Lesson Idea Draft

Donald R. Paulson Chemistry and Biochemistry

California State University, L.A.

5151 State University Drive

Los Angeles, CA 90032

Jennifer L. Faust Department of Philosophy

California State University, L.A.

5151 State University Drive

Los Angeles, CA 90032

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Active Learning For The College Classroom

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BACKGROUND & DEFINITIONS

The past decade has seen an explosion of interest among college faculty in the teaching methods variously

grouped under the terms 'active learning' and 'cooperative learning'. However, even with this interest, there

remains much misunderstanding of and mistrust of the pedagogical "movement" behind the words. The

majority of all college faculty still teach their classes in the traditional lecture mode. Some of the criticism and

hesitation seems to originate in the idea that techniques of active and cooperative learning are genuine

alternatives to, rather than enhancements of, professors' lectures. We provide below a survey of a wide variety

of active learning techniques which can be used to supplement rather than replace lectures. We are not

advocating complete abandonment of lecturing, as both of us still lecture about half of the class period. The

lecture is a very efficient way to present information but use of the lecture as the only mode of instruction

presents problems for both the instructor and the students. There is a large amount of research attesting to the

benefits of active learning.

"Active Learning" is, in short, anything that students do in a classroom other than merely passively listening to

an instructor's lecture. This includes everything from listening practices which help the students to absorb what

they hear, to short writing exercises in which students react to lecture material, to complex group exercises in

which students apply course material to "real life" situations and/or to new problems. The term "cooperative

learning" covers the subset of active learning activities which students do as groups of three or more, rather

than alone or in pairs; generally, cooperative learning techniques employ more formally structured groups of

students assigned complex tasks, such as multiple-step exercises, research projects, or presentations.

Cooperative learning is to be distinguished from another now well-defined term of art, "collaborative

learning", which refers to those classroom strategies which have the instructor and the students placed on an

equal footing working together in, for example, designing assignments, choosing texts, and presenting material

to the class. Clearly, collaborative learning is a more radical departure from tradition than merely utilizing

techniques aimed at enhancing student retention of material presented by the instructor; we will limit our

examples to the "less radical" active and cooperative learning techniques. "Techniques of active learning",

then, are those activities which an instructor incorporates into the classroom to foster active learning.

TECHNIQUES OF ACTIVE LEARNING

Exercises for Individual Students

Because these techniques are aimed at individual students, they can very easily be used without interrupting

the flow of the class. These exercises are particularly useful in providing the instructor with feedback

concerning student understanding and retention of material. Some (numbers 3 and 4, in particular) are

especially designed to encourage students' exploration of their own attitudes and values. Many (especially

numbers 4 - 6) are designed to increase retention of material presented in lectures and texts.

1. The "One Minute Paper" - This is a highly effective technique for checking student progress, both in

understanding the material and in reacting to course material. Ask students to take out a blank sheet of

paper, pose a question (either specific or open-ended), and give them one (or perhaps two - but not many

more) minute(s) to respond. Some sample questions include: "How does John Hospers define "free

will"?", "What is "scientific realism"?", "What is the activation energy for a chemical reaction?", "What

is the difference between replication and transcription?", and so on. Another good use of the minute paper

is to ask questions like "What was the main point of todayÂ’s class material?" This tells you whether or

not the students are viewing the material in the way you envisioned.

Muddiest (or Clearest) Point - This is a variation on the one-minute paper, though you may wish

to give students a slightly longer time period to answer the question. Here you ask (at the end of a

class period, or at a natural break in the presentation), "What was the "muddiest point" in today's

lecture?" or, perhaps, you might be more specific, asking, for example: "What (if anything) do you

find unclear about the concept of 'personal identity' ('inertia', 'natural selection', etc.)?".

