Past Events - 2008 and 2009

For all past events (1998 - 2008), please click here to download Discovery Learning's Past Seminars .pdf

4/15/2009

Uri Treisman is professor of mathematics and of public affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the founder and executive director of the University's Charles A. Dana Center, an organized research unit of the College of Natural Sciences. The subject of his talk will be:

Title: On Innovation in Urban Mathematics Education

Abstract: Higher expectations, as reflected in state and federal accountability systems, have led to dramatic improvements in mathematics student performance in most, but not all, urban districts. Fifteen years ago, only one-half of urban high school graduates completed Algebra 1; today, most urban districts require four years of mathematics including at least Algebra II. Urban districts have responded to these new pressures by creating new approaches to such difficult problems as serving children with special learning needs in high school mathematics courses, academic language development in populations with high linguistic diversity, and in strategies for motivating students to persist in courses that present high levels of challenge. Professor Treisman will describe the work of the Urban Mathematics Leadership Network in surfacing these innovations and in re-engineering them for use at scale. He will share examples of new instructional strategies and will discuss new structures for supporting research and practitioners seeking to solve urgent problems of educational practice.

3/25/2009

Dr. Robert Bjork, Distinguished Professor, Cognitive Psychology, UCLA
Dr. Elizabeth Bjork, Professor, Cognitive Psychology, UCLA

The Bjorks lead the Bjork Lab at UCLA. Research in the Bjork Lab focuses on principles of human learning and memory and on applying these to enhance instructional practices.

How we learn versus how we think we learn:

Title: Implications for the design and evaluation of instruction


Abstract: Paradoxically, certain manipulations that promote forgetting and impair performance during instruction actually enhance long-term recall and transfer, whereas conditions that retard forgetting and enhance performance during instruction frequently fail to support long-term understanding and retention. From a theoretical standpoint, such findings have implications for the functional architecture of humans as learners. From a practical standpoint, they point to reasons why instructors are susceptible to choosing less-effective conditions of instruction over more effective conditions; why students are prone to illusions of comprehension; and why real-world instruction is seldom as effective as it might be.

2/26/2009

Biologists, Dr. Nigel Atkinson and Dr. Ruth Buskirk of UT Austin will speak on the topic "Scientific Teaching."

Nigel Atkinson and Ruth Buskirk, UT Austin School of Biological Sciences, report on their participation in the National Academies Summer Institute for Undergraduate Education in Biology, ideas for implementation of Scientific Teaching, and the institute's major themes of active learning, assessment and diversity.

11/12/2008

Professor Ron Douglas, Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Texas A&M University, also works closely with the Education Advancement Foundation (EAF).

The EAF is a philanthropic organization that supports the development and implementation of inquiry-based learning at all educational levels in the United States, particularly in the fields of mathematics and science, and the dissemination of the inquiry-based learning methodology inspired by Dr. R. L. Moore (1882-1974), famed professor of mathematics at The University of Texas at Austin.

Ron described the subject of his talk below:

Inquiry-Based Learning in Mathematics

Abstract: Using an inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach to teaching mathematics can be quite effective. I will explain the role IBL has played in my mathematics career. I will follow that with a description of efforts over the past five years by the Educational Advancement Foundation to foster and develop its use at campuses around the country with an emphasis on five research universities including the University of Texas at Austin. I will begin with a focus on what inquiry-based learning means in mathematics.

The facilitator and moderator of the discussion was Professor Michael Marder.

10/17/2008

The presenter for this seminar is Ray Bareiss. Professor Bariess holds a Ph.D. in computer sciences and a B.S. in communications from the University of Texas at Austin. He has worked on academic e-learning courses for Columbia University in the fields of ESL, information technology, economics, physics, and psychology, and on courses for Northwestern University. Ray is the author of a number of books and articles relating to the cognitive aspects of teaching and learning. Ray is currently Professor of the Practice of Software Engineering and Software Management, Director of Educational Programs Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley. He will discuss the following topic:

A Story-Centered, Learn-by-Doing Approach to Undergraduate Education

Carnegie Mellon’s Silicon Valley campus has made a commitment to a unique approach to teaching and learning, the Story-Centered Curriculum, for its programs in software engineering and software management. In a Story-Centered curriculum, students work in teams in a fictional but realistic context, performing complex, authentic tasks, learning the required knowledge and skills just in time as they work, and being evaluated on what they produce. My talk will explain our motivation for adopting this pedagogy, provide details of the educational experience, discuss the roles faculty play and the teaching approaches we have employed, and provide additional examples of employing Story-Centered curricula, ranging from college level down to middle school.

