24,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Bildung
- Sprache: Englisch
Put Teaching Naked to work in your classroom with clear examples and step-by-step guidance Teaching Naked Techniques (TNT) is a practical guide of proven quick ideas for improving classes and essential information for designing anything from one lesson or a group of lessons to an entire course. TNT is both a design guide and a 'sourcebook' of ideas: a great companion to the award-winning Teaching Naked book. Teaching Naked Techniques helps higher education faculty design more effective and engaging classrooms. The book focuses on each step of class preparation from the entry point and first encounter with content to the classroom 'surprise.' There is a chapter on each step in the cycle with an abundance of discipline-specific examples, plus the latest research on cognition and technology, quick lists of ideas, and additional resources. By rethinking the how, when, and why of technology, faculty are able to create exponentially more opportunities for practical student engagement. Student-centered, activity-driven, and proven again and again, these techniques can revolutionize your classroom. * Create more effective, engaging lessons for higher education * Utilize technology outside of the classroom to better engage during class time * Examine discipline-specific examples of Teaching Naked Techniques * Prepare for each class step by step from the student's perspective Teaching Naked flips the classroom by placing the student's first contact with the material outside of class. This places the burden of learning on the learner, ensures student preparation, and frees up class time for active engagement with the material for more effective learning and retention. Teaching Naked Techniques is the practical guide for bringing better learning to your classroom.
Sie lesen das E-Book in den Legimi-Apps auf:
Seitenzahl: 466
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017
Ähnliche
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Contributors
Introduction: Designing for the Brain in the Body
Learning Behaviors: The Brain in the Body
Focus and Motivation
Learning and Technology
Pedagogy as Design
References
Chapter 1: Transparency and Clearer Targets
Step‐by‐Step Guide
Examples
Key Concepts
Further Resources
References
Chapter 2: Finding Online Content for First Exposure
Step‐by‐Step Guide
Examples
Key Concepts
Further Resources
References
Chapter 3: Creating Your Own Digital Content
Step‐by‐Step Guide
Examples
Key Concepts
Further Resources
References
Chapter 4: Instructions and Entry Point
Step‐by‐Step Guide
Examples
Key Concepts
Further Resources
References
Chapter 5: Online Exams to Improve Student Preparation for Class
Step‐by‐Step Guide
Examples
Key Concepts
Further Resources
References
Chapter 6: Preclass Assignments
Step‐by‐Step Guide
Examples
Key Concepts
Further Resources
References
Chapter 7: Massively Better Classrooms and the Classroom Surprise
Step‐by‐Step Guide
Examples
Key Concepts
Further Resources
References
Chapter 8: Critical Thinking, Metacognition, and Cognitive Wrappers
Step‐by‐Step Guide
Examples
Key Concepts
Further Resources
References
Chapter 9: Grading and Feedback
Step‐by‐Step Guide
Examples
Key Concepts
Further Resources
References
Chapter 10: E‐Communication
Step‐by‐Step Guide
Examples
Key Concepts
Further Resources
References
Chapter 11: Integrated Courses and Sequence
Step‐by‐Step Guide
Examples
Key Concepts
Further Resources
References
Chapter 12: Integrative Learning and Integrated Experiences
Step‐by‐Step Guide
Examples
Key Concepts
Further Resources
References
Chapter 13: Being a Superhero
Step‐by‐Step Guide
Examples
Key Concepts
Further Resources
References
Index
Wiley End User License Agreement
Pages
i
ii
vii
viii
ix
x
xi
xii
xiii
xiv
xv
xvi
xvii
xviii
xix
xx
xxi
xxii
xxiii
xxiv
xxv
xxvi
xxvii
xxviii
xxix
xxx
xxxi
xxxii
xxxiv
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
123
125
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
154
156
157
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
171
173
174
175
177
184
178
179
180
181
182
183
185
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
200
201
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
216
217
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
List of Illustrations
Chapter 1: Transparency and Clearer Targets
Figure 1.1: Fink's Taxonomy of Significant Learning
Chapter 2: Finding Online Content for First Exposure
Figure 2.1: Student Use of Devices for Academic Work, 2012–2014
Figure 2.2: Google Video Search
Chapter 6: Preclass Assignments
Figure 6.1: A Concept Map
Chapter 9: Grading and Feedback
Figure 9.1: The Interconnected Nature of Goals, Learning Design, and Assessment
Chapter 11: Integrated Courses and Sequence
Figure 11.1: Key Components of Integrated Course Design
Figure 11.2: Honeycomb Diagram for Course Design
Figure 11.3: Organizing Topics into a Thematic Structure
Figure 11.4: The Teaching Naked Micro‐Cycle
Figure 11.5: The Teaching Naked Design Process
Figure 11.6: One Honeycomb Cell
Chapter 12: Integrative Learning and Integrated Experiences
Figure 12.1: A SCALE‐UP Classroom for 72 Students
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Transparency and Clearer Targets
Table 1.1: College Writing Rubric Example
Chapter 13: Being a Superhero
Table 13.1: Six Common Active Learning Mistakes
Teaching Naked Techniques
A Practical Guide to Designing Better Classes
José Antonio Bowen and C. Edward Watson
Copyright © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Published by Jossey-Bass
A Wiley Brand
One Montgomery Street, Suite 1000, San Francisco, CA 94104-4594—www.josseybass.com
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Permission is given for individual classroom teachers to reproduce the pages and illustrations for classroom use. Reproduction of these materials for an entire school system is strictly forbidden.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read.
Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey-Bass directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3986, or fax 317-572-4002.
Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-ondemand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bowen, José Antonio.
Title: Teaching naked techniques: a practical guide to designing better classes / José A. Bowen.
Description: New Jersey: Jossey-Bass, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016041898 | ISBN 9781119136118 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119262633 (ePDF) | ISBN 9781119262640 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Curriculum planning. | Educational technology. | BISAC: EDUCATION / Higher.
Classification: LCC LB2806.15 .B66 2017 | DDC 371.102—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016041898
Cover design: Wiley
Acknowledgments
THIS BOOK HASbeen a wonderful group effort. First, of course, this book includes the contributions of hundreds of faculty and thousands of students who have been in our classes and workshops and who kindly corrected our mistakes and missteps. In workshops across the country, faculty have generously shared tips, stories, and ideas. This book is dedicated to all of those teachers who seek to change the lives of their students.
In February 2015, we sent out a call to faculty and Center for Teaching and Learning directors at a wide variety of colleges and universities telling them of our idea for this book and asking if they would be willing to share their examples and applications of some of “teaching naked” ideas. We were overwhelmed with the varied, detailed, and specific demonstrations of great teaching that now fill the following pages. We limited most people to one or two examples so that we could acknowledge the greatest number of people. We also wanted to feature the widest variety of institutions (community, liberal arts, and technical colleges, along with research and regional universities), disciplines, and situations (residential, commuter, blended, and online).
Thank you to all of the faculty who contributed ideas and allowed us to weave your teaching ideas with ours. We are deeply grateful for your efforts and support. In the end, we have featured over 50 faculty whom we acknowledge as contributors of this book.
One special contributor and collaborator of this book was Erin Horan, educational psychology doctoral candidate extraordinaire and graduate assistant in the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Georgia. Erin helped us organize and then participated in the selection of the faculty contributions that are found in this book. She assisted our thinking in many ways throughout this process. We are grateful for her assistance, collaboration, and perspectives.
Thank you to the entire team at Wiley who also supported this complicated effort. David Brightman began the process and deserves much of the credit for convincing someone that teaching centers and faculty development staff would actually buy a book titled Teaching Naked. He passed the torch for this project to Marjorie S. McAnemy, who encouraged us until we ended up in the able hands of Alison Knowles and Connor O'Brien. Thanks to Connor, who read the entire draft and made important, thoughtful, and gracious suggestions. Thanks also to Aneesa Davenport, Shauna Robinson, and the rest of the support team at Wiley. We appreciate your help and support and know that your work is helping more faculty help more students every day.
Thank you to everyone who helped and encouraged us and to the many faculty and staff colleagues at our institutions who put up with us and the extra stress and work of having a book project percolating while we were doing our day jobs.
Thanks finally to our families and friends who have suffered and supported the most to create this work. We promise: we will stop talking about it now!
From J.A.B.: I thank Lillian Johnson in my office, who somehow managed to clear a few afternoons for writing, and especially my incredibly supportive wife, Kimberly, who spent many nights sitting with me in our office when we should have been doing something more relaxing. My daughter, Naomi, has offered many insights over the years, but of course, none of the stories included here are about her. The pets, Molly, Chloe, and Chelsea, were not really much help, but they provided much-needed moral support.
From C.E.W.: I thank those colleagues and students who talk with me daily about teaching and learning and have advanced my thinking over the years. The closest of these amazing friends include Carrie Bishop, Sherry Clouser, Peter Doolittle, Chase Hagood, Colleen Kuusinen, Kate McConnell, Edward “Earl” Schwartz, and Krista Terry. I also want to thank my “n of two” at home, Liam and Carter, who freely provide me with all of my best anecdotal teaching and learning stories to go along with what the research is telling us about how all of this works. My deepest gratitude resides with my wife, Joan. My richest discussions regarding teaching and learning happen with her, and her encouragement and support were foundational to the success of this book and, truly, all of my successes.
About the Authors
JOSÉ ANTONIO BOWENis president of Goucher College. He has won teaching awards at Stanford, Georgetown, Miami, and Southern Methodist University, where he was dean of the Meadows School of the Arts for eight years. He was the founding director of the Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music (C.H.A.R.M.) at the University of Southampton, England. He has written over 100 scholarly articles, edited the Cambridge Companion to Conducting (2003), and is an editor of the six-CD set Jazz: The Smithsonian Anthology (2011). He has worked as a musician with Stan Getz, Dave Brubeck, Hubert Laws, Liberace, and many others, and his symphony was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Music. His book Teaching Naked: How Moving Technology out of Your College Classroom Will Improve Student Learning (Jossey-Bass, 2012) won the Ness Award for Best Book on Higher Education from the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and Stanford honored him as a Distinguished Alumni Scholar in 2010. For more on his teaching, see his blog at teachingnaked.com or follow him on Twitter: @josebowen.
C. EDWARD WATSON is director of the Center for Teaching and Learning and a fellow in the Institute for Higher Education at the University of Georgia (UGA), where he leads university efforts associated with faculty development, teaching assistant development, student learning outcomes assessment, learning technologies, media and production services, classroom support and learning spaces, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. At UGA, he also teaches courses on college teaching. He is the founding executive editor of the International Journal of ePortfolio and the executive editor of the International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and has published on teaching and learning in a number of journals, including Educational Technology, EDUCAUSE Review, the Journal for Effective Teaching,and To Improve the Academy, among others. He is also on the board of directors for the Association for Authentic, Experiential, and Evidence-Based Learning and the International Society for Exploring Teaching and Learning. He has recently been quoted in the New York Times, Campus Technology, EdSurge, and University Business Magazine and on CNN and NPR regarding current teaching and learning issues and trends in higher education. For more, see eddiewatson.net or follow him on Twitter: @eddiewatson.
