Teaching and Learning Activities

Higher Levels of Learning

*How to produce big gains in your student learning

While preparing to teach, or throughout the semester, ask yourself what am I doing to encourage my students to:
• learn how to learn
• be motivated
• help them change their values
• learn how to interact better with other people
• integrate concepts that they are learning with other concepts, other courses, their lives, future careers, etc.
• apply their skills to new situations, as well as develop their knowledge

Remember developing knowledge is not the only aspect of getting a university degree

(Taken from Fink’s Taxonomy of Higher Learning)

*Helping student to accept that there is more than one right answer

I have heard many teachers say that our students have difficulty accepting that there might be more than one right answer or no right answer. Here’s an in-class way to help them:
1. Ask students for more answers after one has been given, when several possibilities exist
2. When you ask a question say, I am looking for three or more possible answers, meanings, results, interpretations, etc.

*Enhancing Learning

Learning is enhanced if students are asked to do the following:
1. Use their own words to restate material they learned
2. generate their own examples
3. recognize it in different contexts and formats
4. make connections between what they just learned and other facts or ideas previously learned
5. apply it in different ways
6. anticipate some of its consequences
7. state it in its opposite or converse

Planning Lectures
1. First consider what you are trying to accomplish. Lectures are best for the following:
- to pique student curiosity, motivate to learn if instructor’s style is very expressive

- to model an approach to solving problems or thinking style

- to give background knowledge/summary that might not be available or as integrated

- to help students learn very sophisticated material for which resources are not available at their level

- to present an organization, structure to help learn material
- to add personal viewpoint, insights into material-

- to present up-to date material that is not available elsewhere

2. If your purpose is > 1 of the above, then consider giving a lecture. If not, consider other student-active teaching formats. If you are planning to cover material in the textbook or other course materials, lecturing may not improve the students’ understanding. Once students learn that you are duplicating what is in the textbook they will choose to do either come to class or read the book few will choose to do both.

3. If you decide to lecture - follow these steps:

Prepare class objectives

Whenever possible limit class of 50 minutes to 1 major topic plan an overview of the lecture - time content schedule

Try to avoid the 2 most common mistakes of lectures - covering too much material and delivering the material too fast

divide the major topics into 10-15 minute chunks

plan student-active activities between the lecture chunks

Plan the internal organization of the lecture:

Introduction

the body

the conclusion

develop appropriate visuals

think about illustrating abstract concept and relations and examples

prepare easy to follow at a glance lecture notes, graphic notes may be fine
notes should be sketchy as you know the material

key concepts to cover do not write out notes

put directions to yourself in notes - ask students to do ___, write on board ____,etc.

*Increasing your student’s understanding

A goal of higher education is to increase our student’s deep learning. Deep learning is learning for understanding and not just memory. Deep approaches to learning are involve integrative processes where students actively synthesize and connect material to existing knowledge:

Four key ways to increase deep learning are:
1. Assignments should motivate students to learn
2. Teaching and learning activities should build on a carefully structured, integrated knowledge base
3. Use active student learning and involvement as much as possible
4. Maximize the learning interactions among students

*Making lectures more meaningful learning experiences

To make your lectures more meaningful learning experience for your students:
1. Let students know about the objectives that you are trying to achieve
2. Have an attention-gathering introduction
3. Divide your lecturing into mini-lectures of 15-18 minutes each
4. Give the students something to do in between the mini-lectures-a review of what was covered or a problem to solve
5. Conclude with a 2-5 minute time to let the students recap of the most important points in the lecture either through a classroom assessment technique or an oral summary
6. Encourage students to take their own lecture notes
7. Provide effective handouts.

*Helping students to learn more
If you want your students to learn more, then develop opportunities for your students to discuss, examine, challenge, and look at their learning from different perspectives. This allows the students it improve upon their learning before they internalize it.

The converse is also true-learning is least useful and perhaps may be inaccurate, if it is private and hidden. If students study alone, without have a venues to share and enlarge upon their learning, and only have 1 opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge, their learning may be reduced. Lee Shulman Change editorial 2000.

Helping students to understand a difficult concept
If your students are having trouble understanding a concept that you want them to learn, try to give them an analogy in a completely different field, perhaps even in an non-academic field. For example, if your students do not write introductions and bridges in their papers, show them that TV shows and movies have a set beginning (title, main characters are identified, etc.) and specific ways to help the viewer know that the scene is changing (fads outs, etc.).

This tip came from a discussion among the participants at the TableTalk on creating dynamic videos.

*Are your students realizing that learning in your subject should not end when the course does
As the weeks roll on through the semester are your students coming to realize that their learning in your subject should continue after the course ends? What are you doing to help students continue learning when the course is over? Think about trying to do some of the following. Here are a few ideas to foster the idea that learning this discipline can continue after the formal class ends:
• Are you showing how interesting the subject is and how much you still enjoy learning about it?
• Have you made it clear that you will still be accessible to the students as they continue to learn?
• Have you fostered intellectual curiosity in this subject matter?
• Have you helped students to develop these learning to learn skills in this discipline:
o ability to ask good questions in this discipline
o knowledge of print, electronic, human resources that are available to them
o ability to evaluate the appropriateness of these resources for their continue learning
o ability to read the primary or secondary literature on this topic

If we can get our students to achieve this lifelong learning in a subject, we and they will have succeeded.

*Why the type of assessments used lead to the type of student learning
Assessment systems need to really reflect the level of understanding you want your students to achieve. If students feel that they only need to reproduce information, rather than make sense out of it and apply it to new problems, the students will assume their learning should have short-range aims and outcomes. If you want students to achieve critical thinking and problem solving, the students need to perceive that you require these skills of them.

*Planning for the functions of content coverage in your courses
Currently many teachers see the function of content is to build strong knowledge foundations. While we all agree this is important, the more comprehensive functions of content should be to develop learning skills and learner self-awareness as well as to build knowledge. As you are planning your specific teaching and learning transactions for next semester (this is not just what you will cover, but how you will get the students to learn the content) think of approaches that do not separate learning strategies from content. The implication of this is that teachers cover less, but student learn more.

*Encouraging students to read and come prepared for class

*Encouraging students to read current professional or relevant popular literature

If you want your students to read current professional (better for upper level courses) or relevant popular literature (such s Scientific American for lower level classes), you want to say that students can get few points each week for bringing in extra credit or points to count toward the class participation component of their grade

The pharmacy teachers who have implemented this idea find that few students take advantage of this way of bettering their grade so you will not be increasing too many grades.

Helping students to read the research or clinical literature

Teachers often say that students have trouble organizing or summarizing the primary, or secondary literature a discipline. Students often want the literature to flow without disagreements, yet we know this is not the case. If you are having the students review literature ask the students to classify each article, web site or reference they read into
1. standing on the shoulders of the previous generation - the writer sees the field as a steady progression of his/her work building on previous ones
2. major shift - the writer is proposing a new theory, paradigm or sending the field in another direction
3. warring camps - the writer is responding to warring camps. This might be a good way to help them organize their paper or reviews.

This idea is adapted from Walvoord and Anderson, Effective Grading, Jossey-Bass, 1998.

*Getting students to effectively read and use their textbooks
To get students to do their reading assignment, begin every or some (unannounced in advance) with a short 3-4 item quiz on their reading. From these quizzes, students earn a maximum of 10 bonus points towards their final total number of points earned (not the average). While the total number of points earned is very small, it will not really effect their grade, it will motivate the students to do the assigned reading.

Transmitting information electronically
Experience has taught us that all of us do not read detailed information from our computers, but we down-load it and print it.

Students have limited numbers of copies they can print from the computer
It is far cheaper and more efficient to photocopy multiple copies of your handouts, syllabi, outlines of your lectures, etc

Therefore if you think the students will be printing what you put it on-line, photocopy it for the students, or give a paper copy to the library for reserve
Further, when students print dark slides, they are using up much printer ink, wasting much toner. Before you put your slides of lectures on ERes or the Web or other electronic means, convert them to white backgrounds

*Getting your students to read with more meaning

Students read with more meaning if you give them a handout to guide their reading. For example, you might ask students in lower level courses to explain or diagram concepts and tell them what is especially relevant or important to study. In higher level courses, your reading guide does not have to hand-hold the students as much. Depending on the material, you might ask students to answer or think about answering application questions. You might ask student to relate what is covered in this chapter or reading to what has been previously covered. Reading guides are especially helpful when the material is complex, confusing or very new to the student.