9/11/2008

A panel from the UTeach Institute in charge of the dissemination of the UTeach Program Natural Sciences discussed the following topic:

What starts here changes the world! The UTeach Institute was created in 2006 to support the replication of UT Austin's UTeach mathematics and science teacher preparation program at universities in the United States. Tracy LaQuey Parker, Melissa Dodson, Kim Hughes, and Michael Marder will discuss what the Institute has accomplished in the past 2 years, specific activities of the Institute including curriculum development and adoption, evaluation approach, data collection plans, future directions in research, and the implications of UTeach replication for mathematics and sciences faculty.

Tracy LaQuey Parker is Director of the UTeach Institute, Dr. Melissa Dodson is Manager of Program Replication, Kim Hughes is Manager of Knowledge Development. Dr. Michael Marder is co-director of the UTeach program.

The facilitator and moderator of the discussion was Professor Michael Marder.

3/25/2008

Dr. Kathy Schmidt, director from the Faculty Innovation Center, Cockrell School of Engineering, and Kris Wood, Cullen Trust Endowed Professor in Engineering No. 1 and University Distinguished Teaching Professor made a presentation on Journeys in Hands-on, Active Learning:

In recent years, several pedagogical themes and approaches have been touted in engineering education. These pedagogies seek to address a number of fundamental educational questions. How often have you heard that you need to get your students involved in active learning? Or that your students need to develop critical thinking skills? Have you ever been challenged with the thought that passively listening to lectures, completing well-constrained homework problems, and studying for scheduled exams does not necessarily promote a student’s deepest thinking? In this Discovery Lunch Seminar, we considered hands-on, active learning as seen through the lens of a set of active learning products (ALPs). We have developed an extensive set of ALPs that reinforce difficult technical concepts and improve overall compression of course materials. We have also created a systematic, efficient methodology to assist faculty in devising ALPs for their classes, in addition to appropriate assessment methods, ties to learning styles and personality types, and methods for strategic project-team selection. With NFS funding and collaboration with the United States Air Force Academy, we have tested and validated a range of active learning products across K-16 education.

2/8/2008

Mitchell Nathan, Professor of Educational Psychology, Chair of the Learning Science program in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Anthony Petrosino, Associate Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education at University of Texas spoke on:

Expert blind spot: How content knowledge can eclipse pedagogical content knowledge.

A series of studies was discussed in which the relationship between teachers' (both inservice and pre-service) subject-matter expertise in mathematics and their judgments of students’ algebra problem-solving difficulty were examined. The contrast between instructors' predictions and the students’ actual difficulties is an instance of a more general phenomenon called “expert blind spot”. As predicted by the expert blind spot hypothesis, teachers with more advanced mathematics education tend to view symbolic reasoning and mastery of equations as a necessary prerequisite for the development of algebraic reasoning. This view is in contrast with students’ actual performance patterns that shows an advantage for algebra word problems. An examination across several subject areas, including mathematics, science, and language arts, suggests a common pattern: Teachers' content area expertise may have a disproportionate influence on teachers' beliefs about the conceptual develop experiences of novices. Consistent with this notion, instructors with the most experience are the most likely to make the incorrect prediction. This talk considers how instructors’ developmental views may influence classroom practice and professional development, and calls into question policies that seek to streamline the licensure process of new teachers solely on the basis of their subject-matter expertise. It also calls into question some of the implicit assumptions that regard theory and mastery of formalisms as gatekeepers for access to disciplinary knowledge in mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.