What I hear, see, and ask questions about or discuss with

someone else, I begin to understand.• What I hear, see, discuss and do, I acquire knowledge and skill.• What I teach to another, I master.

Silberman (Active Learning; 1996)

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Why Active Learning? Seeing and Hearing is Not Enough

• Brain does not function as audio or visual tape recorder.

• Incoming information is being processed; i.e., the brain is asking questions:– Have I heard or seen this information before?– Where does this information fit in? What can I do with it?– Can I assume that this is the same idea that I had yesterday or

last month?

• Active classrooms give opportunities for information to be better processed

Silberman (Active Learning; 1996)

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Leaning Improved when Students Asked to do Something with the Information

• Partner discussions – up to two letter grade improvement

• State the information in their own words

• Give examples of it

• Recognize it in various guises and circumstances

• See connections between it and other ideas

• Make use of it in various ways

Silberman (Active Learning; 1996)

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Ten Methods to Get Participation

1. Open Discussion – not simply “Are there any questions?”

2. Response Cards – answers to posed questions on submitted index cards (more anonymity)

3. Polling – a short survey that is passed out and tallied to focus discussion

4. Subgroup Discussions – share and record information; develop questions and promote further consideration

5. Learning Partners – work on tasks or discuss key questions with the student next to them

6. Whips – go around group and obtain short answers to key questions

7. Panels – small group of students may present views in front of entire class

8. Fishbowl – discussion circle with remainder of class listening in.

9. Games – Family Feud, Jeopardy, Millionaire

10. Calling on the Next Speaker – student view sharing and calling on next student

Silberman (Active Learning; 1996)

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Informal Cooperative Learning Structures – In Class (Problem Solving) Teams

• Get together teams of 2 – 4 and choose team recorder– Can use birthdays, locations, other to pick teams or recorder

• Give teams 30 seconds to 5 minutes to:– Recall prior material– Answer a question– Start a problem solution– Work out the next step in a derivation– Think of an example or application– Sketch and label a flow chart (free body diagram, etc.) for this system– Sketch a plot of the problem solution– Give several reasons why you might need to know the solution– What variations to this problem might I put on the next test?– Brainstorm a question

NETI, 1998; Feldman, Chem. Eng. Educ. V. 26 (1) 18 – 19 (1992)

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Informal Cooperative Learning Structures – Think-Pair-Share

• Students think of answers individually

• Students then form pairs to produce joint answers

• Students share answers with class

• Option: Two (or more) pairs may share answers with each other before sharing with class

NETI, 1998

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Informal Cooperative Learning Structures – Note Taking Pairs

• Students form pairs to work together during class

• After short lecture segment, one partner summarizes notes for the other partner

• Second partner adds information or corrects

• Goal: For everyone to improve his or her notes

NETI, 1998

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Other Informal CL Structures

• Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning– Student provided generic question stems (e.g., “What is the

difference between …. and …– Each student prepares questions using stems– Each student takes turns asking questions

• TAPPS (Thinking Aloud Pair Problem Solving)– Students form pairs– Instructor defines activity– Problem solver talks through first part of solution; listener

questions and prompts– Reverse roles

NETI, 1998

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Implementing Informal CL

• Have students form in groups of 2 – 4 where they are sitting

• Assign crucial roles (note taker, time keeper)

• Explain the task– For more complicated task, use overhead

• For longer exercises, circulate about the room, listening and giving hints

• Remember the value of variety

NETI, 1998

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Formal Cooperative Learning

• Team homework

• Team projects– Student prepared tests

• Jigsaw– Teams comprised of expert groups

• Pairs Testing– Results seem positive

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Ex. 1: Subgroup DiscussionFirst Class in Crystallography

• Instructional Objectives– At the conclusion of this lecture, the student will be able to:

• Describe in general terms to a friend, what is meant by the term “growth morphology.”

