Professional Development at the T.E.A.C.H. Academy

1. Teaching
Adult Learners
Kurt Love, Ph.D.
Central Connecticut State University
!
T.E.A.C.H. Academy Professional Development

2. Teaching & Learning:
Making Critical Thinkers &
Problem Solvers

3. The
Ideal
Graduate
What are the qualities of the ideal graduate
from your program?
!
What are they able to do well?

4. The
Ideal
Graduate
To what extent do your students reach the
ideal?
!
In terms of teaching and learning, are there
potential changes that could help more
students reach that ideal?

5. What’s Your Goal?
Standardized Thinkers?
or
Problem Solvers?
or…
Some weirdo combination?

6. For your consideration…
Some questions to ponder…
Do standardized thinkers
become critical thinkers?
Do standardized thinkers
become problem solvers?

7. Some Weirdo Combination
Being well versed in the
“basics” provides the prospects
for advanced critical thinking…
But focusing on the “basics”
means that students can usually
only really do the “basics.”

8. Convergent Thinking
Convergent Thinking (Behaviorism & Constructivism) -
All paths lead to a single destination.This is rooted in a
belief that there is only one “Truth.”
Prior
Thought
Truth
Standardized
Thought
Prior
ThoughtTruth
Standardized
Thought
Traditional Liberal/Progressive
scaffold
scaffold

9. How Adults Learn Best
Involved in the
development of
content and teaching
Experiences and
opportunities to
make mistakes
Relevance
Problem-centered

10. Learning Styles

11. Do’s and Try-Not-To’s
When Teaching Adults
Do Try Not To
Lecture minimally and move to a
variety of learning experiences
Rely heavily on lecture as the
primary teaching method
Provide a real world problem for
students to engage with
Emphasize abstract information
Provide task-oriented instruction
Use memorization for learning content
unless it is the only option
Explain reasons for tasks,
procedures, etc.
Teach content without meaningful
rationale
Provide many opportunities for
students to learn from their mistakes
Take away opportunities for
students to learn from themselves.

12. Teaching Formula #1
Goal: Convergent Thinking
Brief Lecture
Demonstration
Small Group
Individual
(In-person, video)
Assess…and Then…Rinse and repeat!
(Discussion, hands-on)
(Hands-on)
(Board, slideshow)

13. Problem-Centered Learning:
Adult Learners Flourish in Problem-
Based Environments

14. Divergent Thinking
Divergent Thinking (Critical Constructivism) -
Explore many paths in authentic settings with questions
that have no predetermined answer.
Prior
Thought
Info
Divergent
Thought
Prior
Thought
Divergent
Thought
Transformative
Communities
Critical
Questioning
New
Relationship
New
Relationship

15. Problem-Centered Learning
Problem-centered learning allows for:
Relevance
Experiences & learning from
mistakes
Involvement in content and
instruction
Problem-centered learning leads to
effective and authentic assessments

16. Problem!

17. Teaching Formula #2
Goal: Divergent Thinking
Present a Real Problem
Exploration
Lecture & Discussion
More exploration & practice
(Small group discussion, hands-on)
Assess…and Then…Rinse and repeat!
(Whole-group, sharing out)
(Hands-on, community)
(Photo, slideshow, video, person)

18. Problem…No Problem!

19. Create a Lesson Both Ways
Create a convergent lesson and a divergent lesson
using the same content, concept, or skill

20. The
Ideal
Graduate
To what extent would each of the teaching
formulas move students towards becoming
the ideal graduate?
!
To what extent are you able to teach towards
that ideal fairly routinely?
!
What are your needs at this moment?

21. Effective Lessons:
Adult Learners and
Appropriate Assessment

22. When Do Your Students Flourish the Most?
Explain those learning experiences.
What are the qualities of those learning experiences?

23. Design the “Perfect” Lesson
Choose any content, concept, or skill.
Create its lesson plan (learning experience) for your students

24. Unit Planning & Assessment Design
Backwards Designing
Unit Content
Assessment
Activities
Teaching Methods
Paper-and-pencil, Projects
Problem-based, Project-based
Individual Lessons
Essential Questions and Objectives
There should be a clear, direct line between them all

25. Basics of a Lesson
Essential Questions
Objectives
Activity & Methods
Assessments

26. Types of Essential Questions
Unit Level:
Question about a major concept for the whole unit
Lesson Level:
Question about a major concept for that lesson
Supporting Level:
Who, what, when, where and why questions

27. Types of Essential Questions
Hierarchy of questions
Unit level (1-3)
Lesson level (1-3)
Supporting level (Many)
Unit 1
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting

28. Unit 1
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Unit 2
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 6
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting

29. Examples of
Essential Questions
Unit Level Question #1
Lesson Level Question #1
Supporting Level Questions
Unit 1
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting

30. Examples of
Essential Questions
Unit Level Question #1:
Lesson Level Question #1:
Supporting Level Questions:

31. Objectives
Students will be able to…
Descriptive Verb
Copy/paste the body of the essential question

32. Examples of Objectives
Objectives for lesson #1
Students will be able to (descriptive verb) (copy/
paste body of lesson level essential question)

33. Activities and Teaching
Methods
The activity is the bridge between the objectives and the
assessments.
Teaching methods are the specific ways in which
teachers have students interact with content, concepts
or skills.
Media, demonstration, small group work, whole
group discussion, lecture, project, student-led
teaching, and hands-on experiences

34. Examples of Activities
Activities and Methods for lesson #1
Activity and methods are directly linked to the objective
Activity:
Teaching Method:

35. Do’s and Try-Not-To’s
of Effective Assessments
Do Try Not To
Continuously assess (formally &
informally) in a variety of ways
Rely heavily on one form of
assessment
Use assessment in low-risk ways to
know what your students know
View assessment as ways to
“scare” students
Directly align assessments with
objectives and activities
Create assessments that deviate from
what students were taught
Have review sessions that prepare
students well for tests, quizzes.
Use tests and quizzes as penalties
Make assessments that are clear and
reflective of content and skills
Ignore ambiguity that might be
present in the assessment

36. Line ‘Em Up
What you teach and what you test
should be the same thing
Assessment should be ongoing
Teaching should adapt to what the students know

37. Types of Assessments
Formal: Graded (quizzes, tests, projects)
Informal: Not graded (initiation, discussions, whole-
group, small group, closure)
Formative: Chunks of content during the unit
Summative: End of the unit

38. Examples of Assessments
Students actually demonstrate what the objective says they will
be able to do.
Formal assessment: Paper-and-pencil test
Formal assessment: Performance-based
Formal assessment: Project and Problem-based

39. Paper-and-pencil tests
Content-knowledge
Formats:
Multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, true/false, short
answer, essay
Quick, easy
Sometimes too dependent on them as the only way to
assess

40. Make a Quiz
Write one multiple choice item and one true/false item
for a quiz that contains important information from the
following video.