Contributors
Brenda Hardin Abbott
is assistant professor of English and writing program coordinator at Bay Path University (
Chapter 8
).
Paul J. Antonellis Jr
. is lecturer of management at Merrimack College (
Chapter 3
).
Janice Bergman-Carton
is associate professor of art history at Southern Methodist University (
Chapter 12
).
Janine Bowen
is professor of business management at Goucher College (
Chapters 2
and
7
).
Peter Scott Brown
is associate professor of medieval art history at the University of North Florida (
Chapters 1
and
6
).
Jason Cherubini
is assistant professor of business management at Goucher College (
Chapter 5
).
Marcia L. Cordts
is lecturer of microbiology at the University of Iowa (
Chapter 5
).
Becky Ericson
teaches astronomy for non-science majors George Mason University (
Chapter 6
).
Debra Ferdinand
is an educational technologist at the School of Education at the University of the West Indies (
Chapter 10
).
Ann M. Fox
is professor of English at Davidson College (
Chapter 3
).
Dara Friedman-Wheeler
is associate professor of psychology at Goucher College (
Chapter 3
).
Oana Godeanu-Kenworthy
is senior lecturer of global and intercultural studies (American studies) at Miami University (
Chapters 1
and
6
).
Rae Jean B. Goodman
is professor of economics at the U.S. Naval Academy (
Chapter 9
).
Brooke Hessler
is director of learning resources at California College of the Arts (
Chapter 6
).
Barbara Juncosa
is instructor of biological, physical, and natural sciences at Citrus College (
Chapter 8
).
Jason Kaufman
is associate professor of educational leadership at Minnesota State University, Mankato (
Chapter 10
).
Kendall Kennison
is professor of music at Goucher College (
Chapter 3
).
Sarah Leupen
is senior lecturer of biological sciences at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (
Chapters 1
and
5
).
Leslie Lewis
is provost and professor of English at Goucher College (
Chapter 12
).
Sarah Lovern
is associate professor of physiology at Concordia University Wisconsin (
Chapters 5
and
8
).
Regina Majestro
is graduate student of psychology at Spalding University (
Chapter 2
).
Veronica McComb
is assistant professor of history at Lenoir-Rhyne University (
Chapter 9
).
Sarah McCorkle
is instructional technology specialist at Wake Forest University (
Chapter 10
).
Gretchen Kreahling McKay
is professor and department chair of art and art history at McDaniel College (
Chapters 2
and
7
).
Tawnya Means
is director of the Teaching and Learning Center at the University of Florida (
Chapter 1
).
Alice Miller
is technology coordinator for the Welch Center for Graduate and Professional Studies at Goucher College (
Chapter 10
).
Mary Miller
is professor of biology at Baton Rouge Community College (
Chapter 9
).
Andrew Mills
is professor of religion and philosophy at Otterbein University (
Chapter 4
).
Mathew Mitchell
is co-director of the Center for Teaching Excellence and professor in the Learning and Instruction Department in the School of Education at University of San Francisco (
Chapter 9
).
Katherine Moore
is professor of psychology at Arcadia University (
Chapter 7
).
Paul Morgan
is graduate student of psychology at Spalding University (
Chapter 2
).
Chris Mortensen
is assistant professor of animal sciences at the University of Florida (
Chapter 1
).
Shelby Newport
is department chair, associate professor of theater and dance, and resident costume designer at the University of Michigan-Flint (
Chapter 10
).
Pamela A. Patton
is director of the Index of Christian Art in the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University (
Chapter 12
).
Richard Pennington
is associate professor of chemistry at Georgia Gwinnett College (
Chapter 6
).
Graciela Perera
is associate professor of computer science at Northeastern Illinois University (
Chapter 8
).
Todd Pourciau
is dean for innovative learning and academic support at Baton Rouge Community College (
Chapter 1
).
Nicolas W. Proctor
is professor of history at Simpson College (
Chapter 4
).
Jessie Reed
is a graduate student of psychology at Spalding University (
Chapter 2
).
Joe Reinsel
is assistant professor of media art at the University of Michigan-Flint (
Chapters 1
and
10
).
Gina Riggio
is adjunct science instructor at Delaware Technical Community College (
Chapters 1
and
4
).
Arthur Roberts
is assistant professor of pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences at the University of Georgia (
Chapter 6
).
Rebecca Roberts
is associate professor of biology at Ursinus College (
Chapter 2
).
Lisa Ruch
is professor of English and communications and chair of liberal studies at Bay Path University (
Chapter 8
).
Jeffery Schwehm
is coordinator of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at Concordia University (
Chapter 1
).
Ajay Sharma
is assistant professor of veterinary diagnostic imaging in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia (
Chapter 8
).
Michael Shepard
is professor of practice in cultural sustainability and environmental studies and an instructional designer at Goucher College (
Chapter 3
).
Andrea Skellie
is public relations specialist in the Office of Admissions at the University of Georgia (provided Figure 11.2).
Anthony Smith
is visiting assistant professor of business law at Indiana University South Bend (
Chapter 1
).
Bonni Stachowiak
is associate professor of business management at Vanguard University and host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast (
Chapter 9
).