Affective Response - Again, this is similar to the above exercises, but here you are asking

students to report their reactions to some facet of the course material - i.e., to provide an

emotional or valuative response to the material. Obviously, this approach is limited to those

subject areas in which such questions are appropriate (one should not, for instance, inquire

into studentsÂ’ affective responses to vertebrate taxonomy). However, it can be quite a

useful starting point for courses such as applied ethics, particularly as a precursor to

theoretical analysis. For example, you might ask students what they think of Dr. Jack

Kevorkian's activities, before presenting what various moral theorists would make of them.

By having several views "on the table" before theory is presented, you can help students to

see the material in context and to explore their own beliefs. It is also a good way to begin a

discussion of evolutionary theory or any other scientific area where the general public often

has views contrary to current scientific thinking, such as paper vs. plastic packaging or

nuclear power generation.

Daily Journal - This combines the advantages of the above three techniques, and

allows for more in-depth discussion of or reaction to course material. You may set

aside class time for students to complete their journal entries, or assign this as

homework. The only disadvantage to this approach is that the feedback will not be as

"instant" as with the one-minute paper (and other assignments which you collect the

day of the relevant lecture). But with this approach (particularly if entries are assigned

for homework), you may ask more complex questions, such as, "Do you think that

determinism is correct, or that humans have free will? Explain your answer.", or "Do

you think that Dr. Kevorkian's actions are morally right? What would John Stuart Mill

say?" and so on. Or you might have students find and discuss reports of scientific

studies in popular media on topics relevant to course material, such as global

warming, the ozone layer, and so forth.

Reading Quiz - Clearly, this is one way to coerce students to read assigned

material! Active learning depends upon students coming to class prepared. The

reading quiz can also be used as an effective measure of student

comprehension of the readings (so that you may gauge their level of

sophistication as readers). Further, by asking the same sorts of questions on

several reading quizzes, you will give students guidance as to what to look for

when reading assigned text. If you ask questions like "What color were

Esmerelda's eyes?" (as my high school literature teacher liked to do), you are

telling the student that it is the details that count, whereas questions like "What

reason did Esmerelda give, for murdering Sebastian?" highlight issues of

justification. If your goal is to instruct (and not merely to coerce), carefully

choose questions which will both identify who has read the material (for your

sake) and identify what is important in the reading (for their sake).

Clarification Pauses - This is a simple technique aimed at fostering

"active listening". Throughout a lecture, particularly after stating an

important point or defining a key concept, stop, let it sink in, and then

(after waiting a bit!) ask if anyone needs to have it clarified. You can

also circulate around the room during these pauses to look at student

notes, answer questions, etc. Students who would never ask a question in

front of the whole class will ask questions during a clarification pause as

you move about the room.

Response to a demonstration or other teacher centered

activity - The students are asked to write a paragraph that begins

with: I was surprised that ... I learned that ... I wonder about ...

This allows the students to reflect on what they actually got out of

the teachersÂ’ presentation. It also helps students realize that the

activity was designed for more than just entertainment.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

While most of us use questions as a way of prodding students and

instantly testing comprehension, there are simple ways of tweaking our

questioning techniques which increase student involvement and

comprehension. Though some of the techniques listed here are

"obvious", we will proceed on the principle that the obvious sometimes

bears repeating (a useful pedagogical principle, to be sure!).

The "Socratic Method"

Taking its namesake from the most famous gadfly in history, this technique in its original format involved instructors "testing" student knowledge (of reading assignments, lectures, or perhaps applications of course material to a wider context) by asking questions during the course of a lecture. Typically, the instructor chooses a particular student, presents her with a question, and expects an answer forthwith; if the "chosen" student cannot answer the question presented, the instructor chooses another (and another) until the desired answer is received. This method has come under criticism, based on claims that it singles out students (potentially embarrassing them), and/or that it favors only a small segment of the class (i.e., that small percentage of the class who can answer any question thrown at them). In addition, once a student has answered a question they may not pay much attention as it will be a long time before the teacher returns to them for a second question. In spite of these criticisms, we feel that the Socratic method is an important and useful one; the following techniques suggest variations which enhance this method, avoiding some of these pitfalls.

