It may seem crazy to think that those who get accepted to college and university may actually come into academia without fully being prepared to learn. Many students come into postsecondary after successfully completing high school or other pursuits and yet have to learn or re-learn study habits, time management skills, organizational skills, and more. In today’s world, it is not surprising that high school students struggle in college, especially when they come from a system that has lowered expectations, removed deadlines, and eliminated homework from the academic experience. I do not mean to offend anyone with that comment; however, my personal experience with having two high school students has lead me to believe that our education system is failing to prepare students for the responsibility of being self-directed, academically prepared learners.
The article by Ambrose (2010), chapter 7, discusses how students can become self-directed learners and offers tips and techniques for how to develop metacognition. Meta cognitive skills was defined as “the process of reflecting and directing one’s own thinking” (Ambrose, p.190) and can help support students to assess their own learning and performance while also making any adjustments needed to become successful.
Having good metacognition requires students to be quite self aware and self reflective about their abilities and talents associated with study and work habits. This type of processing can assist students to adapt to new learning environments and apply the techniques that will best support their learning. The challenge however, as Ambrose points out, is that students do not always possess these reflective skills and often continue to make the same mistakes over and over again as they tackle assignments and tasks. Some of the most common mistakes students tend to repeat involve procrastinating, over or underestimating their skills, and failing to plan for and/or meet the standards required of assignments. Failing to make adjustments or improving upon procrastination may not actually be about student’s bad habits or behaviors, but rather is attributable to a lack in metacognitive ability.
The title of my post is at the heart of what I took away from reading the article—students need to learn how to learn in order to become successful in postsecondary. Much of the work needed, especially, during the first year, has to focus on study skills, paying attention to details and requirements asked of assignments, learning how to write, figuring out how to organize time, and managing their schedules and deadlines. Students ultimately need a crash course in College 101. It is unfortunate that many students who are bright and capable fall apart and fail because they are missing the essential skills needed to become self-directed, goal oriented, and successful learners.
In pondering this issue and considering the varied and helpful tips offered by Ambrose, I wondered if students could also benefit from prepatory classes that could teach all of the skills needed to set students up for success. Perhaps it could be one or two classes per week that were dedicated to helping students acquire metacognition, encouraging them to identify learning goals, and adjusting their habits to be responsive to the new demands put upon them. The course could be layered with additional skills that students often lack such as writing, critical thinking, and self-reflection skills. A course like this could also address issues that students may encounter such as how to maintain motivation, how to critique their work, and how to combat stress.
It is sad to think about how many students may drop out of college or fail because they didn’t have the skills or supports needed to adapt to the challenges of postsecondary, or because they didn’t know such supports were available. It may also be that students are contending with other life issues beyond the academic ones that can cause interference with their success. Bracher pointed out additional issues that may interfere with learning, including issues of substance abuse, emotional regulation, and competing or poorly coordinated identities. These issues can further compound the problem of learning and impede success.
Issues like these can prevent or interrupt a student’s success if they go unacknowledged. Students may suffer in silence or may be fearful to speak out because they assume it is their issue and may not recognize that others often share a common experience. I can’t help but think about the challenges women often experience when dealing with complex life demands while also battling family life, financial issues, and struggling to succeed in school. Some women’s experiences may also be layered with mental health issues or disabilities that can further impede success. The issues preventing success can be deep, layered and varied.
