Teaching Statement

https://lechten.gitlab.io/teaching.html

(Usage hints for this presentation)

Summer Term 2023
Dr. Jens Lechtenbörger (License Information)

Chair of Data Science: Machine Learning and Data Engineering (Prof. Gieseke)
Dept. of Information Systems
University of Münster, Germany

Learning

“Learning” by lastspark under CC BY 3.0 US; cropped from the Noun Project

Brain ≈ Muscle

Learning involves brain’s long term memory
Figure under CC0 1.0
Long term memory needs repeated retrieval and practice
- Spaced out over time
- Effect: Changes in brain’s neural connections
(Learning does not happen [solely] in lectures)

(See [Huang2019])

Deliberate Practice

Characteristics of Deliberate Practice to acquire expert skills ([Eri08], see also [EKT93],[SEI14])
“training” by Nithinan Tatah under CC BY 3.0 US; cropped from the Noun Project
1. Task with well-defined goal
2. Individual motivated to improve
3. Feedback on current performance
4. Ample opportunities for repetition and gradual refinements

(Traditional lecturing is “teaching by telling”, does not share any characteristic of Deliberate Practice)

Active Learning

Active Learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics ([FEM+14])
“experience” by Nithinan Tatah under CC BY 3.0 US; cropped from the Noun Project
- Active Learning is an umbrella term for diverse interventions
  - Group problem-solving
  - Worksheets or tutorials completed during class
  - Use of personal response systems with or without peer instruction
  - Studio or workshop course designs
- Notice: Above interventions share several characteristics of Deliberate Practice

Teaching

White male lecturer

Figure under CC0 1.0

To cut a long story short, I was lecturing for years, and students were generally happy with my lecturing. When I started to integrate quizzes with classroom response systems into my courses, though, I realized that the majority of students did not learn in class what I was hoping them to learn. Although students did not appear to be dissatisfied with this situation, I was frustrated, learned more about learning, and changed my teaching.

Supported by German Stifterverband and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, I went for Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) [Lec17], a special type of flipped learning. Since then, I have been experimenting a lot, and student responses have been mixed. Some love my approach, others hate it. Every term I see superb student performances, making me happy, as well as students tuning out, leaving me in doubt. Anyways, I do not plan to go back to lecturing.

Please be reassured that I value constructive criticism. Please do not hesitate to provide suggestions that might improve our shared time here at the university. Yes, we share time here.

Flipped Approaches

In-class and at-home events flipped [BV13],[BRK+21]
- Individual computer-based instruction paired with active learning in class
  “expert” by pongsakorn under CC BY 3.0 US; cropped from the Noun Project
  - Individual learning shaped by individual background and preferences
  - “Lectures” to discuss questions and work on exercises

Benefits
“dialogue” by Template under CC BY 3.0 US; cropped from the Noun Project
- Better preparation of in-class meetings
  - Reduced cognitive load during initial instruction
  - Greater cognitive capacity in class
- Valuable/limited shared time is used more effectively for student-instructor interactions

Research on Flipped Learning

[KHG+22]: “Fail, flip, fix, and feed – Rethinking flipped learning: A review of meta-analyses and a subsequent meta-analysis”
“mistake” by Kamin Ginkaew under CC BY 3.0 US; cropped from the Noun Project
- Arrange process with Fail, Flip, Fix, and Feed
  - Fail: Let students try to solve novel problems even if they fail (before instruction)
- Let us try this!

Notes on Flipping

Clearly, flipping requires your preparation
“Productivity” by Template under CC BY 3.0 US; cropped from the Noun Project
- Some students find that after being prepared, they do not need our class meetings at all
  - This is fine
  - (In-class discussions might still offer benefits: switch role and learn as instructor, identify misconceptions)
- Other students find that class meetings are a waste of time if they are not prepared
  - I agree: If you are not prepared, then it probably makes more sense to use the session time for self-study than to attend the session

Notes on Active Learning

Quote by Louis Deslauriers, author of study [D+19] on actual learning vs feeling of learning:
- “The effort involved in active learning can be misinterpreted as a sign of poor learning. On the other hand, a superstar lecturer can explain things in such a way as to make students feel like they are learning more than they actually are.”

Please, do not misinterpret your efforts as signs of poor learning
“mistake” by Kamin Ginkaew under CC BY 3.0 US; cropped from the Noun Project
- Please, ask early, in our forum, a shared document, during sessions
  - (Q&A on class topics should take place in shared spaces, might be anonymous; other topics might require private spaces)

The Beginning

Person taking steps to top

Figure under CC0 1.0

Lots of questions
- Why do you attend sessions?
  - On campus or online?
- Why would you like to come to campus?
- Is everything fine as it is?
- How should learning at a university look like?
Please share your answers
- Maybe anonymously in the shared pad for our first session

Bibliography

[BRK+21] Bredow, Roehling, Knorp & Sweet, To Flip or Not to Flip? A Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Flipped Learning in Higher Education, Review of Educational Research 91(6), (2021). https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543211019122
[BV13] Bishop & Verleger, The flipped classroom: A survey of the research, in: ASEE National Conference Proceedings, Atlanta, GA, 2013. https://www.asee.org/public/conferences/20/papers/6219/download
[D+19] Deslauriers, McCarty, Miller, Callaghan & Kestin, Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning in response to being actively engaged in the classroom, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116(39), 19251-19257 (2019). https://www.pnas.org/content/116/39/19251
[EKT93] Ericsson, Krampe & Tesch-Römer, The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance, Psychological review 100(3), 363 (1993). http://projects.ict.usc.edu/itw/gel/EricssonDeliberatePracticePR93.PDF
[Eri08] Ericsson, Deliberate practice and acquisition of expert performance: a general overview, Acad Emerg Med 15(11), 988-994 (2008). https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1553-2712.2008.00227.x
[FEM+14] Freeman, Eddy, McDonough, Smith, Okoroafor, Jordt & Wenderoth, Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111(23), 8410-8415 (2014). https://www.pnas.org/content/111/23/8410
[Huang2019] Huang, Don't lecture me! A discussion of active learning with Nobel laureate Carl Wieman, Nature , (2019). https://www.nature.com/articles/d42473-019-00339-6
[KHG+22] Kapur, Hattie, Grossman & Sinha, Fail, flip, fix, and feed – Rethinking flipped learning: A review of meta-analyses and a subsequent meta-analysis, Frontiers in Education 7, (2022). https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.956416
[Lec17] Lechtenbörger, Bericht zu JiTT@OperatingSystems, 2017. https://www.stifterverband.org/lehrfellows/2016/lechtenboerger
[SEI14] Course Transformation Guide, UBC and CU Science Education Initiatives, 2014. http://www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/files/CourseTransformationGuide_CWSEI_CU-SEI.pdf

License Information

Source code and source files for this OER presentation are available on GitLab under free/libre licenses.

No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use.

In particular, trademark rights are not licensed under this license. Thus, rights concerning third party logos (e.g., on the title slide) and other (trade-) marks (e.g., “Creative Commons” itself) remain with their respective holders.