Wait Time - Rather than choosing the student who will answer the

question presented, this variation has the instructor WAITING before

calling on someone to answer it. The wait time will generally be short

(15 seconds or so) - but it may seem interminable in the classroom. It is

important to insist that no one raise his hand (or shout out the answer)

before you give the OK, in order to discourage the typical scenario in

which the five students in the front row all immediately volunteer to

answer the question, and everyone else sighs in relief. Waiting forces

every student to think about the question, rather than passively relying

on those students who are fastest out of the gate to answer every

question. When the wait time is up, the instructor asks for volunteers or

randomly picks a student to answer the question. Once students are in

the habit of waiting after questions are asked, more will get involved in

the process.

Student Summary of Another Student's Answer - In order to

promote active listening, after one student has volunteered an

answer to your question, ask another student to summarize the

first student's response. Many students hear little of what their

classmates have to say, waiting instead for the instructor to either

correct or repeat the answer. Having students summarize or repeat

each others' contributions to the course both fosters active

participation by all students and promotes the idea that learning is

a shared enterprise. Given the possibility of being asked to repeat

a classmates' comments, most students will listen more attentively

to each other.

The Fish Bowl - Students are given index cards, and asked

to write down one question concerning the course material.

They should be directed to ask a question of clarification

regarding some aspect of the material which they do not

fully understand; or, perhaps you may allow questions

concerning the application of course material to practical

contexts. At the end of the class period (or, at the beginning

of the next class meeting if the question is assigned for

homework), students deposit their questions in a fish bowl.

The instructor then draws several questions out of the bowl

and answers them for the class or asks the class to answer

them. This technique can be combined with others (e.g.,

#8-9 above, and #2).

Quiz/Test Questions - Here students are asked to

become actively involved in creating quizzes and

tests by constructing some (or all) of the questions

for the exams. This exercise may be assigned for

homework and itself evaluated (perhaps for extra

credit points). In asking students to think up exam

questions, we encourage them to think more deeply

about the course material and to explore major

themes, comparison of views presented, applications,

and other higher-order thinking skills. Once

suggested questions are collected, the instructor may

use them as the basis of review sessions, and/or to

model the most effective questions. Further, you may

ask students to discuss the merits of a sample of

questions submitted; in discussing questions, they

will significantly increase their engagement of the

material to supply answers. Students might be asked

to discuss several aspects of two different questions

on the same material including degree of difficulty,

effectiveness in assessing their learning, proper

scope of questions, and so forth.

Immediate Feedback

These techniques are designed to give the instructor some indication of student understanding of the material presented during the lecture itself. These activities provide formative assessment rather than summative assessment of student understanding, Formative assessment is evaluation of the class as a whole in order to provide information for the benefit of the students and the instructor, but the information is not used as part of the course grade; summative assessment is any evaluation of student performance which becomes part of the course grade. For each feedback method, the instructor stops at appropriate points to give quick tests of the material; in this way, she can adjust the lecture mid-course, slowing down to spend more time on the concepts students are having difficulty with or moving more quickly to applications of concepts of which students have a good understanding.

Finger Signals - This method provides instructors with a

means of testing student comprehension without the

waiting period or the grading time required for written

quizzes. Students are asked questions and instructed to

signal their answers by holding up the appropriate number

of fingers immediately in front of their torsos (this makes it

impossible for students to "copy", thus committing them to

answer each question on their own). For example, the

instructor might say "one finger for 'yes', two for 'no'", and

then ask questions such as "Do all organic compounds

contain carbon [hydrogen, etc.]?". Or, the instructor might

have multiple choice questions prepared for the overhead

projector and have the answers numbered (1) through (5),

asking students to answer with finger signals. In very large

classes the students can use a set of large cardboard signs

with numbers written on them. This method allows

instructors to assess student knowledge literally at a glance.

Flash Cards - A variation of the Finger Signals approach,

this method tests studentsÂ’ comprehension through their

response to flash cards held by the instructor. This is

particularly useful in disciplines which utilize models or

other visual stimuli, such as chemistry, physics or biology.