*Helping students to master the content and study

We spend most of our time covering content. As content experts we forget how it felt to learn this content in the beginning. We need to help our students learn how to learn this content. We might model how to organize the material, i.e., hierarchical or do over-arching concepts tie everything together. We can help students develop an effective approach to studying this discipline (e.g., solve many problems, ask the big picture questions, or what are the consequences of impacts of an event or idea) since the disciplines have different skill requirements and a different type of logic.

*Getting students to write better reflective journals
More teachers are asking their students to write reflective journals, which is a good thing. However, some student have no idea what you mean by reflection (except perhaps what light does to a surface). You need to give them very specific directions or guidance as to what type of reflections you want. Generally you want students to reflect on 4 what’s : What happened, so what, now what and what does it mean?

*Getting students to question the written word, even textbooks
When you are planning your reading for your next course you might consider trying a few assignments like this to get students to see that textbooks differ in how they give the “facts”. Do not assign a particular text instead put many different textbooks on reserve for the class and assign each student to use the comparable chapter in at least two of them in order to complete the assignments for each week or a few weeks. This exercise is intended to get students to understand that the written word, even textbooks, are works of individual authorship and not TRUTH.
Gene Weimer from Bates College posted this to a librarian listserv and Mignon Adams forwarded it to me and we hope that it is good enough to share with all of you.

*Getting your advanced students to come lifelong readers in your discipline
Competent professionals need to remain current in their fields. Students may not know what journals they should be reading on a regular basis once they are no longer assigned readings. Therefore, spend some time telling students what journals they should be reading, how they can access them once they are no longer USP students (like memberships to organizations that come with quality journals, publishers, etc). Even more important show them how to read these journals as continuing education. You might want to bring in a copy and spend a seminar or journal club meeting showing what you do with a new journal issue.

*Getting students to participate more in class
To get more student involved in class participation, assign each student to facilitate a class discussion. The student should prepare the readings very well, develop focused questions, and be prepared to answer questions raised by other students. A few days prior to the class, the facilitator-student should meet with the instructor to be sure the student is on the same wave length and well prepared. After the class that student or another student should prepare a summary of the class discussion, which after approved by the instructor, can be posted on the Blackboard site for the class. At the beginning of the class, the instructor needs to explicitly model and discuss good facilitation skills. Some times students will participate more for fellow students than they do for teachers. The work done as a facilitator and summarizer should count as part of the class participation grade.

*Getting your students to reflect on what they should be learning in increase understanding
Ask your students to do a learning journal that you will collect (and if time allows offer individual feedback on) a few times during the semester. To make the students take this assignment seriously, have it count a significant amount of the final grade. In the learning journal ask the students to record either weekly or more often their reactions or responses to classes, readings, assignments commentary or critique on reading or lectures reflection on how understanding the subject matter changed during the course how they can apply what they learned to other courses, their career further questions or areas they want to learn about coming from the content, assignment, etc. other topics that relate to their learning.
This should give you feedback as to if the students are learning what you wanted them to learn, should increase their engagement with the reading and classes.
This idea comes from Park and was written about in the Jan. 2004 issue of the Teaching Professor.

*Does the amount of content taught influence how well students understand the material?
Thirty years of research strongly indicates that the more content taught in a course, the more students rely on memorization and the less they learn with understanding or acquire deep learning in the discipline. Decide what is the essential content that you need for the students to learn, and cut the rest out of your course. Then work with students to learn to use the content and not for you to cover the content.

*Helping students to become self-directed learners
All of us strive toward having students who are self-directed in their learning. Yet many of us are at a loss as to how to help our students achieve this goal. We must plan our courses so that the student participate in repeated, systematically designed learning experiences to explore and facilitate learner developed self-directed learning capacities. This means building in specific activities designed to teach students how to learn. It means spending a lot of time modeling these self directed behaviors yourself and giving students opportunities to practice them in low risk environments.

Getting a quick read on how students are doing while checking for who is enrolled
Once the add-drop period ends, the registrar’s office always verify student enrollment of each individual. Instead of taking roll in class or checking if all students have handed in at least one assignment, give the students a very brief formative assessment (i.e., 1 question on the major idea they have learned so far in the class, or their most confusing aspect of the content thus far), ask the question in several venues and request that each student complete the activity once with their name on their work. You can first give them a few minutes in class to complete the assessment, you can post it on your Blackboard site for your class and email your students (can be done quickly from your Blackboard page, if you created one) the same assessment assignment. You can also tell your students to tell their friends to complete the assignment if they still want to be considered enrolled in the class. A complete record from all your students will give you the information requested by the registrar’s office and some insights as to how much the students are learning or how confused they are.

Helping students to see flaws in their reasoning or correcting improper conclusions
Some times students fail to see why their logic or reasoning i flawed or they bring in extraneous facts which they think leads them to a conclusion. Other times students draw cause and effect conclusions that may not even be related or at best correlation. This can be a serious problem particularly with advanced or graduate students working on their research. Teachers may have a hard time trying to get these students see their flaws in reasoning. Try asking the students to graphically represent their reasoning either through a flow chart, concept map, time line relationship, cascade cycle, numerical graph of the relationship, etc. By forcing them to move from the verbal to a graphic they may better see what is wrong because they cannot use their arguments in the same way.

Planning your course so that students will come prepared to class
If your goal is to have students come prepared to class to engage in, discuss or apply the content, then you need to plan the course so that students will come prepared. Usually assigning 15% of the total grade for pre-class preparation should be enough to motivate the students. Use a variety of preparation activities to keep the interest high and to address different learning styles and goals. Some possibilities for preparation assignments might be:
• Turn in index cards with notes from the chapter that will be returned to the individual students for use during an exam
• Choose 1 sentence from the reading that you found the most relevant or confusing and discuss why
• Develop questions for discussion, and ask students to lead the discussion from their questions
• Create chapter study guides
• Generate questions on the content that they did not understand
Getting your students to read before class and engage more during the class through use of a communication form

Here is an idea to help students come to class having read the assignment and engage in the material. Develop a single sheet template for the students to copy and use for each class. The form has 4 parts. In the first part students put their contact information and a photo of themselves. The form with this part completed should then be copied to be used repeatedly. In the second part the students list the readings and their reflections of the readings and should be done before class. The third part focuses on the class meeting. It can contain questions such as, “What new information did you gain from today’s class? How did it help you? What did the instructor do particularly well today? Use questions that fit what your are doing. The fourth part is for the students to ask questions, clarifications or comments. Students should use the last five minutes of each class to complete parts 3 and 4; this serves as a good review. You should try to read these forms or a sample of these forms right after class so that you can respond to questions or concerns the next class.

This idea come from Suzanne L. Medina and was published in the October 2004 Teaching Professor newsletter.

Helping your students to take notes that are worthwhile and foster learning
Many students are not good note takers. Even good note takers often have a hard time keeping up with teachers lectures or discussions when words are unfamiliar to them. You might suggest that students leave a large space in their notes whenever they feel they have not gotten all the information they wanted in their notes. Then they can easily find the gaps later. You can encourage students to ask a peer for help or check their textbooks for the missing information first and then if they still have a question or need clarification then they can come to your office during office hours or email you for some help. If you see the student is having repeated problems taking notes you might suggest that they read and outline the textbook before coming to class. If the problem persists, you might think of other possible causes of this problems such as English difficulty, information processing problems perhaps needing some accommodations or non-academic problems interfering with his/her ability to concentrate in class.

Modelling your thoughts and problem solving skills for the students

Many of us believe that we need to show a perfectly solved problem for the students. Yet research shows that students learn more if you overtly show your problem solving processes to the students. A perfectly solved problem does not show your thought processes because you already did the problem. Therefore, as you plan your classes, show the students the perfectly solved problem as an illustration, but also work through a problem that you have not solved before. Talk aloud about what your are thinking as you solve the problem. Be explicit about the strategies you are using and why you think this strategy might work. Allow the students to see how you make mistakes, but more important how you correct your mistakes. It will take practice for you to be able to model your thinking by talking about the intermediate steps that you skip. You may want to spend the extra time on the process of problem solving, but it is time well spent in terms of student learning.
This idea is part of the model of cognitive apprenticeship and is backed up by lots of good research.

