Learning to Learn

Learning to Learn A paradigm shift from teaching grammar alone or even using Band-Aid solutions like teaching study skills

1st rather surprising truth • 40% of failing DS students don’t fail because of content problems • Instead, they don’t seem to know how to learn or how to go to college exactly • The good news: much of learning is controllable(affective behaviors); we’re not just victims of inborn IQ. • Let’s look at some components of Learning to Learn

Metacognition is Key • Thinking how we think lets us retrace our reasoning and find flaws • “Virtually every problem is caused by some problem in human thinking.” • Many students don’t realize that thinking and learning can have flaws on several different levels • “Our public educ. System has not successfully made the shift from teaching the memorization of facts to achieving the learning of critical thinking skills. We are still trapped in a K-12 public education system which is preparing our youth for jobs that no longer exist.”—CEO Apple Computers, 1992

Bloom’s Taxonomy offers a way to think about how we think

Examine Motivation/Priorities(Metacognition again) • Knowing something sometimes isn’t enough; how much we care matters • Skipping class, driving friend to the airport, didn’t bring my book today, didn’t know a due date, had to work, didn’t read the assignment, didn’t write down what you said– all these can sink a person just like not knowing grammar • Why older students often do better • See the connection between now and future goals

Attendance—a controllable factor • Realize that I am in control of my own learning (locus of control) • The dreaded question: “Did we do anything while I was gone?” • If you’re not here, you can’t be exposed to the new material. If you’re not exposed initially, you can’t review it later, and we don’t reteach things like high school does.

Understanding The Brain and Learning • We are born with a certain number of neurons; we can’t grow more • But we can grow connections • Learning causes actual, physical brain growth called neural plasticity (see video on this) • Students with little schema have trouble making connections & recognitions; learning can snowball positively with added schema & synapse options • Understand the benefits of rehearsing/repetition

Time Management – another controllable factor, more self-awareness • Attendance is a wise use of time. • Paying close attention in class; just showing up isn’t enough anymore. • I studied 30 minutes for my British Lit exam. I don’t understand why I did poorly. (How much studying is enough?) • I’m to be admired because I wrote my paper last night at 1:00 a.m. • I put off reading War & Peace until 2 days before it was due. • My study group mainly discussed pizza and the Grammys • It took me 50 hours to write my 600-word essay.

Know how to self-adjust • Realize that I’m in control of my learning. • Realize when I don’t know something (see “secondary ignorance”). Ignorance or denial isn’t productive. • How do I react to getting a D? • “I couldn’t do the assignment because I lost my syllabus. What if I don’t own the book?”

Check my assumptions (metacognition again) • College should be fun. • I heard the facts in class, so I’ll be able to remember them. • I’ll keep writing D papers and hope that Dr. Skelton lowers his expectations • I should pass because I’m a nice guy and I’ve been in class. • What is covered in 0307 stays in 0307. • My 1302 paper didn’t have any grammatical mistakes, so it should receive an A. • I didn’t do well on the regular work, so I need extra credit work • I made an A in high school, so I’ll make an A in college.

Taking Notes – again, a controllable behavior • “I won’t write anything down because I have a good memory.” Metacognition helps cure naivete and create more self-awareness. • “I’ll write down every word he says.” (overkill) • Taking notes involves sifting and ranking (As in reading, what’s the main point, and what are subordinate points?) • Also related to effort and motivation • Use graphic organizers and abbreviations

Graphic Organizers simplify data and relationships • Henry VIII had six wives. His first wife was Catherine of Aragon. His second wife was Anne Boleyn. Wife #3 was Jane Seymour. Wife #4 was Anne of Cleves. His 5th wife was Catherine Howard. Wife #6 was Catherine Parr. Wife #1 and Henry had a daughter, and so did wife #2, Anne Boleyn. Henry and his third wife, Jane Seymour, had a son together.

Emotional Intelligence can Matter more than IQ • To cope with disappointing achievements and frustrations • To control impulses and delay gratification (the marshmallow test) • To hope and persevere • To regulate stress, not to swamp thinking ability • Dr. Daniel Goleman says that intelligence and EQ are both necessary for life success (see p. 35). “IQ offers little to explain the different destinies of people w/ roughly equal promises and schooling.”

Learning to Learn