Lesson Plan 4

What students had as an assignment: Assignment 3

[55 mins] Part 1: Discussion

CH4

  1. Fran’s most favorite chapter, and overall topic in learning. It explains so much of WHY learning is so hard for students
    • Q: Why can tell me what the principle is?
    • Principle: To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned

  2. Q: What were the 3 main components that can impede mastery?

    • a. (Hidden) Component Skills
      • i. Why hidden? Expert blind spot. Unconscious competence
        • Assessments may be measuring skills that you have not taught!

      • ii. Examples: group work, time management

      • iii. Q: Ask students examples they have encountered

      • iv. Q: How to unhide them? What does the book suggest
        • Fran’s suggestion: Errors stus make & questions they ask
        • TAs play test exams. Take a course yourself!
    • b. Integration
      • i. Mastery of individual skills != mastery of component skill
      • ii. Fran does class exercise:
        • Count from 1-26
        • Alphabet from a-z
        • Now mix: 1-a-2-b…
      • iii. This is cognitive load! + Integration is a different skill!!
      • iv. Examples: Integrating variable addition in for loops → Research from Ken K. on this
        • This affects transfer of skills as well
      • v. Q: Ask students examples they have encountered
      • vi. Q:How to help them better integrate? What does the book suggest?
    • c. Transfer
      • i. The MOST fascinating topic in all learning! Thorndike’s papers are fascinating
      • ii. Fran gives example of perpendicular in triangle
      • iii. What is going on in students’ little brains?
        • Overfitting (overspecificity)
        • Do not understand importance (big picture)
      • iv. Q: Examples of transfer you have seen
      • v. Q: How to help students with transfer?

CH5

  1. Q: When is a case from your learning or life that just practicing did not make perfect?

    Q: What is the principle?

    Principle : Goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback are critical to learning.

  2. Practice and Feedback, two sides of the same coin, that go hand-in-hand

    • a. Practice
      • i. Targeted, where you need it the most. Focuses on a specific, well-defined goal
        • Practicing what you know is easy & fulfilling, but does not help learning
        • Alignment with Learning goals is crucial! &&
        • Creating good learning goals is crucial for the teacher & students (understand vs explain/recognize/apply)
      • ii. Appropriate level of challenge (Fran shows Zone of proximal development)
        • Adjusting via scaffolding is key! Best in one-on-one tutoring or ITSs
        • Example of unit tests in 121
        • Can help motivation and grit as well!
        • Other examples of scaffold?

      Zone of Proximal Development Graph

      • iii. Sufficient in quantity
        • Fran examples: Lab, class, HW, in 110 or 121
        • Fran example: 110: Original and revision deadline
    • b. Feedback
      • i. Time: immediate vs delayed vs too late!
      • ii. Quality: Not just correct or incorrect. Not just showing the correct solution. But also why they got it wrong and how to improve
      • iii. Quantity: Prioritize! Focus on what you want them to learn
      • iv. Integrate: Allow for them to try again in multiple opportunities!

[20 minutes] Part 2: Discuss Learning Goals

  • 5-7 mins read: Appendix D
  • What was your goal when you built the lecture? What were your learning goals? (Did you even have any?)
  • Did you notice anything when you gave your 5-min lecture that could have helped if you had a “learning goal” for?

[15 mins] BREAK

[60 mins] Part 3: Students Share Their On-Paper Quiz

  • 15 mins share with each other (groups of 3)

  • Then share with all class & we give feedback on Google doc 3-4 mins

  • Things to discuss & highlight (that were common “errors” among students)
    • Multiple-choice questions are as good as free response ones (proven by research by Xu Wang et al.)
      • Great for exam versioning as well
      • The difficult part: Making good “multiple-choice” options
      • Solution:
        • Look at student errors over the years; those are great options
        • Ask ChatGPT to make these for you 2-3 times and select best options
    • True-false questions are also very good. Overall you need more quantity compared to multiple choice questions, but per question students spend less time
      • Great for exam versioning as well
    • Free form questions
      • Tricky, make sure you are asking 1 thing at a time
      • Ask specifically for them to enter the answer in 1-2 sentences (or less than x words) otherwise students will write essays
      • Do not be scared of “giving away the solution”! Often instructors are too vague in what they ask students bec they are worried of the above. It is fine saying “List the 3 main properties” or “List the 2 uses” etc. Be more concrete
  • Other things to consider when doing quizzes
    • Get a TA to do take it (or multiple TAs). Their time x 2 is what students should aim for
    • Make sure your font is visible. Leave enough space between questions.

[30 mins] Part 4: Work on Semester Topic & New Learning Goals

  • 15 mins: Think about the topic you want to focus your project for the rest of the semester
    • Any topic you like! You will build an end-to-end mini-course: LO, assessment, rubrics, lecture, etc.

  • 15 mins feedback What learning goal did you pick and why? Anyone wants to share?

  • Next time:
    • Refine learning goals using new reading + Appendix D + bloom taxonomy
    • Prepare assessment + rubric → Appendix C