Helping students to answer questions or out of class assignments that involve research

When you are assigning students to answer questions involving research or outside reading, always be sure they are headed in the right direction in their search strategy to avoid the students from going off into a wild chase for information but not finding the answer. Cathy Poon suggests that before you send the student off, especially clinical rotation students, to research something that you ask the student for 3 possible places to look for the answers. If the student is right on at least 1 of them, there is a good chance the student will find the answer. If all three sources will probably not yield the right answer, you might want to suggest some specific resources or to talk to a librarian so that the student will have a worthwhile learning experience.

*Helping students to use text and other readings more effectively
Beginning students and some more advanced students consider the purpose of reading texts or other materials is to take information from the text. However, teachers consider the purpose of such readings is to make meaning out of the information contained in the reading. Ways to help students make this transition include:
1. Ask the students to answer specific questions about the reading that are not just factual recall
2. Direct students to a more analytical approach to the concepts that requires them to reflect, synthesize or evaluate the text

These ideas are adapted from an article by Blackman, Gandolfo, and Kowalski, “Linking composition and chemistry” that appeared in the Journal of Student Centered Learning, 2005, 2:145-152. This article will be discussed in an upcoming journal club on the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Planning your course to help students acquire the thinking skills of the discipline
The nature of the discipline, the process of critical thinking in a discipline is just as important as the material and concepts in your discipline. However, we often tend to give these skills and processes less emphasis in our day to day teaching. So now that you are planning or revising your courses, plan time within the schedule to go over how you think in this discipline. Role model what you do by thinking out loud as you solve problems. Students don’t get the thinking process naturally if they just hear about the content or see experts solving problems easily; however, once they understand the thinking process within the discipline, the content will come much easier to them. this emphasis on role modeling critical thinking skills applies at all levels of courses as the critical thinking skills requir3ed varies with the complexity of the material.

Assessing if students can read the figures, graphs or diagrams in your discipline
Early in the semester give students a quick, in class assignment to see if they can read, interpret and explain the non-text aspects of your discipline. Textbooks, professional articles, etc. are full of graphs, figures and diagrams that contain essential information. Students may skip over them because they may not see them as important or they may not be able to understand and use them. Then give students feedback on their ability to interpret a diagram, etc. You might want to explicitly teach how to read and explain them if the class as a whole has trouble with it.

*How to keep your teaching of the same material fresh
After teaching the same courses over time, the material can become a little stale for you. Here are a few suggestions to keep the material fresh:
1. Each year vary the readings, create new assignments, rearrange the classroom, design new tests/projects, and so forth. Be challenged by finding new and exciting ways to help the students learn.
2. Instead of lecturing on the topic, turn it into a small group assignment, a discussion or a question and answer session. Students will always think of new ideas or perspectives, even if you do not agree with them, and that can stimulate your own thinking about the content.

Helping students to use different kinds of resources for papers
We have all observed that students only read what they can find on the World Wide Web, sometimes often what they can google and not going to more scholarly data bases. Students lose by not reading different types of resources. Therefore, for term paper or library type assignments require students to cite from 3 different types of sources including books, reference materials found in the library, like specialized encyclopedias, digital or Web based resources, journals, etc. If you require different types of resources, give students guidance in how to use these resources, the types of information they are likely to encounter in each type and how to critically evaluate the information obtained. As we know, but students have not yet learned, using a wide variety of resources can lead to a better quality paper.

Engaging students in the course and the subject matter on the first day of class
Prepare a game show, trivia quiz, bingo or other fun activity for the first day of class. You can ask 2 different types of questions about your course, the syllabus, your expectations and course requirements, and about the subject matter to be studied. The subject matter questions might be about general terminology and well known concepts. Try to ask some questions that students will know to help them connect what they previously know to what they will be learning. Both types of questions are great stimuli to get students discussing, thinking about this course and asking you further questions.

This idea comes from Christine Flanagan.

Making your (large) lecture classes much more interactive

One of the problems with large lecture classes is that it is very difficult to hear from most students, either to assess their knowledge or determine what they do not know on an immediate and on-going basis. However,we now have a technology that can overcome these problems. Just like on TV and at large professional meetings, we now have an audience response system at USP. The hardware has been wired into all of our large lecture halls. We have 45 clickers for you to borrow to see how they work (you can ask groups of students to respond). If you use PowerPoint, you can easily learn how to incorporate interactive questions and get students’ answers to respond). If you plan to use clickers on a regular basis and want to record the students’ individual responses for participation grades, the students need to purchase their own clickers that are available from the bookstore.

Bernie Brunner has pioneered the use of this technology on this campus and as usual is willing to share his knowledge and experience.


Bernie Brunner has graciously agreed to let teachers observe him when he uses the clickers with his students. Bernie requests that you let him know in advance if you will be coming.

Personal reflective annotations for reading assignments: A writing-to-learn assignment

Here is a different way to get students to actively read an assignment and be ready to come to class to discuss it.
• In addition to the regular highlighting or underlining that student’s do, they need to add meaningful margin notes interacting with the reading. The notes do not have to be very long or too many per assignment.
• The instructor should give a sample of appropriate annotations and explain them such as including challenges to the reading, further examples, references to other sources, personal experiences that relate to the reading, ideas on applications, personal reactions to the reading, compare or contrast with similar concepts.
• The assignment requires that students hand in their copies of their book containing their annotations on a reading. Students need to put their name across the front cover of the book and an identifying mark (such as part of their student identification number) inside to confirm that it is their property
• These assignments should be completed prior to the class discussion of the reading.
• The grading can be done quickly and globally by preparing a checklist of comments and indicating which ones apply to each of the students’ work
• This type of assignment works best for prose or essay type of readings and probably not for textbooks. Russ Moulds, the author of this idea, recommends only using this annotations assignment for readings that the instructor has enduring value for the students and not on a routine basis.

This idea comes form Russ Moulds, and was published in the Best of the Teaching Professor, Magna Publication, 2005

Helping students to contribute more to class discussions based upon out of class assignments

If you want students to contribute more meaningfully to class discussions based on out of class assignments, they need to remember more about the assignment. Such assignments might be a reading, answering questions, or reporting on research they did. To help refresh the students’ memory of the assignment and help them change gears from their previous class, give the students a few minutes at the beginning of class to review the assignment. You might even want to direct their review in some way.

This tip came out of the TableTalk on using films and was suggested by Claudia Parvanta and Bill Reinsmith

Adding energy to a class when the students are dragging
If you have to teach a boring topic right around school break, you may find that the students’ energy is dragging. You can get the students more engaged in the topic and the class by using a game show format to make things livelier. Plan what you want to do several class periods before the day you plan to use it. Tell the students in advance of your plans, tell them to come prepared, and enlist their help. They may help you write the questions to be used for a quiz show, or the answers for jeopardy, or any other format. People who use games find that the students learn the material better that day, but there are other nice consequences also. Students tend to bond with those on their team and class discussion goes up even after the games session is over.

Good questions for reflection

We often want our students to be more reflective about the course or the content. However, asking good reflection questions can be difficult.
Here are a few suggestions:
Why would I have you read/write about this?
Why do you think we just did that exercise?
What about what we just covered is applicable to other subjects, to your life, to your career?
What is the bottom line message in what we did/read?

Thanks to Bruce Rosenthal for suggesting some of these.

Helping your students to do better presentations
If you are asking your students to do a presentation, give them a template for the presentation. Also meet with the students 1:1 in advance to help them to make a better presentation, correct any mistakes in advance and avoid the student from being embarrassed in class.

Another idea for a topic for a class discussion

Select a number of quotes that summarize your discipline or are written by famous people in your discipline. Put each quote on a separate piece of paper, and spread them out written side down for students to select them one at a time. After student has a little time to compose his/her thoughts, ask the student to speak for 1 minute on the quote. The remarks can come from their own personal experience, course material, news, etc. depending on the discipline and the quote. Then you can ask other students to respond to what the student said.

If you have a large number of students in your class, you can make a few sets of quotes and divide the students into separate groups.