For example, the instructor might flash the diagram of a

chemical compound and ask "Does this compound react

with H O?". This can be combined with finger signals.2

Quotations - This is a particularly useful method of

testing student understanding when they are learning

to read texts and identify an author's viewpoint and

arguments. After students have read a representative

advocate of each of several opposing theories or

schools of thought, and the relevant concepts have

been defined and discussed in class, put on the

overhead projector a quotation by an author whom

they have not read in the assigned materials, and ask

them to figure out what position that person

advocates. In addition to testing comprehension of

the material presented in lecture, this exercise

Critical Thinking Motivators

Sometimes it is helpful to get students involved in discussion of or thinking about course material either before any theory is presented in lecture or after several conflicting theories have been presented. The idea in the first case is to generate data or questions prior to mapping out the theoretical landscape; in the second case, the students learn to assess the relative merits of several approaches.

develops critical thinking and analysis skills. This

would be very useful, for example, in discussing the

various aspects of evolutionary theory.

The Pre-Theoretic Intuitions Quiz - Students often

dutifully record everything the instructor says during a

lecture and then ask at the end of the day or the course

"what use is any of this?", or "what good will philosophy

[organic chemistry, etc.] do for us?". To avoid such

questions, and to get students interested in a topic before

lectures begin, an instructor can give a quiz aimed at

getting students to both identify and to assess their own

views. An example of this is a long "True or False"

questionnaire designed to start students thinking about

moral theory (to be administered on the first or second day

of an introductory ethics course), which includes statements

such as "There are really no correct answers to moral

questions" and "Whatever a society holds to be morally

right is in fact morally right". After students have

responded to the questions individually, have them compare

answers in pairs or small groups and discuss the ones on

which they disagree. This technique may also be used to

assess student knowledge of the subject matter in a

pre-/post-lecture comparison. The well-known "Force

Concept Inventory" developed by Hestenes to measure

understanding of force and motion is another good example

of this.

Puzzles/Paradoxes - One of the most useful means of

ferreting out students' intuitions on a given topic is to

present them with a paradox or a puzzle involving the

concept(s) at issue, and to have them struggle towards a

solution. By forcing the students to "work it out" without

some authority's solution, you increase the likelihood that

they will be able to critically assess theories when they are

presented later. For example, students in a course on

theories of truth might be asked to assess the infamous

"Liar Paradox" (with instances such as 'This sentence is

false'), and to suggest ways in which such paradoxes can be

avoided. Introductory logic students might be presented

with complex logic puzzles as a way of motivating truth

tables, and so forth. In scientific fields you can present

experimental data which seems to contradict parts of the

theory just presented or use examples which seem to have

features which support two opposing theories.

Share/Pair

Grouping students in pairs allows many of the advantages of group work students have the opportunity to state their own views, to hear from others, to hone their argumentative skills, and so forth without the administrative "costs" of group work (time spent assigning people to groups, class time used just for "getting in groups", and so on). Further, pairs make it virtually impossible for students to avoid participating thus making each person accountable.

Discussion - Students are asked to pair off and to respond to a

question either in turn or as a pair. This can easily be combined

with other techniques such as those under "Questions and

Answers" or "Critical Thinking Motivators" above. For example,

after students have responded to statements, such as "Whatever a

society holds to be morally right is in fact morally right" with

'true' or 'false', they can be asked to compare answers to a limited

number of questions and to discuss the statements on which they

differed. In science classes students can be asked to explain some

experimental data that supports a theory just discussed by the

lecturer. Generally, this works best when students are given

explicit directions, such as "Tell each other why you chose the

answer you did".