• Recognize general characteristics of two different crystal classes

• Lecture prior to exercise– Preface exercise with questions to class about what is a crystal and

additional discussion regarding relationship between atomic and macroscopic properties

• Active Learning Exercise – Instructions

• Split up into groups of four and identified three different crystal stations for each group to visit

• Spend 5 minutes per station noting observations about characteristics of crystals that they observed at each station

• Reconvene in class room in 15 minutes prepared to share their observations with the class

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Ex. 1: Crystallography Exercise (cont.)

• Concepts introduced by discussion– Morphology – shape of cubic (fluorite) and trigonal (quartz)– Relationship between atomic arrangement of species and

macroscopic behavior– Others

• Definition of a crystal• Polycrystalline nature of materials• Oriented growth of materials• Fracture planes

• Other aspects of discussion– Real world examples: diamonds (rings)– Stick and ball atomic models of two crystals

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Ex. 2 – Learning Partners; GameThe Periodic Table

• Instructional Objectives– At the conclusion of this lecture, the student will be able to:

• Describe the electronic configuration of atoms and ions

• Lecture prior to exercise– None; used to introduce topic

• Active Learning Exercise – Match the Dude and the Date with the Scientific Contribution– Handout given to each student– Students assigned to work in teams of two (variety)– Class reconvenes to compare answers

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Ex. 2 – The Periodic Table (cont.)

• Basic layout is a one page handout with the statement of the contributions and fill-in-the-blank lines

• Sample statement from five question form:– The world is made up of tiny indivisible particles called “atomos”

meaning “indivisible.” Early speculation from Greek philosophers about the fundamental “stuff” that makes up the world.

– Dudes: Bohr, Dalton, Democritis, Rutherford, Schrodinger– Dates: 400 BC, 1807, 1910, 1914, 1926

• Other aspects– Handout lists accomplishment in chronological order; serves as

summary of information– Used to lead into lecture/discussion of atomic structure

• More information related to above structure presented– Used to introduce handouts on orbital shape and size– Goal: engage student and have a little fun while learning

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Ex. 3 – In-Class ReflectionUnit Cell, Bravais Lattice and Basis

• Instructional Objectives– At the conclusion of this section of the course, the student will be able

to:• Define crystal structure, Bravais lattice, and basis. • Name and draw the 7 crystal systems and the 14 Bravais lattices• Use Bravais lattice and basis vectors to describe the spatial

relationship of a lattice point to the origin of the lattice.

• Lecture prior to Exercise– Discussion of unit cells– Significant coverage of each of the Bravais lattice and basis concepts– Introduction of all of the 7 crystal systems and 14 BL– Consideration of vectors and origin choice for unit cell

• Active Learning Exercise – Practice exercise on drawing the unit cells of Pt and NaCl– Exercise passed out to students with instruction that they are to provide

input for teacher to fill in blanks and complete drawings

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Ex. 3 – Unit Cell, Bravais Lattice and Basis (cont.)

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Ex. 3 – Unit Cell, Bravais Lattice and Basis (cont.)

• Other aspects– Worked as an instructor-led exercise via transparency;

student input requested at each step of the process– Other approaches possible (e.g., instructor worked)– Later exercises can build upon earlier exercises

• Example:– Practice 3 tells you that the crystal structure = Bravais Lattice

plus Basis– Practice 5 asks you for the data that you need

– Template for unit cell allows students to concentrate on class participation

– Faster students can charge ahead if they want– Extra copies of handout

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Ex. 4 – Subgroup DiscussionInternal Boundary Layer Capacitors

• Educational objective: develop higher level learning skills

• Senior course (CER 284) on Properties of Electronic Ceramics

• Technical focus:• Microstructure effects on IBLC performance• Microstructure consists of insulating grain boundaries and

semiconducting grains

• Lecture prior to exercise– Polarization mechanisms in dielectrics– Dielectric constant calculations for parallel plate capacitors

• Active Learning Exercise – 30 minutes in groups; 20 minutes discussion– Develop processing strategies to achieve the desired microstructure– Develop a simple mathematical description of how you feel

microstructural properties (grain boundary thickness and grain size) could be controlled to maximize the dielectric constant of the “composite”

