Activating your Students fromthe Front Row to the Back Row:A Cooperative Learning Model

Karl A. SmithCivil Engineering

University of Minnesotaksmith@umn.edu

http://www.ce.umn.edu/~smith

New Faculty Teaching ScholarsProgram – Videoconference

University of MissouriApril 2002

Why Activate Your Students? What is the Current Status of

Active Learning?

What are The Forces Driving These Changes?

What are the Contribution ofCooperative Learning for Designing

These Experiences & Courses?

Lila M. Smith

Pedago-pathologies – Lee Shulman

Amnesia

Fantasia

Inertia

Shulman, Lee S. 1999. Taking learning seriously. Change, 31 (4), 11-17.

Lila M. Smith

What do we do about thesepathologies? – Lee Shulman

ActivityReflectionCollaborationPassion

Combined with generative contentand the creation of powerful learningcommunities

Shulman, Lee S. 1999. Taking learning seriously. Change, 31 (4), 11-17.

Large Classes:The Current Situation

Classes with Over 50 students – Prevalent andIncreasing; ditto for Classes with Over 100 students

Classes of 50 students or more:Best National Universites (Top 50) – 1-28%, Avg =

12.4, S.D. = 6.3

National Universities (Next 50) – 0.3-50%, Avg =12.1, S.D. = 7.7

U.S. News & World Report (www.usnews.com (Accessed10/16/00)

Large Classes:Instructional Approach

Gardiner(1994) report that 73-83 percent of collegeinstructors surveyed identified the lecture method astheir usual instructional strategy

Astin, Alexander W. 1993. Engineering outcomes. ASEE PRISM, 3(1), 27-30.

Large Classes:How Well are They Working?

Carbone and Greenberg (1998) indicate a generaldissatisfaction with the quality of large-class learningexperiences• Lack of interaction with faculty members (in and

out of class• Lack of structure in lectures• Lack of or poor discussion sections• Inadequate contact with teaching assistants• Inadequacy of classroom facilities and

environment• Lack of frequent testing or graded assignments

Large Classes:How Well are They Working?

Students’ Comments

Wulff, Nyquist & Abbott (1987):• “It is easier to do anything you

want, sleep, not attend, or loseattention”

• “No one knows I’m here”• “Rude people come late, leave

early, or sit and talk to theirbuddies”

Wulff, Nyquist & Abbott (1987)Conclusion & Recommendation

Foremost among the dimensions of largeclasses that hindered students’ learningwas the lack of instructor-studentinteraction with opportunities forquestions and discussion.

The key seems to lie in finding ways toprovide instructor-student interaction inthe large-class context.

Talking about leaving: Why undergraduates leave the sciencesby Elaine Seymour & Nancy M. Hewitt

Westview, 430 pages, 1997.

Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition (Second edition)

by Vincent TintoUniversity of Chicago Press, 1993, 296 pages.

The Chilly Classroom Climate: A Guide to Improve the Education of Women

by Bernice Resnick Sandler, Lisa A. Silverberg & Roberta M. Hall

National Association for Women in Education, 125 pages, 1996.

Talking about leaving: Why undergraduates leave the sciences

"Field switching is only the tip of an iceberg: The same set of problemsthat prompt some science, mathematics, and engineering undergraduatesto leave make persistence difficult for those who stay." (Cover jacket).

"Contrary to the common assumption that most switching is caused bypersonal inadequacy in the face of academic challenge, one strongfinding is the high proportion of factors cited as significant in switchingdecisions which arise either from structural or cultural sources withininstitutions, or from students' concerns about their career prospects (p.32)." The four most commonly cited concerns leading to switchingdecisions (also cited by between 31 and 74 percent of the non-switchers)were:

1. Lack or loss of interest in science2. Belief that a non-S.M.E. major holds more interest, or offers a better

education3. Poor teaching by S.M.E. faculty4. Feeling overwhelmed by the pace and load of curriculum demands.

Students' voices:

I do work hard, and my average load over these four years--even when Iwas transferring out--has been 17, 18 hours a semester, plus a couple ofnight classes sometimes. It doesn't really bother me to work that hard. Butwhen it's a concept I don't understand and I go to get help from faculty andthey just don't give it, that's discouraging. (Male white engineering switcher)

What bothers me is the number of people who know what engineering isabout, and really have the capability to do well and be good in the field, butend up going a different way for reasons other than the lack of ability.(Female white engineering non-switcher).