Note Comparison/Sharing - One reason that some students

perform poorly in classes is that they often do not have good note-

taking skills. That is, while they might listen attentively, students

do not always know what to write down, or they may have gaps in

their notes which will leave them bewildered when they go back

to the notes to study or to write a paper. One way to avoid some of

these pitfalls and to have students model good note-taking is to

have them occasionally compare notes. The instructor might stop

lecturing immediately after covering a crucial concept and have

students read each others' notes, filling in the gaps in their own

note-taking. This is especially useful in introductory courses or in

courses designed for non-majors or special admissions students.

Once students see the value of supplementing their own note-

taking with others', they are likely to continue the practice outside

of class time.

Evaluation of Another Student's Work - Students are

asked to complete an individual homework assignment or

short paper. On the day the assignment is due, students

submit one copy to the instructor to be graded and one copy

to their partner. These may be assigned that day, or students

may be assigned partners to work with throughout the term.

Each student then takes their partner's work and depending

on the nature of the assignment gives critical feedback,

standardizes or assesses the arguments, corrects mistakes in

problem-solving or grammar, and so forth. This is a

particularly effective way to improve student writing.

Cooperative Learning Exercises

For more complex projects, where many heads are better than one or two, you may want to have students work in groups of three or more. As the term "cooperative learning" suggests, students working in groups will help each other to learn. Generally, it is better to form heterogeneous groups (with regard to gender, ethnicity, and academic performance), particularly when the groups will be working together over time or on complex projects; however, some of these techniques work well with spontaneously formed groups. Cooperative groups encourage discussion of problem solving techniques ("Should we try this?", etc.), and avoid the embarrassment of students who have not yet mastered all of the skills required.

Cooperative Groups in Class - Pose a question to be worked on

in each cooperative group and then circulate around the room

answering questions, asking further questions, keeping the groups

on task, and so forth.. After an appropriate time for group

discussion, students are asked to share their discussion points with

the rest of the class. (The ensuing discussion can be guided

according to the "Questions and Answers" techniques outlined

above.)

Active Review Sessions - In the traditional class review session

the students ask questions and the instructor answers them.

Students spend their time copying down answers rather than

thinking about the material. In an active review session the

instructor posses questions and the students work on them in

groups. Then students are asked to show their solutions to the

whole group and discuss any differences among solutions

proposed.

Work at the Blackboard - In many problem solving

courses (e.g., logic or critical thinking), instructors tend to

review homework or teach problem solving techniques by

solving the problems themselves. Because students learn

more by doing, rather than watching, this is probably not

the optimal scenario. Rather than illustrating problem

solving, have students work out the problems themselves,

by asking them to go to the blackboard in small groups to

solve problems. If there is insufficient blackboard space,

students can still work out problems as a group, using paper

and pencil or computers if appropriate software is

available.

Concept Mapping - A concept map is a way of

illustrating the connections that exist between terms

or concepts covered in course material; students

construct concept maps by connecting individual

terms by lines which indicate the relationship

between each set of connected terms. Most of the

terms in a concept map have multiple connections.

Developing a concept map requires the students to

identify and organize information and to establish

meaningful relationships between the pieces of

information.

Visual Lists - Here students are asked to make

a list--on paper or on the blackboard; by

working in groups, students typically can

generate more comprehensive lists than they

might if working alone. This method is

particularly effective when students are asked

to compare views or to list pros and cons of a

position. One technique which works well

with such comparisons is to have students

draw a "T" and to label the left- and right-

hand sides of the cross bar with the opposing

positions (or 'Pro' and 'Con'). They then list

everything they can think of which supports

these positions on the relevant side of the

vertical line. Once they have generated as

thorough a list as they can, ask them to

analyze the lists with questions appropriate to

the exercise. For example, when discussing

Utilitarianism (a theory which claims that an

action is morally right whenever it results in

more benefits than harms) students can use the

"T" method to list all of the (potential)

benefits and harms of an action, and then

discuss which side is more heavily

"weighted". Often having the list before them

helps to determine the ultimate utility of the

action, and the requirement to fill in the "T"

generally results in a more thorough

accounting of the consequences of the action

in question. In science classes this would work

well with such topics as massive vaccination

programs, nuclear power, eliminating

chlorofluorocarbons, reducing carbon dioxide

emissions, and so forth.

