Valerie Otero Presentation

8/14/2019 Valerie Otero Presentation

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Valerie Otero, Associate Professor Science Education

Director, Learning Assistant ProgramCo-Director, CU-Teach and iSTEM ProgramsUniversity of Colorado, Boulder

Stop shining an old pot!New models for institutional change


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Overview

1. Need for new models of scienceeducation and science teacher education

involving Higher Education

a. Educational research says so

b. Higher Ed plays a critical role in Teacher Ed

c. Todays students have new skills

2. The Colorado Learning Assistant Model


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What does the research show?

Traditional content deliveryis not effective


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Students learn more when they areactively engaged (n=6000)

learning gain

Frac

tion

ofcours

esstudied

learning gain=post-pre

100-pre

traditional delivery

interactive engagement

Hake (1998). American Journal of Physics 66 p64-74


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Delivery vs. EngagementTraditional delivery Interactive engagement

Students are consumers ofideas

Students are producers ofideas

Students see science as factsthat come from authority

Students see science asconnected concepts thatmodel the observable world

Student think their job is toget the right answer

Students think their job is tomake sense of the world

Only the scientific content isconsidered by teacher Students prior ideas are takenseriously and built on ininstruction

Attempts are made tocarefully organize lecture

Attempts are made to connectstudents ideas to goals


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Research-based Materials Supporting

Interactive Engagement in Physics


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Tutorial in Introductory Physics

U. Washington (where Tutorials were developed)

D.E. Trowbridge and L. C. McDermott, (1981). Am. J. Phys. 49 (3), 242.

U. Washington Traditional U. Washington Tutorial


8/37S.Pollock, PERC 2004 Finkelstein & Pollock, Phys Rev: ST PER, 2005

Tutorial Success U. Colorado(Colorado professor was specifically trained at U. Washington)

U. Washington Traditional U. Washington TutorialU. Colorado Tutorial


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curriculum matters


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traditional lecture

U. Colorado TutorialMultiple Implementations - new professors

interactive engagement

S. Pollock and N. Finkelstein, Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 4, 010110 (2008)


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pedagogy & teacher matter

teachers can learn

Why the variation?


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21st Century Skills1. Creativity and Innovation (inventive thinking)2. Communication and Collaboration3. Research and Information Fluency4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving,

Decision Making1. Digital-age Literacy2. Civic Literacy

3. Global Awareness4. Technological Operations and Concepts

21st Century Workforce Commission, Partnership for 21st Century Skills


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Schooling of yesterday is not appropriate fortodays student

Traditional Teacher Transformed Teacher

Disseminates informationHelps students criticallyaccess and use informationthat is already in their pockets

Explains things clearlyBuilds on the knowledge andskills that the students bringinto the classroom

Focus on how the student

performs

Focus on the quality of the

students experience

From 2008 Project Tomorrow Speak UpStakeholder Survey


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Toward New Models of TeachingTraditionalinstruction

Transformed

instruction withresearch-

based

curriculummaterials

Learning andteaching isdistributed

among

communicativeglobal networks

Learning is

embodied withinstudent

experiences

ColoradoLearning

Assistant

Model

Uteach

CU TeachUKanTeach

CalTeach

Schooling Today Schooling tomorrow?


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ParticipantsAstronomy

Dick McCray

Doug DuncanNick SchneiderJohn StockeFran BagenalSeth Hornstein Physics

Steve Pollock Noah Finklestein

Kathy Perkins Mike DubsonCarl Wieman Ed KinneyCarl Rogers Jim ShepardMurray Holland James Nagle

Valerie Otero

David WebbDerek Briggs

MCD Biology

Mike Klymkowsky Bill WoodJennifer Knight Sylvia FromherzJia Shi Michelle SmithTom Blumenthal (chair)Nancy Guild

Applied Math

Jim Curry (Chair)

Mary NelsonAdam NorrisAnn DoughertyJim WeissSusan Hallowell

696 Learning Assistants Positions filled

Chemistry

Tom Cech

Robert ParsonVeronica BierbaumMargaret AsirvathamLaurie Langdon

Graduate StudentsKim Geil Bud TalbotKara Gray Stephanie BarrHeidi Iverson Deb MorrisonChandra Turpen Ben SpikeMike Ross

K-12 TeachersSteve IonaMike FuchsRoberta TannerDebbie HeartyCraig Schneider

Karen Germannhancellor DiStefano, Provost Sture, Dean Shepard (Education), Dean Gleeson (A&S

