Eating an Elephant

One Bite at a Time

This week's methods focus on a fast paced active learning session, designed to "drill" students. I think these methods would be excellent for reviewing prior to test or quiz.

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 ?". 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.(Paulson and Faust, 2002)

Flash Cards - A variation of the Finger Signals approach, this method tests students' 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 H₂O?" This can be combined with finger signals.(Paulson and Faust, 2002)

If you have time and don't want to wait for the next bite, you can find the rest of the toolbox in myOzarka under the "Ozarka Resources" tab.

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Eating an Elephant

One Bite at a Time

Last week we talked about the Gallery Walk method. This week we begin by looking at the same method with the additional element of peer review.

The second method is an excellent way for each student to receive constructive feedback from their peers. It can make a big difference for a student to hear from another student about an area s/he needs to improve on.

Variation of "Gallery Walk" Use this technique when you have individual or team long-term products. Rather than having time-consuming oral reports, each product, such as a term paper or student portfolio, is assigned to specific work area, as on tables or displayed on a wall. Then a class period can be spent with students walking around, examining one another's work. To provide an opportunity for feedback, each student leaves a short comment sheet next to the product.

End of Meeting Evaluation  Give each student a 3x5 card. Ask each student to write his/her name on one side. Students place the note cards from their team in a stack with the names down. Shuffle the cards and each student draws one and writes honest and constructive feedback for the person whose card appears on the card. Team members then return cards and engage in a discussion about the successes and needs for improvement for the group. (Karre, 1994)

If you have time and don't want to wait for the next bite, you can find the rest of the toolbox in myOzarka under the "Ozarka Resources" tab.

Or you can follow this link:

http://www.ozarka.edu/files/resources/teachingtoolbox.doc

I will be posting each section in the Student Success Center Blog. So if you are interested in checking out "back bites," you can find them there.

Or you can follow this link:
http://www.ozarka.edu/blogs/success/index.cfm/Weekly-Postings-for-Faculty-

Hope you enjoyed it.

Eating an Elephant

One Bite at a Time

We have been spending a great deal of time looking active learning methods. This week is no exception. The first one sounds fun. It may be a bit confusing for the class at first, but if this method is used a few times during the semester, it would catch on and quickly become a fun way for classmates to work together in groups and "shuffle" their ideas.

The Gallery Walk is great because it allows students to spend more time where they need to and quickly observe and glean what they can on subjects they know more about.

Three-Stay One-Stray - Like "Stand Up and Share," this structure requires the easy identification of a team member who will become the group's spokesperson. It too builds on some other structure, but in this case, the topics can be far more complex. After the problem solving discussions are complete and all team members indicate that they can give the team's report, you designate the student from each team who will "stray." That is, one student from each group (such as the "Number One" or the "Diamond") leaves it and rotates to an adjoining team to give the report. In large classes it is essential that the order of rotation is clear. Playing cards work particularly well because the "Aces" know to rotate to the "Twos," the "Jacks" to the Queens," and so forth. The designated student, who is welcomed as a visitor, shares with this new team the results of his original group's discussion, giving proposed solutions to problems or summarizing discussions. A second rotation may be desirable if the topic prompted divergent thinking and solutions. Three-Stay One-Stray offers a low-threat forum where students can exchange ideas and build social skills such as asking probing questions. It also offers students the opportunity to learn by teaching. Placing the report-out responsibility on the students reinforces the valuable conception that knowledge resides within the learning community, not just with the "authority-figure" instructor. Perhaps its greatest value lies in its efficiency. Instead of, for example, ten sequenced five-minute reports to the entire class (fifty minutes, plus transition time); individual students are simultaneously giving five-minute reports throughout the room. (Paulson and Faust, 2002)

Gallery Walk  The Gallery Walk is one of our favorites. It requires a report-out that can be visually depicted, preferably on butcher paper. It can be an outline, a concept or mind map, or any other written or drawn product. In this technique a student stays next to the butcher paper taped to the wall and serves as the group spokesperson. The other students rotate around the room examining the products of other teams' thinking, asking questions of the designated spokesperson. This technique works best if the spokesperson role is rotated so that everyone knows that each person is responsible for the final product. This structure is also efficient and engenders a sense of team cohesion as each group displays the product of their "group think."(Johnson and Johnson, 1994)

If you have time and don't want to wait for the next bite, you can find the rest of the toolbox in myOzarka under the "Ozarka Resources" tab.

