An Overview of Selected Learning Theories about Student Learning Sanjay Goel Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida,

An Overview of Selected Learning Theories about Student Learning

Sanjay Goel

www.goelsan.wordpress.com

Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida, India

[email protected], [email protected] Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Computing Education

• Weakest contribution of engineering education in computing related disciplines is in (58 professionals)– Decision making ability 41%– Thinking ability 24%– Procedural knowledge 15%– Conceptual Knowledge 15%– Learning ability 3%

Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

Mark Guzdia, Education - From Science to Engineering: Exploring the dual nature of computing education research, CACM Feb 2011

1. Soloway’s 1983 study at Yale: “The Rainfall Problem”: Write a program that repeatedly reads in positive integers, until it reads the integer 99999. After seeing 99999, it should print out the average. Only 14% of students CS1 could solve this problem correctly.

2. Hestenes’ 1985 study: 80% students could state Newton’s Third Law at the beginning of the course… <15% of them fully understood it at the end.

3. McCracken’s 2001 MIMN study wrt CS1: WAP to evaluate arithmetic expressions in a text file. The average score of 215 students was 21%. Many of the participants never got past the design part of the problem to write any code at all.

4. Tew’s 2010 PhD thesis 3 universities wrt CS1: Majority of her 952 test-takers failed both pseudo-code and native language exams, based on a small subset of what anyone teaches in CS1.


National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)


Stages of Intellectual Development, W.G. Perry, 1970

• Two Central interwoven dynamics: – Confronting and coping with diversity and multiples:

• Multiple opinions about a given subject or issue (1-3); • Multiple contexts/perspectives from which to understand or analyze

issues or arguments (4 - 6); • Multiple Commitments through which one defines his or her values

and identity (7 - 9).

– Evolution of meaning making about learning and self• Knowledge is seen as increasingly conjectural and uncertain, open to

(and requiring) interpretation• Role of the student -- moving from a passive receptor of facts to an

active agent in defining arguments and creating new knowledge.• Role of the teacher -- moving from an Authority as the source of

"Truth" to an authority as a resource with specific expertise to share.


Stages of Intellectual Development, W.G. Perry, 1970



What kind of learning experiences caused the forward movement?

• Unexpected results.• Questions regarding evidence and choice.• Variety of Observation.• Absence of satisfactory answers from authority.• Assignment at Bloom’s higher level, application in new

context.• Engagement in Reasoning.


Learning retention rates: Some results• 5% Lecture• 10% What we read• 15% What we see• 20% Audio-Visual• 20% What we see and hear• 20% What we hear• 26% What we hear• 30% What we see• 30% Passive Verbal• 30% Demonstration• 40% What we discuss• 50% Visual Receiving• 50% See and hear• 50% Discussion Group• 70% Discuss with others• 70% Active Receiving and Participating• 70% Say• 70% Say and Write• 70% Say or Write• 70% Say as they talk• 75% Practice by Doing• 80% Experience Personally• 80% What we experience directly or practice doing• 90% Say as they do a thing• 90% Say and perform a task• 90% Teach to others/Immediate Use• 90% What we attempt to teach others• 95% of what we teach someone else

Sources:

Bruce Nyland, 1950’s

Wiman and Mierhenry, 1960, 1969

Standard Oil of NY

Socony-Vacuum Oil Company

Dale and Nyland, 1985

Nyland/Dole, 1972

NTL Institute

James Stice, 1984 Seminar

Gustafson, 1985

Brady, 1989

Glasser, 1990

Bruce Nyland, 2000


AndrogogyKnowles, 1970

• Learners need to know why they need to learn something.

• Adults need to learn experientially.• Adults approach learning as problem-solving. • Adults learn best when the topic is of immediate value.


No(j)

Teaching Method Normalised Figure of

Merit(Max. = 10)

Category

1 Group Projects 10.0 Pivotal

2 Project 9.8 Pivotal

3 Practical Training 9.2 Pivotal

4 Industrial Training /Internship 6.5 Obligatory

5 Lecture 6.5 Obligatory

6 Seminars 6.3 Obligatory

7 Written projects/studies 6.2 Obligatory

8 Home work/Out of class assignment

3.8 Complementary

What working IT engineers think about Teaching Methods?, SPINE based Study, 2004-05


Effective lecturing in engineering and computing courses, 2005-06?

• Documentation: 250 Anecdotes of most effective lecture – 110 anecdotes of as recalled by computing students – 99 anecdotes of as recalled by faculty from their student days – 43 anecdotes of as recalled by faculty as teachers.

