Activating students—as learners, and as learning resources for one another

1. Activating students—as learners, and as learning resources for one another Dylan Wiliam Hawker-Brownlow Education Conference Melbourne, Victoria, May 2011 www.dylanwiliam.net

2. Activating students • Sharing, communicating, and understanding learning intentions and success criteria • Activating students as learning resources for one another • Activating students as owners of their own learning • Student observation of teaching • Personalizing learning and differentiated instruction

3. The view from the student’ desk “The analogy that might make the student’s view more comprehensible to adults is to imagine oneself on a ship sailing across an unknown sea, to an unknown destination. An adult would be desperate to know where he [sic] is going. But a child only knows he is going to school...The chart is neither available nor understandable to him... Very quickly, the daily life on board ship becomes all important ... The daily chores, the demands, the inspections, become the reality, not the voyage, nor the destination.” (White, 1971, p. 340)

4. Sharing criteria with learners • 3 teachers each teaching 4 year 8 science classes in two US schools • 14 week experiment • 7 two-week projects, each scored 2-10 • All teaching the same, except: • For a part of each week • Two of each teacher’s classes discusses their likes and dislikes about the teaching (control) • The other two classes discusses how their work will be assessed [White & Frederiksen, Cognition & Instruction, 16(1), 1998].

5. Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills 4.6 5.9 6.6 High Middle Low Group 6.7 7.2 7.4 Likes and dislikes Reflective assessment Sharing criteria with learners

6. Learning intentions and success criteria • In general, it is a good idea that students know where they are going • But, • It is not always possible • It is not always advisable • It is hard to do well

7. Quality • Polanyi (1958) • “The aim of skilful performance is achieved by the observance of a set of rules which are not known as such to the person following them” (p 31). • “Rules [...] are maxims which can serve as a guide to an art” (p49). • “Maxims cannot be understood, still less applied by anyone not already possessing a good practical knowledge of the art. They derive their interest from our appreciation of the art and cannot themselves either replace or establish that appreciation” (p50). • Pirsig (1991) • “Quality doesn’t have to be defined. You understand it without definition. Quality is a direct experience independent of and prior to intellectual abstractions” (p64)

8. Goals and horizons • Sometimes, you want all students to learn the same thing • Goal-directed teaching • Key aim: all students reach the same understanding • Sometimes it is OK when students learn different things • Horizon-directed teaching • Key aim: all students learn something of value in the subject

9. A standard middle school problem… • Two farmer have adjoining fields with a common boundary that is not straight. • This is inconvenient for ploughing. • How can they divide the twofields so that the boundaryis straight, but the twofields have thesame area asthey had before?

12. How many rectangles?

13. Learning intentions: detaching context

14. Three issues with learning intentions • Task-specific versus generic scoring guides/rubrics • Product-focused versus process focused rubrics • ‘Official’ versus student-friendly language.

15. Sharing success criteria (English)

16. Sharing success criteria (German)

17. Practical techniques: sharing learning intentions • Explaining learning intentions at start of lesson/unit • Learning intentions • Success criteria • Intentions/criteria in students’ language • Posters of key words to talk about learning • eg describe, explain, evaluate • Planning/writing frames • Annotated examples of different standards to ‘flesh out’ assessment rubrics (e.g. lab reports) • Opportunities for students to design their own tests

18. Benefits of structured interaction • 15-yr-olds studying World History were tested on their understanding of material delivered in lectures • Half the students were trained to pose questions as they listened to the lectures • At the end of the lectures, students were given time to review their understanding of the material

19. Impact on achievement • Improvements attributed to: • Students discovering their own and peers’ misconceptions • Students motivated to ask more difficult questions • Students provide each other with more elaborate answers • Students to examine material from multiple perspectives King, A. (1991). Applied Cognitive Psychology, 5(4), 331-346.

20. Self- and peer-assessment: Portugal • Teachers studying for MA in Education • Group 1 do regular programme • Group 2 work on self-assessment for 2 terms (20 weeks) • Teachers matched in age, qualifications and experience using the same curriculum scheme for the same amount of time • Pupils tested at beginning of year, and again after two terms • Group 1 pupils improve by 7.8 marks • Group 2 pupils improve by 15 [Fontana & Fernandez, Br. J. Educ. Psychol. 64: 407-417]

21. Peer-assessment: a research success story • Four mechanisms • Motivation: students help their peers to learn because, in well-structured cooperative learning settings, it is in their own interests to do so, and so effort is increased; • Social cohesion: students help their peers because they care about the group, again leading to increased effort; • Personalization: students learn more because more able peers can engage with the particular difficulties a student is having; • Cognitive elaboration: those who provide help in group settings are forced to think through the ideas more clearly.

