Teaching and Learning Resources Portal/Distance Technologies/Student Approach to Learning

Encouraging Students to take Deeper Approaches to their learning.

Examples of deeper learning

Deeper learning defined as

Taking knowledge and can apply to novel situations. Start to question ideas. Critical thinking versus surface learning where you just have few ideas and be wrong. Misconceptions lead to a weak network of concepts. Motivated by interest. Need a hook to have it stay. Brain hurts - cognitive dissonance - confusion with material means on the path to deeper learning. Watch what you are testing.

• Why is a deep approach important? Transferable

, permanent

• What strategies do you use to promote deep approaches?

If you want students to think at higher levels you need to give them activities to apply and use materials.

Important to give example questions and allow practice.

Why is important. Not just facts.

Resources

• TRU Strategic Priorities
• Biggs, J., & Tang, C. (2007). Teaching for quality learning at university: What the student does (3rd ed.). New York: Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy.tru.ca/lib/trulibrary/docDetail.action
• Biggs, J., Kember, D., & Leung, D. Y. P. (2001). The revised two-factor Study Process Questionnaire: R-SPQ-2F. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 71, 133–149. doi:10.1348/000709901158433
• Biggs, J., & Collis, K. (1982). Evaluating the quality of learning: The SOLO taxonomy. New York: Academic Press.
  • Link to wikipedia
  • Table of Contents
• Madland, C. (2014) Structured Student Interactions in Online Distance Learning: Exploring the study buddy activity. Athabasca University
• Edwards, J (2010) Inviting students to learn: 100 tips for talking effectively with your students.ASCD. Alexandria, Virginia.

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/110015.aspx

• Kanuka, H. (2005). An exploration into facilitating higher levels of learning in a text-based Internet learning environment using diverse instructional strategies. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 10(3). [online]. Available: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2005.tb00256.x/full.
• Teaching Teaching and Understanding Understanding on YouTube

4141 instructor

Outcomes Based Deeper learning is identifying WHY something is happening seeing a pattern and understanding why the pattern is happening

- students often assume the most complicated possible explanation

- students are more concerned with being correct then understanding why things are happening

- students have to be able to trust you

- graduate school is a good example of needing to embark on deeper learning

cognitive dissidence (dissonance?): Sign that you are on the path to deeper understanding is confusion about a topic. When students are on the path to deeper learning you are often overloaded with information and not sure how to organize that information.

cognitive dissidence is difficult to assess

Operational Explanations Deeper approach: students high level cognitive skills for tasks that require them Surface approach: students use low level cognitive skills for tasks that require high level cognitive skills (John Biggs and Catherine Tang Teaching for Quality Learning at University)

Need to make learning activities reflect deeper understanding and not shallow learning outcomes Students wonder why they need to learn.

Integrating Deeper Learning into the Learning Process

Refer to Biggs et al. 2001

Presage, operational definition is what occurs prior to learning experience the student has had

Presage example, activate student prior learning or experience and goals in the beginning of the course Process example, keep students motivated toward their goal or their prior experience Product example, tie end results of student learning in with original goals

Time lag is a huge challenge in student presage in open learning

Students taking a course to apply directly to their working career, often have a better understanding of WHY they want to learn something. They have a better understanding of WHY because they have had more prior learning or experience in the field of study and they understanding how the course outcomes can benefit and improve their professional output.

Evaluation

How we can use evaluation to inform deeper learning The concept of Constructive Alignment

Refer to Biggs Solo Taxonomy

How to identifying whether student has learned or not and the level of complexity of student understanding?

Prestructural approach, student does not get it Uni-structural, student presents one fact about the topic Multi-structural, student presents a series of unrelated responses Relational, students explain topics and their relation to one anther External and abstract, students are taking principles from one topic and applying it to a different situation

Try to use Blooms or other taxonomy to know the level of student learning.

- setting expectation for both student and teacher before assignments

- students may need to understand what is expected at each level of the taxonomy

- if students understand expectations it is easier to build trust

- deep learning takes time and this is an expectation that pushes students away

How to encourage deeper learning in evaluation:

- compare questions

- scenario questions

- incorporating scenario questions into multiple choice

How to encourage the level of discourse in student conversation in discussions or other kinds of self evaluations online? How to change level of discussion, and pushing people into a certain level?

