Getting the most out of peer instruction

Peer instruction is a powerful, evidence-based instructional strategy that supports active learning in all sizes of classes. Typically in peer instruction, every 15-20 minutes,

  1. the instructor poses a conceptually challenging, multiple choice question
  2. students think about the question on their own and vote for one of the choices using some kind of audience response tool
  3. students turn to their neighbors and discuss the question and their answers
  4. students may vote a second time, depending on the nature of the question
  5. the instructor leads a class-wide discussion where students share their thinking, finishing with
  6. the instructor models expert-like thinking and confirms why the right answers are right and the wrong answers are wrong

This can take anywhere from 2 to 10 or more minutes, depending on the question, the answers, and the richness of the discussion.…

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Regrets? Yes. And no.

My trek from geeky highschool student to Associate Director at the Center for Teaching Development at the University of California, San Diego has definitely followed the alternative academic career path.

What path will you take? (Image: You choose your path by James Wheeler on flickr CC via Compfight)

What path will you take? (Image: You choose your path by James Wheeler on flickr CC via Compfight)

When I finished my Ph.D.…

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Welcome, Science Borealis!

ScienceBorealis_avatarFirst, a big thanks to Science Borealis for highlighting my blog as today’s #cdnsciblog. I’m flattered to be in their company and happy to contribute.

I write mostly about teaching and learning science at the university level. This blog started as a way for me to archive interesting things I’d seen or done while working in the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative at UBC.…

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The Ups and Downs of Interpreting Graphs

Here’s a graph showing some guy’s position as he’s out for a walk:

This graph shows the position of a guy out for a walk. Can you tell what he's doing?

This graph shows the position of some guy out for a walk. Can you tell what he’s doing?

Take a moment and describe in your own words what he’s doing.…

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A Tale of Two Comets: Evidence-Based Teaching in Action

Comet McNaught

Comet McNaught wow'd observers in the Southern Hemisphere in 2007. (Image by chrs_snll on flickr CC)

We often hear about “evidence-based teaching and learning.” In fact, it’s a pillar of the approach to course development and transformation that we follow in the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative.…

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Situated Learning

[I wrote this review of situated learning, also known as situated cognition, in 2009 for the internal communications discussion board we use in the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative. I go back to it often enough, mostly to find the reference for the amazing paper by James Paul Gee, that I’m reposting here.]…

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Workshop on Effective Peer Instruction in Biology

I’m really excited to be running another peer instruction workshop with my colleague Cynthia Heiner. This time, we’re tailoring the content of the clicker questions to biology, thanks to the input (and organization) of our CWSEI colleague, Bridgette Clarkston (@funnyfishes on Twitter).…

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