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Title: Two talks in one slot: A) Linked EVS questions: rationales and representations. B) The meta-messages implicitly taught by different applications of EVS
Presenter
Steve Draper,
School of Psychology,
University of Glasgow.
Slides:
PDF
A.
One thing you can do in principle with data from EVS questions used for PI
(Mazur's Peer Instruction), is to look at the patterns of how students shift
their opinions after discussion. For instance you can see the extent to which
students migrate to the right answer, and how large a counter-current existed
away from it. PI uses a repeat of the same question: the simplest form of
linked questions. Mark Russell in contrast used no discussion and sets of 3
questions using the same concept to expose students who get some right answers
by accident, and by relating their answers, can show the smaller number who
actually understand the concept by demonstrating "transfer". Smith et al.
used linked questions and PI to demonstrate not just improved answers to the
original question, but transfer to a related question.
B.
The most powerful teaching effect of EVS might not be related to the content
of the questions, but to the meta-messages implicit in the activity or style
of the session. Three cases are discussed. 1) According to the
neo-Vygotskyan argument, the meta-message of PI is that science revolves
around debates not assertion, and the debates depend on reasons, not
authority, power, or showmanship. A child may not ever have experienced
conversations of this kind: but without that, they cannot possibly understand
what science is about. 2) We have used EVS for inductions in Fresher's week,
where the session revolves around eliciting (anonymously) what concerns the
freshers have, assembling a public short list from their suggestions, and
using voting to show how concerned the group is about each issue. A panel of
older students then discuss possible solutions to each concern. The
meta-message is that discussing such concerns is appropriate; these topics are
now common ground in the group; what the dominant view and degree of
consensus on each is. This means anyone can now refer to any such topic and
know how their comment will be received, thus arguably creating a sense of
membership. 3) In contrast, Tufte's attack on Powerpoint amounts to the idea
that the format is one of giving a headline and never getting round to giving
the elaboration: and the first casualty is omitting discussion of uncertainty.
When you give a lecture on, say, Newton's laws without mentioning the
possibility that they might be wrong, is your meta-message undermining
science?
Web site logical path:
[www.psy.gla.ac.uk]
[~steve]
[talks]
[this page]
Occasion:
Date/time: Wednesday 7 Dec 2011. Session: 9:30am-11:00am
(my own slot: 9:35-10:20 am).
Place:
Lecture theatre B,
James Clerk Maxwell bldg,
King's Buildings,
How to get there:
Handout:
PDF file
Related material:
http://www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/ilig/
Draper,S.W. (2009) "Catalytic assessment: understanding how MCQs and EVS can
foster deep learning" British Journal of Educational Technology
vol.40 no.2 pp.285-293
see here
Link to derived :case study" notes
Abstract
In this talk I discuss some current ideas in teaching with Electronic Voting
Systems.
Book here
or contact
Judy Hardy.
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