This idea comes from Christine Staley, 50 ways to leave your lecture. Thompson, 2003

Having students share some of their learning from doing a review of the literature
If you require students to work on individual topics and do a review of the literature, either as part of another project or as a term paper, then you should ask the students to share what they learned. You can ask the students to make a simple poster (using PowerPoint slides) summarizing the literature they read about. Then you can devote 1 class to a poster session. You can also ask the students to develop a website summarizing the material or electronically send each other their summaries, if you do not want to spend class time. Then you can give the students a short assessment on the literature summarized so you know they read each other’s work seriously. You can even make it open-notes, as long as the answers cannot come directly from the material share.

Virginia Anderson of Towson University suggested some of these ideas.

Being more explicit than, “Do you understand”?

Many teachers do a quick comprehension check in their classes by asking the students, “Do you understand”? In most cases the responses are nods. Everyone thinks they understand. Some students may not know to what level or what detail they should understand. To help the students see if they really comprehend the material ask very explicit questions such as:
• Identify___________________ (the consequences, causes, etc)?
• Calculate the ______________
• Evaluate the effects of ____________
• Compare and contrast _____ with _____
• Determine the reasons why ______

Helping students to learn how to do good summaries
Give your students a very short lecture or have them read a short article. Ask them to develop a summary of the lecture or reading. Then give them your own summary. Ask them to describe in writing how and why your summary was different from theirs. Also ask them to describe what they learned from doing this activity. Collect their comparison and the reflection on their learning, but not their summary. This exercise should be enlightening for the students.

Helping students to do better peer teaching
If you are asking your students to do peer teaching or presenting of material to the class, give your students a template of what you expect them to cover, how to organize the material or a guide to follow.

Helping students to solve problems better or have better reasoning
Here are 2 suggestions to help you teach students how to solve problems better or use more effective reasoning to be used in different venues.
1. In class go over the correct way to solve problems and also go over common mistakes that students make and how students can avoid these mistakes.
2. When you are meeting with students 1:1 to go over content or how they did on an exam, explain what the student did correctly and also specifically show them how their logic or problem solving process was flawed. Then explain how to change their reasoning or problem solving techniques in the future.
Concentrating on both the positive and negative gives a balanced view and real ways to improve.

A possibility for an extra credit assignment for weaker students
Many instructors ask their students to write journals reflective on their learning in a course. I read a study that shows that these journals are more effective for helping weaker students than for stronger students. (Cisero, College Teaching, Spring, 2006).

So if you are looking for a possible additional assignment to give weaker students, you might ask them to keep a reflective journal on their reading from the textbook or other assigned reading. This should help them engage with the content more.

Having more meaningful discussions
Before you have discussions in class or online, set out the goals of the discussion and identify the student learning needs and learning outcomes. Then as the discussion transpires, periodically check that you and the class are meeting these goals. If you have to, make some mid-course corrections to make the discussion meet its objectives.

*Helping our students to come closer to being an experts in our discipline
A goal of higher education is to transform novices to beginning experts in their chosen field of study. Research shows that experts and novices approach problems and learn within the field very differently. Our job is to help our students to make this transition. Ways we can help students to make this transition include helping students realize that the discipline has knowledge that is organized and integrated and not just a collection of isolated facts. We can help students to organize information by using different encoding strategies in class and through their assignments. We can ask students to compare and contrast information, to make concept maps or organizing schemes, etc. When we explain information we should try to use analogies, visualizations and metaphors that make sense in the discipline.

*Planning on spending time to help students confront misconceptions
Research shows that unless students confront their misconceptions and really see the faults in their ideas, they never learn the new material properly. Therefore, you need to plan assignments that will force students to see their own misconceptions about your discipline. This might be in-class or outside of class. You might ask students to do something alone as homework and then work in groups to go over it or take the concept to the next level together. These activities could force you to change you plans for the course, alter the rate that you cover some topics, etc. Taking this time is worth it for the students to really learn your discipline beyond passing a test in your course.

Helping students to really understand and benefit from your course
Student need to overcome common misconceptions or stereotypes in your discipline to leave your course with a real understanding of your discipline. This is especially true in the sciences To help students overcome this common misconceptions, you need to give students several opportunities to see why these misconceptions are wrong as part of learning activities. In addition, questions on assessments at the end of the semester should ask students to explain why these misconceptions are wrong or to correct the concept. You might give an example and ask students to explain the concept.

A role model student in your class
If you have a TA, an instructional supplement assistant or can ask a superior advanced student, have that individual come to your class a few days toward the beginning of the class, but once you have gained a nice stride in the class, ask the assistant to be a model student in terms of note taking, participation, asking questions or whatever else your students are not doing as well as you would like.

Tell your students you asked this person to come to class to be a role model student. You might want to spend a few minutes at the end of the class debriefing on what the role model student did to further show the class the behaviors you are seeking in them.

Helping students to solve problems better
When you assign students to solve problems either in class, as homework or on a test, ask the students to write their rationale or how they came to solve the problems or the process they arrived at in their thinking on a few of the problems. Ask them to write on a problem they think they solved well and a problem that they had difficulty with or are not sure they solved correctly. Their insights will be very helpful in seeing how they think. You will be able to help them solve problems better both collectively and individually when you have a better understanding of their though process. When you teach how to solve these types of problems, say that you got insight from them.

If you ask students to write out their rationales, assign fewer problems as this takes a lot of time. Also, if this is a graded assignment, give students credit for writing their thought processes. You might give everyone points for showing their thoughts and more points for more explanation. You should not give fewer points for reasoning that is not correct as they probably are losing points for the answer itself.

Creativity and Old Age

Popular perception is that creativity and old age do not mix. Creativity is the domain of the young -- and to certain extent this is true, yet not in the way that many of us would expect.

The youthful decline
Our decline in creativity does not start when we are 40 or 50. It starts around about the the age when we enter school.

The alarming decline
At around about the age of five, we are using about 80% of our creative potential. We invent daily - no matter than our inventions have been invented before, the fact is that we are innovating at a remarkable rate.

The scary coda to this story is that by the age of twelve, our creative output has declined to about 2% of our potential, and it generally stays there for the rest of our lives.

The price of acceptance
And then we start to learn the price of living in the modern world - which is conformity. To live with other people, you must follow their rules and values, which seem to be more about what you cannot do than what you can do. We are straight-jacketed and smart-stepped into doing what others do and not reinventing our worlds every day. When someone is being creative, they are also rather unpredictable, which can make living with them an uncertain and perhaps threatening experience. So we are taught to be polite and be nice to people, including not scaring them with our creative thoughts.

Scholastic thinking
Schools, also and especially, drill conformity into us. We learn that there is one true way of thinking. We learn that there is one right answer for every problem, and that this is the one in the teacher's head. Success is based on knowing what is wanted, not what is interesting. We are told, a little crudely and perhaps
cynically: 'RTFQ' or 'Read The Question' in examinations. Marks are awarded for nice writing and regurgitation, not for creative and lateral thinking.

Universities are often worse than high-schools which are worse than junior schools. At University, we learn to reference every assertion and never, never to question the wisdom and ultimate knowledge of our professors.

By the time we leave full-time education, we are functional members of society, but our creative potential has been very largely stifled. The good and great have commented on this in the quotations on education. There is even a whole school of philosophy (Conventionalism) that describes how new knowledge is constrained.

A caveat: Academic knowledge is not bad. In fact much of it is very interesting and can be used in many ways. It is just that when all you learn is to know and to repeat knowledge, then there is little creativity going on.

The traps of adulthood
As adults, we do become less creative, but not in the traditional way. Our continued creative decline is more due to falling into a number of cognitive traps than the fading of old age.

Habitual ossification
Where creativity does fade away is when we do not use it. 'Use it or lose it', as they say. One of the biggest culprits here is the simple pattern of human habit. Once we start doing something one way, we get comfortable with it and then do not change or vary it. We find the best route home and then we always drive that way, even if it is choked with traffic.

We also get stuck in clichés and familiar conversations. Few of us read much ('Too busy!'), fewer of us continue to study and fewer still innovate for the fun of it.
The expert trap

Those of us who do study and become experts can easily fall into the expert trap, where experts can spend more time defending their hill than building it further. Here are some quotes by experts who should have known better, but were too busy being expert. And here are more quotes about what experts should really do.

We repeat this in our roles in organizations. When you are a manager, you find you have the rapt attention of everyone below you, and it is very easy to assume that they are in thrall of your intelligence and wisdom. The trap here is to assume that you are all-knowing and to pronounce with great certainty on all and sundry. It is also a trap to feel obliged to the expectations of knowledge that others put upon you and feel unable to say 'I don't know, let's give it a try'. Managers must manage, as they say.