You get people that would probably do well if they were given half achance, but there's so much competition, and not a heck of a lot of help.(Female black engineering senior).

The first two years in physics are so dull. I mean, they have absolutelynothing to do with what you'll be doing later. I'm afraid that's why you mightbe losing good students from engineering that are really qualified and havethe intelligence. . .There are ways to make the introductory materialinteresting so that it doesn't drive away good people through boredom. (Male white engineering non-switcher).

Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition

"More students leave their college or university prior to degree completionthan stay."

Individual departure from institutions of higher education arises from severalmajor causes or roots:

intentioncommitmentadjustmentdifficulty congruenceisolationobligationsfinances

Student departure takes two forms, academic dismissal and voluntarywithdrawal, the latter being much more common. For most departures,leaving has little to do with the inability to meet formal academicrequirements or finances. Student departure primarily appears to result fromwhat goes on in the daily interactions between students and faculty insideand outside the classroom.

The Chilly Classroom Climate: A Guide to Improve the Education of Women

"Women as well as men may often treat women in ways that not onlydiscourage their classroom participation but also lessen their self-esteem and vocational aspirations."

Men and women, sitting side by side in the classroom, often havevery different experiences, because faculty members may unwittinglytreat them differently. Teachers can inhibit women's full participationby such behaviors as:

1. Doubting women's accomplishments, for example, attributing their achievements to "luck" or "affirmative action" but men's to "talent"or "ability"

2. Responding more extensively to men's in-class comments withpraise, criticism, or coaching but to women's with "uh-huh."

3. Assuming that women who ask for help do not know the materialbut that men who ask are smart, inquisitive, and involved.

4. Praising men for their work and abilities and women for theirappearance.

Tinto's principles of effective retention:

1. Effective retention programs are committed to the students they serve. They put student welfare ahead of other institutional goals.

2. Effective retention programs are first and foremost committed to theeducation of all, not just some, of their students.

3. Effective retention programs are committed to the development ofsupportive social and educational communities in which all students areintegrated as competent members.

Commonalities of effective retention commitments:

• enduring commitment to student welfare

• a broader commitment to the education, not mere retention, of allstudents

• an emphasis upon the importance of social and intellectual community inthe education of students.

"Although programs can be most helpful, they cannotreplace the absence of a high quality, caring, andconcerned faculty and staff. Institutions shouldtherefore not be misled by the use of moderntechnology and marketing strategies. . .The road toinstitutional commitment and thus to studentcommitment does not require very elaborate or high-cost interventions. . .Rather, effective retention calls forsustained effort of the part of all institutional membersto give to each and every student serious and honestattention on a daily basis. It requires, if you will, acontinuing commitment to the education of students. No technology, however sophisticated, can replace thatsort of commitment (Tinto, p. 201)."

P NSF - Career Development Award & Shaping theFuture

P ABET< Assessment< Synthesis & Design

P Employers

P University Administration – Renewing the Covenant

P Boyer Commissions - Educating Undergraduates in theResearch Universities &Scholarship Reconsidered

P Educational Research< Active, Interactive & Cooperative Learning< Inquiry & Problem-Based Learning

Some Pressures for Change

Shaping the Future: New Expectations forUndergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics,Engineering and Technology

Goal – All students have access to supportive, excellentundergraduate education in science, mathematics, engineering,and technology, and all students learn these subjects by directexperience with the methods and processes of inquiry.

Recommend that SME&T faculty: Believe and affirm that everystudent can learn, and model good practices that increaselearning; starting with the student’s experience, but have highexpectations within a supportive climate; and build inquiry, asense of wonder and the excitement of discovery, pluscommunication and teamwork, critical thinking, and life-longlearning skills into learning experiences.

Criterion 3. Program Outcomes and Assessment

Engineering programs must demonstrate that their graduates have:

(a) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, andengineering

(b) an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyzeand interpret data

(c) an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desiredneeds

(d) an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams (e) an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems (f) an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility (g) an ability to communicate effectively (h) the broad education necessary to understand the impact of

engineering solutions in a global and societal context (i) a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long

learning (j) a knowledge of contemporary issues (k) an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools

necessary for engineering practice.

