How to Design AL Activities Edward W. Awad, Biology Jailson F. De Lima, Chemistry How to make students less passive in a lecture-based class How do you design your course? • If you were given a new course to design, how would you go about designing it? • Think-pair-share activity: o 3 min: work individually o 2 min: pair up and exchange ideas Traditional Course Design Backward Course Define what knowledge, competencies & skills you want students to acquire Learning Objectives/ Outcomes In-class Activities Assessment *(Wiggins * Design and McTighe, 2005. Understanding by design. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.) Design activities that promote development of knowledge & skills Determine how to evaluate students’ ability to acquire knowledge & skills Bon LO, Bad LO A “Good” LO sounds like this A “Bad” LO sounds like this Learning Outcomes  Develop a well-designed argument  Learn about contemporary problems in the field of biology  Outline the evidence of evolution and provide examples of evidence for change through time and evidence supporting the relatedness of species  Analyze and interpret data on reproductive success and survivorship in order to classify individuals based in differing degrees of evolutionary fitness  Learn the atom theory  Identify an issue, develop an arguable thesis about the issue, locate relevant supporting evidence, analyze the evidence, and draw a wellsupported conclusion  Use proper mathematical methods and calculations to estimate examples of population densities Why are the GOOD better than the BAD? • GOOD statements: competencies that can be observed and measured. • BAD statements: difficult to be measured; describe what the lesson is about. What are Learning Outcomes? • Statements that describe knowledge and skills that students demonstrate upon completion of a lesson. • Measured in assessment activities conducted in class/tests. • Written with concrete action verbs such as “define,” “apply,” or “analyze” (see sheet). Define Your Own Learning Outcomes 1. Choose a topic to focus your activity on. 2. Write 1-2 “good” learning outcomes related to your topic. (sheet) Mechanics of Design of ALA How will they engage in activity? Thinking level? How will they be motivated? What product will they produce? How will students engage with the material? 1. Consider the following: o Activity to support LO o Existing material to base activity on o Concept to reinforce o Practice thinking like experts in the subject o Misconceptions; difficulties How will they engage in activity? Thinking level? How will students engage with the material? 2. Thinking level How will they engage in activity? Thinking level? How will students engage with the material? 3. Type of activity best suited to your students o Think-pair-share o Case studies o Brainstorming o One-minute essay o Two column method o Problem solving o Fishbowl discussion How will they engage in activity? Thinking level? Example of AL activities: Reversible vs. Irreversible Enzyme Inhibition Learning outcomes: • Compare and contrast reversible and irreversible inhibition of enzymes and relate enzyme inhibition to regulation of metabolism • Distinguish between competitive and noncompetitive inhibition of enzymes Example of AL activities: Reversible vs. Irreversible Enzyme Inhibition The following reaction is catalyzed by the enzyme catalase: 2H2O2 → 2H2O + O2 In a series of experiments examining the effect of inhibitors on catalase activity you obtain the following results (assuming [catalase] remains constant). What type of enzyme inhibition is supported by the results for Cu2SO4? HCN? Inhibitor Cu2SO4 HCN [Inhibitor] (%) Catalase activity (mean ± sd O2 ml/s) at different substrate (H2O2) concentrations (M) 0.2 0.4 0.8 1% 0.88±0.07 1.61±0.11 2.97±0.27 5% 0.42±0.03 0.52±0.03 0.54±0.04 0.1% 0.89±0.08 1.64±0.13 3.01±0.28 0.4% 0.400±0.04 1.21±0.09 2.31±0.19 1.0% 0.09±0.01 0.98±0.08 1.89±0.20 Example of AL activities: Atomic Models Learning outcome: • Compare and contrast the different atomic models in light of their experimental applications Example of AL activities: Atomic Models Comparison of different atomic models using online interactive simulations: Phet simulations http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/hydrogenatom. Example of AL activities: Exponential powers Exponential Powers are deceiving • Avogadro Number (Chemistry): the number of particles in one mole of a given substance 6.02  1023 Example of AL activities: Earth’s radius Earth’s radius = 6.4  106 m Example of AL activities: Radius of the Visible Universe in meters? Example of AL activities: Radius of the Visible Universe in meters? Your turn to design an activity Design and develop a short class activity that addresses the learning outcome(s) you have defined for your topic using an active learning strategy of your choice (see sheet). How will the activity motivate students • • • • • Students becoming more “expert” Connection to real world example Connection to future careers Students competition Making decisions, justifying actions • Relate to skills/tasks they need to complete in tests and exams How will they be motivated? Examples of Students motivation: Caffeine overdose! • Lethal dose of caffeine in humans: 10 g • Based on the caffeine concentration in cola, calculate the volume of cola you need to drink in order to die of caffeine overdose. • How about Red Bull? Examples of Students motivation: Chemical Weapons, Oh My! • How do chemical weapons work? The example of Sarin [2(Fluoromethylphosphoryl)oxypropane] • Which enzyme is inhibited by sarin? • How does sarin inhibit this enzyme? Reversibly or irreversibly? How can you determine this? Your turn to include a motivational element in your activity Working on the activity you designed earlier, think of a twist that would motivate students to complete and be more engaged in the activity. What product will students produce? 1. Level of sophistication: o Justify a decision o Produce ranking o Make a prediction o Make a judgment What product will they produce? What product will students produce? 2. Production: o Essay o Specialized drawing or sketch o Concept map o Graph What product will they produce? What product will students produce? 3. Avoid: o Simple application of procedure o Extensive writing o Fill in the blanks What product will o Long, complex activities they produce? Examples of Final Product: Enzyme Inhibition Example Plot a graph that shows the effect of these 2 types of inhibitors on catalase activity. Label your graph(s) appropriately. (Blooms: Analyzing/Evaluating) Design an experiment that would show the mode of action of sarin on the enzyme acetylcholinesterase. (Blooms: Synthesizing/Creating) Examples of Final Product: Enzyme Inhibition Example 3.5 Cu2SO4 3 2.5 1% 2 10% 1.5 10% 1 0.5 Catalase activity (O2 ml/s) Catalase activity (O2 ml/s) 3.5 HCN 3 2.5 0.10% 2 0.40% 1.5 1.00% 1 0.5 0 0 1 2 H2O2 concentration (M) 3 1 2 3 H2O2 concentration (M) Examples of Final Product: Arts & Science • Art & Science Project: create an artwork to explain scientific concepts (artandchemistry.ca) • Blooms : Synthesis and Evaluation Your turn to determine the product of your activity Working on the activity you designed earlier, think of a product your students would produce in order for you to be able to assess their learning and understanding of the topic (learning outcome). AL Activity Design Sheet Your Reflection Thank you