And the cycle repeats at home, where parents take a similar role, being the fount of all knowledge for their children, who learn that being an adult means being certain and certainly not being creative.
Unintelligent closure

Intelligence is, to some extent related to creativity, and brighter people generally are able to be more creative. Although a funny thing happens at around an IQ figure of 120, as described in Edward de Bono's book, Serious Creativity. Above this level, creativity seems to drop off. This is quite probably due to these people falling into the expert trap.

Another reason is the premature closure of quick thinking, where bright people 'get it' in seconds flat and hence stop any further divergent thinking. Guy Claxton, in his book Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind, tells of the benefits of slower and more exploratory thinking.

Staying creative
The secret of life is staying creative. Keep your creative juices flowing and you will stay ahead of the pack.

Do different things
The best way of staving off creative ossification is to keep doing different things. Read different books and papers. Go to different places for your holidays. Talk to different people. Listen to them and seek to synergize and synthesize. Take every opportunity to regenerate your generative powers.

The not-so geriatric effect
But what about the effects of aging. We are born with a fixed number of brain cells and they increasingly die off* after the age of 50, and even faster beyond 70.
This may be true, but, barring mental illness, the effect is miniscule in comparison with the habitual ossification effect. People who have stayed creative through their lives are way above not people on the final lap, but also of those much younger than them. With practice, you can get better at creativity, which puts a creatively active 60 year old streets ahead of a stultified 30 year old.

Creativity even affects longevity. It has been proven that people who stay mentally active live longer even than those who stay physically active. If you go to the mental gym every day, then your alertness will keep you going longer.

So lets be more creative..

MANAGING HOT MOMENTS IN THE CLASSROOM

By Lee Warren, Derek Bok Center

Sometimes things seem to explode in the classroom, and what do we do then? Knowing strategies for turning difficult encounters into learning opportunities enables us to address important, but hot, topics -- religion, politics, race, class, gender -- in our classroom discussions.

Hot moments occur when people's feelings -- often conflictual -- rise to a point that threatens teaching and learning. They can occur during the discussion of issues people feel deeply about, or as a result of classroom dynamics in any field.

For some instructors, hot moments are the very stuff of classroom life. They thrive on such moments, encourage them, and use them for pointed learning. Others abhor hot moments and do everything possible to prevent or stifle them. For them, conflict prevents learning.

Fortunately all of us can develop techniques to handle the unavoidable difficult moments. Using them can open doors to topics formerly avoided and classroom dynamics formerly neglected. Most importantly, exploring these tensions can lead to deep learning.

The challenges of dealing with hot moments are 1) to manage ourselves so as to make them useful and 2) to find the teaching opportunities to help students learn in and from the moment.

Strategies suggested here rest upon the assumption that it is the teacher's responsibility both to help students learn something from the moment and to care for and protect all the participants, perhaps particularly the student(s) who has generated the hot moment. This does not mean that discomfort can be avoided: sometimes learning about hot topics is difficult and uncomfortable. But no one should be scapegoated. Everyone should be protected so that learning can happen.

A TRUE STORY
"We were ten weeks into Introduction to Afro-Am and were discussing Louis Farrakhan," a young instructor told me. "Near the end of section, a very smart Jewish woman said, 'Only uneducated black men would believe in Farrakhan.' Six black men in the class turned on her and attacked. "Class ended, and she ran out of the room, down the hall, in tears."

"I went after her and told her that if she was ever going to understand this stuff she had to go back the next time and listen very hard to what those guys, highly educated, say about why they might believe in Farrakhan.

"I then went back into the classroom. Luckily the men were still there, still talking about the incident. I told them that if they were ever going to get it, they had to listen very hard to why a Jewish woman might think that only the uneducated would believe in Farrakhan."

This young man was able to turn a hot moment into a profound learning opportunity for his students. He did it by keeping his head, not taking sides, and letting both groups know that they would gain immeasurably by understanding the arguments of the other side.

FINDING TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES IN THE MOMENT
It's not easy to see the teaching opportunity when a student says she doesn't think the U.S. should have gone to war to prevent the Holocaust "because they weren't Christians" -- or when a male student makes a joke about irrational numbers being female -- or when one student heatedly says, "The trouble with you is you talk all the time and never listen!" -- or when the Jewish student says that only uneducated black men would believe Louis Farrakhan.

How we think about the moment
• The first route to making such unanticipated and difficult occurrences productive lies in how we think about the moment -- as instructors. If we can get out of our own emotional confusion, we can begin to see the heat as an opportunity to explore different views about the topic. In the case above, for example, it could be helpful to students to examine why someone might think that religious affiliation was a reason to go or not to go to war.

• We can also use the image of leaving the dance floor of the discussion and our emotions and going up to the balcony. From there we can look for a relevant meta-level issue that the hot moment raises. Often the difficult statement illustrates the complexity of questions being discussed, as in the instance of the Jewish student's remarks about Farrakhan. Such a comment presents an immediate example of Jewish/African-American political difficulties.

• It helps sometimes to think about listening for "the song beneath the words" of the student. What is the sub-text? What is the student really saying? Why is this coming up at all, and why at this time? Often students can't articulate clearly what they are thinking. After double-checking our impressions with the student, we can use this information to further the conversation.

• For example, the student in the holocaust story was African-American. Her sub-text might have been that we needed to deal with the United States' own race issues before taking on those of other nations. That idea is certainly a valid one for discussion in contemporary international politics. Had the instructor been able to bring this to the surface, rather than avoiding her remarks altogether, the class would have come away with enriched understanding.

Helping the students think about it
• To help students think productively about issues raised during hot moments, establish discussion norms early in the term, or at the moment if necessary. Don't permit personal attacks. Model norms that encourage an open discussion of difficult material -- by being open to multiple perspectives and by asking all students to argue their point responsibly.

• We can take the issue off the student who has made the offensive remark and put it on the table as a topic for general discussion. Say something like: "Many people think this way. Why do they hold such views? What are their reasons?" and then, "Why do those who disagree hold other views?" This protects the student while also encouraging others who disagree to understand a view they dislike and then to argue their position later.

• Another strategy is to require that all students seek to understand each other's perspectives, as a prerequisite to understanding the subject at all. Ask them to listen carefully to the other point of view, to ask questions, and then to be able to restate or argue for that position. This can work for the hottest of subjects.

• Ask students to write about the issue, either in class, as a reflective and hopefully calming exercise followed by discussion, or outside of class. You can ask them to do some research on the subject and write a more balanced essay. You might require them to argue the position they most disagreed with.

• Sometimes it is important to talk with students outside of class, particularly those who have been most embroiled in the hot moment. Help them to learn something substantive from the experience -- about themselves, about others, about possible positions, about the topic as a whole, and about how to voice their thoughts so that they can be heard, even by those who disagree. These conversations can save a student and keep them coming to class with an open and learning mind.

• If a student breaks down as a result of the original outburst, acknowledge it, and ask them if they would like to remain in the classroom or leave for a while. At the end of class, find the student and ask if you can be of any assistance. In extreme cases, urge them to see a counselor.

Getting the students to do the work
• Ask students, when things get hot, to step back and reflect upon what they might learn from this moment. This can move the discussion to a level that helps everyone see what issues have been at stake and what the clash itself might mean.

• I've seen this work in a class in which a white student and an African-American student were wrangling at length and without apparent movement toward any understanding. When the teacher asked all students to explore what they might learn from this, the discussion shifted gears quickly. They began to think about the difficulties in black-white communications when different belief systems were at work, the reasons for those difficulties, and possible ways to bridge the gaps.

• Another strategy is to ask students to think about how their reactions mirror the subject at hand and what they might learn from their own behavior. Often groups act out in their own discussion the topic under discussion. For example, when discussing how women's remarks are often ignored in business settings, the class or the instructor may be ignoring the remarks of women in the class. Seeing this and talking about it in the moment can enhance people's understanding of the issue.

Don't avoid the issue
• When hot moments occur because of inter-student dynamics, in ways not related to the subject matter, it can still be important to address the issue, even in a math or physics class.