Business WeekDecember 22,

1997

Welcome to Michigan State University, a research-intensive, land-grant institution. Founded in 1855, MSU is one of only 58members of the Association of American Universities and amember of the Big Ten conference. As provided in theConstitution of the State of Michigan, MSU is under the generalsupervision of its Board of Trustees.

Six Guiding Principles were established by the university in 1994to guide MSU into the next century. We will:

! Improve Access to Quality Education and Expert Knowledge ! Achieve More Active Learning ! Generate New Knowledge and Scholarship Across the Mission ! Promote Problem Solving to Address Society's Needs ! Advance Diversity within Community ! Make People Matter

Peter McPherson, President

Reinventing Undergraduate Education:A Blueprint for America's Research Universities

The Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduatesin the Research Universities, April 1998

Ten Ways to Change Undergraduate Education

Make Research-Based Learning the StandardConstruct an Inquiry-Based Freshman YearBuild on the Freshman FoundationRemove Barriers to Interdisciplinary EducationLink Communications Skills and Course WorkUse Information Technology CreativelyCulminate with a Capstone ExperienceEducate Graduate Students as Apprentice TeachersChange Faculty Reward SystemsCultivate a Sense of Community

http://notes/cc.sunysb.edu/Pres/boyer.nsf

Robert Barr & John Tagg. From teaching to learning:A new paradigm forundergraduate education. Change, 27(6), 1995.

Wm. Campbell & KarlSmith. New Paradigms forCollege Teaching. Interaction Books, 1997.

P Defining educational objectives, facilitating developmentof critical and creative thinking and problem-solving skills

P Active learning (individual and group activities in class)

P Structured cooperative learning (includingmultidisciplinary teamwork and facilitating development ofwritten and oral communication skills)

P Writing and (multidisciplinary) design across thecurriculum

P Inquiry and discovery learning (problem-based, case-based)

P Teaching to diversity (different learning styles, ethnicities,genders)

P Appropriate use of technology (tools, simulation,exploration)

New Paradigm

Getting Students Involved Using Cooperative LearningPrinciples, Strategies, and Problem-Solving

Cooperative Learning:What is it? How do you do it? Why bother?

Cooperative Learning is instruction that involvespeople working in teams to accomplish a commongoal, under conditions that involve both positiveinterdependence (all members must cooperate tocomplete the task) and individual and groupaccountability (each member is accountable forthe complete final outcome).

Key Concepts

! Positive Interdependence! Individual and Group Accountability! Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction! Teamwork Skills! Group Processing

http://clte.asu.edu/active

Cooperative Learning:

Active Learning for the College Classroom

! Informal Cooperative LearningGroups

! Formal Cooperative Learning Groups! Cooperative Base Groups

Book Ends on A Class Session

1. Advance Organizer2. Formulate-Share-Listen-Create (Turn-to-your-

neighbor) – repeated every 10-12 minutes3. Session Summary (Minute Paper)

1. What was the most useful or meaningful thing youlearned during this session?

2. What question(s) remain uppermost in your mindas we end this session?

3. What was the “muddiest” point in this session?

Advance Organizer

“The most important single factorinfluencing learning is what the learneralready knows. Ascertain this andteach him accordingly.”

David Ausubel - Educational psychology: Acognitive approach, 1968.

P Reorder the steps

P Paraphrase the idea

P Correct the error

P Support a statement

P Select the response

Johnston, S. & Cooper,J. 1997. Quick thinks: Active-thinking in lecture classes and televised instruction. Cooperative learning and college teaching, 8(1), 2-7.

Quick Thinks

Formulate-Share-Listen-Create

InformalC ooperativeL earningG roupIntroductoryP airD iscussiono fa

FOCUSQ UESTION

1. Formulate your response to the questionindividually

2. Share your answer with a partner3. Listen carefully to your partner's answer4. Work together to Create a new answer

throughd iscussion

P What was the most useful or meaningful thingyou learned during this session?

P What question(s) remain uppermost in yourmind as we end this session?

P What was the “muddiest” point in this session?

P Give an example or application

P Explain in your own words . . .