22. Peer- and self-assessment 5 One technique has been to put the students into small groups and give each student a small part of the unit to explain to their colleagues. They are given a few minutes preparation time, a few hints, and use of their exercise books. Then each student explains their chosen subject to the rest of their group. Students are quick to point out such things as, ‘I thought that the examples you chose were very good as they were not ones in our books. I don’t think I would have thought of those.’ Or, ‘I expected you to mention particles more when you were explaining the difference between liquids and gases.’ These sessions have proven invaluable, not only to me, in being able to discover the level of understanding of some students, but to the students too. Philip, Century Island

24. DEEP AfL

25. The students’ role They feel that the pressure to succeed in tests is being replaced by the need to understand the work that has been covered and the test is just an assessment along the way of what needs more work and what seems to be fine. [...] They have commented on the fact that they think I am more interested in the general way to get to an answer than a specific solution and when Clare [a researcher] interviewed them they decided this was so that they could apply their understanding in a wider sense. (Belinda, Cornbury Estate School)

26. Student agency • “I know if I get it wrong that I can just ask the teacher and that will help me improve my work because if I never know what I got wrong, I will never learn the right way to do it.” • “As a girl I feel more confident now doing these questions. I feel that I can answer questions without being worried about getting it wrong. I can even explore my answer without being worried about it. • “I like when we do the (ABCD) cards. It’s fun. I like how everybody puts up the cards and I am not afraid to raise my hand anymore because I don’t care if I get it wrong anymore. Now I raise my hand more often.”

27. Peer- and self-assessment 2 • As well as assessing and marking (through discussion and clear guidance ) their own work they also assess and mark the work of others. This they do in a very mature and sensible way and this has proved to be a very worthwhile experiment. The students know that homework will be checked by themselves or another girl in the class at the start of the next lesson. This has lead to a well-established routine and only on extremely rare occasions have students failed to complete the work set. They take pride in clear and well presented work that one of their peers may be asked to mark. Any disagreement about the answer is thoroughly and openly discussed until agreement is reached. • Alice, Waterford School

28. Peer- and self-assessment 3 We regularly do peer marking—I find this very helpful indeed. A lot of misconceptions come to the fore and we then discuss these as we are going over the homework. I then go over the peer marking and talk to pupils individually as I go round the room. Rose, Brownfields School

29. Students leading the lesson

30. Students owning their learning and as learning resources for one another • Students assessing their own/peers’ work • Daily sign-in • Choose-swap-choose • +/—/interesting • Learning portfolio • “Two stars and a wish” • Training students to pose questions/identifying group weaknesses • Self-assessment of understanding • Traffic lights • Red/green discs • Coloured cups

31. Technique review

32. Secret student

33. Pros and cons of self/peer assessment

34. Student observation of teaching

35. Force-field analysis (Lewin, 1954) • What are the forces that will support or drive the adoption of student observation of teaching in your school/state/territory? • What are the forces that will constrain or prevent the adoption of student observation of teaching in your school/state/territory? + —

36. Models of differentiated instruction • The premise • Teaching is interesting because students are so different • Teaching is only possible because they are so similar • Differences in students: • Problem • Asset

37. Area of a trapezium a h b

38. ½h a b Parallel cut and rotate a

39. Group task • How many conceptually distinct ways can you find for calculating the area of a trapezium given the length of each of the two parallel sides, and the distance between them?

40. Self-assessment (Raychaudhuri, 1988) My red folder in the fourth year wants me to be clear and positive about what I achieve in school "in my own words” which are foreign to me. My red folder in the fourth year wants me to be positive about my grade E in English History: the heritage and glory of the British Empire "in my own words”. In my own words in my own language (which has no place here) how can I feel clear and positive? My red folder in the fourth year suddenly out of nowhere wants me to assert what I achieve in school "in my own words". How can I blow the trumpet they've taken from me?

41. Comments/questions?

42. Learning Log • Complete at least three of the following sentences to reflect on this session. • Today I learned… • I was surprised by… • The most useful thing I will take from these sessions is… • I was interested in… • What I liked most about today was… • One thing I’m not sure about is… • The main thing I want to find out more about is… • After these sessions I feel… • I might have got more from today if …