For example, if a student complains about another's speaking behavior, it is tempting to go on as if the outburst hadn't occurred. However, a discussion about who speaks and who doesn't and why, and how to enable the quiet ones to make room for themselves and the talkative ones to listen, could help every student in the room and make room for a greater diversity of ideas in the class.

Or if a student makes a joke like the one about irrational numbers being female, it could be useful to stop to examine why and how men make such jokes and how they affect women's experience in math and science classes. It might be helpful to the men to understand why the women get upset by their good-humored jokes and to the women to understand how to counter them. A discussion of this sort could open the classroom to far greater collaboration the rest of the term.

• To ignore such remarks has its own consequences. Students learn that such behavior is OK and that they are not protected from it. They miss the opportunity to learn about their own behavior and its consequences. And they miss the opportunity to have a more open classroom in which a wider range of ideas can be explored.

• It is, of course, almost always useful to talk about the moment outside of class with the individuals involved, to give them support, and help them to learn from the experience.

Having a fallback position
If you are unable to find a workable position in the moment, defer. Tell students that this is an important issue and that you will take it up at a later time. You then have time to plan strategies. This approach lets all the students in the room know that you take such occurrences seriously.

MANAGING OURSELVES
We often forget that a primary task is to find ways to manage ourselves in the midst of confusion.

Hold Steady. If you can hold steady and not be visibly rattled by the hot moment, the students will be better able to steady themselves as well and even learn something from the moment. Your behavior provides a holding environment for the students. They can feel safe when you appear to be in control; this enables them to explore the issues. Your behavior also provides a model for the students.

Breathe deeply. Take a moment. Collect yourself. Take time if you need it. Silence is useful -- if you can show that you are comfortable with it. A pause will also permit students to reflect on the issues raised. Deep breathing is an ancient and highly effective technique for calming adrenaline rushes and restoring one's capacity to think.

Don't personalize remarks. Don't take remarks personally, even when they come as personal attacks. Such attacks are most likely made against you in your role as teacher or authority figure. Remembering to separate self from role can enable you to see what a student is saying more clearly and to actually discuss the issue. It's not about you. It's about the student and his or her feelings and thoughts, though often articulated clumsily and from an as yet unthought through position.

Don't take remarks personally when they are about issues that you feel strongly about, or even about groups of which you are a part. Again, remember that both you and the group will be better served if you can keep some distance from the comments and find ways to use them to enhance people's understanding.

Don't let yourself get caught up in a personal reaction to the individual who has made some unpleasant remark. It's easy to want to tear into a student who is personally offensive to you. To do so is to fail to see what that student and his or her ideas represent in the classroom and in the larger world. If you take the remarks personally, chances are you will not be able to find what there is to learn from them.

Know yourself. Know your biases; know what will push your buttons and what will cause your mind to stop. Every one of us has areas in which we are vulnerable to strong feelings. Knowing what those areas are in advance can diminish the element of surprise. This self-knowledge can enable you to devise in advance strategies for managing yourself and the class when such a moment arises. You will have thought about what you need to do in order to enable your mind to work again.

RESOURCES.
Heifetz, R. (1994). Leadership without easy answers. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press (especially pp.250-276),

Fisher,R., Ury, W., & Patton, P. (1981, 1991). Getting to yes. New York: Penguin Books.

Frederick, P. (1995). "Walking on eggs: Mastering the dreaded diversity discussion." College Teaching, Vol. 43/No. 3, pp. 83-92.

Frederick, P.(2000). "Approaches to teaching diversity." NEA Advocate, 17, (4), pp. 5-8.
Schýn, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner: Toward a new design for teaching and learning in the professions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Videos. The Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University has made two videos that can help people process difficult moments and develop strategies for confronting them. Each comes with a Facilitator's Guide. See the Bok Center website for information on how to obtain these videos:
Race in the Classroom: The Multiplicty of Experience
Women in the Classroom

Source: http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/html/icb.topic58474/hotmoments.html

Learning Domains and Delivery of Instruction

By Cindy Vinson Ed.D.

Learning domains, sometimes referred to as categories of learning outcomes, are critical to consider as you plan your lessons. By analyzing the type of learning domain or outcome that you want, you can determine which activities, assessments, and representational modes (face-to-face, video, online, multimedia) are optimal based on the learning outcome desired. With the access to learning technologies more available to faculty and with greater numbers of students having access at home and work, it is possible and desirable to use multiple representational modes to increase the probability that students will attain higher levels of learning.

The following is a brief overview of learning domains with examples of how you might represent content, provide activities, and assess mastery of that domain. These domains include cognitive, affective, psychomotor, and interpersonal.

Cognitive Domain

This domain focuses on intellectual skills and is familiar to educators. Bloom’s Taxonomy (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation) is frequently used to describe the increasing complexity of cognitive skills as students move from beginner to more advance in their knowledge of content. The cognitive domain is the core learning domain. The other domains (affective, interpersonal, and psychomotor) require at least some cognitive component.
The cognitive domain is well suited to the online environment. Face-to-face courses benefit from using the web as a way to supplement classroom lectures that are cognitive in nature. This supplemental material may include the following:
Additional explanations of key concepts
• Graphics to show relationships between ideas
• Organized class notes
• Tables that provide summary information
• PowerPoint slides
• Additional examples
• Self-check quizzes
• A discussion board
• Case studies
• Drill and practice of content that must be memorized
• FLASH animations or simulations of challenging and key concepts
• Practice questions with answers and “expert” explanations
• Links to similar information presented in a different way

Courses that are hybrid (presented in both an online and face-to-face format), often present the cognitive portion of the course via the web and use classroom time for the more affective, psychomotor, and interpersonal learning outcomes.

As we move up the cognitive domain especially as we get to synthesis and evaluation, collaborative assignments requiring students to engage in problem-based or project-based activities serve as important ways to determine if students have reached that level of learning. These projects can be done online, but often lend themselves to at least some face-to-face interaction. If face-to-face interaction is not possible, synchronous mediated events such as web casting, interactive video, or conference calls facilitate project development. Also, higher cognitive skills provide opportunities for student to develop interpersonal domain learning. To the extent that we desire interpersonal learning outcomes, we should consider how to facilitate face-to-face interactions.

The Affective Domain

The affective domain is critical for learning but is often not specifically addressed. This is the domain that deals with attitudes, motivation, willingness to participate, valuing what is being learned, and ultimately incorporating the values of a discipline into a way of life. Stages in that domain are not as sequential as the cognitive domain, but have been described as the following:
• Receiving (willing to listen)
• Responding (willing to participate)
• Valuing (willing to be involved)
• Organizing (willing to be an advocate)
• Characterization (willing to change one’s behavior, lifestyle, or way of life)

We do not necessarily expect our math students to become math instructors or mathematicians, but we want them to be willing to “show up” for class, participate in class, and become involved with the content. We expect students to expend effort in their courses and sustain the effort throughout the duration of the course. We also would like our students to take the next higher course or another course in the curriculum because they value what they have learned.

The affective domain is not best handled with just text on a screen. Class meetings or an initial class meeting to support an online course might be used for affective development. Videos and audio clips are also excellent ways to engage the affective domain. These should be short and may include the following:
• Former students giving tips on how to be successful
• The instructor informing the students of the value of the course
• Professionals who are using the knowledge from the course in their lives
• An overview of the program with key support personnel and facilities visible to the student
• Streaming audio files throughout the course encouraging students and providing helpful tips
• Short video clips of the instructor explaining course content

Additionally, chunking information into small steps and designing opportunities for the students to be successful facilitate affective learning for students. Face-to-face courses can include affective online components by allowing students to have a place to post questions, get feedback, and hear encouraging messages from the instructor (with a text accompaniment). Encouraging students to set goals for themselves that are reasonable can also enhance affective learning. To the extent that students are challenged or are new to a content area, we would expect instructors to include more affective learning outcomes.

Psychomotor Domain

The psychomotor domain focuses on performing sequences of motor activities to a specified level of accuracy, smoothness, rapidity, or force. Underlying the motor activity is cognitive understanding. In the higher education environment, we see psychomotor learning in content including the following:
• Lab courses for science classes
• Vocational courses
• Physical education courses
• Training in using specified equipment such as computers, cameras, musical instruments etc.
• Performing arts

The stages of the psychomotor domain have been described as follows:
• Action (elementary movement)
• Coordination (synchronized movement)
• Formation (bodily movement)
• Production (combine verbal and nonverbal movement

The psychomotor domain is best assessed in a face-to-face situation. Since there is a cognitive component underlying motor skills, these can be effectively viewed in videos, demonstrations, online text descriptions, or with pictures of each step in the sequence. Simulations can be used to help people learn the steps or practice variations of a motor sequence; but ultimately, the student should perform the skill with an instructor or designee judging if the skill was performed to a set standard. Sometimes, simulations are used for learning without “hands on” opportunities, because the psychomotor activity is dangerous or equipment is not readily available.

