Center for Teaching Development (UCSD) Weekly Workshop: Teaching as Research (TAR) March 14, 2013 ctd.ucsd.edu

1. slides and resources: http://tinyurl.com/TARCTD
WORKSHOPS:
TEACHING AS RESEARCH
(TAR)
Peter Newbury
Center for Teaching Development,
University of California, San Diego
pnewbury@ucsd.edu
@polarisdotca
ctd.ucsd.edu #ctducsd
Thursday, March 14, 2013
12:30 – 1:30 pm Center Hall, Room 316

2. Teaching as Research (TAR)
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
(SoTL) done by the course instructor about
 research
the teaching and learning occurring in the
course he/she has taught, is teaching, will
teach
 can be every bit as rigorous as research done
in the lab, archives, library, field
 can be published in peer-reviewed journals
2 Teaching as Research

3. Improved Learning in a Large-Enrollment
Physics Class
Deslauriers, Schelew & Wieman (2011)
 Weeks 1-11: PPT lectures + summative clicker
qs
 Week 11: BEMA [2] concept test + CLASS [3]
Control Section Experimental Section
 Week 12: PPT lectures  Week 12: New
+ clickers as usual instructors use pre-
reading, reading
quizzes, clickers,
worksheets, feedback
 Weeks 13: both classes givenlecturing) to
(no access
Experimental section resources
 Week 13: 12 question test
3 Teaching as Research

4. Improved Learning in a Large-Enrollment
Physics Class
Deslauriers, Schelew & Wieman (2011)
Control Experimental
Table 1: Measures of student perceptions, behaviors, and knowledge.
Section Section
*Average value of multiple measurements carried out in a 2-week interval before the experiment.
Engagement also varies over location in the classroom; numbers given are spatial and temporal
averages.
4 Teaching as Research

5. Improved Learning in a Large-Enrollment
Physics Class
Deslauriers, Schelew & Wieman (2011)
5 Teaching as Research

6. What is the value of course-specific learning
goals?
Simon & Taylor (2009)
Learning goals (also called learning outcomes or
learning objectives) are statements of what a
successful student is able to do. For example [5]
“By the end of this lesson/section/course, you’ll be able
to
 (computer science) identify and debug a loop that
never stops (infinite loop)
 (physics) write down the mathematical description
of a classical electromagnetic wave, and relate the
terms to the velocity, wavelength, and frequency of
the wave.
 (human physiology) differentiate the functions of
proteins, carbohydrates, and fats found within and
6 Teaching as Research plasma membrane
on the

7. What is the value of course-specific learning
goals?
Simon & Taylor (2009)
 3 classes (A = computer literacy Fa07, B =
computer literacy Sp08, C = microbiology
Sp08)
 Last week of course (Wk 13): students asked to
complete up to five copies of, “For me, the use
A B
is .”
of learning goals in this course C . . total
Comments 225 252 120 597
Students 59 76 51 186
 Comments iteratively put into categories using
content-analysis based coding
7 Teaching as Research

8. What is the value of course-specific learning
goals?
Simon & Taylor (2009)
8 Teaching as Research

9. Categories of Educational
Research [6]
Theoretical research
Comparative
Action or practitioner research
Ethnography
Case study
Grounded theory
Evaluative Experimental
'Cause and effect' research
Systematic review
Exploratory
9 Teaching as Research

10. Teaching as Research (TAR)
The improvement of teaching and learning is a
dynamic and ongoing process, just as is research
in any discipline. At the core of improving teaching
and learning is the need to accurately determine
what students have learned as a result of teaching
practices. This is a research problem, to which
instructors can effectively apply their research
skills and ways of knowing. In so doing, instructors
themselves become the agents for change in
teaching and learning.
CIRTL Network [7]
Note: In its original form, this passage described TAR in science, tech,
10 Teaching as Research
engineering and math (STEM). I removed “STEM” because it applies to all

11. Teaching as Research (TAR)
Teaching-as-Research involves the deliberate,
systematic, and reflective use of research
methods to develop and implement teaching
practices that advance the learning experiences
and outcomes of students and teachers.
Participants in teaching-as-research apply a
research approach to their teaching practice.
CIRTL Network [7]
11 Teaching as Research

12. Think of a research question
On your whiteboard, make up an education
research question in your discipline:
 something you’d like to find out
 don’t’ worry about
time, resources, implementation,…
12 Teaching as Research

