Workshop Descriptions
Spring 2015
Track 1: Clickers Track 2: Student assessment Track 3: Education research
Track 1: Clickers
Writing great clicker questions
February 25, 1-2:30
How do you create clicker questions that spark student discussion, and address higher-order thinking? In this interactive workshop, we’ll draw from example questions, and best-practices in student feedback, to practice writing questions that assess student achievement of our goals in STEM classes.
Stephanie Chasteen is the Associate Director of the Science Education Initiative, and a veteran of over 50 workshops on clickers and peer instruction.
Clicker classroom field trips
Feb 20 - Mar 10
What does it really look like when clickers and peer instruction work well in a classroom? Get an inside-look into the classrooms of teachers who have mastered this technique, and get ideas for your class! Sign up for more information, or stay tuned for a schedule of open classrooms.
Clicker classroom field trips debrief
March 12, 2-3 pm
We will gather to share notes and discuss what we observed in our classroom field trips.
Using PhET interactive simulations with clickers
March 10, 1:30-3 pm
How can we make the most of interactive simulations? Working hands-on with several PhET simulations, we will discuss how to leverage the dynamic features and representations in these simulations to ask students predictive, concept-driven clicker questions. We will tackle challenges and best practices for effectively integrating simulations throughout student learning, working together to design and pair demos and clicker questions appropriate to all stages of instruction.
Yuen-Ying Carpenter is a postdoctoral fellow in chemistry education with the PhET Interactive Simulations project. Besides design and research on simulations, she also works with chemistry faculty members to develop and test simulation-based materials for the college classroom.
How to get student buy-in for active learning
April 3, 4-5 pm
Struggling to get students on-board with your interactive techniques? Getting resistance, or are students just too passive? Come join our panel discussion of how to generate buy-in, and get new ideas. Panelists TBA.
Getting peer instruction to work in your class
April 8, 1-2:30
How do you facilitate clicker questions so that students walk away with the critical ideas that you want them to? How can you help make sure their discussions are productive, and that you are using the results of their votes to drive your class? We will discuss common challenges, best-practices, and different instructional scenarios.
Jenny Knight is a senior instructor in MCDB, an experienced workshop leader, and an active education researcher who has investigated the use of clickers and its’ impact on student learning. Stephanie Chasteen is the Associate Director of the Science Education Initiative, and a veteran of over 50 workshops on clickers and peer instruction.
Track 2: Student assessment
Learning goals to drive assessment and curriculum.
Feb 19, 1:30-3pm
What do you want your students to learn today? Writing clear, assessable learning goals to drive instruction takes a little bit of practice, but is the key to making a coherent course where students know what is expected of them. In this workshop we’ll learn more about learning goals, practice writing goals, and get feedback to improve them.
Stephanie Chasteen is the Associate Director of the Science Education Initiative, has developed an online course on learning goals, and worked with numerous faculty on developing learning goals for instruction.
Feedback to influence student learning
March 19, 2-3:30
Timely, targeted feedback is one of the most critical elements of learning, but how do we give such feedback that will help students learn and grow from their mistakes? How do we encourage a mindset among our students that is conducive to making the most of this feedback? This workshop will examine these key issues in ongoing, formative assessment.
David Webb is an associate professor of mathematics curriculum and instruction. He specializes in helping teachers learn to use effective assessment techniques to drive student learning outcomes.
Designing exams to drive student learning
April 7, 1-2:30
Our exams communicate a great deal to students what is important in the class: What questions do we ask? What is the exam format? Do students have opportunities to self-correct? While we might value higher-order skills, if it’s not on the test, students will quickly learn that they just need to memorize facts and do practice problems in order to do well on the test. This workshop provides various examples of exams and exam structures for analysis and discussion, as well as opportunities to think about your “ideal” exam.
Laurie Langdon is the director of the LA Program, and has worked with numerous faculty to develop assessments and instructional techniques to match their goals. Stephanie Chasteen is the Associate Director of the Science Education Initiative, has developed an online course on learning goals, and worked with numerous faculty on developing learning goals for instruction.
Track 3: Education research
The scholarship of teaching and learning.
Feb 17, 9:30-10:45
Offered by FTEP - details here
We all (presumably) engage in "scholarly teaching", which carries implications of caring and self-reflection. But the phrase "Scholarship of Teaching and Learning” (SOTL) suggests going further - building on an educational research base, collecting data in your classes, tackling "problems" in your classrooms with the same sort of intellectual tools and practices you use in your disciplinary research. It implies learning about how people learn, sharing your discoveries, and opening teaching and learning environments to critique and development. In this interactive symposium we will introduce some broad ideas about SOTL, and then discuss some specific ideas and data from the physics education research base, including things like peer instruction and "Concept Tests" in lectures, web-based feedback techniques, and small-group "tutorials" as concrete means to actively engage students.
Steve Pollock is a professor of physics in the physics education research group, a Presidential Teaching Scholar, and a 2013 U.S. Professor of the year.
Designing small educational studies
March 19, 1:30-3 pm
This session prepares attendees to create small research projects. Potential research questions will be explored and common research interests will be identified. We will outline the arc of designing, implementing, analyzing, and publishing STEM education research. Those considering applying for a Chancellor’s Award are particularly encouraged to attend. Ben Van Dusen earned his PhD in Science Education at CU Boulder’s School of Education in 2014. Since then he has been working as a post-doctoral researcher with the Learning Assistant Alliance. As part of his duties researching the effects of Learning Assistants he has been leading workshops on and facilitating the creation of regional research agendas surrounding the LA program.
Assessing student learning using pre/post tests.
April 9, 1:30-3:00 pm
This session will provide an overview of how to collect and analyze student learning gain data. We will also explore different ways of displaying learning gains data for different audiences (e.g. faculty, administrators, etc.).
Ben Van Dusen earned his PhD in Science Education at CU Boulder’s School of Education in 2014. Since then he has been working as a post-doctoral researcher with the Learning Assistant Alliance. As part of his duties researching the effects of Learning Assistants he has been leading workshops on and facilitating the creation of regional research agendas surrounding the LA program.