The College Classroom (Wi15) Session 6: Cooperative Learning and Peer Instruction

The College Classroom Session 6:
Cooperative Learning and Peer Instruction
February 10 and 12, 2015
Unless otherwise noted, content is
licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-
Non Commercial 3.0 License.
Please form groups of
2-3 with others in
your subject area:
Look for colored cards
like yours.

Peer Instruction - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu2
active learning
cooperative
learning
peer
instruction

What do you see?
3
Peer Instruction
collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu
2010–2011 Higher Education Research Initiative (HERI)
Faculty Survey of 23,824 full-time faculty at 417 four-year
colleges and universities [1]

What do you see?
4 Peer Instruction - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu
2013–2014 Higher Education Research Initiative (HERI)
Faculty Survey of 16,112 full-time faculty at 269 four-year
colleges and universities [2]

Cooperative Learning[3]
Cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups so
that students work together to maximize their own and each other’s
learning.
(Rique Campa)
constructivism social constructivism
recognizes that knowledge is
constructed in the mind of the
learner by the learner
([1], p.262)
implies that this “building”
process is aided through
cooperative social interactions
([1], p. 262)

Key to successful cooperative learning
If you choose to use cooperative learning so that students
learn how to work effectively as a team,
you need to teach the students
how to work effectively as a team
You can’t leave it up to them to figure out
 positive team member traits
 team-building, management, conflict-resolution skills
 how to remain inquiry-based: asking questions of each
other, making recommendations, receiving feedback
 how to make effective, professional presentations

What to watch for
and what to do about it
 lack of group maturity
insufficient guidance and training from instructor about
how to work together
 “free-riding”
instructor hasn’t built in enough individual accountability
 loss of motivation
instructor needs to stay in touch with groups frequently
 lack of skills and abilities
instructor needs to create groups with more diverse
skills and abilities

What the best college teachers do[5]
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.

In natural critical learning environments
students encounter safe yet challenging conditions in
which they can try, fail, receive feedback, and try again
without facing a summative evaluation.[5]
try
fail
receive
feedback

Discussion (Economics)
Which of the following professionals choose to drive an
expensive car as a signal of their success, compared to
others in the same profession?
A) a realtor
B) a politician
C) a carpenter
D) a major league baseball player
(adapted from Steve Morris, Bowdoin College, ME)

Discussion (Economics)
Which of the following professionals chooses to drive an
expensive car as a signal that they are more successful than
others in the same profession?
A) a realtor
B) a politician
C) a carpenter
D) a major league baseball player
(adapted from Steve Morris, Bowdoin College, ME)
AfterTuesday’s class, I tried
this different wording for the
question. I think it over-
simplied the concept of
“credible signal”.

Typical Episode of Peer Instruction
1. Instructor poses a conceptually-challenging
multiple-choice question.
2. Students think about question on their own and vote
using clickers, colored ABCD cards, smartphones,…
3. The instructor asks students to turn to their neighbors
and “convince them you’re right.”
4. After that “peer instruction”, students may vote again.
5. The instructor leads a class-wide discussion concluding
with why the right answer(s) is right and the wrong
answers are wrong.

Peer instruction is successful when
 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,
communicate
like experts

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

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

BEFORE DURING AFTER
setting up
instruction
developing
knowledge
assessing
learning

BEFORE DURING AFTER
setting up
instruction
developing
knowledge
assessing
learning
The students have not
resolved Concept X.
But they’re know X exists
and why X is interesting.

BEFORE DURING AFTER
setting up
instruction
developing
knowledge
assessing
learning

BEFORE DURING AFTER
setting up
instruction
developing
knowledge
assessing
learning
Students have had opportunities to
try, fail, receive feedback and
try again without facing a
summative evaluation.

BEFORE DURING AFTER
setting up
instruction
developing
knowledge
assessing
learning

Writing Good
Peer Instruction Questions

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?
Peer Instruction - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu22 (Adapted from Stephanie Chasteen, CU Boulder)

Sample Questions
With others in your group, look through the collection of
questions (start with the questions in subjects you’re
familiar with. )
WARNING: Some are good, some are not.
Try to identify at least one characteristic (clarity,
context,…) that makes each question good (or bad).

Try it yourself:
In your groups of 2 – 3,
1. Show each other the learning outcomes you brought to class.
2. Decide which learning outcome all of you are familiar with.
3. On a whiteboard, write a peer instruction question that helps a
student move towards that learning outcome.
4. Select someone in your group to be prepared to state the
learning outcome, describe the question, and justify each choice.

References
1. Hurtado, S., Eagan, M. K., Pryor, J. H.,Whang, H., &Tran, S. (2012). Undergraduate
teaching faculty:The 2010–2011 HERI Faculty Survey. LosAngeles: Higher Education
Research Institute, UCLA. www.heri.ucla.edu
2. Eagan, M. K., Stolzenberg, E. B., Berdan Lozano, J.,Aragon, M. C., Suchard, M. R.,
& Hurtado, S. (2014). Undergraduate teaching faculty:The 2013–2014 HERI Faculty
Survey. LosAngeles: Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA. www.heri.ucla.edu
3. Derek Bruff, Henry (Rique) Campa, III,Trina McMahon, Bennett Goldberg (2014).
“An Introduction to Evidence-Based Undergraduate STEMTeaching” (coursera
MOOC) class.coursera.org/stemteaching-001
4. 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.
5. Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.

Cooperative learning groups[3]
group type description advantages tasks for instructor
informal groups of 2-4 students
formed spontaneously
in class
• for example, during
peer instruction
with clickers
• good for large classes
• can be used at any time
• opportunity for students
to practice learning goals
describe, define, draw,
rank,…
• opportunity for students
to process what they just
read or heard
• be explicit about
expectations and
responsibilities
• be explicit about how
much time they have
• reinforce benefits of
group interaction
• can be difficult to make
both individual and
group accountable

formal students stay in same
group throughout
term for
• in-class activities
• presentations
• group exams
• study group
Groups formed
• randomly
• engineered for
diversity
• self-selected
• formal group is closer to
real, professional setting
• groups can accomplish
bigger tasks like group
presentations
• students learn each
other’s strengths and
weaknesses, earn each
other’s trust
Instructor must give more
structure/guidance:
• objectives of tasks
• tell groups how to make
decisions
• explain positive
interdependence
• explain individual and
group accountability
• mentor groups on
conflict resolution, group
management
• regular, formative
feedback

base long-term, stable
group of 3-5 students
to accomplish large,
complex task
• build a robot, create
an app
• write a paper
• form mock (or real)
company
• groups meet regularly
(typically outside of class
time)
• self-selected or formed
by instructor by students’
skills
• facilitate and scaffold
meeting schedule, how
to share resources, how
to support each other
• regularly check on
groups, meet with each
group (don’t form and
forget)
• may need to scaffold
students through project:
objectives, methods,
results, presentation, etc.
(there should be no
surprises at end of term)

The College Classroom (Wi15) Session 6: Cooperative Learning and Peer Instruction

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The College Classroom (Wi15) Session 6: Cooperative Learning and Peer Instruction