Robert Talbert
is associate professor of mathematics at Grand Valley State University (
Chapter 5
).
Laura Tejada
is assistant professor of counselor education in the Daniel L. Goodwin College of Education at Northeastern Illinois University (
Chapter 4
).
Denise Thorsen
is associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (
Chapter 7
).
Susanna Throop
is codirector of the Teaching and Learning Institute and associate professor of history at Ursinus College (
Chapter 4
).
Leslie Vincent
is instructor of mathematics at Delaware Technical Community College (
Chapter 2
).
Linda Wanless
is assistant professor of technology at Michigan Technological University (
Chapter 7
).
David R. Wessner
is professor of biology at Davidson College (
Chapter 3
).
Jack Williams
is professor of osteopathic medicine at the University of New England (
Chapter 3
).
Robin Black Wilson
is assistant professor of education at Goucher College (
Chapter 8
).
DeDe Wohlfarth
is professor of psychology and director of the child, adolescent, and family emphasis area in psychology at Spalding University (
Chapters 2
and
4
).
Hu Womack
is an instruction and outreach librarian at Wake Forest University (
Chapter 10
).
IntroductionDesigning for the Brain in the Body
THIS BOOK INVESTIGATES how we might apply new technology and research on how the brain learns to redesign courses and classrooms. Decades of research have brought an explosion of knowledge about how human evolution shaped the way we process, think, and remember. That research informs this book, but the focus here is on practical and discipline-specific applications for faculty. At the same time that psychology and research have given us new insights into student learning, students now have much more to learn and new technologies that help, or inhibit, how they learn. We are already in a new learning economy, where, thanks to this same explosion of knowledge creation and technology, most of what students will need to learn, they will need to learn after they leave our classrooms. What we know in our disciplines will remain important, but what we know about student learning and development will also grow in importance. The future belongs to self-regulating, lifelong learners, and we need to know how to create them.
As faculty, we of course have spent a lot of time in school, and we assume that gives us some insight into how people learn. Sadly, the opposite is probably true. We may have understood the value of paying attention even when bored, long sessions of single focus without distraction, distributed repetition, the futility of cramming, discovering why the professor assigned the reading, the importance of rewriting notes, and probably naps. All of these are now proven learning enhancers, but none of them are obvious. If we are to turn students into lifelong learners (by far, the most important outcome of college in the learning economy and the Internet age), we need to be explicit in designing environments that help students learn for themselves.
Terry Doyle (2008, p. 25) sums it up this way: “The one who does the work, does the learning.” That does not mean teachers only need to put content out there and let students work; if that is all you do, the Internet does it better. Rather, it means that the value of the teacher is in the way he or she can stimulate good behaviors in students: pedagogy is a design problem. The fitness coach does not do our exercise for us but still provides enormous value. More exercise equipment will not increase your fitness, in the same way that more content will not increase your learning (faculty being the exception). Normal learners need a teacher who understands their anxieties and what motivates them and can then create structures that will allow them to succeed.
Learning Behaviors: The Brain in the Body
Sleep, water, exercise, eating (diet), and time (SWEET) plus a few study habits may matter as much as our pedagogical methods or classroom technology. We know a lot about the good behaviors of learning, and we can learn the basic science with excellent books from James Zull (The Art of Changing the Brain: Enriching the Practice of Teaching by Exploring the Biology of Learning, 2002, and From Brain to Mind: Using Neuroscience to Guide Change in Education, 2011) and Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel (Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, 2014). Terry Doyle and Todd Zakrajsek's The New Science of Learning: How to Learn in Harmony with Your Brain (2013) has even turned this research into a practical manual for students, but how do we best apply this research to redesign classrooms and colleges? (See Chapter 12 in this book.)
Kuh, Kinzie, Schuh, and Whitt (2005) and Chambliss and Takacs (2014) have identified a number of high-impact pedagogical and institutional practices, many of them small or low-cost changes, that have a disproportionate impact on student learning. Understanding that our brains are encased in physical bodies and that stable blood glucose and protein are essential for connecting brain cells provides us with even more ways to improve learning. We know, for example, that most of us are mildly dehydrated when we wake up, but the brain needs plenty of water for better learning. Perhaps two tall glasses of water before the first morning class is another high-impact practice?
Dement and Vaughan (1999) helped us learn about sleep deficits and how hard they are to detect, and additional studies have provided insights that likely have ramifications for learning. As an example, we now know that when we go two straight weeks with only 6 hours of sleep a night, we are actually as impaired as those who had not slept for the last 48 hours (Van Dongen, Maislen, Mullington, & Dinges, 2003). Without that last 2 hours of sleep, we just write over the short-term memory the next day and remember very little from the previous day. We have known for decades that adults need 7.5 to 9.0 hours a night of sleep, but we now know that our memories move from the hippocampus (short-term storage) to the neocortex (long-term memory) mostly in the last 2 hours of the night (Walker, Stickgold, Alsop, Gaab, & Schlaug, 2005). Sleeping with the smell of roses (and perhaps other pleasant smells) after studying improves this process (Rasch, Buchel, Gais, & Born, 2007), as does studying just before bed or taking a break after studying (Dewar, Alber, Butler, Cowan, & Della Sala, 2012). Similarly, high-performance athletes and musicians are much more likely to interleave practice with breaks. We have also learned that the brain prioritizes what we think is important: students who studied new material before bed and knew it was going to be on a test remembered substantially more than those told they would not be tested on the material (Wilhelm et al., 2011). Is there any way we can apply that knowledge to how we design our courses?
