Lesson Study:An Experience in Collaborative Inquiry

WAAL Annual ConferenceApril 19, 2007

“Learning and teaching should not stand on opposite banks and just watch

the river flow by; instead, they should embark together on a journey down

the water.” ~ Loris Malaguzzi (1920–1994)

Galadriel Chiltonchilton.gala@uwlax.edu

Michael Currentcurrent.mich@uwlax.edu

Jenifer HolmanHolman.jeni@uwlax.edu

Cris Pruchaprucha.cris@uwlax.edu

Agenda

• What is Lesson Study?– Jenifer Holman

• Lesson Design– Galadriel Chilton

• The Study– Michael Current

• Discussion: Lessons Learned– Cris Prucha

What is Lesson Study?

Jenifer Holmanholman.jeni@uwlax.edu

Lesson Study: An Experience in Collaborative Inquiry

a. the name of Murphy Library’s new cafe

Makoto Yoshida, Ph.D.

http://www.globaledresources.com/team.htm l

What is Lesson Study?

b. A term coined from the Japanese jugyokenkyuu by Makoto Yoshida in his 1999 dissertation.

c. a popular professional development tool in use by Japanese elementary school teachers for many years

d. both b and c

How it Works

• a small group of teachers collaboratively …

… on a single class lesson.

Improving student learning is the best way to improve one’s teaching

Why Lesson Study?

Because sometimes Information Literacy Instruction feels like this……

Instead of this….

Photo courtesy of Hari Bilalic

Photo courtesy of UW-L Educational Technologies

@ UW-La Crosse

• 2003: Dr. Bill Cerbin, UW-L psychology professor and Assistant to the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UW-La Crosse launches the Lesson Study Project with support from the University of Wisconsin (UW) System Office of Professional and Instructional Development (OPID).

• To date, faculty at UW-L have launched 23 lesson study teams in 15 disciplines. The project has also begun to involve faculty on other University of Wisconsin campuses.

• Videos, a webblog, an interview with Makoto Yoshida, and final reports from many teams are available at:

http://www.uwlax.edu/sotl/lsp/index.htm

@ Murphy Library

• In the fall of 2004, librarians attended a lesson study workshop and formed a group of interested librarians and CST110 instructors.

• Murphy Librarians teach over 2000 CST110 students each year through a one-shot information literacy session

• The repetition of this one lesson makes it an excellent candidate for the lesson study process. Photo courtesy of UW-L Educational Technologies

Teaching Goals

• incorporate more collaborative learning experiences.

• create a lesson that all librarians could use to teach all sections of CST 110.

• build a lesson around what we THOUGHT were best practices and actually observe students interacting with the lesson.

What we think is the best way to teach students often is not the best way for students to learn.

Photo courtesy of UW-L Educational Technologies

• Librarians have been involved in two lesson study teams; one with Communications Studies and one with Theatre Arts.

Learning Goals

Our primary goal for the lesson was to ensure that CST110 students gained proficiency in basic research skills, including the use of library services and resources.

Specifically, we wanted students to be able to:

choose appropriate library databases for a research question

(navigate the library website)

efficiently search library databases (use basic search

principles)

understand how to use library databases to identify and

retrieve books, print periodicals, and electronic periodicals

discern the credibility of sources

format APA-style citations

Lesson Design“Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.” ~ Steve Jobs

Galadriel Chiltonchilton.gala@uwlax.edu

Lesson Study: An Experience in Collaborative Inquiry

“If we knew what we were doing it wouldn’t be called research.” ~ Albert Einstein

Photo by Brent Danley

The lesson included two instructional methods.

“For every person who wants to teach there are approximately thirty people who don't want to learn--much.”

~ W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman, And Now All This (1932) introduction

Lecture segments included questions…

Small group work encouraged collaborative learning.

Each student has a specific role throughout the lesson.

Small group explorations tasked students with answering specific

questions.