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http://www.ozarka.edu/files/resources/teachingtoolbox.doc

I will be posting each section in the Student Success Center Blog. So if you are interested in checking out "back bites," you can find them there.

Or you can follow this link:
http://www.ozarka.edu/blogs/success/index.cfm/Weekly-Postings-for-Faculty-

Hope you enjoyed it.

Eating an Elephant

One Bite at a Time

This week we consider two methods that allow students to work in small groups and then report to the class. This offers the opportunity for instructor input and peer review. The first method has the added benefit of debate or competition. This works very well with incentives such as bonus points or candy bars.

Stand For Something - A fun activity - but don't use it too often. This requires a topic about which the class has differing opinions, preferably opinions that fall along a continuum. First, everyone stands up and forms a line. The instructor gives the students a set amount of time to find their place in the line, depending on the strength of the agreement or disagreement with the topic. To do this successfully, students have to interview each other and come to a conclusion in their own minds about where they stand on that issue. A further variation of this activity is to fold the line in half so that the two students with the most opposite opinions pair up, and so on until each person has a partner with a differing view of the issue. Then each partner is asked to be able to explain to the class their partner's position.

Stand Up and Share - This report-out method should be rapid and energetic. It works best when students have completed an activity, such as Roundtable, that lends itself to single statement summaries. It relies on students having an easily designated identity within each team so that you can call on the "Number Twos" or the "Hearts" to serve as spokespersons. These designated students then rise, prepared to respond on behalf of the group. Each team responds in turn, giving only one response, in rapid round robin fashion. Depending on the number of answers and the number of teams involved, you may want to go through another rotation, calling on another group member to share one group idea (the "Number Fours" or the "Clubs" this time). All students must attend to the sharing because they may serve as the next spokesperson. No ideas should be repeated. If student spokespersons find that all the topics on the team's list have been covered, they merely sit down and the rotation continues. (Johnson and Johnson, 1994)

If you have time and don't want to wait for the next bite, you can find the rest of the toolbox in myOzarka under the "Ozarka Resources" tab.

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I will be posting each section in the Student Success Center Blog. So if you are interested in checking out "back bites," you can find them there.

Or you can follow this link:
http://www.ozarka.edu/blogs/success/index.cfm/Weekly-Postings-for-Faculty-

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Eating an Elephant

One Bite at a Time

This week we have two methods that promote teamwork. The first one is different from many group-work activities in that it maintains individuality, while holding each student accountable for his or her own work.

The second one does allow students to express their own ideas and contribute to a consensus paper; and, if the individual papers were submitted with the consensus paper, it would also prevent lazy students from "coasting" on the efforts of their peers.

Web of Many Colors - This technique makes sure that all the team members contribute to the project, and that each student's work is readily distinguishable from the rest of the individuals in the team's work. First, provide each team with a large piece of butcher paper. Next, each team writes the key word for that team in the middle of the paper. Then provide each team member with a different colored marker. Taking turns, each team member, writes an important concept that "webs"out from the key word. This process is repeated several times, enlarging and elaborating the web. When completed, each student should be able to justify his portion of the web when sharing the group's web with the instructor and the whole class. (Estes, B.)

Five Minute Group Paper- A variation of the one-minute paper. Each team member writes a one minute paper on the group's topic. The group then merges, refines, and rewrites a consensus paper taken from all the team's individual one minute papers. This will take a little longer than a minute. Instructors should count on about seven to ten minutes of class time. The advantage of this is students learn to synthesize information and argue points in a logical manner. (Estes, 2006)

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I will be posting each section in the Student Success Center Blog. So if you are interested in checking out "back bites," you can find them there.

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Hope you enjoyed it.

Eating an Elephant

One Bite at a Time

This week we look at two more team building, collaborative learning approaches to teaching complex subjects. It would be easy to add time limits and bonus points to create a competitive game.