• Observations• Most effective lectures were found to have at least one form of active and

collaborative learning strategies e.g., problem solving, group work, discussions, critique and so on: – 90% anecdotes by final year students– 55% anecdotes by second year students– 80% anecdotes by faculty members (as students)– 94% anecdotes by faculty members (as teachers)


What students think about lectures attributes?Lecture Format property Most Effective

for learning

Least Effective

for learning

Most Often used

1. careful listening and preparing notes 36.36% 70.45% 79.55%

2. explain textbook 11.36% 90.91% 88.64%

6. creative thinking 75.00% 4.55% 9.09%

7. in-class-group-work 63.64% 4.55% 2.27%

14. discover 63.64% 2.27% 0.00%

Goel Sanjay (2006), Do Engineering Faculty Know What’s Broken? The National Teaching & Learning Forum, Vol 15 Number 2, USA

Correlation Most Effective for Learning

Least Effective for Learning

Least Effective for Learning

-0.79

Most Often used Lecture Format

-0.69 0.99


Table A10.1: Effectiveness of educational experiences for competency enhancement of software developers

67 Software developers - (How) Did your college help you in your development?”

Pedagogical EngagementsRating

Avg

(0-4)• Projects 3.40

• Laboratory work 2.99

• Discussions with other students 2.96

• Teaching peers/juniors 2.84

• Thinking and work oriented Lectures 2.76• Discussions with Faculty 2.70• Industrial Training. 2.60• Research Literature survey oriented assignments 2.55• Discussions with others 2.39• Homework and Tutorial 1.97• Knowledge transmission oriented Lectures (explain and

follow the textbooks)1.91

• Written examinations and required preparation 1.85Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

Two Core Principles Related to Learning

Cognitive Dissonance Leon Festinger (1957) 1. Humans are sensitive to inconsistencies between actions and beliefs.2. Recognition of an inconsistency results in cognitive dissonance, and

motivates an individual to resolve the dissonance.3. Dissonance can be resolved in one of three ways:

•change in beliefs, •change actions, or •change perception of actions.

Cognitive Flexibility Rand Spiro (1991) The ability to ‘transfer’ what learners have learned in a context, to different, even unique situations is referred to as ‘cognitive flexibility’• In advanced knowledge domains, interconnectedness of ideas must

be emphasized. • For deeper learning, Information must be presented in a variety of

ways and contexts


TeachingSocrates

Galileo

Einstein


TeachingSocrates I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.

Galileo You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him to find it for himself.

Einstein I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions

in which they can learn.


Bloom’s Taxonomy: Levels of Cognition

1. Goel Sanjay and Sharda Nalin (2004), What do engineers want? Examining engineering education through Bloom’s taxonomy, Conference of Australasian Association of Engineering Education, September, 2004, Australia.

2. Goel Sanjay (2004), What is high about higher education : Examining Engineering Education Through Bloom’s Taxonomy, The National Teaching & Learning Forum, Vol. 13 Number 4, pp 1-5, USA.

What students think they get to do? calculate, explain, prove (studied theorem, studied method), define (studied definitions), write, solve, compute, show (studied fact, studied method), evaluate(computation), derive, state, describe, determine, find, analyze, justify, …What students think works well for them wrt learning? design, analyze, understand, build, apply, adapt, implement, create, develop, demonstrate, validate, define (new things), show (unstudied fact in the direct context of studied material) , illustrate, compare, enjoy, correlate, argue, research, evaluate (the options), ...What professional engineers recommend ? analyse, design, develop, implement, evaluate (the options), integrate, build, conclude, define (new things), acquire, demonstrate, justify, assess, organize, formulate, estimate, summarize, categorize, validate, …

Correlation

What professional engineers recommend ?

What students get in exams?

-0.57


Bloom levels

What students

think they get ?

What students

get in exams ?

What students

think works well for them

?

What engineers

recommend ?

Knowledge 0.24 0.36 0.04 0.09

Comprehen-sion

0.24 0.16 0.11 0.10

Application 0.22 0.40 0.13 0.10

Analysis 0.14 0.04 0.15 0.19

Synthesis 0.14 0.05 0.46 0.38

Evaluation 0.02 0.00 0.11 0.15

Rating Comparison


Modifications to Bloom’s Taxonomy

Florida Taxonomy of Cognitive Behavior (9 levels), 1967

• KnowledgeKnowledge– Knowledge of Specifics– Knowledge of ways and means to deal with specifics– Knowledge of universals and abstract

• ComprehensionComprehension– Translation– Interpretation

• Compare, summarize, conclude, show cause and effect relationship, give analogy, perform a directed task


Active Engagement Levels: Extending Bloom’s Taxonomy

Sanjay Goel, PhD Thesis, 2010

Minger, 2000 Rowe & Boulgerides, 1992

Sternberg, 1999


Four-dimensional Taxonomy of Pedagogic Engagements in Software Development Education

Reflective Engagements

Integrative Engagements

Active Engagements

Collaborative Engagements

Individual engagement problem solving activity

Inclusion and integration of various ideas and diverse perspectives.

Think deeply to evaluate and refine/transform their own approach and views

Collaborate with others to solve problems

Sanjay Goel, PhD Thesis, 2010Sanjay Goel,

www.goelsan.wordpress.com

Documents

An Overview of Selected Learning Theories about Student Learning Sanjay Goel Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida,