SI Leader Training Topic: Collaborative Learning
Objectives:
As a result of this training, SI leaders will:
-Define collaborative learning as an effective pedagogy. -Identify characteristics of collaborative learning.
-Create collaborative learning activities for their sessions. Opening Activity:
“We’re Building Something”
-Task: Each team must build an exact replica of the model object in 20 minutes or less. -Supplies: Model kinex or lego object; individual sets of kinex/legos for teams.
-Instructions:
-Gather students in teams of 3 -Assign each team member a role:
1. Observer: can see the object & can only give direction to Reporter.
2. Reporter: Informed by Observer, can talk to the Builder, but cannot ask questions to Observer.
3. Builder: Builds the object based off of Reporter’s instructions and can ask questions to Reporter for clarification.
-Monitor teams’ progress and track time.
-Adjust time allotment and restrictions as needed until teams are close to accurate replicas. Main Activity/Discussion:
-After groups are finished, show the model and debrief about the activity. -How many teams were successful? What made you successful?
-What was the point of the activity? (To build something..which we all did!) -What were some characteristics of the activity?
-How does this activity compare to what you experience in a classroom setting? -For each role, what came easy? What was difficult?
-How did everything come together in the end for your group?
-Who was the leader of the group? How did the other two members contribute? -What was I doing while you were working?
-How does this relate to SI programs?
-How do each of the activity roles relate to the SI model?
-Discuss the importance of keeping this type of action alive in sessions and how to facilitate/scaffold collaborative learning experiences for students.
-CL: Engaging activities that will assist students in furthering their understanding of course material. -CL should be: inclusive of all student attendees, active, practical and efficient, and help facilitate the learning process.
-CL isn’t all about games; it is about intentional planning that will get students to engage and discuss content.
-Share examples: Think-Pair-Share; Pass-a-problem; Scavenger Hunts; etc. -Ask returners to share activities that have gone well for them in the past. Active Practice:
-Ask for students to group themselves into their subject areas. -Hand out the CL resource binder to each table.
-Instruct each group to create a session plan for a topic from their course that incorporates collaborative learning activities and strategies.
SI Leader Training Topic: Bloom’s Taxonomy
Objectives:
As a result of this training, SI leaders will: -Define Bloom’s Taxonomy.
-Articulate the levels within Bloom’s hierarchy.
- Understand how Bloom’s Taxonomy relates to their work as SI leaders.
-Utilize Bloom’s Taxonomy when creating session plans and planning discussion questions. Opening Activity:
“Thinking About Learning”
-Ask group to write on a sheet of paper a list of 5 questions they have recently asked during a session and one activity they have used during a session.
-Ask group to watch and consider the three following video clips:
-Ferris Buehler’s Day Off: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-S54bbX6eA -Dead Poet’s Society: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkpWk8FJsys -Mona Lisa Smile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHCUoDf7KGA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkteNuJepzU&feature=related Main Activity/Discussion:
-After all the videos are shown discuss the clips using the following questions (notice they are in order of Bloom’s Taxonomy):
- What was happening in each clip?
- How would you describe each teaching style? -What examples of these clips have you experienced?
-What assumptions can you make about student learning based on these clips? -Which learning environment would you prefer?
-Assess the value of each learning style.
-Discussion leads into introduction of Bloom’s Taxonomy. -Hand out the Bloom’s Taxonomy handout.
-Introduce by explaining how the questions listed were all intentionally planned to get more complex and stimulate more critical thinking.
-Go over the taxonomy and explain how it relates to Supplemental Instruction.
-Go over an example of a math problem and the type of questions that are often asked. -Talk about how those questions could be changed to be higher level.
Active Practice:
- Ask students to review their list of questions/activity they wrote down at the beginning of the session and classify at which level each activity falls.
-Ask to share out some examples.
-Ask students to get into their subject area groups and discuss how Bloom’s can be incorporated into their sessions.
-Task each group with creating a list of questions and activities at each level that are relevant to their content area. Ask each group to present to the larger group.
SI Leader Training Topic: Self-Regulated Learning
Objectives:
As a result of this training, SI leaders will:
Define self-regulated learning, and articulate the main assumptions. Understand your individual self-regulated learning tendencies. Determine study strategies to model/discuss with your students. Identify appropriate times to discuss study skills during sessions. Design session activities that promote SRL during sessions. Opening Activity:
“Reflective Experience”
-Ask group to take a few minutes to complete the GAMES self-assessment.
-Ask them to identify ways/areas in which they consistently and never employ self-regulated strategies.
-Ask for volunteers to share out their responses and facilitate a brief discussion on how these strategies relate to their success as students.
-Do they observe their current SI students using similar strategies? Main Activity/Discussion:
-Give a short lecture defining self-regulated learning and how it is applicable to SI sessions.
-Utilize examples to illustrate the cyclical process of SRL and the specific behavioral actions associated. -As a large group, go through the scenarios and ask leaders to identify ways to address each area represented within GAMES.
-Discuss how SI can incorporate SRL through the following areas: -Direct instruction & modeling
-Guided & independent practice -Social support & feedback -Reflective practice
Active Practice:
- In subject groups, ask students to identify 3 ways they currently utilize GAMES-related strategies in each of the areas discussed above. If they are not doing anything right now, have them plan out how they can develop these areas.
-Examples: • G:
– Share session objective w/ students
– Have students write one goal they want to accomplish between sessions – Create study plans a few sessions before a test
• A:
– Note review/summary (One minute paper) – Create study aids during sessions
– Predict test questions/hatful of questions/around the world/pass the problem
• M:
– Mnemonic Devices
– Pictorial or Real-Life Examples/Imagery – Brain Dumps
• E:
– Prepare discussion questions – Partner/small group work – Re-direct questions
– Use “techniques for discussion” activities (Ex: Shakespeare’s Salad) • S:
– Stump the Expert activity
– Know/Need to Know chart to organize studying – Self-testing techniques
– Direct questions: Tell me how you solved that problem. What steps did you take?
– Feedback: Strength-Area to Improve-Strategies to Improve
