Tools for collecting data about classroom teaching and learning can provide powerful avenues for motivating teaching improvement at the classroom level. Many classroom observation data collection tools and protocols are used in STEM institutions, each developed by a particular group or discipline, for a discrete purpose. For instance, the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) (Smith, Jones, Gilbert, & Wieman, 2013) focuses on helping observers characterize classroom activity, and The Laboratory Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (Velasco et al., 2016) was designed to be able to characterize the instructional styles of TAs in laboratory settings. Our institution is undergoing a transformation process, moving faculty away from “covering content” to becoming designers of learning opportunities. The intent of this shift is to focus more on student learning and engagement through active learning and productive academic discourse. The existing classroom observation tools did not provide the sensitivity we were seeking to monitor changes in practice and to mark the types of interactions we are promoting. Based on the research of Chi (2009), Prince (2004), Resnick & Hall (2000) and others, we adapted these protocols to develop a new one to track levels of classroom activity and student discourse. We are calling this the ENGINEERING LEARNING Classroom Observation Tool (ELCOT).
This paper describes our process and rationale for evolving Weiman’s COPUS protocol using an adaptation of Chi’s ICAP categories and research on productive academic talk. We provide insights and rationale for the use of the online tool Generalized Observation and Reflection Platform (GORP) from UC Davis so that classroom observations can be conducted online and the data more easily aggregated and shared. ELCOT focuses on the patterns of discourse across the class and levels of cognitive engagement by students. Observers record classroom activity in two-minute intervals, allowing for interaction analysis combined with a notation of levels of cognitive engagement. We share an overview of the evolution of ELCOT and plans for expanding its use.
We describe our efforts to use the ELCOT to conduct a group of classroom observations (~50 STEM courses), both before and after most of these faculty members participate in an intensive summer course focused on innovating pedagogy. We report the results of our classroom observations, both before and after the summer course, and share methods for using the observation data to continue to motivate instructional innovations on campus.
This is a work in progress, as we still need to complete reliability and validity studies, but we are enthusiastic about ELCOT’s ability to discern gradations of active learning and productive academic talk on campus that lead to increased student achievement.
Are you a researcher? Would you like to cite this paper? Visit the ASEE document repository at peer.asee.org for more tools and easy citations.