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Ex. 5 – In Class ReflectionThe One Minute Paper

• At the end of class– Student takes out a piece of paper (no name)– Students are instructed to answer the following question(s):

• What is the most important topic that we covered today and why?• Of the topics that we covered today (or this week), which topic do

you think you understand the best?• Which topic do you feel you understand the least or find most

confusing?• What would make this material clearer to you?• Make up a question about an everyday phenomenon that can be

explained using material presented in class today. – You may also ask them additional questions such as:

• The pace of the course is: too fast, about right, too slow• In terms of teaching methods, the most effective for me has been:

__________________• In terms of teaching methods, the least effective for me has been: __________________

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Active Learning Exercises – Personal Lessons

• When tasking teams, instructions need to be explicit.

• Identify clear ties between the task and instructional objectives.

• Make sure the active learning exercise will require (only) the amount of time allotted.

• Make sure the task is pitched at the correct level (sophomore, junior, senior, graduate).

• Consider using active learning exercises that build on material in pre-requisite courses.

• Some resistance to active learning– “Just tell me the minimum I need to do”– Buy-in to individual, pair, and team exercises is highly dependent on the

particular class. – Success with all levels of students; just need to find correct active

learning exercises

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Things that Have Been Important to Me in Teaching

• Instructional objectives– Pass out to students for each test– Still need to review before examination

• Test review sessions

• Organization

• Use of active learning approaches

• Always clarify “why” you are covering a topic

• Availability outside of class

• Fairness – to the individual and to the class as a whole

• Make notes (at the time) of what works or doesn’t ; where the course needs improvement

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Other Aspects of Effective Teaching

• How to get started and to be effective “long term”– Continuous improvement– Make minor improvements each semester– Set goals for each time you go through the course for what you want to

address• More active learning exercises• Instructional objectives• New homework assignments or tests

– Review what you have been taught– Explore new information (books, web-site)– Become active in organizations such as ASEE and attend meetings

• Capitalize on your strengths– Figure out what works for you and what doesn’t– Know your own learning style– Use evaluations and comments

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Still More Aspects to Effective Teaching

• Effective Teaching– Develop your personal philosophy as to what is important– Limit, as much as possible, the number of different courses that you

teach– Use your summers wisely – try to obtain commitment from chair about

what you will be teaching in the following fall and winter– Organize your course notes

• During the academic year – evolutionary• During the summer – revolutionary

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Final Advice

• Remember why you’re here: students and scholarship– Enjoy your relationships with your colleagues and students– Remember what you represent to the students– Look for balance in teaching, research and service (see below)

• Stay organized!– Only way to effectively multi-task for a long time period– Find an approach to stay organized that works for you – Strive for time management and recognize priorities– Most of us are driven; always want to say “yes”– Need to say “no.” If you place limits on what you promise, you will be

able to make time to fulfill the commitments that you make

“If you strive for perfection and miss, you may still hit excellence.” Tommy Bowden, Head Football Coach, Clemson University

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Resources – Many Places to Seek Help

• Websites– http://www.ncsu.edu/effective_teaching/ (Felder; NCSU)– http://www.asee.org– https://engineering.purdue.edu/ChE/News_and_publications/teaching

_engineering– http://www.fie.engrng.pitt.edu – http://mazur-www.harvard.edu/talks.php – Many universities have course notes on-line (copyright)

• Books and print– Silberman, Active Learning: 101 Strategies to Teach Any Subject– Wankat and Oreovicz, Teaching Engineering– Educational journals

• Workshops– National Effective Teaching Institute (ASEE Sponsored)– New Faculty Teaching Scholars Program– ASEE – Discipline Specific Activities (IEEE, ACerS, others)

• Networking at technical meetings

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Silberman Book – Lots of Great Stuff

• Classroom arrangement

• Team building strategies

• Immediate learning involvement strategies

• 101 Strategies– “Lightening the learning environment” to– “Inquiring minds want to know”

• Ex: How does a CD burner work?