I guess the important thing for educators to realize is that there are layers of issues that students may be dealing with that can compete with their commitment or ability to succeed academically. Being aware of possible issues such as how well students are prepared for the learning environment or how well they can cope with the pressures of life and learning are important considerations for faculty. It is critical that faculty pay attention to cues and are responsive to learners on an individual level while offering guidance and support as needed. It is also equally imperative that the administrative levels of colleges and universities are aware of students needs and offer the necessary supports and resources. Ultimately, the role of postsecondary is about educating citizens in holistic ways that involve whole person development. If we truly believe in the original intent of a university education, beyond the modern day capitalistic, market-driven political system, then we believe education should be emancipatory and enriching. If this is our belief, then we must also believe that we have a role to play in being part of the paradigm shift toward education that is truly liberatory. For me that means supporting students to learn, grow, and think in new ways while also helping them to become the people they desire to be.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Blog Post #5: Identity Development among Youth
The first reading we have from Bracher (2006) introduces educators to a variety of issues that can impact students across the education spectrum. The issue of concern throughout this reading relates to identity formation and the strong human need to defend and maintain one’s identity. As I read this latest article, I kept thinking about adolescent students, particularly those who are in junior high and early high school when identity is being shaped largely by peers and other social influences. These years of adolescence and puberty can be very difficult for youth and for their families as they work to navigate through tumultuous times. It can also mean significant challenges for classroom teachers to work within hormonal and chaotic environments where young people are learning so much about themselves while also trying to learn academically. I also couldn’t help but think about my own teenage children, especially my son who recently turned 18.
Early in the reading, I was captivated by the statement “...people are often more willing to risk biological death than ideological death, the death of their identity or sense of self” (Bracher, 2006, p. 5). As I said, I was already thinking about my own children and how their identity has been shaped and how challenging it is for parents and educators to reach and influence young people who are often so strongly impacted by their social worlds. I remember being the center of my children’s universe and being able to kiss them in public or advise them on what to wear. Then suddenly, all that seemed to change during adolescence when I no longer had much influence on my children because I was no longer “cool” in their eyes. I saw both my son and daughter sacrifice logic in order to maintain the identity of being cool in their friend’s eyes, even if that meant not zippering their jacket or wearing a hat on a very cold day.
As I continued to read, I was really interested in the ways identity and the need for recognition and acceptance are associated with learning. As people develop their sense of self, there is a strong need for their identity to matter in the world and for people to have a sense of purpose. The learning we achieve is also strongly connected to identity formation and our learning must provide support for our identity if it is to be effective and reinforcing. This means that what we learn will either support or negate what we believe to be true about ourselves and our world. The “motivation to learn can be lacking when students are able to get all the support they need from sources other than education with less effort or with fewer threats to identity” (Bracher, 2006, p. 5). This point applied to my son particularly as I watched him begin to resist learning as he was gaining more recognition and attention from peers for acting out and being a class clown in school. His identity as a “cool guy” was threatened in the classroom context when he was confronted by teachers and was reinforced among his peers. Getting attention from peers began to shape his identity and motivate his behavior because it was easy to get the laughs and powerful reinforcement.
My son entered junior high a strong, academic student with good behavior and a shy personality. It wasn’t long before I noted significant changes in his behavior and appearance. Without rehashing all of the details during that period of our lives, it will suffice to say that he was dealing with exposure to drugs, fights, and bullying. He described junior high as “survival of the fittest and a dog-eat-dog” world. Regardless of the support I or teachers offered, he had to choose how to deal with his new environment and determine his own identity. Despite my love, support or words of encouragement, my son was developing his sense of self and determining who he wanted to be through the lens of peers and social pressures. Bracher (2006) points out that when students encounter knowledge that threatens their sense of identity, they will often vigorously resist the information in order to preserve their sense of self and defend their beliefs.
I once got a call from his math teacher to tell me about the high score my son achieved on his recent math test. Just as I was about to say how great the news was, he informed me that when he returned the test to my son and congratulated him on a job well done, my son got very angry. When the teacher waited to talk to him about this behavior after class, my son told the teacher that he had been embarrassed and did not want others knowing his grades. I, too, tried to talk to him, on several occasions, about this issue and other issues related to choices he was making (ie/ choice of friends, habits, etc). However, after the test score incident, we saw a marked decline in my son’s efforts and consequently his grades. It appears that his reputation and social position among his friends was of primary importance compared to academic achievement.
