Peter Newbury Center for Teaching Development, UCSD ctd.ucsd.edu April 19, 2013

1. slides and resources: tinyurl.com/HPLPrevMed
HOW PEOPLE LEARN
Peter Newbury, Ph.D.
Center for Teaching Development,
University of California, San Diego
pnewbury@ucsd.edu @polarisdotca
ctd.ucsd.edu #ctducsd
Friday, April 19, 2013
Preventative Medicine, UCSD

2. 2 How People Learn

3. The traditional lecture is based on the
transmissionist learning model
3 How People Learn (Image by um.dentistry on flickr CC)

4. Scientifically Outdated, a Known Failure
We must abandon the tabula rasa
“blank slate” and “students as
empty vessels” models of teaching
and learning.
4 How People Learn

5. Let’s have a learning experience…
5 How People Learn

6. Here is an important new number
system. Please learn it.
1= 4= 7=
2= 5= 8=
3= 6= 9=
6 How People Learn

7. Test
What is this number?
7 How People Learn

8. New Number System
Here’s the structure of the “tic-tac-toe” code:
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
8 How People Learn

9. Test
What is this number?
9 How People Learn

10. Constructivist theory of learning
We know How People Learn [1]. There is research that
informs us. Let’s exploit the patterns of learning to make
instruction more effective.
10 How People Learn

11. Key Finding 1
Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about
how the world works. If their initial understanding is not
engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and
information that are taught, or they may learn them for
the purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions
outside of the classroom.
(How People Learn , p 14.)
Instructors must
draw out students’ Instruction must be
pre-existing student-centered.
understandings.
11 How People Learn

12. Learning requires interaction [2]
12 How People Learn

13. Learning requires interaction [2]
Normalized learning gain:
100%
0.50
% of class time
NOT lecturing
0
pre-test post-test
13 How People Learn

14. Learning requires interaction [2]
1 2
3 4
14 How People Learn

15. Key Finding 2
To develop competence in an area, students must:
a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge,
b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a
conceptual framework, and
c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate
retrieval and application.
(How People Learn, p 16.)
15 How People Learn

16. 16 How People Learn

17. Key Finding 2
To develop competence in an area, students must:
a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge,
b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a
conceptual framework, and
c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate
retrieval and application.
(How People Learn, p 16.)
These are
characteristics of There’s another…
expertize.
17 How People Learn

18. Key Finding 3
A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help
students learn to take control of their own learning by
defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in
achieving them.
(How People Learn, p 18.)
18 How People Learn

19. Aside: metacognition
Metacognition refers to one’s
knowledge concerning one’s own
cognitive processes or anything
related to them.
For example, I am engaging in
metacognition if I notice that I am
having more trouble learning A
than B.
(Flavell [3], p. 232, [4])
(Image adapted from Mark A. Hicks
19 How People Learn school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/category/stud.html)

20. Key Finding 3
A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help
students learn to take control of their own learning by
defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in
achieving them.
(How People Learn, p 18.)
Instructors need to provide
opportunities for students to
practice being metacognitive –
thinking about their own thinking
20 How People Learn

21. traditional lecture student-centered instruction
21 How People Learn

22. peer instruction with clickers
interactive demonstrations
surveys of opinions
reading quizzes
worksheets
discussions
videos
student-centered instruction
22 How People Learn

23. Clicker question
Melt chocolate over low heat. Remove the chocolate
from the heat. What will happen to the chocolate?
A) It will condense.
B) It will evaporate.
C) It will freeze.
(Question: Sujatha Raghu from Braincandy via LearningCatalytics)
(Image: CIM9926 by number657 on flickr CC)
23 How People Learn

24. Critical Care Orientation
A 70-year-old female is admitted to your unit with
shortness of breath. Crackles are heard in all lung fields
and her respiratory rate is labored at 36. Her skin in
cool to the touch and she is diaphoretic. She has an
arterial line and a Swan–Ganz catheter. The initial
parameters are as follows: (see hand-out)
Irene Knokh, Department of Professional Development and Education for Nursing,
University of Michigan
24 How People Learn

25. CCO Clicker question
What would be the best intervention to address the
patient’s respiratory status?
A) Increase the O2 supply
B) Intubation and ventilatory support
C) No intervention
D) Call RT to administer a breathing treatment with IPPB
Irene Knokh, Department of Professional Development and Education for Nursing,
University of Michigan
25 How People Learn

26. Typical episode of peer instruction
Alternating with 10-15 minute mini-lectures,
1. Instructor poses a conceptually-challenging,
multiple-choice question.
2. Students think about question on their own.
3. Students vote for an answer using clickers,
smart phones, colored/ABCD voting cards,
Poll Everywhere,…
4. The instructor reacts, based on the
distribution of votes.
26 How People Learn