13. 13 Teaching as Research
(Petra – Road block by Magh on flickr C

14. Institutional Review Board (IRB)
Humans are involved in teaching-as-research.
Human subjects ethics approval from the IRB
may be required.
analyze students’ test answers
collect gender, ethnic,
socioeconomic data students’ other video of yourself
(no students visible)
video with identifiable classes, majors
features of students concept test pre- and post-
survey middle of term survey
monkey (eg, keep quit start KQS)
protection of privacy
exp’ts in support of
do no harm to subjects effective, student-centered
instruction
14 Teaching as Research

15. Exemptions from the (UCSD)
IRB
irb.ucsd.edu irb.ucsd.edu/Exemption_fact_sheet.pdf
15 Teaching as Research

16. Play it safe…
 Assume all research is subject to approval by the
IRB and seek an exemption for ed research. (Not,
assume your research is okay and only approach
IRB if you’re obviously putting humans at risk.)
 If you’re considering a teaching-as-research
project, consult with the Institution’s research
ethics people.
 Talk to Beth Simon in the CTD: we have several
“blanket” exemptions for ed research
 Inform your Dept Chair. Don’t proceed only on
his/her ethics approval.
 Think carefully about an experiment that puts any
student(s) at a disadvantage – if it’s known an
instructional strategy works, you can’t (ethically)
remove that strategy from your instruction.
16 Teaching as Research

17. Research at diff types of
Institutions
 Primarily Undergrad Institutions (PUI)
 3 courses per term
 Variety of courses
 Research often REQUIRED – (how will you
involve undergrads?
 More research-focused R1-type institutions
 1 course per term?
 Teaching well a “plus” (though not enough to
overcome not meeting research expectations)
 publishing peer-reviewed education may or may
not contribute to your publication record
17 Teaching as Research

18. Who funds TAR?
 National Science Foundation (NSF) alone
 TUES in Dept of Undergrad Education
(Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM)
 Get advice before you write your first one
 Go to a workshop on how to review NSF proposals
 NSF and NIH as “broader impact”
 Go to a workshop on how to review NSF proposals
 Ask your Center for Teaching for help on the BI
component
 Partner with someone active in DBER at a PUI
(fellow grad, local institution)
 private
 Howard Hughes MI
18 www.hhmi.org/news/20130314.html
Teaching as Research

19. References
1. Deslauriers, L., Schelew, E., & Wieman, C. (2011). Improved Learning in a
Large-Enrollment Physics Class. Science, 332, 603, 862-864. DOI:
10.1126/science.1201783
2. Ding, L., Chabay, R., Sherwood, B., & Beichner, R. (2006). Evaluating an
electricity and magnetism assessment tool: Brief electricity and magnetism
assessment (BEMA). Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 2, 010105.
3. Adams, W.K., Perkins, K.K., Podolefsky, N.S., Dubson, M., Finkelstein, N.D.,
& Wieman, C.E. (2006) A new instrument for measuring student beliefs about
physics and learning physics: The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science
Survey (CLASS). Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 2, 010101.
4. Simon, B., & Taylor, J. (2009). What is the Value of Course-Specific Learning
Goals? Journal of College Science Teaching, 39, 2, 52-57.
5. Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative, Resources – Learning Goals.
www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/learn_goals.htm
6. Lambert, M. (2012). A Beginner's Guide to Doing Your Education Research
Project. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc. via Tomorrow’s
Professor cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/tomprof/posting.php?ID=1233
7. Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (2010)
Teaching as Research. www.cirtl.net/CoreIdeas/teaching_as_research
19 Teaching as Research

20. slides and resources: http://tinyurl.com/TARCTD
WORKSHOPS:
TEACHING AS RESEARCH
(TAR)
Peter Newbury
Center for Teaching Development,
University of California, San Diego
pnewbury@ucsd.edu
@polarisdotca
ctd.ucsd.edu #ctducsd
Thursday, March 14, 2013
12:30 – 1:30 pm Center Hall, Room 316

21. Conceptual steps in the TAR process
are:
1. Learning foundational knowledge.
What is known about the teaching practice?
2. Creating objectives for student learning.
What do we want students to learn?
3. Developing an hypothesis for practices to
achieve the learning objectives.
How can we help students succeed with the
learning objectives?
4. Defining measures of success.
What evidence will we need to determine whether
students have achieved learning objectives?
21
(cont’d)
Teaching as Research

22. Conceptual steps in the TAR process
are:
5. Developing and implementing teaching
practices within an experimental design.
What will we do in and out of the classroom to
enable students to achieve learning objectives?
6. Collecting and analyzing data.
How will we collect and analyze information to
determine what students have learned?
7. Reflecting, evaluating, and iterating.
How will we use what we have learned to improve
our teaching?
CIRTL Network [7]
22 Teaching as Research