Active Learning research

From Marshall Memo #819

Clickers and Peer Discussion in High-School Classes

            In this Harvard Educational Review article, Bryan Henderson (Arizona State University) says “active learning” is a broad term that covers everything that isn’t traditional lecture teaching to passive students. In fact, there are many ways of making students more “active” learners; one of the best, Henderson believes, is “peer instruction” using clickers (wireless audience response devices) in the following manner:

-    Students listen as the teacher presents content.

-    The teacher poses a conceptual question on the content with several answer options.

-    Students consider the options and anonymously submit their answers via clickers.

-    The teacher displays the number of “votes” for each option.

-    Students pair up and debate their choices and the reasons they made them.

-    Students re-vote on the same question via clickers (they may or may not have changed their mind after discussing the question).

-    All answers are displayed (the correct answer usually gets more votes).

-    The teacher discusses the correct answer and any lingering misconceptions.

This process has produced learning gains twice as great as conventional instruction in some studies.

Henderson wondered which was the most important step in the model and whether variations in active-learning pedagogy might produce the same robust learning gains. He studied the same teacher working with four different groups of high-school physics students, introducing variations in how students spent their time between their first clicker vote and their re-vote: (a) pure lecture and note-taking; (b) students writing down their thinking; (c) students debating each question with peers; and (d) students writing first, then discussing with peers.

The results showed the strongest learning gains when students were given the chance to talk with other students between clicker votes. Henderson also found that time of day mattered: the benefits of turning the class over to the students for discussion were greater in the morning than in the afternoon.

An important message here is that results were not dependent only on whether clicker technology was used; what mattered was how and when the technology was used with students, with the most powerful variable being a chance to talk with a peer about a challenging question.

“Beyond ‘Active Learning’: How the ICAP Framework Permits More Acute Examination of the Popular Peer Instruction Pedagogy” by Bryan Henderson in Harvard Educational Review, Winter 2019 (Vol. 89, #4, pp. 611-634), available for purchase at https://bit.ly/3a9xfdk; Henderson can be reached at jbryanh@asu.edu.

Helping Students Track Their Own Learning

Danielson Domain IV reflection time now.

These teachers might be interested in this article from Edutopia about using Google Forms and Sheets to help students track their own learning.

Past Trauma May Cause Both Behavioral and Health Changes

Article by Harvard Woman's Health Watch

"Past Trauma May Haunt Future Health" (link)

Behavioral changes resulting from trauma. People who are suffering from traumatic memories may try to escape them by participating in risky behaviors such as drinking, smoking, drug use, or even overeating for comfort. "Those can all be used as a coping mechanism, a way of dealing with emotional dysregulation that occurs when someone has been traumatized," says Roberts. These habits, in turn, lead to health problems.

Physical effects related to trauma. The problem goes beyond unhealthy habits. Experts believe that there is actually a direct biological effect that occurs when your body undergoes extreme stress. When you experience something anxiety-provoking, your stress response activates. Your body produces more adrenaline, your heart races, and your body primes itself to react, says Roberts. Someone who has experienced trauma may have stronger surges of adrenaline and experience them more often than someone who has not had the same history. This causes wear and tear on the body — just as it would in a car where the engine was constantly revving and racing, she says. Stress responses have also been demonstrated in people who have experienced discrimination throughout their lives. "It ages your system faster," says Roberts.

Chronic stress can increase inflammation in the body, and inflammation has been associated with a broad range of illness, including cardiovascular disease and autoimmune diseases, says Roberts. Early trauma disrupts the inflammatory system. This can lead to long-term aberrations in this system and chronic health problems triggered by constant inflammation. Typically, the more trauma you've experienced, the worse your health is.

Changing Destructive Behaviors: Origin Stories

From HBR article “Getting to the Bottom of Destructive Behaviors,” by Ron Carucci 

If you, or someone you coach, has struggled to change chronic destructive behavior — anything from angry outbursts to freezing up in high-risk moments to asserting excessive control under stress — uncovering their origin stories may help you break through and make way where other approaches have failed to.  The process involves four steps.

1) Write down the origin stories.

I ask my clients to recall scenes from their formative years, usually between the ages of five and 20, in which the importance of the behavior in question started to appear.  Take the case of my recent client, Andy, the division president of a global accounting firm. He was affable, articulate, with an infectious energy that earned him high regard. But these positive qualities were counteracted by a defiant need to be right, crave the spotlight, and talk incessantly. I asked Andy to write down stories from his formative years centered around times he learned that being both right about, and central to, so many issues became critically important to him. I wanted him to uncover why being wrong or on the periphery was threatening to him. My hunch was that Andy only felt safe when he was talking, and that having his views questioned triggered a sense of inadequacy and shame. The question I told him to try and answer was this: When and how was this behavior learned?    

2) Identify the inner narrative. 