Jigsaw Group Projects - In jigsaw

projects, each member of a group is

asked to complete some discrete part of

an assignment; when every member has

completed his assigned task, the pieces

can be joined together to form a

finished project. For example, students

in a course in African geography might

be grouped and each assigned a

country; individual students in the

group could then be assigned to

research the economy, political

structure, ethnic makeup, terrain and

climate, or folklore of the assigned

country. When each student has

completed his research, the group then

reforms to complete a comprehensive

report. In a chemistry course each

student group could research a different

form of power generation (nuclear,

fossil fuel, hydroelectric, etc.). Then the

groups are reformed so that each group

has an expert in one form of power

generation. They then tackle the

difficult problem of how much

emphasis should be placed on each

method.

Role Playing - Here students are

asked to "act out" a part. In doing

so, they get a better idea of the

concepts and theories being

discussed. Role-playing exercises

can range from the simple (e.g.,

"What would you do if a Nazi

came to your door, and you were

hiding a Jewish family in the

attic?") to the complex. Complex

role playing might take the form

of a play (depending on time and

resources); for example, students

studying ancient philosophy

might be asked to recreate the

trial of Socrates. Using various

sources (e.g., Plato's dialogues,

Stone's The Trial of Socrates, and

Aristophanes' The Clouds),

student teams can prepare the

prosecution and defense of

Socrates on the charges of

corruption of youth and treason;

each team may present witnesses

(limited to characters which

appear in the Dialogues, for

instance) to construct their case,

and prepare questions for cross-

examination.

Panel Discussions - Panel

discussions are especially

useful when students are

asked to give class

presentations or reports as

a way of including the

entire class in the

presentation. Student

groups are assigned a topic

to research and asked to

prepare presentations (note

that this may readily be

combined with the jigsaw

method outlined above).

Each panelist is then

expected to make a very

short presentation, before

the floor is opened to

questions from "the

audience". The key to

success is to choose topics

carefully and to give

students sufficient

direction to ensure that

they are well-prepared for

their presentations. You

might also want to prepare

the "audience", by

assigning them various

roles. For example, if

students are presenting the

results of their research

into several forms of

energy, you might have

some of the other students

role play as concerned

environmentalists,

transportation officials,

commuters, and so forth.

Debates - Actually

a variation of #27,

formal debates

provide an efficient

structure for class

presentations when

the subject matter

easily divides into

opposing views or

‘Pro’/‘Con’

considerations.

Students are

assigned to debate

teams, given a

position to defend,

and then asked to

present arguments

in support of their

position on the

presentation day.

The opposing team

should be given an

opportunity to rebut

the argument(s) and,

time permitting, the

original presenters

asked to respond to

the rebuttal. This

format is

particularly useful

in developing

argumentation skills

(in addition to

teaching content).

Games -

Many will

scoff at the

idea that one

would

literally play

games in a

university

setting, but

occasionally

there is no

better

instructional

tool. In

particular,

there are

some

concepts or

theories

which are

more easily

illustrated

than

discussed and

in these

cases, a well-

conceived

game may

convey the

idea more

readily. For

example,

when

students are

introduced to

the concepts

of "laws of

nature" and

"the scientific

method", it is

hard to

convey

through

lectures the

nature of

scientific

work and the

fallibility of

inductive

hypotheses.

Instead,

students play

a couple

rounds of the

Induction

Game, in

which

REFERENCES ON ACTIVE AND COOPERATIVE LEARNING

Angelo, T. A. and Cross, K. P. 1993. Classroom Assessment Techniques, A Handbook for College Teachers, 2nd ed., Jossey-

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playing cards

are turned up

and either

added to a

running

series or

discarded

according to

the dealerÂ’s

pre-

conceived

"law of

nature".

Students are

asked to

"discover"

the natural

law, by

formulating

and testing

hypotheses as

the game

proceeds.

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