The lesson includes three media types.

1st Media Type: A Movie

• Looping Intro,“Welcome to Murphy Library”

http://www.uwlax.edu/murphylibrary/ili/WAALWelcome to Murphy Library.wmv

2nd Media Type: PowerPoint

Handout | Worksheet | Research Log

Job aids reduce demand on students’ short term memories.

Image from Prof. Robert Lynch’s Brain & Behavior course Web site.

Image by Dr. René Marois, retrieved from Exploration.

How the media and methods fit together.

Introduction* Group Exploring:Establish Groups

BrainstormKeywords

Base Camp:Library Website

What is an article

database? *Search

Survival*Evaluative Thinking

Library Catalog

Library CatalogReview/Recap

Database Exploration Review

CQ Researcher Newspapers

Academic Search Premier

CrossSearch (Metalib) GetTeXt*

Statistics Sources

Scholarly Sources

Looping Video

Wrap Up, Student Evaluation

How the media and methods fit together.

Introduction* Group Exploring:Establish Groups

BrainstormKeywords

Base Camp:Library Website

What is an article

database? *Search

Survival*Evaluative Thinking

Library Catalog

Library CatalogReview/Recap

Database Exploration Review

CQ Researcher Newspapers

Academic Search Premier

CrossSearch (Metalib) GetTeXt*

Statistics Sources

Scholarly Sources

Looping Video

Wrap Up, Student Evaluation

The Study

Michael Currentcurrent.mich@uwlax.edu

Lesson Study: An Experience in Collaborative Inquiry

The Study

• ApproachData / Evidence we collected, and How

• FindingsAnalysis of Observations

The Study: Approach

Forms of data/evidence collected:

1. Filmed observations of students2. Written Observations of students3. Classroom responses4. Student evaluations5. Instructor evaluations

The Study: Approach

Data #1: Filmed observations of students

• Consent forms signed before filming began• Videographer filmed the class experiencing

the lesson.• Focus camera on students (not the

instructor)• Video burned to DVD for review/analysis

The Study: Approach

Data #2: Written observations of students

• LS team members observed the class• Focus on students (not the instructor or the

lesson)

• Observe those students nearest you• Standardized observation sheets

The Study: Approach

Data #3. Classroom responses

– Feedback questions built into lesson as TurningPoint question/responses

– TurningPoint would have recorded responses for analysis

– Due to technical difficulties, used shows of hands instead.

– These were observed, but not recorded in their totality for analysis

The Study: Approach

The Study: Approach

The Study: Approach

Data #4. Student evaluations

• Students asked to complete online lesson evaluation form at end of session

• “Did the session improve your ability to use library resources?”

• “What were the 2 most important things learned?”

The Study: Approach

The Study: Approach

Data #5. Instructor evaluations

• Bibliographies were required components of later assignments in the class

• APA format was expected

The Study: Findings

1. Analysis of filmed & written observations

2. Classroom responses

3. Analysis of student evaluation data

4. Analysis of instructor evaluations

The Study: Findings

1. Analysis of filmed and written observations

• In general, most students appeared to learn the material.– Group explorations– Group exercises

• Inconsistent engagement across all members of groups of students

The Study: Findings

1. Analysis of filmed and written observations– Visual impediments in front of the

screen– Difficulty organizing into groups– Lack of interest in Search Survival– GetTeXt info screen not well received– Lack of time for exercises

The Study: Findings

1. Analysis of filmed and written observations– Once organized into groups, students

expected group tasks– Students especially engaged by

automatic citation formatting tool

The Study: Findings

2. Classroom responses

• Most students had difficulties with Library Catalog searches (phrases, Boolean)

The Study: Findings

3. Analysis of student evaluation data

– Students indicated that the session improved their ability to use information resources

(3.9 on a 5-point Likert scale)

The Study: Findings

3. Analysis of student evaluation data

– That 3.9 score was a slight improvement over earlier versions of the lesson given by the same instructor – 3.73

Not necessarily significant, but we’ll take it as a positive!

