montevallo presentation first year students aug 24

8/4/2019 Montevallo Presentation First Year Students Aug 24

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A Learner Centered Approach to

Teaching First Year Students

Developed by Terry

Doyle

Ferris State

University



Learning Outcomes

As a result of participating in todays activities faculty will:1. Have a clearer understanding of the reasons first year students

resist learner centered teaching.

2. Take away rationales that will help explain to first year studentswhy LCT is the best approach to helping them learn.

3. Better understand the mindsets of first year students and how tohelp fixed mindset students become growth mindset students.

4. Develop ideas for using patterning in their teaching as a way tobetter teach in harmony with how their students brains learn.



Not a single grad school or employment

recruiter has ever indicated that what they arereally looking for in a college graduate is:

µ A great note taker and someone who isexcellent at multiple choice tests!¶



Learner Centered Teaching



This can be




A Key to Understanding Learner

Centered Teaching

It is the one who does the work

that does the learning

www.wmin.ac.uk/.../Students-working-together.jpg



The Definition of Learning

Learning is a change

in the neuron-patterns of the brain.

(Ratey, 2001, Goldberg, 2001, 2009)

www.virtualgalen.com/.../ neurons-small.jpg



A Teachers Definition of Learning

Learning is the ability to use information after

significant periods of disuse

and

it is the ability to use the information to solve problemsthat arise in a context different (if only slightly) from thecontext in which the information was originally taught.

(Robert Bjork, Memories and Metamemories, 1994)



What is the optimal learning outcome of any course?

What would make us happy (from all that we

taughtthe skills, content and behaviors) that our

students remembered and could use six months

after they finished our class?



A Definition of





Each decision we make as teachers is basedon one simple question

Given the context of my teachingassignment (# of students, learningenvironment or physical space etc.), will

this teaching action optimize my studentsopportunities to learn?



Three Components of a LCT Approach

1. Students take more

responsibility for their

learning

2. Leaning is an active,

authentic experience

3. Feedback is formative

and plentiful



Eight Reasons First Year

Students Resist LearnerCentered Teaching



1.Old habits die hard

The expectations our students have for their

roles and responsibilities as college learners

are based on strongly formed habits learned

through twelve or more years of teacher-

centered instruction.



2.High Schools Remain Teacher-Centered Institutions

Despite the efforts of many, the organization and

structure of most comprehensive high schools look

very similar to those of high schools of generations

ago. High schools have stood still amidst a maelstromof educational and economic change swirling around

them. (TheNational Commission on the High School Senior Year in 2001, p.20).



3. Learning is not a Top Reason Students give for

Attending College

Many first-year college

students are sick to

death of school by age

eighteen and see

college as just the last

hurdle to be crossed.(Leamnson 1999, p.35).



4. Students dont Like Taking Learning Risks

But as we grow older we develop a great

tendency to hide from failure.(Tagg, 2003 p. 54).



4. Students dont Like Taking Learning

Risks

Students that dont take risks and make

mistakes, which are the very actions

successful thinkers must do, are in the

business of protecting their unblemished

record of mediocrity(Covington, 1992, p. 231)



5. LCT Doesnt Resemble what Students Think of as

School

By age 18, our students have spent 70% of

their waking lives in school (Leamnson, p.35),

Each school year looks a great deal like the

year before.

First

Grade

Fifth

Grade

Eighth

Grade

Twelfth

Grade



6. Students dontWant to Give More Effort and LCT

Requires It.

K. Patricia Cross in her 2001 talk Motivation Er will that be on the

test? in discussing American students views about effort said:

One of the oddities of traditional American culture,

especially the youth culture, is that it is better to bethought lazy than stupid. Thus, in the competition of

the classroom, students prefer to be seen by others

as succeeding through ability rather than through

effort.



If I have to work at it I

must not be smart !



7. Students Mindsets about Learning Make Adapting to

LCT More Difficult

Thousands of students each semester pay tuition to

take courses in subject areas they firmly believe they

cannot learn.



7. Students Mindsets about Learning

Make Adapting to LCT More Difficult

This strange scenario occurs because of the

fixed mindset these students have developed

about learning a particular subject. (Dweck, 2006)



8. Many Students Follow the Path of Least

Resistance in their Learning.

Minimalist learners.

These are students that adhere to thephilosophy: What is the least I have to do to

get the grade that I need.



8. Many Students Follow the Path of Least Resistance

in their Learning.

This behavior reflect a life time of learning

in an environment where trying to gain a

reward or avoid a punishment was the

goal.



Three Reasons Why

Learner CenteredTeaching is in our

Students Best Interest



Students need to KnowWHY

One of the most

important aspects of

being a learner

centered teacher is toremember teaching is,

in most ways, no

different than any other

human to humaninteraction



� If I dont knowWHY you want me to work on

a project or learn a concept or if I cant see

how taking on a certain task has some benefit

to me I am hesitant to do it.



3 Key Rationales for Explaining the Change to LCT

1. The best answer toWHY we have changed

to a learner-centered practice is this is where

the research has led us.

.



