Download Sammons - Teaching Institute_2015

Two Complementary Strategies for
Increasing Content Retention
Dr. Nathan Sammons, Associate Professor of Biology
Desirable difficulties
Robert Bjork (1994)1. Introducing certain difficulties
into the learning process can greatly improve longterm retention of the learned material
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Spacing out the material 2,3
Testing not restudying 4
Make students generate material5
Vary the surroundings 6
Less clearly organized7
Fonts which are hard to read8
The point is to increase the challenge, not frustrate the student
Desirable difficulties
We often seek to eliminate
difficulties in learning To our own
detriment!
“Access to content which is easy isn’t as enriching as harder-earned content”
--McNamara et al., 1996
Retrieval strength
short-term
Storage strength
Long-term
Beta testing my Desirable Difficulties activity
Biological Molecules:
Students in BIOL 1201 struggle with
identifying molecular structure of biological
molecules
15 mins:
Learn to classify exemplar molecules
into one of four categories
Biological Molecules:
Prequiz
iClicker quiz – Question 1
H
To which class of biological
molecules does this belong?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Carbohydrates
Lipids
Nucleic Acids
Proteins
H
C
OP
C
O
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C
OH
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C
OH
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OP
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iClicker quiz – Question 2
To which class of biological
molecules does this belong?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Carbohydrates
Lipids
Nucleic Acids
Proteins
H
H
N
H
H
C
O
CH3
C
C
N
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C
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CH2
SH
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O
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CH2
O
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O
iClicker quiz – Question 3
To which class of biological
molecules does this belong?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Carbohydrates
Lipids
Nucleic Acids
Proteins
iClicker quiz – Question 4
To which class of biological
molecules does this belong?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Carbohydrates
Lipids
Nucleic Acids
Proteins
iClicker quiz – Question 5
To which class of biological
molecules does this belong?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Carbohydrates
Lipids
Nucleic Acids
Proteins
Biological Molecules:
Sort into 4 categories
Biological Molecules:
Proteins
Carbohydrates
Lipids
Nucleic acids
Biological Molecules Challenge:
First team to bring me perfectly classified molecules wins!
+
Biological Molecules:
Postquiz
iClicker quiz – Question 1
H
To which class of biological
molecules does this belong?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Carbohydrates
Lipids
Nucleic Acids
Proteins
H
C
OP
C
O
H
C
OH
H
C
OH
H
C
OP
H
iClicker quiz – Question 2
To which class of biological
molecules does this belong?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Carbohydrates
Lipids
Nucleic Acids
Proteins
H
H
N
H
H
C
O
CH3
C
C
N
H
C
H
CH2
SH
H
O
N
H
C
CH2
O
C
O
iClicker quiz – Question 3
To which class of biological
molecules does this belong?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Carbohydrates
Lipids
Nucleic Acids
Proteins
iClicker quiz – Question 4
To which class of biological
molecules does this belong?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Carbohydrates
Lipids
Nucleic Acids
Proteins
iClicker quiz – Question 5
To which class of biological
molecules does this belong?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Carbohydrates
Lipids
Nucleic Acids
Proteins
Fun
Interesting
Competitive gaming is….
Addicting
Exciting
Motivating?
Engaging
Competitive gaming is successful because it is:
• Active learning
• Desirably difficult
• Cues in on competitive side of
personalities (intrinsic
motivation)
TopHat
Competitive gaming is successful because it is:
TopHat
Discussion protocol
1. First person has 2 minutes to describe
their challenge
2. Others have 2 minutes to ask questions
3. Others have 2 minutes to talk about
challenge while the first listens
Citations:
1. Bjork, R.A., & Bjork, E.L. (1992). A new theory of disuse and an old theory of stimulus
fluctuation. In A. Healy, S. Kosslyn, & R. Shiffrin (Eds.), From Learning Processes to Cognitive
Processes: Essays in Honor of William K. Estes (Vol. 2, pp. 35-67). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
2. Baddeley, A.D., & Longman, D.J.A. (1978). The influence of length and frequency of training
session on the rate of learning to type. Ergonomics, 21, 627-635.
Bjork, R.A. (1994). Memory and metamemory considerations in the training of human beings. In J.
3. Dempster, F.N. (1990). The spacing effect: A case study in the failure to apply the results of
psychological research. American Psychologist, 43, 627-634.
4. Roediger, H.L., III, & Karpicke, J.D. (2006). The power of testing memory: Basic research and
implications for educational practice. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1, 181-120.
5. McDaniel, M.A., Hines, R.J., Waddill, P.J., & Einstein, G.O. (1994). What makes folk tales unique:
Content familiarity, causal structure, scripts, or superstructures? Journal of Experimental
Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 20, 169-184.
6. Smith, S.M., & Glenberg, A., & Bjork, R.A. (1978). Environmental context and human memory.
Memory & Cognition, 6, 342-353.
7. McNamara, D.S., Kintsch, E., Songer, N.B., & Kintsch, W. (1996). Are good texts always
better? Interactions of text coherence, background knowledge, and levels of understanding in
learning from text. Cognition and Instruction, 14, 1-43.
8. Diemand-Yauman, C., Oppenheimer, D.M., & Vaughan, E.B. (in press). Fortune favors the bold
(and the italicized): Effects of disfluency on educational outcomes. Cognition.
Ebbinghaus, H. (1964). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology. (H.A. Ruger & C.E.
OH
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CH2
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CH3
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