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WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT STUDENT LEARNING

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT STUDENT LEARNING. ACTIVE LEARNING Why it is Important Will Koolsbergen and Phyllis van Slyck. SKILLS AND DISPOSITIONS NEEDED TODAY. Capacity for critical thinking and complex problem solving Respect for people different from oneself Principled ethical behavior

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WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT STUDENT LEARNING

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  1. WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT STUDENT LEARNING ACTIVE LEARNING Why it is Important Will Koolsbergen and Phyllis van Slyck

  2. SKILLS AND DISPOSITIONS NEEDED TODAY • Capacity for critical thinking and complex problem solving • Respect for people different from oneself • Principled ethical behavior • Lifelong learning • Effective interpersonal interaction and teamwork Source: Lion F. Gardiner, Redesigning Higher Education

  3. TYPICAL UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION • Lack of core curriculum; 90% is distributional menu of courses • General education requirements lack coherence, connection, and depth • Faculty teach facts and concepts, not critical thinking skills • 70-90% of professors use traditional lecture as their primary instructional strategy; retention from lectures is low • Better able students derive more from lectures than less experienced students

  4. WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT HOW STUDENT LEARN • Active involvement essential: to understand something you have to construct it for yourself • All knowledge has to be connected to prior knowledge (trees don’t grow branches in the middle of the air) • “Let me figure it out is the mating call of the brain” Rita Smilkstein, How the Brain Learns

  5. CONNECTING TO GOALS • Faculty say that developing effective thinking is primary purpose but most submit goals related to teaching concepts rather than intellectual skills • Studies show that college experience for most involves loosely organized, unfocused curriculum with undefined outcomes • Students have difficulty engaging in metacognition—thinking about their thinking—an essential skill for effective learning

  6. EPISTEMOLOGY • Most students hold assumptions that prevent them from engaging in critical thinking • Many are, as William Perry argues, epistemological Dualists • Knowledge is black and white; passively received from “Authorities” • They need to understand that knowledge is constructed by active, personal making of meaning • Principled ethical reasoning occurs at stages 5-6 of Perry’s scale; students are at levels 3-4

  7. SUMMARY OF GOALS—we should be helping students: • Develop critical thinking through application of concepts • Examine knowledge from multiple perspectives • Work cooperatively in teams with people different from themselves • Construct and revise their knowledge • Engage in principled ethical reasoning • Reflect on their learning

  8. MODELING ACTIVE INTEGRATED LEARNING: SOME QUESTIONS • How much do we reflect on how to foster key abilities? • Do we check in with students to find out if they are getting it? (How often? In each class?) • Do we think about the kind of understanding we want students to demonstrate? (When we grade assignments for example) • What percentage of our classwork/homework involves active learning situations?

  9. ACTIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES: SOME EXAMPLES • Improvisation, role play, theatre games • TTYP • Dramatization/resolution of conflict • Debates, mock trials, game shows • Muddiest point • Peer critique • Student teams teach a unit, actively: treasure hunt, crossword puzzle, rap performance • One minute paper: what did you learn?

  10. BENEFITS OF IMPROVISATION, THEATRE GAMES • Fun, non threatening • Simple structure, time limit • Conflict and resolution • Focus is on behavior (verbal, non-verbal) • Room for new ideas, unexpected outcomes • Flexible: two people to whole group • Develops group spirit, trust • Teacher as facilitator, observer • Low stakes, low pressure—don’t grade immediately

  11. STUDENTS IN LEARNING COMMUNITIES SHOULD BE LEARNING TO (LaGuardia’s Goals): • Explore and evaluate multiple perspectives • Understand contrasting methodologies of disciplines • Recognize interdisciplinary nature of knowledge • Integrate knowledge with personal experience • Make informed ethical judgments • Critically interpret evidence • Communicate effectively, orally, in writing, in teams

  12. RESOURCES • Survey information cited here may be found in “Why we Must Change: The Research Evidence,” Lion F. Gardiner and “Redesigning Higher Education:Producing Dramatic Gains in Student Learning.” • For more information about William Perry’s stages of intellectual development, see attached handout. • Parker Palmer, The Courage to Teach • Stephen J. Brookfield, Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher

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