1. Name
School
Department
Being a Scholarly Teacher
in the 21st Century
@ Teacher-Scholar Forum, 2014
Dr. Jeff Loats
Associate Professor of Physics
Faculty Associate to the
Center for Faculty Development
Be sure to get
a clicker!

2. Outline
 The way we think about teaching
 Scholarly-Teaching as a decision aid
 Themes of evidence-based teaching:
 Active engagement during class time
 Effective preparation (students & instructors)
 Feedback loops and iterative learning
(Slides available at www.slideshare.net/JeffLoats)
2

3. How much training and/or experience do you have
in judging what “scholarship” means in your
academic field?
In other words, what do you bring to bear when
you judge the quality of scholarship of a peer in
your discipline?
A) I’ve had explicit training
B) Lots of experience, little or no training
C) Moderate experience, little or no training
D) No experience or training
3

4. How much training and/or experience do you have
in judging what “scholarship” means in relation to
teaching in higher-education?
A) I’ve had explicit training
B) Lots of experience, little or no training
C) Moderate experience, little or no training
D) No experience or training
This is a different question than “Can you judge
good teaching when you see it?”
4

5. Judging Good Teaching
5
So… Can you judge good teaching?
Three pieces of evidence:
1. Aleamoni (1998):
This article cites 17 studies showing that
“students are discriminating judges of
instructional effectiveness.”
2. Ambady, et. al (1993):
Strangers can judge teaching effectiveness
from three 2-second silent clips. Highly
correlated with student ratings (0.76).

6. Judging Good Teaching
6
So… Can you judge good teaching?
Three pieces of evidence:
3. Deslauriers, et al. (2011):
Equipping novice teachers with evidence-
based teaching techniques more than doubles
the amount of student learning, compared to
an experienced and highly-rated traditional
instructor.

7. Scholarly Teaching
7
Goal 1:
Apply the rigor and scholarship of our
academic disciplines to the discipline of
teaching.

8. A sheepish statement from a colleague:
“I’ve borrowed ideas and techniques from my
own teachers and from colleagues. Of course, I
always change them a bit to make them my own.”
Consider the sense of guilt relating to using the
ideas and techniques developed by others. Focus
on your emotional reaction.
A) I strongly identify with this sense of guilt
B) I moderately identify with this sense of guilt
C) I don't identify with this sense of guilt
8

9. A sheepish statement from a colleague:
“I’ve borrowed ideas and techniques from my
own teachers and from colleagues. Of course, I
always change them a bit to make them my own.”
Now consider the sense of guilt from an analytical
perspective.
A) It is very appropriate
B) It is moderately appropriate
C) It is inappropriate
9

10. Please Steal This Idea!
10
Are there fields in which “stealing” ideas is
acceptable? Encouraged? Required?
Practical skills: Electrician, “How To” videos
Safety concerns: Where do you store poisons?
Medicine: Ask your doctor, “Where do your
methods and ideas about treating my condition
come from?”
I want a scholarly doctor:
Aware of the best, most up-to-date research on
how to treat my condition .

11. Scholarly Teaching
11
Goal 2:
Choose teaching methods that are
strongly informed by the best empirical
evidence available.

12. Feel bombarded?
Scholarship can help guide us…
The Scholarly-Teacher
Approach
12

13. Adoption “Rubric”
13
How compatible is it with my
teaching style?
High ↔ Medium ↔ Low
Does it addresses an area I
feel is currently lacking?
Yes! ↔ Somewhat ↔ No
How broad is the empirical
evidence of effectiveness?
Broad ↔ Moderate ↔ Preliminary
□ None/Not addressed
Is the effect size/likely impact
known?
Large ↔ Moderate ↔ Small
□ Not known/addressed
How much additional prep
(compared to a new prep)?
_______% (of a new prep)
How much class time? _______% of class time
User friendly version: bit.ly/AdoptionRubric (case sensitive)

14. Evidence-Oriented Parts
14
How broad is the empirical
evidence of effectiveness?
Broad ↔ Moderate ↔ Preliminary
□ None/Not addressed
User friendly version: bit.ly/AdoptionRubric (case sensitive)
Is the effect size/likely impact
known?
Large ↔ Moderate ↔ Small
□ Not known/addressed
Ideal: Well-controlled comparisons with data analysis
Preliminary: Case studies or anecdotal descriptions
Effect size: 0.2 = Small, 0.5 = Medium, 0.8 = Large
Or… some sense of how big a difference to expect.

