This work is supported by the National Science Foundation’s Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM program within the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (DUE-1245025).

CAN YOU FEEL THE EARTH MOVE UNDER YOUR FEET?

A new way to play with data

WHAT EXPERIENCE DO YOU HAVE WITH THE GROUND MOVING?

IN PAIRS

Take out the suit of cards your pair is assigned, along with the Joker and overview map cards.• What are the data you are looking at?• Look for patterns: – What changes across your suit’s region? – What are two “events” that have occurred here?

• What questions/comments do you have?

Be prepared to present your results to the group

• Open your second pack of cards and take out the same suit (so each in the pair have one copy)

• Rearrange into two groups of three so that there is one person per group with each “suit of data” (diamonds, clubs, spades)

IN YOUR NEW GROUPS

• Compare datasets and patterns– How are the similar? – How are they different?

• What questions/comments do you have?• How were the data collected?• What hazards to society are evidenced by

these data?• What are some mitigation measures that can

be taken?Be prepared to present your results to the group

GPS MOVEMENTS COMPARED TO “STABLE” EASTERN NORTH AMERICA

ON YOUR OWN…

• What is something that you learned in this exercise?

• Reflect on your comfort level and ability to read GPS data. How has it changed, if at all?

• Describe the strategies that geoscientists employ to investigate questions about ground movement, and how these are different from and similar to other kinds of scientific investigations.

WHAT DID WE JUST DO? Time to talk about instructional strategies.

WHAT DID WE JUST DO?

• I asked you about your experience with ground movement

• You spent time looking at data• You described your findings and speculated • I did a bit of lecturing• You applied what you learned to your region• You reflected on your learning and I assessed

ENGAGE

EXPLORE

EXPLAIN

EXTEND

EVALUATE

A MORE “TRADITIONAL” APPROACH

• Explain• Explain some more• Direct some exploration• Explain, perhaps in frustration• Evaluate

5E LEARNING CYCLE

5E learning cycle

MAIN IDEA: ACTIVE LEARNING

• Students are engaged, working with real data…• …using geoscientific thinking • …in support of your learning objectives• …developing their metacognitive skills• …and their communication skills• …to scaffold their ability to address

interdisciplinary problems.

METACOGNITIONTHINKING ABOUT THINKING

• Learning about how people learn• Developing awareness of one’s own learning process• Monitoring and assessing one’s own learning• Managing one’s motivation and attitudes• Making adjustments to one’s learning process

What did we do that could be called a metacognitive strategy?

METACOGNITIONTHINKING ABOUT THINKING

• Learning about how people learn• Developing awareness of one’s own learning process• Monitoring and assessing one’s own learning• Managing one’s motivation and attitudes• Making adjustments to one’s learning process

Self-regulated learning cycle

Student attitude survey: Attitudes towards geoscience careers, sustainable behaviors,

etc.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO SUPPORT STUDENTS’ SELF-REGULATION OF THEIR LEARNING?

• Provide opportunities for students to self-evaluate their own learning

• Create an environment that fosters learning how to learn

• Encourage behaviors that foster learning to learn

Great! Um… how?

OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO SELF-EVALUATE THEIR LEARNING

Low effort (class/activity-level):• Think-Pair-Share • Retrieval practice• End-of-class “muddiest point” or “1-minute papers”Moderate effort (activity/unit-level):• Reflective Prompts• Exam Wrappers• Learning JournalsCommitted effort (course level):• Classroom notebook

CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT THAT FOSTERS LEARNING TO LEARN

• Reward effort over ability (allow for revisions)• Encourage self-comparison over social

comparison (use exam wrappers)• Model and provide graphic organizers and

other organizational structures• Be explicit: spend time discussing how these

activities help them learn

ENCOURAGE BEHAVIORS THAT FOSTER LEARNING TO LEARN

• Encourage questioning and help-seeking– Frequent use of think-pair-share– Frequent use of reflective questions

• Encourage goal-setting– Proximal: exam or module wrappers– Distal: classroom journals

• Be explicit: spend time discussing how these activities help them learn

Short activity on metacognition

LEARNING STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES…MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT RUBRIC

• …support stated learning objectives and goals.• …promote student engagement with the materials.• …develop student metacognition.• …provide opportunities for students to practice

communicating geoscience.• …scaffold learning.

Must score 13/15

SERC’S PEDAGOGY IN ACTION SITE

• http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/pedagogies.html

http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/pedagogies.html