Topics Covered

Peer learning; Questioning, listening and responding; Eliciting participation; Sharing expertise; teacher engagement with students during small group discussions; circulating the room; warm calling

• Instructor: Tina Grotzer, Principal Research Scientist in Education
• Student Group: Graduate
• School: Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Course: Applying Cognitive Science to Teaching and Learning
• Clip Length: 3 minutes, 59 seconds (43:16-47:15)

Go to Grotzer Clip 3

Topics Covered

Eliciting participation; Sharing expertise; Using humor; leading discussion; warm calling; instructional transparency

• Instructor: Tina Grotzer, Principal Research Scientist in Education
• Student Group: Graduate
• School: Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Course: Applying Cognitive Science to Teaching and Learning
• Clip Length: 2 minutes, 11 seconds (58:24-1:00:35)

Go to Grotzer Clip 4

Topics Covered

Sharing expertise; Building rapport; just-in-time-teaching; lecturette; connecting student ideas to research; connecting different session activities; using analogy

• Instructor: Tina Grotzer, Principal Research Scientist in Education
• Student Group: Graduate
• School: Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Course: Applying Cognitive Science to Teaching and Learning
• Clip Length: 3 minutes, 3 seconds (1:03:06-1:06:03)

Go to Grotzer Clip 5

Topics Covered

Questioning, listening and responding; Building community; Eliciting participation; engaging preconceptions; relating to students’ experiences; connecting to other course concepts

• Instructor: Tina Grotzer, Principal Research Scientist in Education
• Student Group: Graduate
• School: Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Course: Applying Cognitive Science to Teaching and Learning
• Clip Length: 10 minutes, 22 seconds (02:48-13:10)

Go to Grotzer Clip 2

Topics Covered

Opening class; previewing content; transparency about pedagogical moves; attending to affective elements; encouraging reflection; connecting to students’ experiences

• Instructor: Tina Grotzer, Principal Research Scientist in Education
• Student Group: Graduate
• School: Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Course: Applying Cognitive Science to Teaching and Learning
• Clip Length: 3 minutes, 30 seconds (00:00-03:30)

Go to Grotzer Clip 1

While many classrooms set norms and expectations at the start of the semester, grounding this exercise in relevant research can foster more intentional learning communities while building connections between course content and classroom culture. Norm-setting with your students can also be a great opportunity to work collaboratively with them make decisions about your class structures and your teaching. In this video, Tina Grotzer explains her practice of setting discussion norms by using research in the first days of class.

By asking students to apply or search out examples of course concepts beyond the classroom, you can help them see how class content tangibly impacts the world around them. In this video, Tina Grotzer demonstrates how and why she asks students to take their learning beyond their weekly lecture.  

Where students sit in your classroom can have a big impact on their interactions with each other, and by extension, their learning. Moreover, seating patterns among students can solidify very quickly, making dialogic possiblities all the more difficult. In this video, Tina Grotzer explains why she has students change where they sit at key points in the semester and how these changes affect classroom climate.

Prompting students to reflect on how the course material relates to their own lives can help them develop a deeper understanding of your subject. Particularly when students are reading large amounts of theoretical material or research findings, it can be difficult to pause and connect that work to past experiences or future plans. In this video, Tina Grotzer models how she builds in moments for her students to relate the course to their life experiences in order to deepen their understanding. 

Class discussions don’t only have to take place within the four walls of the classroom. Establishing resources and platforms to continue discussions outside of class can help students extend their learning and feel more engaged with your course. In this video, Tina Grotzer discusses how she uses online discussion boards and in-person meetings to make sure all of her students get the chance to have their questions answered and feel seen as members of the class community. 

It can be tempting to sit back and relax as an instructor when students are engaged in small group discussions. Doing so, however, keeps you from learning how students are understanding and engaging with content. Small-group discussion is an opportune time for you and your teaching team to get to know, compliment, complicate, and challenge your students’ thinking. In this video, Tina Grotzer discusses what she thinks about as she circulates and listens in on her students’ small group discussions. 

“Jigsaw” discussions are an efficient and student-centered way to get your class familiar with many different texts or materials. By dividing students into groups that each work with different content, then having individuals from each group teach that content to their peers, you can encourage students to build on each others’ ideas and find patterns throughout their course content. In this video, Tina Grotzer describes how she uses jigsaws to facilitate in-depth discussion in her classroom. 

Giving students substantial time during class to pause, reflect on, and verbally process their understanding can help them consolidate their learning and generate new ideas. These practices can also help teaching teams stay abreast of how students’ thinking is changing. In this video, Tina Grotzer explains how and why she gives students the space and time to reflect in class.  

Students who are mentally prepared for class and know what to expect from the day’s schedule are able to be more attentive and focused on course material. In this video, Tina Grotzer demonstrates different ways to help students feel present in the classroom and allocate their mental energy to the day’s learning.  

Your instructional decision-making doesn’t need to be a secret. Sharing your reasons for making certain instructional moves with your students can enhance their classroom experiences by helping them become more metacognitive about their learning. In this video, Tina Grotzer models being transparent about instructional moves with her students, showing how this communication is a crucial component of her course.