Angelo, T.A. & Cross, K.P. 1993. Classroom assessmenttechniques: A handbook for college teachers. San Francisco:Jossey Bass.

Minute Paper

Informal CL (Book Ends on a Lecture) with Concept Tests

Physics Peer InstructionEric Mazur - Harvard – http://galileo.harvard.edu

Peer Instruction www.prenhall.comRichard Hake

Chemistry Chemistry ConcepTests - UW Madison –

www.chem.wisc.edu/~conceptVideo: Making Lectures Interactive with ConcepTestsModularChem Consortium – http://mc2.cchem.berkeley.edu/

STEMTECVideo: How Change Happens: Breaking the Teach as You WereTaught Cycle

Thinking Together video: Derek Bok Center –www.fas.harvard.edu/~bok_cen/

Richard Hake (Interactive engagement vs traditional methods)http://carini.physics.indiana.edu/SDI/

http://www.asme.org/educate

Traditional(lecture)

Interactive(active/cooperative)

<g> = Concept Inventory Gain/Total

Informal CooperativeLearning Groups

Can be used at any time

Can be short term and ad hoc

May be used to break up a long lecture

Provides an opportunity for students to process material theyhave been listening to

Are especially effective in large lectures

Include "book ends" procedure

Are not as effective as Formal Cooperative Learning orCooperative Base Groups

Formal Cooperative LearningTask Groups

Teamwork

A team is a small number of people withcomplementary skills who are committed to acommon purpose, performance goals, andapproach for which they hold themselves mutuallyaccountable

! SMALL NUMBER! COMPLEMENTARY SKILLS! COMMON PURPOSE & PERFORMANCE

GOALS! COMMON APPROACH! MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY

--Katzenbach & SmithThe Wisdom of Teams

Six Basic Principles of Team Discipline

! Keep team membership small

! Ensure that members have complimentary skills

! Develop a common purpose

! Set common goals

! Establish a commonly agreed upon workingapproach

! Integrate mutual and individual accountability

--Katzenbach & Smith (2001) The Discipline ofTeams

Cooperative Learning is instruction that involvespeople working in teams to accomplish a commongoal, under conditions that involve both positiveinterdependence (all members must cooperate tocomplete the task) and individual and groupaccountability (each member is accountable forthe complete final outcome).

Key Concepts

! Positive Interdependence! Individual and Group Accountability! Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction! Teamwork Skills! Group Processing

Cooperative Learning:

Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction

Students promote one another’s success(helping, assisting, supporting,encouraging, and praising one another’sefforts to learn) face to face.

Specific Types of Conversational Roles

Discussion as a Way of Teaching byStephen D. Brookfield and Stephen Preskill

Jossey-Bass, 1999, p. 115-116

Problem, Dilemma, or Theme Poser

Reflective Analyst

Scrounger

Devil’s Advocate

Detective

Theme Spotter

Umpire

Group Processing– Plus/Delta Format –

PlusThings That Group Did Well

DeltaThings Group Could Improve

Formal Cooperative Learning

1. Jigsaw Groups

2. Peer Composition or Editing Groups

3. Comprehension/Interpretation Groups

4. Problem Solving, Project, or Presentation Groups

5. Review/Correct Homework

6. Constructive Academic Controversy

7. Group Tests

Professor's Role inFormal Cooperative Learning

1. Specifying Objectives

2. Making Decisions

3. Explaining Task, Positive Interdependence,and Individual Accountability

4. Monitoring and Intervening to Teach Skills

5. Evaluating Students' Achievement andGroup Effectiveness

Problem Based Cooperative Learning FormatTASK: Solve the problem(s) or Complete the project.

INDIVIDUAL: Estimate answer. Note strategy.

COOPERATIVE: One set of answers from the group, strive for agreement,make sure everyone is able to explain the strategies used to solve eachproblem.

EXPECTED CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS: Everyone must be able to explainthe strategies used to solve each problem.

EVALUATION: Best answer within available resources or constraints.

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTABILITY: One member from your group may berandomly chosen to explain (a) the answer and (b) how to solve eachproblem.

EXPECTED BEHAVIORS: Active participating, checking, encouraging, andelaborating by all members.

INTERGROUP COOPERATION: Whenever it is helpful, check procedures,answers, and strategies with another group.