The Study: Findings

3. Analysis of student evaluation data

– When asked what important things they learned, a significant number mentioned learning about citing sources

The Study: Findings

4. Analysis of instructor evaluations

– The CST110 instructor reported students were generally successful in their library work, including citing their sources, following their experience with this lesson.

Discussion: Lessons Learned

Cris Pruchaprucha.cris@uwlax.edu

Lesson Study: An Experience in Collaborative Inquiry

Photo courtesy of UW-L Educational Technologies

“The knower is central to the research.” ~ Polkinghorne (1983) Methodology for the Human Sciences: Systems of Inquiry

• Individual students• Librarian/Presenter • Observers• Course Instructor

“Participatory action research operates in the political realm and is concerned with producing knowledge and empowering people and communities through genuine collaboration.” ~ Bensimon, E., Polkinghorne, D., Bauman, G. and Vallejo, E. (2004)

• Alternative methodology effects institutional change

• Practitioner as researcher approach

The Process Effected Change

• Communication between two departments

• Communication and collaboration between librarians teaching the same lesson

• Acknowledging the importance of the lesson – with our time

The Lesson Design Facilitated Librarian Observation and

Interaction• Group Work• Students complete three

exercises (ten minutes) before reconvening for discussion and lecture

• Librarian has time to observe, reinforce search techniques

• Less lecture• More information conveyed in group

discussion of question/answer results• More information provided in response

to librarian observation and questions• Pace was more appropriate• Level of difficulty was more

appropriate

The Lesson Design Was More Appropriate For Student Learning

Needs

In Response to Findings: Changes to the Lesson

1. Reduce content o General information o Search survival information

2. Organize groups at appropriate time3. Compensate for visibility problems4. GetTeXt example on worksheet5. Add APA exercise to give them

experience

In Response to Findings: Change Assessment

1. Include questions which assess learning on standard student evaluation form

2. Collaborate with course instructors on pre and post test questions

3. Collaborate with course instructors to evaluate student bibliographies

4. Collect and evaluate student research logs.

In Response to Findings: Our Lesson is a Work in Progress

1. Address varying class length (55 minutes or 85 minutes)

2. Identify core elements of the lesson for librarians

o Encourage creativityo Acknowledge different styles

3. Continued communication o Library changeso Curriculum changes

4. Close collaboration = Time well spent

Bibliography

Chilton, G., Current, M., Holman, J., Prucha, C., Putz, J., Reinert, T., & Belter, B. (2007, March) Teaching library information literacy skills to students enrolled in an introductory communication course: a collaborative study. Teaching Forum, Retrieved March 31, 2007 from http://www.uwlax.edu/teachingforum/

Bensimon, E., Polkinghorne, D., Bauman, G., Vallejo, E., (2004). Doing Research That Makes a Difference. The Journal of Higher Education 75(1): 104-126.

deWinstanley, P. A. & Bjork, R. A. (2002). “Successful lecturing: Presenting information in ways that engage effective processing. In Halpern, D. F., & Hakel, M. D. (Eds.), Applying the Science of Learning to University Teaching and Beyond. New Directions for Teaching and Learning. 89. (pp. 19-31) New York: Jossey-Bass.

Meyers, C., & Jones, T. B. (1993). Promoting active learning: Strategies for the college classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Rossett, A. & Gautier-Downes, J. (1991). A Handbook of Job Aids. San Diego: Pfeiffer & Company.

Smith, S. A. (2004). Designing Collaborative Learning Experiences for Library Computer Classrooms. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 11(2), 65-84.

Yiping, L., Abrami, P.C., and d’Apollonia, S. (2001). Small Group and IndividualLearning with Technology: A Meta-Analysis. Review of Educational Research71(3): 449-522.

“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.”~ Abigail Adams

Questions?

Thank you!