The origins of destructive behavior are almost always attached to well-formed narratives. These narratives serve as templates, or biases, through which we make sense of the world, and often manifest in reaction to experiences we faced earlier in life — or our origin stories. Unless we rewrite them, we spend our lives recreating conditions that reinforce them. But we can’t rewrite stories that we can’t even name. That’s what this step is about.  One of the stories Andy wrote was about the social struggles of changing schools when he was ten. Andy was both a severe stutterer and suffered with ADHD. His new school required him to attend “special education” classes in the middle of the day when everyone else was at recess. For two years, Andy’s daily walk of shame past jeering peers to what they called the “stupid classroom” set the stage for a defiance and shame that would manifest as the behaviors he now couldn’t change.  Andy learned that to prevent being seen as “stupid,” he needed to be highly likable, articulate without stuttering, and consistently demonstrate how smart he was to others. To him, being smart meant being right. I asked Andy to identify in one sentence what that vulnerable season taught him. The narrative Andy wrote down was: “Unless you can prove otherwise, everyone will see how stupid you are.”  His interpretation is starkly revealing. Andy didn’t believe he had to prove he wasn’t stupid. He believed he had to hide the fact that he was. Those years of ritualized public shame caused him to conclude he was inadequate, unintelligent, and therefore, had to adopt sophisticated behaviors to conceal that “truth” from others.  But his abrasive behaviors ended up doing the opposite — pushing people away and replicating his childhood experiences of rejection. Consequently, he had to acquire others’ acceptance and admiration using upbeat energy and brilliantly articulated ideas. Andy realized he’d spent his entire life perfecting a cycle that, while made him feel momentarily safe, yielded the very rejection he sought to escape.

3) Name the need the behavior is serving. 

The anchor that holds troubling behavior in place is the need it serves. This step is about figuring out what that need is. Chronic, destructive behavior is usually an attempt to resolve the painful experience that initiated it. When I asked Andy to tell me what he ultimately wanted, he said, “I want to feel like I belong just by being me.” The problem was that he learned early in life that he couldn’t both “belong” and “just be me.” As a result, he chose to concoct a new version of himself.  Andy and I discussed exactly what this meant: To counter his feelings of self-contempt and shame and purchase others’ acceptance, he made sure others believed he was an affable, articulate guy, especially at his place of work. His unconscious need to reinforce his own belief that he was stupid and unlikable is what made him resistant to change, despite cognitively understanding he should in fact change.  While he freely acknowledged the negative consequences of his behavior on others (cognitive) and desired to actually stop (motivation), the unaddressed pain of those formative years (trauma) was simply too formidable to be more than momentarily counteracted by his will or his acknowledgement. This cycle had set a destructive pattern into motion.

4) Choose a new narrative and alternative behaviors. 

Once someone has identified the deeper needs that that their troubling behavior serves, no matter how irrational they seem, they can begin the process of change.  To start my clients off, I always ask them to take a stab at writing down a new narrative. For Andy, the prompt was: What would happen if you really were smart and didn’t need to purchase other’s approval with your enthusiastic energy or by using your verbal mastery to appear intelligent? Do you think others would still admire you if you were quiet? For his new narrative, Andy wrote, “I am liked, smart, and safe even in silence.” It’s common to dismiss formative stories as mere parts of our past. A divorce, a loved one’s fatal illness, being bullied, surviving a natural disaster, and many other experiences, can leave lasting marks that shape who we become.

Goal Setting: the "From/To" goal

From HBR “A Simple Way to Map Out Your Career Ambitions,” by Marc Effron 

It’s not always clear how you should think about growing in your career. One thing to try is writing a “from/to” statement that articulates where you are today and where you want to go. For example: I want to progress from an individual contributor who adds value through technical expertise and closely follows others’ directions, to a people leader who creates a clear strategy and delivers results through a small team. To write a from/to, ask trusted superiors and colleagues for their candid view of your current role and your goals. Tell them to be brutally honest, because their transparency will help you figure out how you need to grow. Reflect on their answers and incorporate them into your from/to statement — and then have your colleagues read it. Sometimes people think they’re far ahead of where they are, or they choose a destination that is unrealistic. Your advisers can provide a reality check.

How to Listen as a Boss

From this HBR article “Don’t Be the Boss Who Talks Too Much,” by Hjalmar Gislason 

As a manager, you probably have to talk a lot. You want people to have the guidance and direction they need, of course, and there are plenty of situations where you need to speak your mind. But at some point, talking a lot can turn into overcommunicating. You can end up dominating conversations, which means employees’ perspectives aren’t being heard. To make sure you aren’t talking too much, listen as much as you speak. When someone raises a question in a meeting, invite others to weigh in before you. In fact, don’t contribute your thoughts until several other people have offered theirs. That way everyone is included and feels that their input is valued. You can also schedule regular one-on-one sessions with your team members to encourage open communication. Ask employees about their wants, needs, and concerns — and then hush. You may be surprised how much you learn when you’re saying nothing.

Leadership During Crunch Time

From HBR this article by Rebecca Knight:

Sometimes work gets intense. Whether it’s a seasonal rush or a project with a tight deadline, it can be hard to keep people focused and motivated when they’re overloaded. What’s the best way to rally the troops? For starters, check your own emotional energy. You’ll be hard pressed to lead your team if you’re feeling beleaguered or stressed yourself. Take the time to reflect on why the work matters. Why is it relevant to your organization’s goals or mission? And who will benefit from the hard work of you and your team? Then, convey that message to your staff to inspire excitement and enthusiasm. Acknowledge that success will require hard work and perhaps some sacrifices, but express confidence that the team will prevail, and assure everyone that you’re all in it together. Finally, remember that incentives are your friend, and they should be deployed throughout the project, not just at the end. Identify milestones and find ways to reward your team’s hard work: a Friday afternoon off, perhaps, or an office ice cream party. Moments of celebration foster camaraderie and create sustained engagement.