Structured Problem Solving - Members of learning teams are usually composed of four individuals. The teacher poses a question or problem requiring higher order thinking skills. Students discuss the question or solve the problem, making certain that every group member can summarize the group's discussion or can explain the problem. Sponges or extensions with additional content-related problems or activities are particularly important here for teams working faster than others. The instructor calls a specific member and the designated team members (Aces, Spades, Clubs, or Diamonds) respond as group spokespersons. To avoid repetition, the instructor will usually ask for responses from only three to six groups. The desired learning will already have occurred. In this activity, students benefit from the verbalization, from the opportunity to exchange differing perspectives, and from the peer coaching that helps high and low achievers, alike.

Team Teaching Points This is another game. We usually start the game 5-10 minutes before class and the first 5-10 minutes of class. The class has been previously divided into teams (usually four teams). These teams should work together for about two weeks and then new teams are formed .We like the ease of the playing cards technique for forming teams. Before class the instructor put 7-12 questions/problems on the board. The teams work together to teach each other and answer the problems. Each person in the team needs to truly understand each question on the board. When class starts, we use the deck of cards to pick the people who will answer. We shuffle after every turn so that the other students are always focused. The person whose card was picked has to do the problem at the board, verbalizing his/her the thinking process, not just giving the answer. This teaches them that you have to understand it to get the point for your team, not just write the correct answer. Also, I often ask them "Why did you do that?" and "What made you decide to do it that way? These answers have to be answered to my satisfaction or the team member doesn't get the point for his/her team. Every two weeks we have reward day. Each member of the winning team gets 10 extra points and the runners-up get 5. When the team members are working out the answers together, we always see peer tutoring and active learning taking place. (Estes, B.)

If you have time and don't want to wait for the next bite, you can find the rest of the toolbox in myOzarka under the "Ozarka Resources" tab.

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I will be posting each section in the Student Success Center Blog. So if you are interested in checking out "back bites," you can find them there.

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Hope you enjoyed it.

Eating an Elephant

One Bite at a Time

This week's methods encourage team work and peer relationships. Students will have fun working in this type of active setting, and they will learn the value of working with classmates.

Both methods provide students with the opportunity to express their individuality while simultaneously teaching them to compromise and work towards a common goal.

Three-Step Interview - Common as an ice-breaker or a team-building exercise, this structure, developed by Kagan (1989) , also helps students reinforce and internalize important concept-related information based on lectures or textbook material. Some faculty have used it successfully as a modified role-playing activity, having students interview one another while assuming the roles of historical characters, such as President Harry S. Truman. The interview questions, focused on content material and having no right or wrong solutions, are usually posed by the instructor. In a Three-Step Interview, one student interviews another within specified time limits (Step one). The two then reverse roles and conduct the interview again (Step two). In a learning team composed of two pairs, the students then share the highlights of the information or insights gleaned from the paired interview (Step three). This structure also results in the formation of new learning quads which may then move on to other team-related activities. This structure reinforces listening and probing skills, helps students process and rehearse information, and results in shared insights. Used at the beginning of a class period, the readings-based questions give students immediate feedback under low-risk conditions on their understanding of the assigned material.

Roundtable - Roundtable, a cooperative learning structure useful for brainstorming, reviewing, or practicing a skill, uses a single sheet of paper and pen for each cooperative learning group. Students in the group respond in turn to a question or problem by stating their ideas aloud as they write them on the paper. It is important that the ideas be vocalized for several reasons: (a) silence in a setting like this is boring, rather than golden; (b) other team members need to be reflecting on the given thoughts; (c) variety results because teammates learn immediately that someone has come up with an idea they know now not to repeat; and (d) hearing the responses said aloud means that students do not have to waste valuable brainstorming time by reading the previous ideas on the page. Team members are encouraged not to skip turns, but if their thoughts are at a standstill, they are allowed to say "Pass" rather than to turn the brainstorm into a brain drizzle. Thus, there is almost universal participation in Roundtable. Roundtable is most effective when used in a carefully sequenced series of activities. The brainstorming can reinforce ideas from the readings or can be used to set the stage for upcoming discussions. Students, for example, could identify the characteristics of an effective leader or the attributes of terrorism before these topics are formally introduced. Comparing a student-generated list with those of the "experts," creates interest. Many creative uses can be made of the ideas generated, depending on their nature. In Roundtable, the multiple answers encourage creativity and deeper thinking. This activity builds positive interdependence among team members because of the shared writing surface, but more importantly, it builds team cohesion and reinforces the power of teamwork because students see in action the value of multiple viewpoints and ideas.

