Enhancing Student Engagement and Understanding via IBL
This talk was given on January 10, 2018, as part of the "Creating Meaningful Classroom Activities to Deepen Student Learning" Project NExT panel discussion at the 2018 Joint Mathematics Meeting in San Diego, CA.
Enhancing Student Engagement and Understanding via Inquiry-Based Learning Creating Meaningful Classroom Activities to Deepen Student Learning Project NExT Panel Discussion Dana C. Ernst Northern Arizona University January 10, 2018
Bad News & Good News Bad News I can’t tell you everything there is to say about inquiry-based learning (IBL) in 20 minutes. Good News There are lots of resources available and there are lots of people that would love to help you get started with IBL. 1
IBL Resources • The Academy of Inquiry-Based Learning (AIBL) • Summer IBL Workshops Registration is now open! Registration is now open! • June 19–22, 2018: DePaul University, Chicago, IL • June 26–29, 2018: MAA Carriage House, Washington, DC • July 10–13, 2018: Los Angeles, CA • Mentoring via AIBL • Small grants from AIBL • Journal of Inquiry-Based Learning in Mathematics (JIBLM) • IBL SIGMAA • Inquiry-Based Teaching and Learning session at JMM • Mathematics Learning by Inquiry • MAA Instructional Practices Guide Registration is now open! 2
What is IBL? The Three Pillars 1. Deep engagement in rich mathematics. 2. Opportunities to collaborate. 3. Instructor use of student thinking. Laursen et al. Rasmussen et al. Students should as much as possible be responsible for: 1. Guiding the acquisition of knowledge, 2. Validating the ideas presented (instructor not sole authority). 3
What is IBL? Guiding Principle Where do I draw the line between content I must impart to my students versus content they can produce independently? Where do I draw the line between content I must impart to my students versus content they can produce independently? Common Vehicles to IBL 1. Student presentations. 2. Small group work. This is not an “either-or” choice. Most IBL instructors implement some combination. Where do I draw the line between content I must impart to my students versus content they can produce independently? 4
What is IBL? Important! • IBL is a big tent. • IBL is doable. • IBL is fun. • IBL isn’t all or nothing. You can make incremental changes. • IBL assumes a growth mindset. • IBL fosters a growth mindset. • IBL can be transformative. “We’re in the business of changing lives.” — Michael Starbird “We’re in the business of changing lives.” — Michael Starbird “We’re in the business of changing lives.” — Michael Starbird 5
What does IBL look like? • You need to make design decisions about: 1. The tasks students will engage in. 2. How students will engage with those tasks, with each other, and with you. • Your decisions will be influenced by many obstacles & opportunities: • Class size? • Significant content pressure? • Configuration of room? • Who are your students? • Your implementation may vary from course to course. 6
One of many possible versions of IBL • Students responsible for digesting most new material out of class by working on a sequence of problems. • Each batch of problems are meant to do some subset of the following: • Introduce a new topic • Develop intuition about a concept • Synthesize ideas from a few concepts • Prove a theorem • Get practice doing routine or non-routine problems • Nearly all class time devoted to students presenting proposed solutions/proofs. • Instructor’s role: guide discussion & nudge students to ask the right questions. 8
Why IBL? Laursen et al. 2014 “Despite variation in how IBL was implemented, student out- comes are improved in IBL courses relative to traditionally taught courses, as assessed by general measures that apply across course types. Particularly striking, the use of IBL elim- inates a sizable gender gap that disfavors women students in lecture-based courses.” “Despite variation in how IBL was implemented, student out- comes are improved in IBL courses relative to traditionally taught courses, as assessed by general measures that apply across course types. Particularly striking, the use of IBL elim- inates a sizable gender gap that disfavors women students in lecture-based courses.” “Despite variation in how IBL was implemented, student out- comes are improved in IBL courses relative to traditionally taught courses, as assessed by general measures that apply across course types. Particularly striking, the use of IBL elim- inates a sizable gender gap that disfavors women students in lecture-based courses.” 15
Why IBL? Freeman et al. 2014 “The results raise questions about the continued use of tradi- tional lecturing as a control in research studies, and support active learning as the preferred, empirically validated teach- ing practice in regular classrooms.” “The results raise questions about the continued use of tradi- tional lecturing as a control in research studies, and support active learning as the preferred, empirically validated teach- ing practice in regular classrooms.” “The results raise questions about the continued use of tradi- tional lecturing as a control in research studies, and support active learning as the preferred, empirically validated teach- ing practice in regular classrooms.” 16
Why IBL? Manifesto of the MAA Instructional Practices Guide “We must gather the courage to advocate beyond our own classroom for student-centered instructional strategies that promote equitable access to mathematics for all students. We stand at a crossroads, and we must choose the path of trans- formation in order to fulfill our professional responsibility to our students.” “We must gather the courage to advocate beyond our own classroom for student-centered instructional strategies that promote equitable access to mathematics for all students. We stand at a crossroads, and we must choose the path of trans- formation in order to fulfill our professional responsibility to our students.” “We must gather the courage to advocate beyond our own classroom for student-centered instructional strategies that promote equitable access to mathematics for all students. We stand at a crossroads, and we must choose the path of trans- formation in order to fulfill our professional responsibility to our students.” 17
Closing Remarks • In an IBL class there are lots of issues that bubble to the surface that we blissfully ignore when lecturing. Feature not a bug! • When we have access to student thinking we can build on an extend their understanding. • Student presentations are meant to drive classroom discussion, not to prove to you that Sally knows how to do Exercise 15. • The perfect presentation is one that is interestingly wrong. • One reason IBL works: Mode of engagement is different when listening to expert vs novice. “Student as skeptic.” 19
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