15. Take 2 minutes… apply it!
15
How compatible is it with my
teaching style?
High ↔ Medium ↔ Low
Does it addresses an area I
feel is currently lacking?
Yes! ↔ Somewhat ↔ No
How broad is the empirical
evidence of effectiveness?
Broad ↔ Moderate ↔ Preliminary
□ None/Not addressed
Is the effect size/likely impact
known?
Large ↔ Moderate ↔ Small
□ Not known/addressed
How much additional prep
(compared to a new prep)?
_______% (of a new prep)
How much class time? _______% of class time
User friendly version: bit.ly/AdoptionRubric (case sensitive)

16. Discuss this with your neighbor
16
How compatible is it with my
teaching style?
High ↔ Medium ↔ Low
Does it addresses an area I
feel is currently lacking?
Yes! ↔ Somewhat ↔ No
How broad is the empirical
evidence of effectiveness?
Broad ↔ Moderate ↔ Preliminary
□ None/Not addressed
Is the effect size/likely impact
known?
Large ↔ Moderate ↔ Small
□ Not known/addressed
How much additional prep
(compared to a new prep)?
_______% (of a new prep)
How much class time? _______% of class time
User friendly version: bit.ly/AdoptionRubric (case sensitive)

17. Consistent Evidence-Based
Themes
17
• Active engagement during class time
• Effective preparation (students & instructors)
• Feedback loops and iterative learning

18. In a typical day in your class, what fraction of
class time is spent on lecture-based delivery of
content?
A) 0% - 20%
B) 20% - 40%
C) 40% - 60%
D) 60% - 80%
E) 80% - 100%
18
2%
10%
13%
38%
37%
~100
others

19. CHANGING THE CLASSROOM
19
Are you best lecturer in the world on the topics
you teach?
Does the best lecturer in the world have a
YouTube channel?
In the 21st-century, how should students spend
their 15 hours per credit with you?

20. ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT
20
Evidence:
US President's Council of Advisors on Science
and Technology (PCAST) 2012 report:
“The research indicates that many different types
of active engagement can accomplish learning
gains.”
Using a classroom response system, having
students solve a problem before class, use of
group discussion, individual writing or “one-
minute papers,” and combinations of these.

21. Consider a typical day in your class. What fraction
of students did their preparatory work before
coming to class?
A) 0% - 20%
B) 20% - 40%
C) 40% - 60%
D) 60% - 80%
E) 80% - 100%
21
27%
33%
20%
14%
6%
~200
others

22. Changing Our Preparation
22
How do we “make room” for an active-
engagement classroom?
Shift appropriate parts of teaching & learning
outside of the classroom:
• Student preparation is a “low hanging fruit”
that enhances everything else.
• Instructors prepare by learning what our
students already think about the subject.

23. Pre-class Work
23
Evidence:
Sappington (1998):
Students who did well on a surprise reading
assessment “scored significantly better than the
Zero or Fail groups.” Effect size was 0.25.
Marrs (2003):
Students showed an average normalized gain of
∼52% on test questions reinforced by either
Warm Up questions or Cooperative Learning
(~60% if reinforced by both!).

24. How Do People Like to Learn
24
Do we ever enjoy learning?
Possible candidates:

25. Common Elements?
25
Feedback is (nearly) instantaneous
Failure is expected (desired?)
The cost of failure is very low
Mastery requires iterative learning
Pause: Consider typical feedback loops in the
college classroom…

26. The “Many Chances to Fail”
Model
26
A line adopted from business:
“Fail early, fail often, fail well…”
Grounded in constructivist learning theory:
• Constructing new ideas often requires facing the
failure of previous ideas.
• Confusion and conflict make clear the need to
build functional ideas in place of those that failed.

27. Iterative Learning Loops
27
On a given topic…
Before class: Engage with Just-in-Time Teaching
“warm-up” questions that enforce
reading & require thought
During class: Respond (digitally) to difficult
questions, peer discussions
After class: Online homework with immediate
feedback and low(ish) stakes.
Perhaps 10-20 chances to test their understanding
before they encounter a high-stakes exam.

28. Combined Impact
28
Deslauriers, et al. (2011):
Novice teachers with evidence-based teaching
techniques more than doubles student learning,
compared to an experienced and highly-rated
traditional instructor. Effect size of 2.5!
“[…] other science and engineering classroom
studies report effect sizes less than 1.0. An effect
size of 2, obtained with trained personal tutors, is
claimed to be the largest observed for any
educational intervention.”

29. My Summary
29
Challenge yourself to be a scholarly-teacher
Follow the evidence!
Be moderate… follow the 10% rule
Engage with peers! Share, steal, and combine.

30. Your Summary
30
For yourself… or to share?
What nugget(s) do you want to be sure you come
away with from this discussion?
Contact: Jeff.Loats@gmail.com
Slides: www.slideshare.net/JeffLoats
I love talking and working with faculty,
don’t hesitate to get in touch.

31. References
31
Aleamoni, L. M. (1999). Student rating myths versus research facts from 1924 to
1998. Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education, 13, 153-166.
Ambady, Nalini; Rosenthal, Robert (1993). Half a minute: Predicting teacher evaluations
from thin slices of nonverbal behavior and physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, Vol 64(3), Mar 1993, 431-441. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.64.3.431
Louis Deslauriers, Ellen Schelew and Carl Wieman (2011). Improved Learning in a Large-
Enrollment Physics Class. Science, Vol. 332 no. 6031 pp. 862-864 DOI:
10.1126/science.1201783
Sappington, J., Kinsey, K., & Munsayac, K. (2002). Two Studies of Reading Compliance
Among College Students. Teaching of Psychology , 29 (4), 272-274.
Marrs, K.A. (2003). Just in Time Teaching enhances cognitive gains in biology. J. Coll. Sci.
Teach.
President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. (2012). Engage to excel:
Producing on million additional college graduates with degrees in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics. Retrieved from
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast-engage-to-excel-
final_feb.pdf