If you have time and don't want to wait for the next bite, you can find the rest of the toolbox in myOzarka under the "Ozarka Resources" tab.

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http://www.ozarka.edu/files/resources/teachingtoolbox.doc

I will be posting each section in the Student Success Center Blog. So if you are interested in checking out "back bites," you can find them there.

Or you can follow this link:
http://www.ozarka.edu/blogs/success/index.cfm/Weekly-Postings-for-Faculty-

Hope you enjoyed it.

Eating an Elephant

One Bite at a Time

Games are a wonderful way to help students learn without knowing they are learning. It can be fun, competitive, and provide long lasting memories.

The second method can also be turned into a game if you wanted to. I like this method because it offers a fast paced approach to team work. It has the ability to slow down and add instructor feedback or peer reviews when needed. This is very versatile.

Games - Many instructors denigrate the idea that one would literally play games in a college 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 playing cards are turned up and either added to a running series or discarded according to the dealer's pre-conceived "law of nature". Students are asked to "discover" the natural law, by formulating and testing hypotheses as the game proceeds. In addition, games are very useful as a review tool. Many instructors have found a game of Jeopardy to be energizing and a good way to review before a test.

Visible Quiz - Students in groups discuss the appropriate response to quiz questions, ones typically displayed on an overhead projector. The answers can be multiple choice (A, B, C, or D) or True (T) and False (F). Each team has a set of large cards with the four letters and the T and F, all sets composed with letters in the same colors (All A's would be red, for example, and all T's, yellow). At a given signal, one person from each team displays the team's choice. The instructor can quickly survey the room to determine how well students understood the question. She then gives the correct answer, going into a mini-lecture if a minority of students gave inappropriate responses. She can also call on groups to explain the rationale for their selection, sometimes uncovering genuine misconceptions and sometimes uncovering poorly constructed, ambiguous wording in the questions. This technique gives both students and teachers immediate feedback on learning. Peer coaching also takes place when the teams discuss each question.

If you have time and don't want to wait for the next bite, you can find the rest of the toolbox in myOzarka under the "Ozarka Resources" tab.

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I will be posting each section in the Student Success Center Blog. So if you are interested in checking out "back bites," you can find them there.

Or you can follow this link:
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Hope you enjoyed it.

Eating an Elephant

One Bite at a Time

This week we are looking at two methods that require students to present their ideas in front of a group of peers. Not only is this another great team work assignment, it works many different sets of skills, such as organizing time and information, researching, critical analysis, interpretive analysis, and oral communication. It also provides students with a form of peer review through the question and answer process.

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. 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 - 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 arguments 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.

If you have time and don't want to wait for the next bite, you can find the rest of the toolbox in myOzarka under the "Ozarka Resources" tab.

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http://www.ozarka.edu/files/resources/teachingtoolbox.doc

I will be posting each section in the Student Success Center Blog. So if you are interested in checking out "back bites," you can find them there.

Or you can follow this link:
http://www.ozarka.edu/blogs/success/index.cfm/Weekly-Postings-for-Faculty-

Hope you enjoyed it.

Eating an Elephant

One Bite at a Time

The first method we look at today is a continuation of last week. It provides students the opportunity to work in teams to achieve a common goal. It promotes team work that will likely continue outside of class. It illustrates to the students the benefits of collaborative learning.

The second method we consider provides a fun way to make a lasting impression. Students will likely remember some of the lessons they learn using this method many years after the fact. This works in part because it is fun and in part because it is out of the norm. Therefore, this is not something that should be used all of the time; it may lose some of its effectiveness.

The other variation of Jigsaw is when each member takes an individual piece of the puzzle. It is especially appropriate for groups of five or larger. For example, students in a course in 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 science 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 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.

If you have time and don't want to wait for the next bite, you can find the rest of the toolbox in myOzarka under the "Ozarka Resources" tab.

Or you can follow this link:

http://www.ozarka.edu/files/resources/teachingtoolbox.doc

I will be posting each section in the Student Success Center Blog. So if you are interested in checking out "back bites," you can find them there.

Or you can follow this link:
http://www.ozarka.edu/blogs/success/index.cfm/Weekly-Postings-for-Faculty-

Hope you enjoyed it.