MathematicsEric Stade (Chair)Rob TubbsEvelyn Puaa

Laura Moin

Vicky HandErin FurtakJeff Frykholm

Education

John Cumulat (Chair

Paul Beale (Chair)Steve WagnerShijie ZhongStephanie Chastine


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The Colorado Learning Assistant(LA) Model

Improves LAs content expertise, interest,and engagement in teaching

Improves the learning of all students Helps university faculty, future faculty,

and future industry and political leadersbecome agents of change

Retains some of the classic elements of

traditional instruction


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Teacher Recruitment& Preparation

Curriculum andcourse

transformation

Institutionalchange

Discipline-BasedEducation Research

C T f i

T di i l T f d


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Teacher PreparationCourse TransformationTeacher PreparationTraditional Transformed

Th LA l i i d t id f th l th


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Content: Weekly planning

sessions with math/sciencefaculty member who isteaching the course (3 to 10)LAs per faculty member

Pedagogy: LAs take aweekly course inscience education

theory and practice

Techniques, theory,civic responsibility foreducation

Practice: LAs lead weeklyLearning Teams of 6 to 20students

Formative feedback for

instructor to use inlecture

The LAs learning is moved outside of the classroom, the

learning is in the experience

T i l M i l


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Tutorial Materials

Hands-on, Inquiry-based, Guided, Research-based


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Traditional Class Transformed with LAs


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Traditional Class Transformed with LAs

LA Program Impact on Content Kno ledge


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0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

1618

20

0 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 55 61 67 73 79 85 91 97

Score (%)

PreF04 PreS05 PostF04 PostS05

Score on Electricity and Magnetism Conceptual Test

LA (pre)

Gradstudent (pre)

LA (post)LA (post)

Grad student

(post)

Otero, Finkelstein, Pollock and McCray (2006). Science, 313, 445

LA Program Impact on Content Knowledge

Gain=(post-pre)

44%

Score on Test (%)

Students in

transformedcourseBEFOREinstruction

Students intransformedcourseAFTERinstruction

High

compared toTraditionalclass (23%)


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Same Electricity and Magnetism Test* but taken aftercompleting junior-level Newtonian mechanics

Longitudinal Impacts on Content Knowledge

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Traditional/no-LAsTransformed w/ LAs LAsStudents enrolled intraditional intro course

as freshmen(no LAs)

Students enrolledin course

transformed withLAs as freshmen

Students whoserved as LAs in

intro course

ScoreonT

est

LA P l it th t d t t


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0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

2000-2005 2005-2008

Averageper

year

LA Program also recruits these students toMath and Science Teaching Careers

Math and Science Teacher Certification Program Graduates

BEFORE to LAProgram

LA Programoperating

S ifi ll i Ch i t d Ph i


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Specifically in Chemistry and Physics


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LA Program Impact on Teacher Quality(Reformed Teacher Observation Protocol)

L

essonDesignand

Implementation

Content

ClassroomC

ulture

LA Non-LA LA Non-LA LA Non-LA

Classroom observations of high school and middle schoolclassrooms

Compare former LAs (now high school teachers) to teachers whowent through same teacher training program but did not serve as

LAs


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Evidence of Institutional ChangeLA Hiring by Department


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Evidence of Institutional Change

The Bottom Line


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The Bottom Line:LA Program Cost and Benefit

Students impacted each year >8000

Cost per impacted student ~$37.00

Cost per department per year(10 LAs plus 1/8 admin)

$35,000

Total Cost per year (80 LAs, 8departments plus Education)

$298,000

Challenges


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Challenges

1. Faculty/ Support and Development

2. Growth of the Program (who gets LAs? who decides?)

3. Long Term Funding (credit? course fees?)

4. LAs who become teachers more prepared than otherteacher education students

STEP 1 and STEP 2 Experiential Learning Model

In the LA Model: Learning is distributed


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In the LA Model: Learning is distributedthroughout the system

Faculty and learningassistants recognizetheir role in

educational change

Enrolled students Learnthe subject matter better

Learning Assistantslearn subject matterand become betterteachers

University facultybecome better teachers


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Florida International

Cal Poly,an Louis Obispo

Cornell

U. ofMinnesota

Towson

U. of Arizona

SeattlePacific

WesternKentucky

U. of Arkansas U. of N.C. System

UT AustinAuburn U.

Utah State

>13 Universities Adapting

LA Program


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Th k t


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Thanks to:

For More Information


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http://stem.colorado.edu

http://www.colorado.edu/istem/

For More Information
http://stem.colorado.edu/http://stem.colorado.edu/http://stem.colorado.edu/

Valerie Otero Presentation

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