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ALEX NABAUM the cycle repeatedwithanotherthe cycle problem. sion. Thencameashortdiscussionbefore collecting answers comprehen togauge toring discussionsbeforeelectronically through problems, withinstructors moni dents broke intosmallgroupstopuzzle laboration, practiceandfeedback.Stu far different script, one predicated on col lecture, thepostdoc’s classesunfoldedtoa fessor followed thefamiliarformatofa 12th weekofthesemester. Whilethepro with theirown learning. signed to make students more engaged evidence-based instructional methods de realm. TheyhadtrainedwithWiemanin not pedagogy—is theusualcoinof in theacademicworld,whereresearch— even askthequestion? points of electromagnetic waves? Why beginning engineeringmajorsthefiner who’d served onlyasteachingassistants. On theother, apostdoc andagradstudent glowing evaluations andlongexperience. was acharismaticveteran professor with looked laughablylopsided.Ononeside University of British Columbia might have Carl Wieman’s 2009 experiment at the OUTSIDER, AN TO The experimenttookplaceduringthe But the upstarts had rare qualifications Who woulddoabetter jobofteaching thecontest attheheartof Lose theLecture the case forthe case active learning. An atomic physicist makes Should We By Sam Scott By Sam ------? lecture toteachscience,hesays withchar regularly thrown fromthelectern. capacity toretain thevolume ofinformation the least ofwhichshow ourseverely limited cades offindingsfromcognitive science,not says. Butitscontinuedpopularitydefiesde excellent senseonceupon atime,Wieman inthosesubjects.ever greaterproficiency many students even associety demands neering and math classes that weed out so courses—the science,technology, engi howchange theyteachtheso-calledSTEM Wieman hascalledforprofessorsto prised Wieman,not whowon.For years, anyone was.” ford physics department.“Idon’t think PhD ’77, sitting in his office in the Stan bution ofscoreswas higher. formers whobenefited;theentiredistri And itwasn’t just thetoporbottom per multiple-choice test attheendofweek. as welltheprofessor’s ona12-question jump inperformance.Theirclassdidtwice and,mostreviews impressively, awholesale student teamsaw better attendance, strong were allbutaknockout. Thepostdoc-grad Indeed, usingthetraditionalhour-long The longsciencelecturemay have made It was theextent oftheroutthatsur “I wasn’t expectingthat,” says Wieman, The results—publishedin2011 in Science— ------STANFORD 67 68 of students andmaxed-out faculty. mented even inclasseswithhundreds showed himhowcouldbeimple change ing fellows to helpprofessors, Wieman 2012. By developing ways totrainteach active learning initiative, launchedin forCornell’s butthe“how” the “why” Stanford days—for providing not just its Wieman—hishousemateduringtheir nell’s ofArtsandSciences, College cred to—occasionally—greatevangelized effect. and Technology Policy; andgenerally ence intheWhiteHouse OfficeofScience where hewas associatedirectorforsci pushed the matter in Washington, D.C., simulations usedaroundtheworld; created interactive onlinephysics tors; lumbia toresearchandtraininstruc University ofColoradoandinBritishCo Wieman. He has founded institutes at the pursued reformfromsomany anglesas periment isbroadlycalled. teaching style featuredinWieman’s ex courses using“active learning,” asthe times more likely to fail than those in dents inSTEMlecturecourseswere1.5 analyzed 225studies andfoundthatstu ologist attheUniversity ofWashington, meta-analysis led by Scott Freeman, a bi only evidence. versity ofBritishColumbiastudy the voice to call for reform. Nor is the Uni in engineering—isfarfromtheonly Education aswellanendowed chair department and the Graduate School of he holds appointments in the physics who returned in2013 toStanford, where A renowned atomicphysicist, Wieman— alent ofbloodletting,” hesays. otics abound.“It’s equiv thepedagogical medieval medicine while boxes of antibi acteristic frankness, islike relyingon ‘It isreally hard to believe theproblem whenyou’ve MARCH/APRIL MARCH/APRIL 2017 been indoctrinated into indoctrinated asystem,been until you actually Peter LePage, formerdeanofCor But perhapsnoonehassodoggedly Perhaps most exhaustively, a 2014 The Proof test it yourself.’ ------2001, sixyearsafterheandapartnercre yond reproach.ANobelPrizedoesthat. man’s own scientific bonafides arebe It helpsinalltheseendeavors thatWie this information.’ ” dean ifIdon’t findsome way toacton zation was, tobeanegligent ‘Iamgoing says LePage, MS’76, PhD’78. “My reali Wieman got the call from Stockholm in Wieman gotthecallfromStockholmin “Suddenly, itbegantolookfeasible,” The Motivation - - - - has an intellectual “refractory period of has anintellectual“refractory periodof Stanford’s Graduate SchoolofEducation, SCHWARTZ,SAYSDAN WIEMAN, fessor from1984to2013.) versity of Colorado, wherehewas apro money tophysics education attheUni say onthetopic.(He donatedtheprize people tofinallylisten towhathehad But theprize,hesays, meanthecouldget young laureateinsearchofasecondact. that he landed on education research, a degree ofabsolutezero. atoms withinafewhundredbillionthsof form ofnewmatter achieved by bringing densate—an elusive butlong-anticipated theworld’sated first Bose-Einstein con People oftenassumeitwas onlythen the dean of thedeanof - - -

LINDA A. CICERO/STANFORD NEWS SERVICE om withformulasandcalculations, but to personifytheconcern.He was aphen recalls oneparticularstudent whocame his labunabletothinklike physicists. He ments. Butsomany ofthem arrived at with gildedgradesandglowing endorse his graduatestudents sounprepared? spired by anaggingmystery: Why were his new area of interest, one originally in between blasting atomsandinvestigating the trailofphysics glory, Wiemantoggled morning. Andeven whilehewas hot on then wake earlytoworkonabookinthe zero”—he’ll finishamajorpaperatnight, classes. education his of one in students Wieman engages withTEAMWORK: graduate On papermany wereall-stars, hesays, - - - ments withleadingfaculty. Theresultwas his students, he repeatedsimilarexperi choice question. could recallthisfacton a multiple- minutes later, only10percentoftheclass produces the sound we hear. Fifteen the back of the violin move, which in turn ment’s sound.Rather, thestrings make not move enoughairtocreatetheinstru violin todemonstrate thatitsstrings do later. In one instance, they brought in a tion, thenquizthestudents ashortwhile fact” inalecturealongwithanillustra colleague wouldpresent“anonobvious leading voice forchange. cist atHarvardwho wouldbecomeanother students, includingEricMazur, aphysi made similardiscoveries usingtheirown the subjectaswhenthey arrived. Many almost asignorant ofthefundamentals leaving theirintroductoryphysics courses of undergradsthatrevealed most were described a simple test given to thousands a professoratArizonaStateUniversity, ence education. of workexposingtheweaknessessci out hisown, tapping intoagrowing body isting education researchandcarrying ture. He began immersinghimselfinex Wieman wasn’t contentwithconjec physicist butterflies. chrysalis stage before transforminginto froma17-yearbrains hadtoemerge of maturity.matter Perhaps his students’ man begantowonderifitwas just a veloped intoproductive scientists. Wie working inhislab, students usuallyde ics researchisabout,” Wiemansays. to readhow tosolve it.That’s whatphys ask wherehecouldreadhow tosolve it. whenever hegot stumped inthelab, he’d Many of theworld’s teaching great hadbeen scientists Concerned it was just a reflection on In Wieman’s own research,heanda In awatershed paper, David Hestenes, But asacommitted experimentalist, And yet afterspendingafewyears “The point is that there wasn’t a place something they’dsomething never tolerate intheirresearch. with scant evidencewith scant theirmethods, to support ------

the problem,you’ll rememberthean has tosay. and prepared—tohearwhatthe professor lems first, theaudienceismoreinvested— performance. By confrontingtheprob mediate feedbackanddirectionbasedon uous, targeted practicewhilegivingim coaches, putting students throughstren Wieman sees them more like athletic board orby listening tothemtalk.” by watching someone writeonachalk says. “Itdoesnot learntodothesethings and cometomaster it. feedback inclass, theywouldwrestle with material ontheirown. Withpracticeand students could learnthebasicsofnew power ofactive learning.Withhomework, what they’d learned.Andthatwas the understanding ratherthanparroting they never hadbefore,creatingtheirown ence andreckoning withitsconcepts as ty butbecausetheywerepracticingsci into scientists in hislabnot outofmaturi understand that his grad students evolved ofsociety.literacy own scientific educationbut tothegeneral standing, at a steep cost not just to their getting onlythe most superficialunder their own. But an alarmingnumberwere becauseofmotivation toworkon often ofstudentspercentage mightflourish, never tolerateintheirresearch.Asmall support theirmethods, something they’d had beenteachingwithscant evidence to irony. Many ofthe world’s greatscientists The repeatedfindingsunderscoredan self,” Wiemansays. a system, untilyouactuallytest ityour lem whenyou’ve beenindoctrinatedinto essentially identical:around10percent. “If you experience the condition of Professors retain acentralrole,but “It’s just not how the brain learns,” he Ultimately, Wiemanwouldcometo “It isreallyhardtobelieve theprob The Scientific Method The Scientific STANFORD 69 ------70 some of the best players in the country be enough,hesays,he was good tolose the intercollegiatefreshmanteam,where fore hearrived, heworked hisway onto court. Having never heardofthesportbe cus immediatelyevidentonthesquash life inBoston, hisknackforrelentlessfo store orpaved road. logging millbutmilesfromthenearest country lifeofasawyer’s son,closetoa moved toCorvallis, Wiemanlived the Until middleschool,whenthefamily ents hadsought a muchdifferent life. been aninfluentialtheologian,hispar Though his grandfather had of Oregon. after having grown up in thebackwoods with asignificantcaseofcultureshock avoiding them. dergraduate days atMITintentionally for him.Infact,hespentmost ofhisun in partbecauselecturesnever worked Wieman himselfnever hadthatproblem, the University ofBritishColumbia. Wieman ScienceEducationInitiative at orator whoisasenioradviserat the Carl Sarah Gilbert,afellow physicist andcollab is acommonrefrain,says Wieman’s wife, which theyprospered.“Itworked forme” vincing themoftheflawsa system in verting professorstoactive learningiscon asIcouldhavenearly asgood been.’” ly hardtolookbackandsay, ‘Oh, I’m not had done other things,” he says. “It’s real probably would have learned better if he Wieman says. “As Ikeep tellinghim,he served by hislecture-based education, cist, remainsfairlycertainhewas well- Wieman’s eldest brother, afellow physi swer, thenyoupracticeit.” wards. Theybasicallygive youthean the GSE,says. “Lectureshave itback swer muchbetter,” Schwartz, thedeanof let courses get intheway of gettingagoodeducation.’ MARCH/APRIL MARCH/APRIL 2017 He wasted notimegetting stuck into Wieman arrived attheschoolin1969 ofcon Indeed, oneofthechallenges Still, not everybody is convinced. ‘I always andtell studentsthey shouldn’t try The Effect ------while, heeven gave up hisapartmentto summer ofhissophomoreyear. For a led tohisrunningown labby the and thedepartureofanupperclassman research, wherehisappetite forwork professor suggested hegetinvolved in meanwhile, wereinthe lab. Earlyon,a left handandplayed atasimilarlevel. about. He thenretrained himselfwithhis fore ruininghiselbow hurlinghimself His most meaningfulexperiences, time, confidenthe wasn’t missingout. path thatrequiredpreciouslittle class mosphere oftheday, Wiemanblazeda his freshmanyear. Andinthe changingat were canceledinthesecondsemester of campuses. To Wieman’s greatrelief, finals then causinghavoc atMIT, asatother coursework was not authentic,” hesays. physics, made it so clear how much of the lab, the authentic experience of doing positive experienceIwas having inthe But thereseemedtobelittle payoff. “The to pay rent foraplacehenever stayed. live inthe lab, sinceitdidn’t make sense The politicalupheaval ofthetimewas At first,attended hediligently lectures. -