Research on the learning benefits of sleep and naps has exploded since about 2000 (“Napping May Not,” 2009). A short nap, 8 hours after you wake up, is much better at helping you pay attention than an extra 20 to 30 minutes of sleep each night (Maas & Robbins, 2011). Short naps (20–30 minutes) and breaks immediately after learning also help stabilize memory (Doyle & Zakrajsek, 2013). We know that breaks and naps are important for processing and that the brain also connects by proximity, especially time. This suggests that back-to-back classes are a bad idea for most learners. Would it be a good idea for higher education to reexamine its course grid?
Research on learning and movement should also have profound implications for how we design our campuses and classrooms. Our brain evolved to learn while in motion, and 80% of the brain's neurons are located in the cerebellum, the large structure on the back dedicated to motor coordination. Our survival is now less dependent on the way we move through our environment, and a growing body of research investigates the relationship between our increasingly sedentary lifestyles and depression. In The Case for Working With Your Hands, Matthew Crawford (2011) makes a compelling argument that the massive increase in the reporting of depression—10 times more at the end of the 20th century than at the beginning (Blakeslee, 2004)—and the even more massive increase in the use of chemical antidepressants—up 400% between 1988 and 2008 (Kuehn, 2011)—is related to less challenging contexts for our brains. Manual labor is not necessarily less cerebral, and the mental health benefits of chores and daily activity have long been recognized. Gardening or knitting was prescribed for women with anxiety in the 19th century (Lambert, 2015), but new studies confirm that knitting and crafting increase cognitive functioning, reduce stress, and increase dopamine production (Riley, Corkhill, & Morris, 2013). New depression treatments that use coordinated movement are 50% more effective than treatment with antidepressants alone (Lambert, 2015). Handwriting and manual note taking also seem to have benefits (Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014), and given that so much of our motor coordination involves our hands, this should be no surprise. Typing also involves the hands, so it may be that we can eventually find even more productive ways to take notes with technology, but it is unlikely that “hands-free” learning will ever be optimal.
We have long known that students prefer learning by doing. But now we also understand that doing means movement (many of the techniques in Chapter 7 get students moving). Mild exercise creates the protein BDNF, which collects in pools near brain synapses to stimulate every aspect of learning, which is mostly about growing connections between nerve cells (Ratey, 2013). Mild movement, like walking, sitting on a balance ball, or working at a stationary bike, all seem to improve learning. Very recent research suggests that exercising four hours after learning also improves retention of that content (Van Dongen, Kersten, Wagner, Morris, & Fernández, 2016).
We can now finally put to rest the false notion that some people are primarily audio, visual, or kinesthetic learners (Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer, & Bjork, 2008). We all learn better and remember more when the senses are combined (Moreno & Mayer, 2007; Shams & Seitz, 2008), and we all learn more and more quickly from visuals (Medina, 2014). It is no accident that when we understand something, we say “I see.” “The brain's ability to visualize is arguably the most significant aspect of cognition” (Zull, 2002, p. 138), which is why translating ideas into graphs and pictures works as an effective study technique. Reading is the slowest way to get information (Dehaene, 2009), but faculty were often the ones who figured out that annotations (not underlining), elaborations, and lack of distractions help enormously (Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014). Elaborations are efficient because they retrieve, reuse, and restore, so visual elaborations (e.g., concept maps) are another powerful study tool (Novak & Cañas, 2008: both are discussed in Chapter 6).
Ultimately, the nature of your desired learning outcomes should largely dictate the modality you might choose to use as you teach (see Chapter 11). For instance, imagine the two of us had never played tennis before, but Eddie was given a week to review a tennis-for-beginners book and JosÉ was given an hour's lesson with a tennis pro. All other things being equal, who would you think would likely win their first tennis match? So if you want your students to be able to perform dissections of animals, reading about how to do it or watching video demonstrations are not the most effective approaches to helping them achieve that outcome. Having scalpel in hand in front of a real specimen with some guidance and feedback along the way is the best choice of strategy.
Focus and Motivation
A significant body of evidence shows that humans do not possess the cognitive, behavioral, or cortical structures to effectively multitask (Watson, Terry, & Doolittle, 2012). We are, however, really good at doing one thing at a time. For most, multitasking is really just switching between tasks (Medina, 2014), but it doesn't appear we are good at that either (Strayer, Cooper, Turrill, Coleman, & Hopman, 2015). So one question, then, is this: Can we structure learning environments and assignments to help students study in longer, more engaged blocks? How do we encourage students to invest the appropriate amount of time in preparation for class, for instance (see Chapter 6)? Investment is a key concept. Emotions are also linked to memory and learning (Immordino-Yang, 2015), so emotional investment (what we call “entry point” in Chapter 2) is key. Connecting these concepts, it's not surprising that people remember a concept that is attached to a dramatic image (Perrin et al., 2012)
We know students learn more when they pay attention, but note that phrase: “pay attention.” Focus costs us something, and Langer (1989) notes how easily we can overfocus. When we “pay attention,” we give up something else (that might be more interesting). More interesting and less stressful teachers and classrooms can help (discussed in Chapter 7). Sensory information is sent simultaneously to two parts of the brain: the sensory cortex and the amygdala, our emotional control center. Yes, everything we want our students to learn is also checked for potential threat (Zull, 2002). When we perceive something as dangerous, we react instinctively, shutting down our cognitive processors. Emotional engagement, low stress, and feeling safe and supported are all important for learning (and feature in the techniques discussed in Chapter 4). While colleges often talk about “disturbing students,” note that too much disruption shuts down learning. The same is true for the balance between too easy and too hard. We need to get more students into the “pleasantly frustrating” zone (see Chapters 8 and 11), but ultimately, we all have to learn something boring at some point in our lives (boredom is the opposite of “pleasantly frustrating”; it happens when something is not personally engaging and perceived as trivial or impossible). Those who do the work, who find a way to engage, are the ones who learn. Paraphrasing Richard Bach (1977), learning success requires sacrificing boredom.
People who understand and can use delayed gratification do better in almost every aspect of life (Mischel, Shoda, & Rodriguez, 1989), and we also now understand that our belief in our ability to learn—our mind-set—is equally critical in determining what we can learn (Dweck, 2007). We've learned that praising hard work instead of talent or ability helps (Dweck, 2007), but we've had difficulty figuring out how to get students to push through the boring bits (Duckworth, 2016). Fitness coaches understand this problem.
What a fitness coach knows about your body is key. For instance, holding stretches for less than 30 seconds does not allow your muscles time to reap the full benefit. A good fitness coach also reminds you that hard work is the only real solution to better fitness. Similarly, teachers should be able to tell you about various ways in which your brain learns best. In general, students who can work even when they are bored and who understand how to pay attention do better. It has been noted that mind wandering shows a failure of executive control (Schacter & Szpunar, 2015; Seli, Smallwood, Cheyne, & Smilek, 2015), but we shouldn't be surprised by this “failure” in many of our students. Full brain maturation doesn't occur for most humans until around the age of 25 (Aamodt & Wang, 2011). It's not a random choice that most car rental companies require renters to be at least 25 years old. This doesn't mean that it's impossible to control mind wandering. Langer (1997) and, more recently, Barbezat and Bush (2014) suggest that mind wandering can be harnessed through mindfulness practices. Certainly, strategies that foster self-regulation can help students work through bouts of boredom and increase appropriate focus.
Mischel and Ayduk (2004) now believe that the key to delayed gratification in five-year-olds, and perhaps in all of us, is distraction. When we know we need to wait, using strategies that make the time go faster seems to help. That appears connected to the most recent research that having a higher purpose or mission (or helping students remember why they are working so hard) greatly improves persistence (Yeager et al., 2014). Reminding students not only that learning is work but that this work is directly connected to their own personal goals helps. The more transcendent the goal, the better. Students will work because they need to pass your class, but they will work harder if they understand it will save the lives of their patients or help them get a job later. It is why fitness trainers start by getting to know you and not first watching you sweat.
Getting students to enjoy learning for its own sake is probably another mistake based (again) on faculty using themselves as models. Learning for pleasure, especially in formalized classroom settings, is perhaps not as normal as we might assume. Human evolution suggests that we learn what is most important to us, and our brains prioritize constantly what we should retain and what we can discard. Asking students to “find something interesting” in the reading helps recall; they may not find it pleasurable, but that's okay. Fitness coaches like to work out, often obsessively, and they recognize that they themselves probably do not need a motivation coach. Their clients have come precisely because they do not like to work out. In many ways, that's an apt metaphor for you and your students.
Our job as faculty is to understand how the brain learns, what motivates students, and how to create environments that encourage good learning behaviors on the part of students. We need then to assess progress, provide feedback, and encourage more work. It is a bit like helping people use a gym, except that our design issue is largely psychological instead of physical. Faculty are cognitive coaches.
Learning and Technology
A fitness coach understands the human body and the individual subject, but also the equipment in the gym. Technology is bringing new tools and new competition to higher education, but it is also changing the basic rules about how we operate as human beings: the meaning of friends has changed forever. Technology or equipment, of course, is only a tool, not an educational strategy. While our use of technology will surely increase, our goal remains more learning. For this, colleges and universities will need to design much better environments (see Chapter 12) that include vastly more thorough understandings of both how technology works and how learning works.
Internet technologies have changed our relationship with knowledge. While most of us remember a not-so-distant past of knowledge scarcity (where the simple arrival on a campus increased our access to knowledge). Current students have no concept of this. The world is now knowledge rich, and students can access more information from their phone than in any college library. The Internet is overloaded with data. I can, for example, get information on every flight every day to every place, but the app on my phone limits that information to what is relevant and useful today: Is my flight on time, and how long will it take me to get to the airport given current traffic conditions? College should be like an app for the mind.
As faculty, if we are primarily concerned with transmitting content, our value will continue to decrease. The Internet contains a much broader selection of lectures, demonstrations, animations, and examples, on more subjects, in more languages, and with a greater variety of approaches, methods, and pedagogies, than any professor, department, or even entire university could provide. If, however, we are more concerned with faculty-student interaction; the design and sequence of learning experiences; the application, analysis, and synthesis of information; the motivation of students; and especially the increasing complexity of student mental models, then the value of what we do will increase.
While all colleges talk about the importance of critical thinking, higher education is largely structured around the delivery of content. The way we furnish classrooms, structure curriculum, train future professors, organize syllabi, and assess student learning prioritizes current disciplinary knowledge. All of these are holdovers from a time when opportunities for learning were scarce, but in the future, there will only be more things and more ways to learn. Access to content and courses will be cheap and plentiful. As we know already from the early massive open online courses (MOOCs), knowing how to learn new content (and, more important, how to integrate new ideas) is a necessary prerequisite for MOOC success. The point of college is increasingly to prepare the mind for the unknown, to prepare students to be lifelong learners in diverse contexts.