27. Typical “choreography”
1. Students think and answer on their own (“solo vote”)
2. Instructor says, “Interesting! Please turn to your neighbors
and convince them you’re right.” Walks around the
classroom, eavesdropping on conversations.
3. Students discuss question. As things quiet down, instructor
says, “I’ve heard some great discussions. Please vote
again.” (“group vote”)
4. Class-wide discussion, concluding with why the right
answer(s) is right and the wrong answers are wrong.
Depending on the solo vote distribution, agile instructors can
try other variations on 2 – 4.
27 How People Learn

28. In effective peer instruction
 students teach each other immediately, students learn
while they may still hold or remember and practice
their novice preconceptions how to think,
 students discuss the concepts in their communicate
own (novice) language like experts
 the instructor finds out what the students know (and
don’t know) and reacts, building on their initial
understanding and preconceptions.
28 How People Learn

29. Development of Mastery [5]
conscious
Behavior
unconscious
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
29 How People Learn

30. Development of Mastery
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
30 How People Learn

31. Development of Mastery
conscious
Behavior
unconscious
adikko.deviantart.com
31 How People Learn

32. Development of Mastery
conscious
Behavior
unconscious
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
32 How People Learn

33. Development of Mastery
conscious
Behavior
unconscious 1
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
33 How People Learn

34. Development of Mastery
conscious
2
Behavior
unconscious 1
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
34 How People Learn

35. Development of Mastery
conscious
2 3
Behavior
unconscious 1
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
35 How People Learn

36. Development of Mastery
conscious
2 3
Behavior
unconscious 1 4
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
36 How People Learn

37. Why Your Students Don’t Understand You
Expert brains differ from novice brains because novices:
 lack rich, networked connections, cannot make
inferences, cannot reliably retrieve information
 have preconceptions that distract or confuse
 lack automization, resulting in cognitive overload
37 How People Learn

38. Development of Mastery
conscious
2 3
Behavior
unconscious 1 4
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
38 How People Learn

39. Development of Mastery
conscious
2 3
Behavior
unconscious 1 4
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
39 How People Learn

40. Effective peer instruction takes time
Five minutes of peer instruction every 15 minutes means
25% of class time is spent on interactive, students-
centered instruction.
Where does that time come from?
40 How People Learn

41. Traditional classroom
1. learn easy 2. learn hard
stuff together stuff alone
1. Transfer: first exposure to material is in class,
content is transmitted from instructor to student
2. Assimilate: learning occurs later when student
struggles alone to complete homework, essay,
project
(Mazur [6])
41 How People Learn

42. Flipped classroom
1. learn easy 2. learn hard
stuff alone stuff together
1. Transfer: student learns easy content at home:
definitions, basis skills, simple examples. Frees up
class time for...
2. Assimilate: students come to class prepared to
tackle challenging concepts in class, with immediate
feedback from peers, instructor (Mazur [6])
42 How People Learn

43. How People Learn
Learning is not about
what instructors do.
It’s about what students do!
43 How People Learn

44. How People Learn
Learning is not about
what instructors do.
It’s about what students do!
Students will not learn
(just) by listening to the
instructor explain.
44 How People Learn

45. slides and resources: tinyurl.com/HPLPrevMed
HOW PEOPLE LEARN
Peter Newbury, Ph.D.
Center for Teaching Development,
University of California, San Diego
pnewbury@ucsd.edu @polarisdotca
ctd.ucsd.edu #ctducsd
Friday, April 19, 2013
Preventative Medicine, UCSD

46. References
1. National Research Council (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind,
Experience, and School: Expanded Edition. J.D. Bransford, A.L Brown & R.R.
Cocking (Eds.),Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
2. Prather, E.E, Rudolph, A.L., Brissenden, G., & Schlingman, W.M. (2009). A
national study assessing the teaching and learning of introductory
astronomy. Part I. The effect of interactive instruction. Am. J. Phys. 77, 4,
320-330.
3. Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B.
Resnick (Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp.231-236). Hillsdale, NJ:
Erlbaum.
4. Brame, C. (2013). Thinking about metacognition. [blog] January, 2013,
Available at: http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2013/01/thinking-about-
metacognition/ [Accessed: 14 Jan 2013].
5. Sprague, J., & Stuart, D. (2000). The speaker’s handbook. Fort Worth, TX:
Harcourt College Publishers.
6. Mazur, E. (2009). Farewell, Lecture? Science, 323, 5910, 50-51.
46 How People Learn

47. Critical Care Orientation
(Irene Knokh, Department of Professional Development and Education for Nursing, University of Michigan)
A 70-year-old female is admitted to your unit with shortness of breath.
Crackles are heard in all lung fields and her respiratory rate is labored at 36.
Her skin in cool to the touch and she is diaphoretic. She has an arterial line and
a Swan–Ganz catheter. The initial parameters are as follows:
BP 80/40
HR 100 sinus rhythm
Hemodynamic parameters:
Preload: RA 10, PA 60/40, PAOP 38,
Afterload: SVR 2800, PVR 250
Contractility: CO 2.8, CI 1.8, SvO2 55%
ABG Ph 7.30, pCO2 58, pO2 52, Bicarbonate 26, SaO2 88%
Blood work: Na 138, K 3.1, Creatinine 1.6, Hb 9.8
47 How People Learn