WHY Learner Centered Teaching

� New discoveries about how the human brain

learns and the subsequent recommendations

for how to teach in harmony with these

discoveries has guided the development of a

learner centered approach to teaching.



Rationales for Explaining the Change to LCT

The learning tasks we

are asking our students

to take on, which

require them to adoptnew learning roles and

responsibilities, are

based on what we now

know optimizes the waythe human brain learns.



3 Key Rationales for Explaining the Change to LCT

2. Readiness for Careers

The rationale for teaching many of the learning skills,behaviors, attitudes and critical thinking strategies thatare now part of learner centered college courses isthat our students will need these skills to be successfulin their careers.

As students understand this their buy in to LCT will begreater.



Career Expectations

� http://careernetwork.msu.edu/pdf/Competen

cies.pdf

� 12 Essentials for Success



Rationales for Explaining the Change to LCT

3. Preparation for Life LongLearning(LLL)

One of the significant

changes our students needto accept is that college isno longer their terminaleducational experience.

A college education givesstudents their learnerspermit.



3. Preparation for Life Long

Learning(LLL)

Our responsibility as

college educators is to

prepare our students to

be life long learners.

Many of the LCT actions

we take are done to

develop LLL skills.



Taking on More Responsibility

One of the reasons

students are being

asked to take on moreresponsibility for their

own learning is because

they will be responsible

for it the rest of theirlives.



LCT means Sharing Power with Students

Having choices in what and how to learn and having

some control over the learning process and

accepting the responsibility that comes with choice

and control is an authentic expression of how thework place and the home place operate.

It is excellent preparation for life after college.



Keys to Teaching First Year Students

1. They come from a

structured learning

environment and will

need a transitionalstage to the less

structured learning

requirements of college.



Uninformed View of College Professors

2. They likely possess a

distorted view of who

we arebrilliant,

difficult to approach,very busy, scholarly.

We need to build

positive, caring

relationships with them.



Understanding their Cognitive

Readiness� Perrys scheme for

cognitive development

� Dr.William Perry (1970)

articulated 6 positions of cognitive development incollege students.

� Most people pass fairlypredictably from position

to position, althoughcertainly development isnot really as linear as thepositions imply.



Perrys scheme of cognitive

development

Development may bearrested or evenreversed at any stage if the cognitive challengespresented are toogreat.

Furthermore, a personcan be at differentstages in different areasof life.



Perry's Cognitive Development

Scheme

In Stages 1 and 2

(Dualism), students may

resist learning

information thatchallenges their

established beliefs.



Perrys Cognitive Development

Scheme

In Stages 3 and 4

Multiplicity

Students may argue

that their answers are

just as valid as a

teachers answers for a

subjective topic.



Perrys Cognitive Development

Scheme

� In Stage 6, Commitment

Students begin to

realize that they mustmake choices and(commit to solutions)and ways of life.

Believe own values,respect others, be readyto learn



Baxter Magoldas Model of

Epistemological ReflectionStage One

Absolute KnowingKnowledge is viewed as certain.

Teachers are absolute authoritiesLearning is about reciting facts.

Dr. Marcia Baxter Magolda, Miami of OhioK nowing and Reasoning in College: Gender-Related

Patterns in Students Intellectual Development (1992)




Epistemological ReflectionStage Two

Transitional Knowing

Reflects that someknowledge is uncertain.

Authorities are not all-knowing

Authorities provide moreinformation regarding theapplicability of knowledge.




Epistemological Reflection

Students in this stage of

transitional knowing are

focused on understanding

knowledge rather thansimply acquiring

knowledge

� Half of sophomores and close toeighty percent of juniors and

seniors were transitional knower's.




Epistemological ReflectionStage Three

Independent knowing

Recognize that knowledge ismostly uncertain.

Instructors are expected toprovide an environment forlearning that rewards thinkingand logic over particular viewsthat may be different from thetext or the teacher.

� I ndependent knowing was seen most frequently in the first year past graduation(57%).




Epistemological Reflection� Stage Four

Contextual Knowing.

Contextual knowinginvolves the belief thatthe legitimacy of knowledge claims isdetermined contextually.The individual still

constructs a point of view,but the perspective nowrequires supportingevidence.



Teach First Year Students about the

Patterns in All Learning



Which of the following

slides is easier toremember andWHY?



SLIDE ONE

4915802979



Slide Two

(491) 580-2979



Slide One

NRAFBINBCUSAMTV



Slide Two

NRA NBC FBI USA MTV



Which is easier?

� Counting backwards from 100

OR

� Reciting the alphabet backwards



Patterns and Learning

The brain is a pattern seeking device that

relates whole concepts to one another and

looks for similarities, differences, or

relationships between them. (Ratey, 2002, pg.5)

Philosophy Psychology



Patterns that Aid Learning--

Mapping

www.noticebored.com/assets/images/NB_inductio...www.eyezberg.com/.../bline_charts.png



Reading a textbook

90% of the time the 1st sentence

of a paragraph is the Main Idea of

the paragraph



Reading Patterns

� Lists

� Sequences

� Definitions

� Cause and Effect

� Similarity and

Difference



Similarity and Difference

The most common pattern used in American

schools is similarity and difference.



