Strip-Mining Facts

1. Strip-Mining Facts Meaningful Discussions in the Google/Wikipedia Era

2. Overview • Introduction • The Importance of Discussions • The Blessing and Curse of Readily-Available Information • Initiating and Guiding Effective Discussions • My Conclusions • Your Ideas/Comments

3. Introduction • Who I am: Dan Branan (Ph.D., University of Denver, 2003) • What I do: • teach chemistry for CCCOnline (1.5 years) • teach chemistry at USAF Academy (off and on since 1996) • active-duty Air Force officer (16 years)

4. Introduction • Remember when… • at least half your effort on a research paper was gathering a body of information? • you had to pore over your wealthy neighbor’s copy of Encyclopedia Britannica for information? • you needed a Reference Librarian to help you find facts?

5. Introduction • “Google is like God. God is wireless, God is everywhere and God sees everything. Any questions in the world, you ask Google.” • Alan Cohen, president of Airespace, quoted in The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman • How do we engage students in a discussion about a topic when they can discover everything about it by spending a few minutes at the altar of Google?

6. Importance of Discussions • Constructivist Cycle: • conceptualize • construct knowledge • dialogue • “Dialogue provides the vehicle for conceptual movement. It facilitates the transition between the stages and the advance from one re-conceptualisation cycle to the next. To emphasise the central role of dialogue even further we now view it not as a separate stage, but as integral to the whole cycle.” • FOWLER, C.J.H., & MAYES, J.T. “Learning relationships: from theory to design.” Association for Learning Technology Journal, 7, 3, 6-16 (1999)

7. Importance of Discussions • “…learning is…made more effective when it is social, is engaged…”; “…learning happens best when students are active…writing, thinking, experimenting, creating and devising.” - Malcom Brown, “Mashing up the Once and Future CMS.” EDUCAUSE Review, March/April 2007 • “Many studies have suggested that actively participating in inquiry dialogue is beneficial and that the quality and not the quantity of inquiry is central.” • Pilkington, R., “Analysing Educational Dialogue Interaction: Towards Models that Support Learning.”International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education (2001), 12, 1-7

8. Importance of Discussions • My own experiences: • Enthusiastic participation • Survey of last class: 91% reported that the discussions were “Valuable” to “Extremely Valuable” • Comments: • “The discussions definitely enhanced the course” • “I loved the discussions, but they did not relate to the material being tested over” • “Provided a more traditional classroom feel and reminds you that you are not suffering through this alone.”

9. Importance of Discussions - Summary • Necessary for the constructive learning cycle • Main source of social interaction in an on-line class

10. The blessing and curse of readily-available information • Blessing: • You can find information rapidly and easily • Curse: • Knowing ≠ understanding • The ability to find lots of facts can lead students to believe they understand a subject – this is a discussion-killer • Issues with source reliability • Students may not understand the difference between primary, secondary, tertiary and extremist sources.

11. Initiating and Guiding Effective Discussions • Starting things off • Find topics that are current, potentially interesting, socially relevant, objectively important, and perhaps just a little controversial. • Have FUN with the topic. Your interest and enthusiasm is contagious! • Give substantial background information – guide their data-gathering a little bit. • Demonstrate the choice of reliable sources • Take as neutral a stance as possible. Unless you want to drive them to an opposing point of view

12. Initiating and Guiding Effective Discussions • Starting things off • If possible, link the topic to their course material • Pose multiple questions • CRITICAL: Ask the student to decide or interpret something on a personal level • This helps get them involved as an individual, and will help avoid pulling opinions off the internet • Single most effective defense against “know it all” discussion killers – everyone has an opinion and no one else can talk about what YOU believe

13. Initiating and Guiding Effective Discussions • Examining some topics (handout) • Global Cycles • 90% of the class was involved • Postings per student ranged from 1 to 18 (Avg = 5) • Similar results between two separate sections • High interest among student population (several Boulderites, for example) • Sources listed were fairly neutral on the subject of global warming, per se • Students found many other sources – surprisingly few were polemic or extremist in nature

14. Initiating and Guiding Effective Discussions • Genetically Modified Food • 86% of the class was involved • Postings per student ranged from 1 to 10 (Avg = 4) • Similar results between two separate sections • Also high interest among students • Sources presented were both pro and con • Many more student sources and positions were extremist on this topic. • I had to intervene in one exchange and tell them to be more respectful of one another

15. Initiating and Guiding Effective Discussions • Gold! • New discussion, few posts so far. • Similar results between two separate sections • This topic does not seem to be inherently interesting to the students • Lack of background information is a problem • Most postings are regurgitations or outright copies from relatively reliable sources • I have had to interject several times and try to focus them on the deeper aspects of the questions.

16. Initiating and Guiding Effective Discussions • Guiding the discussion • Be clear about your expectations and standards • Rubrics are a good tool for this • Your involvement and guidance are critical • Provides standards enforcement • Shows that you are interested in their opinions • Watch for inappropriate references/comments • Wikipedia is NOT a primary or secondary source! • If they cite a Wikipedia article, ask them what the sources were for that article • Be especially watchful for extremist sources and flag them • Guard against inappropriate criticism

17. My Conclusions • Discussions are vitally important to learning • Discussions enhance the social atmosphere • Engaging the students is the big challenge • Connect your topics to relevant, interesting ideas • Pose a wide variety of questions in each topic • Encourage personal involvement in the topic • Guiding the discussion is critical • Encourage appropriate sourcing of information • Discourage inappropriate criticism

18. Your Ideas/Comments • Success/Non-Success Stories? • Favorite Topics? • Hooks or Techniques? • Pitfalls?