Center for Teaching Development (UCSD) Weekly Workshop: How People Learn January 17, 2013 ctd.ucsd.edu

1. slides and resources: http://tinyurl.com/HowPeopleLearnCTD
CTD WEEKLY WORKSHOPS:
HOW PEOPLE LEARN
Peter Newbury
Center for Teaching Development,
University of California, San Diego
pnewbury@ucsd.edu @polarisdotca
ctd.ucsd.edu #ctducsd
Thursday, January 17, 2013
12:30 – 1:30 pm Center Hall, Room 316

2. 2 How People Learn

3. Evidence-based teaching
We know How People Learn.1
There is research that informs us. Let’s exploit the
patterns of learning to make instruction more effective.
1. National Research Council. How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School:
Expanded Edition. J.D. Bransford, A.L Brown & R.R. Cocking (Eds.),Washington, DC: The
National Academies Press, 2000.
Available on-line (for free) at
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9853&page=1
3 How People Learn

4. The traditional lecture is based on the
transmissionist learning model
4 How People Learn (Image by um.dentistry on flickr CC)

5. Scientifically Outdated,
Culturally a Known Failure
5 How People Learn

6. Let’s have a learning experience…
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7. Here is an important new number
system. Please learn it.
1= 4= 7=
2= 5= 8=
3= 6= 9=
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8. Test
What is this number?
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9. New Number System
Here’s the structure of the “tic-tac-toe” code:
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
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10. Test
What is this number?
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11. Constructivist theory of learning
 New learning is based on pre-existing knowledge
that you hold.
 You store things in long term memory through a set
of connections that are made with previous existing
memories.
 Higher-level learning = brain development
T.J. Shors, “Saving New Brain Cells”
Sci. Amer. 300, 46-54 (March 2009).
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12. Key Finding 1
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 – Chapter 1, p 14.
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13. Key Finding 2
To develop competence in an area of inquiry, 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 – Chapter 1, p 16.
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14. Key Finding 3
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 – Chapter 1, p 18.
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15. Aside: metacognition
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 learning A than B; if it
strikes me that I should double check C before accepting
it as fact.
(Flavell1,2, 1976, p. 232)
1. Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), The
nature of intelligence (pp.231-236). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
2. Brame, C. (2013) Thinking about metacognition. [blog] January, 2013, Available at:
http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2013/01/thinking-about-metacognition/ [Accessed: 14 Jan 2013].
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16. Aside: metacognition
I wonder why I wonder why?
I wonder why I wonder?
I wonder why I wonder why I wonder why I wonder?
Richard Feynman
Image: Wikimedia Commons
http://www.fnal.gov/pub/news/feynman.jpg
16 How People Learn

17. Key Finding 3
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 – Chapter 1, p 18.
17 How People Learn

18. Please break into groups of 3...
Each set of cards has
3 Key Findings
3 Implications for Teaching
3 Designing Classroom Environments
TASK: Match one Implication for Teaching and one
Designing Classroom Environment to each Key Finding
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19. Peer Instruction and How People Learn
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20. Evolution of the Solar System
Today, we’ve been learning about the formation of the
Solar System.
Just like a geologist studies the exposed layers on a
cliff-face, we study landforms on other planets and
moons to find the chronology (sequence) of processes.
20 How People Learn

21. Clicker question
X Are features X and Y
ridges or valleys?
A) X=ridge, Y=valley
B) X=valley, Y=ridge
C) both are ridges
Y D) both are valleys
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22. Peer Instruction and How People Learn
22 How People Learn

23. To learn more about peer instruction
Upcoming CTD Teaching and Learning Workshops:
January 24 Clickers 1: Intro to Peer Instruction with Clickers
January 31 Clickers 2: Writing Good Clicker Questions
February 7 Clickers 3: Click It Up a Level
To register, look for Wi13 Teaching and Learning
Workshops at ctd.ucsd.edu
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24. How People Learn
Learning is not about what
professors do.
It’s about what students do!
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25. How People Learn
Learning is not about what
professors do.
It’s about what students do!
Corollary: Students will not
learn (just) by listening to the
professor explain
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26. The Big Picture: Ask yourself
Who is doing the work?
You or the students?
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27. slides and resources: http://tinyurl.com/HowPeopleLearnCTD
CTD WEEKLY WORKSHOPS:
HOW PEOPLE LEARN
Peter Newbury
Center for Teaching Development,
University of California, San Diego
pnewbury@ucsd.edu @polarisdotca
ctd.ucsd.edu #ctducsd
Thursday, January 17, 2013
12:30 – 1:30 pm Center Hall, Room 316