LINDA A. CICERO/STANFORD NEWS SERVICE three times, andInever completed it,” he tial equations. “I took it and dropped it who arehaving ahardtimewithdifferen his own. comfort tryingtofigurethingsouton grasp offundamentalsandanabsolute problem-solving, buthadamuchbetter weaker thanmany ofhispeersinformal perplex himdecadeslater. He was much posite ofthestudent whowouldcometo a by before themselves confronting problems better learn students view, Wieman’s In Q&A: professor offers direction. offers professor Occasionally hereassuresstudents In someways, Wiemanwas theop - - dence youcanmake thiswork.” and it’s totally outofyourcontrol. erybody isaskingquestions allthetime, and ev learning, everybody isengaged man during winter quarter. active “With learning whoisco-teachingwithWie Provost Persis Drell,aconvert toactive control ofthesituation,” says Stanford dutifully writingaway, youareintotal you’re to say going and the students are have yournotes andyouknow what been trainedinit. isscary,change especially if you’ve never reputations. Andaswitheverything, inmakingorbreakingcareersand macy research, not teaching, hasabsolutepri herent inadecentralizedsystem where fending lectures than with the inertiain to dowithany ideologicalinterest inde ing theirclassroomsappearstohave less ny situation,” Wiemansays. professors lectureastheylike. “It’s afun ing. And yet, in their classrooms, many ofsuperiorlearn group theadvantages ment today—you’d be denying a control re-create theBritishColumbiaexperi are so plain, it might even be unethical to most, departments. remains entrenchedinmany, ifnot frustrates him thatthelecturesystem hasoccurredinmanychange places, it effectiveness ofthismethod. Andwhile available dataandresearchshowing the foremost aboutthepowerful and widely says hisembraceofactive teaching is like foreshadowing inretrospect, Wieman getting education.” agood shouldn’t let coursesgetintheway of says. “Ialways tryandtellstudents they Drell, thenewprovost. ‘You just have to have some everybody is asking questions all the time, andit’s isaskingquestions allthetime, everybody “You just have tohave someconfi you are lecturing and you “When The reasonprofessorsresist convert Indeed, thebenefitsofactive learning backgroundThough hiscollege reads totally outof your control,’ says Professor Persis ‘With active learning, everybody is engaged and isengaged activeeverybody learning, ‘With confidence you canmake thiswork.’ ------teaching experienceforme.” says. “Itwas amuchmore rewarding gains jumped—“thebest I’ve had,” she evaluations improved, andlearning percent toclose100percent,teaching Average attendance rose fromabout60 they just don’t ifyou’re lecturing.” ally engagingwiththematerialonalevel which demonstrated tometheywerere and comeupwiththeirown questions, activity andtheywouldjust runwithit What’s You missing?’ couldgive theman ing questions: ‘What’s thedifference? were drawing electricfieldlinesandask law can’t beusedandaskingwhy. “They around tofocusonsystems inwhichthe tion yet pushed on,turningthequery be applied. mental lawsofelectromagnetism—could which Gauss’s Law—one ofthefunda whiteboards todraw configurationsin tothe which sheasked groupstogo sion. Church describes an instance in convinced that she’d madetheright deci tism courseintoanactive classroom. man toconvert herelectricityandmagne catch up—ChurchconsultedwithWie her students getting lost withnoway to unhappy with lecturing—she couldsee have tappedWieman’s expertise.Deeply graduate education, is among those who is seniorassociateviceprovost forunder for thoseinterested inmakingthechange. says, withhistime isincrediblygenerous bilities toget uptospeed.Wieman,she busy toveer very farfromtheirresponsi sors like Drell—thosewhoareway too helping move forprofes alongthechange Beats bloodletting. The end-of-termresultswerestark. Some madequickworkoftheques It was alot ofwork.Butshewas soon Sarah Church, a physics professor who Wieman’s presenceat Stanford is n STANFORD 71 ------