Problem-Based Learning (PBL)

Problem-based learning is the learning that results fromthe process of working toward the understanding orresolution of a problem. The problem is encountered firstin the learning process – Barrows and Tamlyn, 1980

Core Features of PBL

• Learning is student-centered• Learning occurs in small student groups• Teachers are facilitators or guides• Problems are the organizing focus and stimulus for

learning• Problems are the vehicle for the development of clinical

problem-solving skills• New information is acquired through self-directed

learning

Identify what weneed to know

Normative ProfessionalCurriculum:

1. Teach the relevant basicscience,

2. Teach the relevantapplied science, and

3. Allow for a practicum toconnect the science toactual practice.

Observation and Reflections

ConcreteExperience

Formulation of abstractconcepts and generalizations

Testing implicationsof concepts innew situations

Research Rationale

! Over 500 Experimental and 100 CorrelationalStudies

! First study conducted in 1897! High Generalizability! Multiple Outcomes

Outcomes

1. Achievement and retention2. Critical thinking and higher-level

reasoning3. Differentiated views of others4. Accurate understanding of others'

perspectives5. Liking for classmates and teacher6. Liking for subject areas7. Teamwork skills

Literature search on studies of small-group (predominantlycooperative) learning in postsecondary science, mathematics,engineering, and technology (SMET) produced 383 reports from1980 or later, 39 of which met the rigorous inclusion criteria formeta-analysis. The main effect of small-group learning onachievement, persistence, and attitudes among undergraduates inSMET was significant and positive. Mean effect sizes forachievement, persistence, and attitudes were 0.51, 0.46, and 0.55,respectively. “The 0.51 effect of small-group learning onachievement reported in this study would move a student fromthe 50th percentile to the 70th on a standardized test. Similarly, a0.46 effect on students’ persistence is enough to reduce attritionin SMET courses and programs by 22%.”

Small-Group Learning in SME&T:Meta-analysis

Springer, L., Stanne, M. E., & Donovan, S. 1999. Effects of small-group learningon undergraduates in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology: A meta-

analysis. Review of Educational Research, 69(1), 21-52.

Strategies forEnergizing Large

Classes: From SmallGroups to

Learning Communities:

Jean MacGregor,James Cooper,

Karl Smith,Pamela Robinson

New Directions forTeaching and Learning,

No. 81, 2000.Jossey- Bass

From Small Groups to LearningCommunities: Energizing Large Classes

1. The argument for making large classes seem small

2. Getting started: Informal small-groupstrategies in large classes

3. Going deeper: Formal small-group learning inlarge classes

4. Restructuring large classes to createcommunities of learners

5. Implementing small-group learning: Insightsfrom successful practitioners

6. Making small-group learning and learningcommunities a widespread reality

The Harvard Assessment Seminars – Richard J. Light

All the specific findings point to, and illustrate, one main idea. It is thatstudents who get the most out of college, who grow the mostacademically, and who are the happiest, organize their time to includeinterpersonal activities with faculty members, or with fellow students, builtaround substantive, academic work.

Environmental Factors That Enhance Students’ Academic and Personal Development and Satisfaction

Alexander Astin in What matters in college: Four critical years revisited. Jossey-Bass, 1993.

Student-student interactionStudent-faculty interactionA faculty that is very student-orientedDiscussing racial/ethnic issues with other studentsHours devoted to studying – Time on taskTutoring other studentsSocializing with students of different race/ethnicityA student body that has high socioeconomic statusAn institutional emphasis on diversityA faculty that is positive about the general education programA student body that values altruism and social activism

Cooperative Base GroupsFor Personal and Academic Support

Key Features of Cooperative Learning

Active/InteractiveCooperativePersonal (before professional)Structure (before task)Knee-to-Knee, Eye-to-Eye/Space/FocusChallenging task (worthy of group effort)Students talking through the material (cognitive

rehearsal)Learning groups are small (2-5) and assignedHeterogeneousYour own cooperative group

Good teaching comes from theidentity and integrity of the teacher.. .Good teachers possess acapacity for connectedness.

Parker J. Palmer in The courage toteach: Exploring the innerlandscape of a teacher’s life. Jossey-Bass, 1998.