How People Learn

A great visual resource on learning goals

January 30, 2012

I wish I could embed this visual tool here so that you’d see how awesome it is and jump up and down in your seat like I did when I first saw it (at least, if you’re an edu-geek like me). But no, I can only provide you with a link and say go here. [...]

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Phylm: Make a film about physics!

January 8, 2012

Phylm /’film/ n. [physics + film] The fifth annual Phylm Prize is now open! Until May 13, anyone can enter a film — though students are especially encouraged — about physics. Year three’s winners were a set of students with the Special Relativity Rap. The second year was Science Made Fun about black holes (which [...]

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Free webinar on effective use of clickers

December 26, 2011

I’m giving another free webinar that I’m giving on effective use of clickers in the college classroom (though most is applicable to K12).  This webinar is an introductory look at best practices in clicker use, based on research, including peer instruction.  Please share this widely — these webinars have been very popular.  Make Clickers Work [...]

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A summary of the research on how to study

December 19, 2011

To follow up on the last post on the videos pitched to students on how to study, I want to direct your attention to a wonderful resource I just found out about: Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning. It was published by IES, the Institute for Educational Sciences, which is the scientific arm [...]

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How to get the most out of studying: Five short videos

December 12, 2011

I just found out about this wonderful little series of videos from The Physics Teacher:  How to get the most out of studying.  A cognitive psychologist at Stamford University (Stephen Chew) outlines effective study habits in some easily digestible videos pitched mainly at college freshmen In the first video, he looks at common beliefs that [...]

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Learn about research-based teaching: The PER User’s Guide

December 8, 2011

There are a ton of research-based techniques for teaching, and we hear about them in bits and pieces.  There are great websites on modeling, for example, or our CU-Boulder  materials for using clickers and peer instruction.  But where can we go to find everything all in one place? I’m pleased to help spread the word [...]

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What every teacher should know about cognitive research (Nov 18th, CO Science Conference)

December 2, 2011

I gave a workshop to a full house again a few weeks ago at the Colorado Science Conference.  This one’s always popular — cognitive research that applies to instruction.  I didn’t record it, but will try to record when I give the same presentation next week.  I’m always happy to give this presentation again — [...]

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The truth behind the myth behind the truth behind learning styles (Learning About Teaching Physics podcast)

November 30, 2011

Have you heard that some people are auditory learners and some are visual learners?   Have you heard that that’s bunk?  Have you heard that there might be something behind the bunk, but aren’t quite sure what it is?  Listen to my latest podcast from the Learning About Teaching Physics series to hear conversations with myself, [...]

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Be here now. Multitasking and performance.

November 27, 2011

I know I’m not.  A good multitasker, that is.  I know I do my best work when I’m singlemindedly focused on a certain thing.  But if I don’t turn off my email when I’m working, I switch over to look at it.  I fiddle with the stereo while driving and realize that I don’t remember [...]

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Dance, dance your PhD

November 20, 2011

I love the Dance your PhD contest, in which doctoral students are invited to take the horrible monster that gobbled their life for 5+ years and interpret it through dance in a 5-minute video.  What better way to become a clear communicator? I was even more excited to see that one of my colleagues, and [...]

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Learning Assistant Liveblogging: Pedagogy course

November 3, 2011

Once again, liveblogging from the national Learning Assistant Workshop in Boulder. When we started out the conference this afternoon, and participants shared their primary area of interest in learning more about effectively running an LA program, I’d say about half of the crowd Steve Iona talked to us about what that pedagogy course entails, and [...]

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Learning Assistant Liveblog: Weekly LA meetings

November 2, 2011

Once again, liveblogging from the national Learning Assistant Workshop in Boulder. One of the central features of the LA program are the weekly meetings between the teaching faculty and LAs.   Steve Pollock and Ben Spike led this session, discussing what these look like in our physics courses, where LAs help run out of group tutorials [...]

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Some things I learned on the conference circuit

October 17, 2011

I’ve been busily conferencing over the past several weeks, and wanted to share a few of the fantastic tips and ideas that I got along the way.  So, this is a bit of a smorgasbord post. First, I was at the Center for Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) conference in lovely Madison, WI.  [...]

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Teaching faculty about effective use of clickers #clickers

September 13, 2011

I’ve been working for the past several years to figure out the best ways to teach faculty about how to use clickers effectively; to engage students, ask questions that get students thinking, and to use peer discussion to help students work together to learn from the questions.  It’s not always easy.  Recent research has shown [...]

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Fancy schmancy new podcast page! (Learning about Teaching Physics)

September 6, 2011

Thanks to the wonderful efforts of Matt Riggsbee over at Compadre (whom I owe a beer or three), the Learning about Teaching Physics podcast has a beautiful webhome.  I still have just the two podcasts produced (on clickers and classroom demonstrations), but stay tuned for the next one on learning styles (or, the myth thereof).  [...]

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The Art (and Science) of In-Class Questioning via Clickers (Learning About Teaching Physics podcast) #clickers

August 22, 2011

In this second episode of the podcast, I explore recent research on teaching with clickers and in-class questioning:  What techniques do teachers use to make maximal benefit of this teaching approach? Are “clickers” or “personal response systems” just the latest fad in education? Or is there solid research behind their use? In this episode we [...]

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Paying attention to what students do in class: Proximal formative assessment (#AAPTsm11)

August 15, 2011

The final day of the Physics Education Research Conference (PERC) I went to a session all about proximal formative assessment.  Proximal formative assessment is the “teachers’ continual, responsive attention to learners’ developing understanding as it is expressed verbally moment to moment:  the process by which teachers carefully attend to specific aspects of individual learners’ developing understanding, [...]

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Providing validated tests for instructors to use (#AAPTsm11)

August 4, 2011

Our plenary speaker this morning was Thomas Holme, of Iowa State University, speaking to us about the standardized assessments in chemistry.  Sounds boring, but he raised some interesting and insightful thoughts about assessment. He started out by describing the fine line he has to walk as an instructor: “Teaching is inherently personal and inescapably corporate.  [...]

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Adopt, Adapt or Abandon? Instructors’ Decisions to Use Research-Based Materials (#AAPTsm11)

August 3, 2011

Just gave my 10-minute talk at AAPT on my work examining the sustainability of our course transformation efforts in junior E&M. Physics education researchers often develop materials for classroom use. Instructors then choose which of those materials they would like to implement. We present a case study of University of Colorado’s transformed junior E&M course. [...]

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Seeing isn’t believing: Do classroom demonstrations help students learn? (Learning About Teaching Physics podcast)

July 29, 2011

In this first episode of my new Learning About Teaching Physics podcast, we explore classroom demonstrations.  Do they accomplish what we hope that they will? Physics is the study of nature. So, physics classes typically include demonstrations of how those laws of nature play out, often in surprising ways. But do students see what we [...]

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