Inventions and Impact 2: Building Excellence in Undergraduate ...

Workshop Session Abstracts
A6
Category: Material Development
session title: Innovative Practices in Computer Science
leaDer: Barbara Ericson
leaDer’s institution: Georgia Tech University
leaDer’s ProjeCt #: 0618562
session DesCriPtion: A number of innovative practices are emerging in
the teaching of the introductory computer science courses that can be
used to attract and retain students, including Alice, Media Computation,
robotics, and games. This breakout session will discuss and share innovative
practices and ideas in the teaching of computer science and changes
in the introductory computer science curriculum for majors and general
education students.
DisCussion Questions:
1. What are the assessment results for each approach and how was the
assessment done?
2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each approach?
3. What are the difficulties that faculty face with respect to adopting the
approach?
4. How well does the approach work with majors? How well does the approach
work with non-majors?
A7
Category: Material Development
session title: Use of Diagnostic Questions to Improve
Biology Teaching
leaDer: Charlene D’Avanzo
leaDer’s institution: Hampshire College
leaDer’s ProjeCt #: 0736943
First Co-leaDer: Mike Klymkowsky
First Co-leaDers institution: University of Colorado, Boulder
session DesCriPtion: An important factor in designing curriculum materials
and course content is having information about the initial knowledge
state of students, including their misconceptions and skills with biological
reasoning. This breakout session will discuss the use of biology concept
inventories and similar diagnostic questions based on education research
to improve biology teaching, especially of introductory courses
DisCussion Questions:
1. Based on your experience, what are three to four common misconceptions
or alternative conceptions that biology students hold and how
have you attempted to dislodge this thinking? How do you know if you
have been successful?
2. If biology faculty could accurately identify faculty thinking and reasoning
about core concepts and ideas at the beginning of a course, how
might this change their teaching? From your experience, do you know
if faculty are doing this?
3. How do we help biology faculty use tools such as concept inventories
and other research-based diagnostic tests to improve introductory biology
teaching?
a6
A8
Category: Pedagogy
session title: Let’s Not Reinvent the Wheel: What Have We
Learned about Student-Active Pedagogies?
leaDer: Jeffrey Froyd
leaDer’s institution: Texas A&M University
leaDer’s ProjeCt #: 0536815
session DesCriPtion: Many science, engineering, and mathematics faculty
who contribute CCLI proposals have adopted various innovative,
student-active pedagogies. Nevertheless, knowledge of the literature that
provides data on the efficacy of one or more student-active pedagogies
from carefully designed studies is not widespread. In this session, a summary
of high-quality studies of student-active pedagogies will be shared
to help broaden awareness of existing studies, collect additional studies,
and provide a cumulative summary to support future work.
DisCussion Questions:
1. How can lessons learned in one discipline be effectively transferred to
another discipline?
2. How do we best inform faculty in one discipline about pedagogic innovation
in another discipline?
3. How can we facilitate the adoption to another discipline?
A9
Category: Pedagogy
session title: Bringing Education Research to Practice
leaDer: Norbert Pienta
leaDer’s institution: University of Iowa
leaDer’s ProjeCt #: 0618600
session DesCriPtion: Participants will discuss methods for implementing
chemistry education research in practice. The presenter has used methods
such as cognitive load theory to design and assess chemistry problem-solving
strategies and test questions. In the session, participants will
brainstorm about adapting these methods to other STEM disciplines.
DisCussion Questions:
1. How do I find out about research-based findings in science education
in my area? What about research in STEM disciplines outside of my
area?
2. Several innovations have been supported by research and National
Science Foundation (NSF) initiatives. How do I pick the best one for my
institution or my particular set of circumstances?
3. Research often demonstrates the shortcomings or problems with current
pedagogy and practice. What are the best interventions and how
do I pick among the possibilities?
A10
Category: Pedagogy
session title: Integrating Hands-on Investigations to Teach
STEM Courses
leaDer: Michael Rogers
Program Book 2008 Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI)