Applying high-structure and study skills training to support students’ learning

Where

BSB 1010

When

12:00 - 1:00 PM EST - Seminar by Scott Freeman - Lunch will be provided!

1:00 - 2:00 PM EST - Hands-on workshop to explore the Codon platform

ABSTRACT

Research has shown that active learning and high structure can reduce disparities in learning outcomes by 40-60% across STEM courses (Theobald et al. 2020). Follow-up research is currently focused on two questions: 1) why are active learning and high-structure so effective in helping underprepared students, and 2) what additional interventions can close historical gaps even further? To achieve disproportionate benefits for underprepared students, the heads-and-hearts hypothesis focuses on increased deliberate practice and supportive learning environments, while the study-skills hypothesis emphasizes course designs based on learning objectives and advances in cognitive science. The literature shows that switching from traditional to evidence-based teaching leads to significantly higher student success. 

Goals 

• Evaluate data on high-structure course designs and why they lead to better learning outcomes.  

• Identify ways that lesson-level learning objectives and study skills training can support underprepared students.

Dr. Scott Freeman is Lecturer Emeritus at the University of Washington. The recipient of a UW Distinguished Teaching Award, he has published research on how innovative approaches to teaching science benefit students. He is the author of the textbooks Biological Science and Evolutionary Analysis, which have sold over 500,000 copies and been translated into multiple languages, and the popular book Saving Tarboo Creek, which is for general audiences. He is a course director of Codon’s Learning’s majors biology curriculum Introducing the Life Sciences, which has now been used in over 500 courses worldwide.