While knowledge is required for thought, content is a means and not the end. Our real goal is to improve how students process and integrate new information. We want to change them. While what we have to teach them may get them a first job, it will not—on its own—get them a second job that may not yet even exist. We want our students to be able to learn new things, analyze new knowledge, integrate it into their thinking, and occasionally change their minds when necessary. Employers say they want employees who can solve complex problems with people who are different from them (Hart Research Associates, 2013). This seems entirely in harmony with what colleges say we do. The disconnect is that while we hope to accomplish these two things simultaneously, we often spend more time on content than on critical thinking. We, in higher education, tend to accuse employers of not really meaning what they say and overvaluing certain majors or graduates from elite schools. Would this still be the case if we could really deliver what employers say they want? Companies like Google say they are no longer going to accept these proxies (content training or admission standards) in place of creative and critical abilities (which they will measure themselves). What if we could demonstrate that our liberal arts graduates have these skills?
Technology can be a partner in changing this. The technology that makes knowledge so easily accessible has also made the ability to analyze that information more important. Furthermore, with greater access to content now freely available, we should have more time in the classroom for the pedagogy of critical thinking. Teaching critical thinking is hard and labor intensive; technology has also made course design and pedagogy more important. If you think of a syllabus or a course as being a list of topics or content to be mastered, you are doing only half of your job, and that is the part of the job that is being devalued.
The good news is that that the greatest value of a physical university will remain its face-to-face (naked) interaction between faculty and students. The first role of technology therefore is to create more time and more opportunities for teaching naked. At a basic level, new technology can increase student preparation and engagement between classes and create more time for the (naked) in-class dialogue that makes the campus experience worth the extra money it will always cost to deliver. The most important benefits to using technology occur outside the classroom.
Pedagogy as Design
Education is ultimately a design problem: the goal is to create structures and processes that will encourage students to engage in the behaviors that lead to learning. In the end, students must do the work, but that does not mean that we are simply content providers. Instruction is not teaching; it is designing.
We often think of design as just “style,” but designers also frame and solve problems, assess sequence, integrate user needs, anticipate extremes, and improve systems. Design thinking and techniques are now being applied in everything from medicine to public policy. Education is indeed a design problem. While students are the “products” of education, they are also undeniably the “users,” and we are designing systems that will frame their goals, guide them, and anticipate problems along the ways. In truth, technology has increased the need for teachers to think of pedagogy as design.
Using more technology increases your credibility with students but by itself does not increase learning. Students are often quite able to use the technology that they find useful or entertaining, but they are not proficient in using technology to access information, and we especially need to think much more carefully about how they process and integrate what they access.
Dee Fink (2013) has developed an integrated model of course design that connects learning outcomes, activities, and feedback to create significant learning experiences. Technology has given us more options for how we sequence these activities, created more options for feedback and support, and made class time (the most expensive and least scalable piece) even more precious.
“Inverting” or “flipping” assumes there are two parts to be exchanged, but using Fink's model, it becomes clear that teaching naked also needs to be thought of as a cycle, looking more broadly at the choices of sequence and design and at how technology expands the opportunities for interactivity. Using new communication technologies, rethinking our assignments, and creating online quizzes and games can ensure that students finally come prepared to class for the more challenging activities and interactions that most spark the critical thinking and change of mental models we seek.
Our design processes were equally influenced by the new research on how the brain learns and by key ideas from Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning (Brown et al., 2014) and by thinking about how these track with the student experience. The science and how we translated this into pedagogy are summarized in Figure I.1. Learning is more likely to stick when it is:
FIGURE I.1: A Thumbnail Summary of the Essentials of Human Learning and the Teaching Naked Design Process
The Science
The Student Experience
The Teaching Naked Design Process
Concrete and personal
(matters to me, examples)
Motivation
Instructions and entry point
(concrete and personal)
Knowledge is necessary
(but not sufficient)
Exposure
(Content)
Content for first exposure
(read/watch/do)
Retrieval and self-testing
(online exams, games)
Recall
Exam to evaluate
(retrieval)
Elaboration
(connections, analogies, writing)
Elaboration
Writing to reflect
(elaborate, contextualize)
Abstract
(extracting rules, larger context, mental models)
Reflection
Cognitive wrappers to self-regulate
(abstract)
Failure
(add difficulty, attempts before solutions, feedback)
Complication
Class to challenge
(failure, complicate)
Interleaving
(varied practice, space out practice)
Reflection
E-Communication to reinforce
(connections, spacing)
Source for Science: Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel (2014).
Concrete and personal
. Our brains prioritize. We are less likely to be bored or to prioritize other learning when we understand how this learning matters specifically to us. We like examples, but they help only if the examples are relevant to us.
Knowledge is necessary
.
All colleges say they teach critical thinking, but this is not a purely abstract technique: we need to think about
something
. At the same time, rote memorization neither sticks nor advances thinking because it is often disconnected from existing schemas and mental models. Bloom was right: when we analyze, apply, and critique new knowledge, it is both more likely to stick and to change us.
Retrieval and self-testing
.
Retrieval is essential to learning, and the more the better. We have become confused: tests are actually a great learning tool (and not just an assessment tool). The problem with tests are the stakes: high stakes lower performance. Game designers understand this and provide lots and lots of low-stakes retrieval (video games are really a series of microtests with continuous variation and addition of new material after mastery).
Elaboration
.