Students who are new to a content area will generally benefit more from “hands-on” learning than from mediated learning within the psychomotor domain. As students become more expert, videos and pictures can be used to teach the skill.

Interpersonal Domain

The Interpersonal domain focuses on people interacting with others. As we redesign our courses using the 21st Century Learning Outcomes Project (http://socrates.fhda.edu/fh/staff/century/centurycomps.html) as a guide, the interpersonal domain takes on greater importance than perhaps in the past. The levels in this domain should not be considered hierarchical as in the cognitive domain, but more as a list of skills. These include the following:
• Seeking/giving information (asking for and offering information)
• Proposing (putting forward an idea)
• Building and supporting (helping another person’s idea move forward)
• Shutting out/bringing in (excluding or involving another)
• Disagreeing (appropriately offering a difference of opinion)
• Summarizing (Restating in a compact form a discussion or collection of ideas)

The above list is not exhaustive. Other skills to add to the list might include negotiating, compromising, facilitating, and leading.

Interpersonal skills are learned by seeing models, practicing the skills, and getting feedback in the form of coaching. While short videos, good explanations, and checklists can facilitate the conceptual learning of the skills, the actual acquisition of the interpersonal skill is best done with face-to-face contact and lots of instructor feedback. With the use of forums and classroom meetings online, we might be tempted to believe that face-to-face is no longer necessary and interpersonal skills can be taught in a virtual environment. While technical innovations allow us more collaboration than in the past, if our core learning outcome is interpersonal, some face-to-face interaction is desirable.

Summary
This table provides a summary of what has been described above.(Click on the table to enlarge)

Self-Directed Learning

By C. Radhakrishnan

“The only learning which significantly influences behaviour is self-discovered, self- appropriated learning.” Carl Rogers

Introduction:
Self-directed learning is often considered the ultimate goal of education. The human race needs self-directed learning for survival. This basic human potential, knowing how to learn, is a necessity for living today. Probably the most important skill for today’s fast changing workplace is skill in reflection. The highly motivated, self-directed learner with skills in self reflection can approach the workplace as a continual classroom from which to learn and succeed in all chosen profession. This article is devoted to illuminate these principles as they apply to schools and to life.

During childhood we are naturally inquisitive and self directed in learning. For instance children ask parents many questions and try to learn new things. But, what happens to this inquisitiveness after they join the school? Do we discourage/encourage self-directed learning? Do we train our teaching community for teaching children how to be a self-learner? Do our schools and education boards promote a curriculum that fosters this kind of learning? Whenever we talk about self directed learning these are some questions that crop up in our mind. However, for most of these questions we have to answer in the negative. One fact we all can agree, our schools should be more self-directing in learning. All educators must understand, what is important is not the age, but the learner’s situation. In fact, the learner’s “need to know” and self-directing capacity increases steadily during childhood and rapidly during adolescence. Schools can foster the development of learners’ skills of self-directed learning through enquiry-based learning. Encouraging self-direction does not mean giving learners total control and responsibility but rather providing incremental opportunities to facilitate independence for lifelong learning.

What is Self-Directed Learning?
In this, the individual takes the initiative and the responsibility for what occurs. Individuals select, manage, and assess their own learning activities, which can be pursued at any time, in any place, through any means, at any age. There are many different definitions of self-directed learning. Ideas such as personal responsibility, autonomy, independence, and lifelong learning are all part of self-directed learning. In self-directed learning, the focus is on the learner taking the initiative in the learning process. Ultimately, the learners decide what needs to be learned; sets the learning goals; determines what resources, both human and material, are required; applies pertinent learning strategies; and evaluates the final results. Through self-management (how learners manage the resources, their actions and the social context) and self-monitoring (the process of monitoring, regulating and evaluating learning strategies), learners become responsible for their own learning (Bolhuis, 1996; Garrison, 1997). Now it’s very clear that self-directed learning refers to the willingness or ability of the learners to take control, make choices, and take responsibility for their learning.

Why is it necessary to help students take responsibility and initiative for their learning?
Advances in technology and learning demands of the information age are changing the nature of learning. The 21st century is marked with an ever increasing need to learn new skills and develop new perspectives and understandings. In this age where change is constant, the teacher’s role cannot simply be to fill students with information. Although basic content knowledge is important, there also needs to be a focus on process. As knowledge and skills change from day to day, what is important is to teach students how to learn. By teaching students to reflect on how they learn and by developing their skills to pursue their learning goals, students will be empowered to change from passive recipients of information to active controllers of their learning.

What factors influence Self-directed learning?
1. Self-concept: The learners’ self-concept or belief about themselves as learners develops on a continuum with learners possessing various degrees of self-direction. Previous success in learning improves learners’ general self-concept and capacity for self-direction. Learners have a psychological need to be self-directing but may consciously choose to be more dependent in areas where they lack previous experience or knowledge.

2. Experience: Learners accumulate life experiences that are a rich foundation and resource for new learning for themselves and others. Experience must be valued as it is related to personal identity.

3. Readiness to learn: Learners are ready to learn as they accept and learn to adapt to new roles, such as a team captain, school leader, class prefect, or wish to escape from present roles.

4. Orientation of learning: As learners mature, they prefer problem-centred learning that they can immediately apply to relevant situations to increase their competency and help them live more effectively.

5. Motivation: People are motivated to a greater extent by internal factors such as self-esteem, satisfaction in the work, and quality of life than by external motivators such as good jobs, promotions and higher salaries.

Ten Myths of Self-Directed Learning:
1. One is either self-directed or not.

2. Self-direction means learning alone.

3. Self-direction is a fashion.

4. Self-direction takes more time than it’s worth.

5. Self-directed learning mainly involves writing and reading.

6. The facilitator is passive.

7. Self-directed learning is aimed at those who voluntarily choose to learn.

8. Self-directed learning is aimed at middle class adults.

9. Self-directed learning will destroy traditional and institutional programs.

10. Self-directed learning is the best method only for adults.

How educators and institutions can best facilitate self-directed learning?
The following list summarises points made by several writers (Ash 1985; Bauer 1985; Brockett and Hiemstra 1985; Brookfield 1985; Cross 1978; Hiemstra 1982, 1985; and Reisser 1973) regarding how adult educators can best facilitate self-directed learning:

• Help the learner identify the starting point for a learning project and discern relevant modes of examination and reporting.
• Encourage adult learners to view knowledge and truth as contextual, to see value frameworks as cultural constructs, and to appreciate that they can act on their world individually or collectively to transform it.
• Create a partnership with the learner by negotiating a learning contract for goals, strategies, and evaluation criteria.
• Be a manager of the learning experience rather than an information provider.
• Help learners acquire the needs assessment techniques necessary to discover what objectives they should set.
• Encourage the setting of objectives that can be met in several ways and offer a variety of options for evidence of successful performance.
• Provide examples of previously acceptable work.
• Make sure that learners are aware of the objectives, learning strategies, resources, and evaluation criteria once they are decided upon.
• Teach inquiry skills, decision making, personal development, and self-evaluation of work.
• Act as advocates for educationally underserved populations to facilitate their access to resources.
• Help match resources to the needs of learners.
• Help learners locate resources.
• Help learners develop positive attitudes and feelings of independence relative to learning.
• Recognize learner personality types and learning styles.
• Use techniques such as field experience and problem solving that take advantage of adults' rich experience base.
• Develop high-quality learning guides, including programmed learning kits.
• Encourage critical thinking skills by incorporating such activities as seminars.
• Create an atmosphere of openness and trust to promote better performance.
• Help protect learners against manipulation by promoting a code of ethics.
• Behave ethically, which includes not recommending a self-directed learning approach if it is not congruent with the learners' needs.