Questions and different levels and different modalities...

assessment questions,

unidimensional, name a group of organisms for which geographic/allopatric speciation has led to diversification?

multidimensional, name a group of organisms for which geographic speciation has led to diversification and explain why speciation occurred?

relational, describe geographic/allopatric speciation, using examples discussed in class and from the literature?

extended abstract, now imagine that there was a major geologic even occurred and your species rangens again overlap, What are some alternative hypotheses for what would happen in this scenario and how you would test your hypothesis?

Group 3 Notes

Track 3 Effective Media http://truvideocamp.net tips and tricks http://barabus.tru.ca/cmdg use in-house marketing and You Tube to promote course.

Creative Commons Search - media that can be used in course: http://search.creativecommons.org Khan Academy - scenes of writing on blackboard with voice. Download through iTunes Store ie Chemistry 1 download is free. You Tube creative address: http://www.youtube.com/creativecommons Camtasia Studio - excellent software for screen capture and audio. http://www.ted.com camtasia studio would be useful for science make sure audio is crystal clear when video taping make sure no background noise; hard wire sound mikes. camera should be mounted on tripod to prevent shaking. popping sounds are minimized if mike held at an appropriate distance from mouth. copyright office at TRU can review 3rd party material you may wish to use.

experiment with light before filming. use a sheet/scrim to diffuse harsh lighting. be aware of sun and its changing position. don't be afraid to experiment. limit amount of text on slides, particularly when part of a videotaped presentation. curriculum media development group Framing - in tight to diminish distraction, further back to include background. a big space is needed for an interview. The bigger the better. your office is too small. talk to interviewer or talk to camera. don't wander. Repeat part of the question in the answer. interviewers voice not part of finished product. book titles on a book shelf should be not visible. as interviewer don't be afraid to go off script and follow novel info volunteered from interviewee. Don't be afraid to stop and start. If interviewee wants to start again, please do so. They can stop and start again. as interviewer make interviewee as comfortable as possible.

Track 4 notes: Encouraging Deeper Approaches to Learning

samples of questions to promote deeper learning

Model: Business class, synchronous & asynchronous, online & F2F

1. What factor made you choose your current bank/financial institution X? [unistructural - short answer]
2. Now that you learned of the history of bank X, how does this change your relationship with Bank X? [ multistructural - short answer]

3. Bank X has merged with Financial Institution Y with this history (insert background here). How will this merger affect your relationship with Bank X? [relational - essay/discussion forum]

4. Your role is policy maker for TRU. Create a policy which addresses the new entity derived from Bank X + Financial Institution Y [abstract - project based]

Group Notes

SUrface vs deep learning

Deep -= understanding the why that happens; looking at the data to see other explanations Surface = the single event, following the pattern,

Geology Analogy: surface= the eruption of a volcano whereras deep = WHY it erupted the way it did and HOW can we predict a subsequent eruption

Real life example: medical lab tests = electrolyte levels surface: results suggest diabetes because lots of lab tests have diabetes

deep: true, there may be diabetes but the results also suggest that the electrolyte imbalance mean a heart attack is imminent.

Colin's example of a number pattern of 2, 4, 6.... - our first guess at what "the rule" is: a) What's your definition of rule b) adding by 2s c) fancy multiplication by factorials

HOwever, Colin's answer was that it was just ascending numbers. However, we all felt that it was a complicated answer because we (the students) made assumptions!!

Take home message: 1) get the students to ask the question: "what is the (definition) of the rule"? 2) students need to collect more data (ie see more numbers following Colin's pattern) in order to guess the answer (ie more deep learning)

QUotation for Biggs & Tang "Teaching for quality learnig at university" Deep learning = high level of cognitive skills for tasks which required fo them surface approach = use low level of cognitive skillsl for tasks which require high cognitive skills

There is a mismatch - and that's where the teaching problem is.

learning process figure

SOLO Taxonomy