Information Learned in a Complete

Pattern

When information is learned as part of a

whole (a complete pattern) it becomes easier

to recall.

Stimulating any part of the pattern can lead

to the recall of the whole pattern.



Baseball Players Positions

What level of

understanding do youhave of baseball?




� However, if all a person did was memorize the names

in order 1-9« trouble!!!



References

Bjork, R. A. (1994) Memory and Metamemory consideration in the training of human beings. In J. Metcalfe & A.Shimamura (Eds) Metacognition: Knowing about Knowing pp. 185-205. Cambridge, MA MIT Press.

Bloom, Ben jamin S. (Ed). (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Ob jectives: Theclassification of Educational Goals. Handbook I. Cognitive Domain (pp. 201-207). New York: McKay.

Caine, Renate; Caine, Geoffrey. Education on The Edge of Possibility. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision andCurriculum Development, 1997.

Damasio, A. R. (1994). Descartes' error: Emotion, reason, and the human brain. New York, NY, Grosset/PutnamDiamond, Marion. (1988). Enriching Heredity: The Impact of the Environment on the Brain. New York, NY: Free Press.Damasio AR: Fundamental Feelings. Nature 413:781, 2001..D. O. Hebb,1949 monograph, The Organization of Behavior

Dweck, Carol. Mindset The New Psychology of Success, 2006 random House, NYMedina, John, Brain Rules, Pear Press, 2008Sylwester, R. A Celebration of Neurons An Educator¶s Guide to the Human Brain, ASCD:1995Sprenger, M. Learning and Memory The Brain in Action by, ASCD, 1999.How People Learn by National Research Council editor John Bransford, National Research Council, 2000Goldberg, E. The Executive Brain Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind ,Oxford University Press: 2001

Ratey, J. MD. Spark: The New Science of Exercise and the Brain, 2008, Little BrownRatey, J. MD :A User¶s Guide to the Brain, Pantheon Books: New York, 2001Zull, James. The Art of Changing the Brain.2002, Stylus: VirginiaWeimer, Maryellen. Learner-Centered Teaching. Jossey-Bass, 2002Sousa, David. How the Brain Learns(Corwin Press, Inc., 1998),

Long-Lasting Novelty-Induced Neuronal Reverberation during Slow-Wave Sleep in Multiple Forebrain AreasSidarta Ribeiro, Damien Gervasoni, Ernesto S. Soares, Yi Zhou, Shih-Chieh Lin, Janaina Pantoja, Michael Lavine,Miguel A. L. Nicolelis



Appendix A

� Fixed Mindset

� Self image. Because a student sees their intelligence as fixed does not mean they dont continue toseek a positive self image. This action however, takes the form of wanting to look smart by eithertaking on only easy tasks, trying to make others look dumb, or discounting others achievements.

� Challenges. Students with a fixed mindset often stick to what they know they can do well. Otherchallenges are to be avoided as they present a risk to their self image should they fail. As an advisor,for years I have heard students ask, Are there some easy classes I could take? This request is likelythe sign of a fixed mindset.

� bstacles. In the case of obstacles, which are defined as things that are external or beyond controland therefore harder to avoid, students often make excuses or avoid them by being absent.

� Effort. Their view of effort is that it is unpleasant and does not pay off in any positive gains;therefore, it is to be avoided. Their perception of what great effort is can fall quite short of whatis actually required to find academic success. This may also contribute to their view of effort asfutile.

� Criticism. Any criticism of their abilities is seen as criticism of them at a personal level. Usefulcriticism is usually ignored or even worse, seen as an insult. This personal response to criticism

leads to less and less chance of improvement because they are not open to using any of thefeedback that could help them improve.

� Success of others. Students with a fixed mindset see others success as making them look bad. Theymay try to convince their peers that others success was due to luck or worse, some objectionableactions. They may even try to distract from the success of others by bringing up their own unrelatedpersonal successes or previous failures of those currently successful.



Appendix A

� Growth Mindset

� Self Image. Their self image is not tied to their abilities because they see their abilities assomething that can be further developed and improved. Their desire to learn is paramount.

� Challenges. Challenge is embraced because they believe they will come out stronger for takingchallenge on. They believe they will discover valuable things by engaging in the effort.

� bstacles. Because their self image is not tied to their success or how they will look to others,failure is an opportunity to learn. So in a sense, they win either way. An obstacle is just one more of many things on the road of learning and improving.

� Effort. Students see effort as necessary if growth and eventual mastery is to be gained. It is viewedas a natural part of the learning process.

� Criticism. Although these students are not any more thrilled to get negative criticism than anyoneelse, they know it is not personal and that it is meant to help them grow and improve, which theybelieve they can do. They also see the criticism as directed only at their current level of abilitieswhich they see as changing with time and effort.

� Success of Others. The success of others is seen as inspiration and information that they can learnfrom.

montevallo presentation first year students aug 24

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