For educational institutions and employers engaged in providing self-directed learning experiences, Hiemstra (1982, 1985) and Brockett and Hiemstra (1985) recommend the following:
• Have the faculty meet regularly with panels of experts who can suggest curricula and evaluation criteria.
• Conduct research on trends and learners' interests.
• Obtain the necessary tools to assess learners' current performance and to evaluate their expected performance.
• Provide opportunities for self-directed learners to reflect on what they are learning.
• Recognize and reward learners when they have met their learning objectives.
• Promote learning networks, study circles, and learning exchanges.
• Provide staff training on self-directed learning and broaden the opportunities for its implementation.

What can teachers do to encourage self-directed learning in schools?
1. In schools, teachers can work towards self-directed learning a stage at a time. Teaching must emphasis self-directed learning skills, processes, and systems rather than content coverage and tests. The teacher’s role, as facilitator, is to empower learners by promoting student involvement in learning, helping learners to develop skills that support learning throughout life, and helping learners to assume personal responsibility for learning. For the individual, self-directed learning involves initiating personal challenge activities and developing the personal qualities to pursue them successfully.

2. Self-direction exists on a continuum that increases with maturity, the learner’s motivation, and his/her ability to identify needs and access information. The learning environment determines if inquiry and self-initiative are encouraged and supported. Thus such an environment should be created by teachers in schools. Then the students use many strategies to achieve the learning outcomes, including seeking interaction and support from others yet maintaining primary responsibility for the learning.

3. Schools should cultivate a self-directed learning culture to inspire students. This involves many learning situations such as discussions, interviews, experiments, auditing, role-plays, field visits and a variety of social settings. The facilitator/teacher is very active, supporting the learner, negotiating meaning, promoting critical thinking, providing resources, and modelling meta-cognitive thinking in a nurturing learning environment. Although self-directed learning causes a shift in the teacher’s role as the “source of knowledge”, this change is also necessitated by the needs in an information society.

4. Teachers can encourage self-directed learning skills and learner responsibility through a collaborative learning environment. For that the teacher can assume an interactive role, to help learners participate in planning learning activities, locating resources, and assessing needs and progress in achieving goals, and generally guide them from dependence to better stages of learner control and independence. In order to provide opportunities for responsibility and self-direction in learners, the teacher must accept a change in educational role to facilitator, manager, resource supporter, motivator, and modeller of learning strategies. At the same time the teacher must make educational decisions regarding learner and curricular needs. In collaboration, learner and facilitator analyse issues to help gain new perspectives and understanding. Collaboration becomes a fine balance as the facilitator, while still ensuring the foundation knowledge is covered, and gives the learner more choices and control within the learning framework (Garrison, 1997; Morrow, Sharkey, & Firestone, 1993).

5. In converting facilitator-centred schools into learner-centred schools, motivation plays a key role in goal completion and is a determining factor in self-directed learning. Research indicates that the collaborating role of the teacher and learner control is a motivating factor that promotes positive attitudes in learners. Students are intrinsically motivated when they are able to choose their own topics of interest and are actively involved in sharing understanding. Through learner-centred activities, interaction, and choice, students can be empowered to develop self-directed learning skills and take more responsibility for learning.

6. A proper system of feedback also plays a significant role in self-directed learning. As interaction among students and between teacher and learner increases, closeness and understanding increases. For the success of teaching self-directed learning, teacher feedback must be prompt and frequent. External and internal feedback is necessary for the learner to self-monitor learning strategies as he/she accepts more responsibility for the learning. By encouraging students to reflect on the process of learning, including the trials and tribulations, they will begin to understand their own learning styles and thinking. By using meta-cognitive strategies, students learn how they learn and develop a range of thinking processes for problem-solving and lifelong learning. When teachers model learning strategies such as questioning, summarizing, predicting, and clarifying, students can transfer these strategies to other learning situations.

Conclusion:
The teacher can empower students to accept responsibility for learning and facilitate self-direction skills. Students have varying degrees of self-direction, depending on the situation and subject matter, but this does not mean that the learner must make all decisions or learn alone, nor does it mean that the learners require no instructional support. Learners require library-search skills, data collection and analysing skills and information literacy skills in order to access vast resources including the Internet. The teacher’s task is to find a balance between the tendency to control the learning and the desire to provide the learner with autonomy. The reality is that the teacher needs to abandon traditional control in his/her shift to shared collaborative responsibility with the learner for learning activities. As teacher and student share control, the teacher is ready to provide instructional and motivational support while the student assumes more responsibility. Collaborative control facilitates motivation and responsibility and self-direction in learners. In order to persist in the learning goals, the learner needs to perceive value and anticipate success in the activity (Garrison, 1997). Therefore, the teacher must motivate the learner through encouragement and relevant meaningful activities.

Self-directed learning has existed throughout the ages as a means for people to meet life’s challenges and for survival. Scholars throughout Western civilization, such as Aristotle and Socrates, used the tools of self-directed learning. Ancient Indian ‘Gurukul’ system also emphasised the same principle of Self-directed learning. Gradually, our educational systems degenerated into a system that emphasises rote learning and memorisation. However, recently, many educationists, scholars and policy makers in different countries of the world started deliberating on ways to bring back self-learning culture into our educational systems. Surely, this positive trend will help us to restructure current educational practices that make learning a nightmare for many school goers.

References:
1. Abdullah, M. H. (2001). Self-directed learning - Research Report from http://ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed459458
2. Boettcher, J. (1996). Distance learning: Looking into the crystal ball from http://www.cren.net/~jboettch/jvb_cause.html
3. Barbara J. Klopfenstein. Empowering Learners: Strategies for Fostering Self-Directed Learning and Implications for online Learning [Electronic version] from www.quasar.ualberta.ca
4. Burge, E. J. (1988). Beyond andragogy: Some explorations for distance learning design. Journal of Distance Education [Electronic version] from http://cade.athabascau.ca/vol3.1/burge.html
5. http://www.selfdirectedlearning.com/
6. http://managementhelp.org/
7. http://www.ntlf.com
8. http://www.brefigroup.co.uk

Ideas to Improve Personal & Professional Learning

No matter how successful you have been as a professional learning leader (and there is no doubt you will have had many successes), there is always scope for improvement. These ideas may help:

1. Devote some time to devising a definition of learning for your school, if it does not yet have one. A school's reason for being is directly linked to learning; in fact, that is all it is about. This means it is essential for all the staff at your school to share a definition of learning, so that you are united in your work as a learning institution. Remember, the definition must incorporate all members of your school's community: pupils, parents, staff and governors should all be involved in learning processes. In particular, all staff should be utterly focused on their commitment to learn and develop from every situation they find themselves in.

2. Take a moment to go through the evaluations of professional learning that you have received. In particular, look out for negative responses. It seems that a lack of enthusiasm towards professional learning opportunities can be linked to perceptions of an increased workload. If there is a risk that learning is resisted for this reason, it will be important to refocus on it so that full benefit can be gained. It is always worth being suspicious when professional and personal learning is rejected. Dig around for the true reason.

3. Explore what factors might be preventing a curiosity about furthering professional and personal learning from flourishing at your school. It is natural for staff to be curious about opportunities for professional learning. If this does not seem to be the case in your school, or if it is but not consistently, find out why. A good place to start in this exploration is the extent to which staff experience wellbeing in your school.

4. Take a look at the inherent tension between individual and institutional needs for development. There are multiple pressures on staff development, all demanding satisfaction. The task for schools is to balance all those expectations so that progress is made. Making sure that staff have a central role to play in planning for professional and personal development, even when this is directly linked to your school's overall development plan, is one way of retaining a sense of commitment and ownership.

5. Do a quick audit of the resources you use for professional learning. Are you using as much local expertise as you can, to keep costs down and enthusiasm high?

6. Aim to help staff learners understand the subtleties of development. A great analogy is that professional learning is like sunburn: you do not know how much you have been affected by it until
after the event.

7. Reiterate the 'change one thing' mantra. After any professional learning that is undertaken, it will always be possible to make at least one positive change to practice. If this can be written up in a professional learning journal or reflected upon in some other way, the scope of the learning will be wider still.

8. Be a model of great learning. The more this can be infused throughout your school's leadership team and the more staff can see that learning is something which everyone is engaged in all the time, the more fruitful your activities as a professional learning leader will be.

Source Courtesy: Mr. Santosh Kanavalli, Principal, HRS, TTL.- Posted in HRScholars Group. Dtd. 7th May 09.