Sticky Teaching

Adam Berman

Nydia MacGregor

Today’s goals and agenda

Teaching that Sticks The First Day Advice for the rest of the term

TEACHING THAT STICKS

Teaching that Sticks

The curse of expertise

Follow SUCCES Simple Unexpected Concrete

Credible Emotion Stories

From Teaching that Sticks by Dan and Chip Heath 2010 www.heathbrothers.com

Teaching that Sticks

Supported by best practices From the best Haas instructors From the larger world of education

Easy to remember Can systematically apply to each class

session to improve teaching overall

Simple

What is the core message of the class or what are the BIG questions to answer?

Communicate as simply as possible Small units Use analogies or familiar concepts

Unexpected

Present a puzzle to solve…a mystery Show what the students are missing in

their understanding Piques interest Gives students a Huh? Moment before the

Aha!

Concrete

Appeal to the senses – sight, sound, taste smell, touch - to explain material

Use demonstrations or hands-on experiences

Credible

How do we make something believable?

Test it Experience it Statistics to show the relationships: e.g.

The cost of water..

Emotion

Appeal to something other than their heads:

Story

Not surprising that everyone likes stories Did you know…

Any story works, just try it The mental stimulation of visualization is the

next best thing to practice for improving performance

SUCCES: Try it out

Think of one concept from you class Take 5-7 minutes to apply as many of the

six elements as you can - Simple, Unexpected, Credible, Concrete, Emotion, Story

Share what you came up with

THE FIRST DAY

First Day

What do you think an instructor needs to do on the first day of class?

Why is the first day so important?

Building rapport

Send a welcome email prior to the first session

Provide some background about yourself

Begin learning their names Review photos

Adam BermanB.S. Cal

MBA HarvardLoves tennis

and Bikram yogaHopes someday

to become one of America’s Iron Chefs.

Introduce yourself and course (number) Review the structure of the course,

objectives, grading scheme, workload Explain procedures for enrollment,

sections and policies on attendance Discuss what will be learned from course

First Day: General strategies

It will be awkward…you (and they) may be apprehensive – try to appear confident and enthusiastic

“Sell” the course – discuss the BIG, meaningful questions that can be answered by this course

First Day: General strategies

First Day: Set expectations

Look the part – distinguish yourself from your students

Discuss how class time will be spent Review the learning goals Cover meaningful content e.g. work

through a problem or mini case

First Day: Set expectations

Give students advice for how to succeed in your class

Discuss expectations around conduct and communication: Respect, preparation, communication

protocol, computers (or not), promptness

First Day: Create a positive environment

Consider using an ice-breaker Ask small groups to discuss a topic and

then share with the class Ask students to write their reaction to

the first day – report to students next session and correct misconceptions

Give an (ungraded) assignment for 2nd session

THE REST OF THE TERM

Ongoing: Each session

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Organize the topics and corresponding learning activities

Use the SUCCES principles to explain the content

Review the timing for each part of the class – include time for questions at the end

Know how you will finish – take-aways, what homework to assign, a preview of next time

Ongoing: feedback

Get early and ongoing feedback Solicit Share Incorporate

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Give regular feedback to students

Last Class

Review key take-aways: How did you answer the BIG questions?

Give references for future learning of subject matter

Motivate students to leave the course with excitement and passion for the material

Parting advice

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Questions