We learn by connecting and comparing new information to what we already know. Translating content into your own words and explaining it to others in different contexts and with new analogies is much more effective than simple repetition. Highlighting creates false fluency. Exposure and rereading make things look familiar, but that is not deep learning. Writing, for example, is an effective way to process and elaborate.
Abstract
.
Extracting the larger rules and concepts and putting them into a wider context is equally important. If we want learning to improve the complexity of students' mental models, we need to make sure they are working on their own to abstract and contextualize.
Failure
.
We learn more from failure than success, and now it turns out that even the praise for success (“You must be smart”) is damaging. Understanding that learning is work is as important as the opportunity to “learn from your mistakes.” Encouraging multiple attempts, providing students productive environments for failure, and understanding how to give constructive and timely feedback are critical.
Interleaving
.
We learn better when we space out and mix up the kinds of learning. Distributed and varied practice improve learning. Knowing when to take a break or a nap helps too.
Teaching naked is a design process that translates this learning science onto the new opportunities for sequence and contact that new technology has provided (see Figure I.2). Since it is only students who can do the learning, this pedagogy is a way to design a process that encourages good learning behaviors for students.
FIGURE I.2: The Teaching Naked Design Process
This book is organized around these stages, generally with a chapterdevoted to each. There are additional chapters about setting learning goals (Chapter 1), providing feedback (Chapter 9), integration (Chapters 11 and 12), and preparing yourself for these challenges (Chapter 13). Each chapter begins with some research and a compelling case for each part of the design cycle and then provides step-by-step instructions, examples, and further resources for each stage.
The sequence as teachers design and students encounter, however, is different.The design process starts with the end: What do we want to accomplish? While faculty generally start with thinking about goals and content (the inside of the hexagon in Figure I.2), students start with motivation, an entry point, or their own first exposure and then move around the outside of the hexagon in Figure I.2. Students begin literally as outsiders. The opening chapters in Teaching Naked Techniques therefore appear in the order that faculty in the midst of the design process will need to consider them. So the book starts with outcomes (Chapter 1) and content (Chapters 2 and 3), and then it considers the entry point for students (Chapter 4). Part of the point of this intentional design process is to design a specific entry point (Chapter 4) and not just hope the students take us up on our suggested first exposure.
The following sections set out the sequence as students will encounter it in your course.
Instructions and Entry Point: Concrete and Personal
It is not enough to want (or insist) that students care about your subject. Engagement and learning start with what matters to students. This is the entry point, the topic of Chapter 4. If you understand what matters to students, you have a better chance of getting them to see what matters to you. You don't need to be an expert in popular culture, but you need to know something about their hopes and fears. This will help you connect with them, but it also gives you tools for motivating them (and that is most of the job really). Don't start by writing “Wagner” and “gesamtkunstwerk” on the board. Ask them why music matters to them.
Minor alterations in your instructions can make a big difference. Instead of asking your students simply to “read,” “look,” “solve,” or “practice,” suggest that students “find something interesting in the text,” “look at the picture from different perspectives,” or “practice the scales in a variety of ways.” Intention improves retention and memorization.
Online lecturers and professors are often famous content experts, but they are unlikely to know the particular interests, anxieties, beliefs, and curiosities of their students. Remember that motivation was not your problem; you liked school so much that you are still here. You understood why professors assigned so much reading; you even liked it. You are not the typical student. Knowing what motivates or worries your students and how to engage them with the content is a huge advantage of campus teachers, and its value will only increase.
Content for First Exposure: Knowledge
Try searching for content in your courses as if you were a student trying to avoid going to class (forget your personal eagerness for school). Chapter 2 will start you with a Google search (and note the ability to search just for videos), but then make sure you know Open Yale, edX, iTunesU, Khan Academy, CrashCourse, PhET, Utubersidad (with Spanish-language academic lectures), Academic Earth, and Merlot.org just for openers. For most subjects, the Internet offers a much broader range of lectures, explanations, examples, different analogies, songs, animations, games, and unique ways to learn than you and your colleagues might invent in a lifetime.
If you don't want to spend a lifetime trolling through millions of online lectures, then set up a free wiki (try PBworks or your campus course management system) or a course Pinterest page and ask your students to create a community study guide using the resources they find. If you offer to make up your final exam from this wiki, you will add an incentive, and they may be willing to share their sites. Chapter 3 will also help you create your own content.
Critical reading is still an important skill, but you need to teach this as a skill. Start by assigning shorter portions (especially in the first year), and help students read them in more depth. Tell them why they are reading in advance, and then discuss and use all of what you assign until students get better at digesting reading on their own. Reading is more work than a video, so you will need an even better entry point to motivate them. If reading is important for your department, you need a progressive multicourse, multiyear plan that teaches students how to do this.
Exam to Evaluate: Retrieval
You can encourage students to read the article or watch the video by creating online exams before every class (see Chapter 5). Giving students just a few “thought” or “study” questions before every class can guide their learning and give you feedback on what they are thinking. It also offers feedback to students that provides intention for the next reading and gives them some control over their learning (all research-based pedagogies). Many forms of questions can be graded automatically in your course management system, so both students and you can see the results instantly. If these quizzes are due one hour before class, you will then have results that may shape your use of class time. You can condition students from the first day of class by posting the syllabus online and having a syllabus quiz due before the second class.
Writing to Reflect: Elaborate, Contextualize
Ask students to write short paragraphs or arguments about the reading or video content on index cards, identify the weakest argument or most controversial claim in the article, correct three mistakes in the Wikipedia article they read, argue for the importance of a theme left out of the CliffNotes video on Hamlet