The evidence from this reading suggests that some students will lower the academic standards they set for themselves and reduce their efforts in order to associate with a certain peer group. This concept is referred to as downward social comparisons which are tactics people use to “support their identity by comparing themselves to others who are inferior to them in a significant way” (p.22). Students who do this are comparing their academic abilities to those with inferior performances and thereby lowering their own standards and undermining their own motivation to achieve. Essentially, they are abandoning their own “pursuit of excellence in order to maintain relationships...” (p.22). Once again, we can see from this point how youth may choose recognition from friends over academic achievement.
Another central idea that I found interesting is that the sex of the parent can impact the learning of the child. “Where the mother is the more intelligent parent, learning may seem to be feminine and may result in conflict in the boy. This conflict may be heightened if there are bright sisters or female cousins, or bright classmates. Excelling in school is then often regarded as a sign of being a sissy.... Proof of one’s masculinity demands a certain amount of defiance or behavior disorder” (p.19). After reading this, I wondered if being a single mother and working so hard toward my own academic achievement could have negatively affected my son’s learning. It occurred to me that he was the only “man” in the house and was surrounded by strong women--mother, grandmother, sister, etc-- and his newly developing identity seemed to be resisting the dominant female influences he had. It is possible that the negative behaviors he was displaying were a rejection of these feminine influences and an immersion of his new “bad boy” identity.
Both Katz and Erikson (Bracher, 2006) have discussed the negative behaviors that are displayed as a way to preserve an identity that is associated with being “bad ass”. Erikson referred to this as “negative identity” while Katz pointed out the hypermasculine signifiers boys/men will showcase to make themselves appear hard or tough. Some of the behaviors displayed can lead to social problems such as violence and crime as men [boys] feel the “need to enact or defend their identity as a “man” (p. 23). I can believe that my son’s actions may very well have been a cry for recognition as a man and a rejection of feminized education and influence. Although this seems extraordinary, the initial point made in this article is that humans will often choose death in defense of their identity before the surrender who they believe themselves to be.
These points are certainly food for thought for anyone working with youth as we struggle to recognize and validate the path they are on when developing their identity. Furthermore, as Bracher suggested, we need to have a full understanding of the nature of identity and its needs so that we can understand how these needs motivate both learning and the failure to learn and also how they contribute to our social problems (2006).
Early in the reading, I was captivated by the statement “...people are often more willing to risk biological death than ideological death, the death of their identity or sense of self” (Bracher, 2006, p. 5). As I said, I was already thinking about my own children and how their identity has been shaped and how challenging it is for parents and educators to reach and influence young people who are often so strongly impacted by their social worlds. I remember being the center of my children’s universe and being able to kiss them in public or advise them on what to wear. Then suddenly, all that seemed to change during adolescence when I no longer had much influence on my children because I was no longer “cool” in their eyes. I saw both my son and daughter sacrifice logic in order to maintain the identity of being cool in their friend’s eyes, even if that meant not zippering their jacket or wearing a hat on a very cold day.
As I continued to read, I was really interested in the ways identity and the need for recognition and acceptance are associated with learning. As people develop their sense of self, there is a strong need for their identity to matter in the world and for people to have a sense of purpose. The learning we achieve is also strongly connected to identity formation and our learning must provide support for our identity if it is to be effective and reinforcing. This means that what we learn will either support or negate what we believe to be true about ourselves and our world. The “motivation to learn can be lacking when students are able to get all the support they need from sources other than education with less effort or with fewer threats to identity” (Bracher, 2006, p. 5). This point applied to my son particularly as I watched him begin to resist learning as he was gaining more recognition and attention from peers for acting out and being a class clown in school. His identity as a “cool guy” was threatened in the classroom context when he was confronted by teachers and was reinforced among his peers. Getting attention from peers began to shape his identity and motivate his behavior because it was easy to get the laughs and powerful reinforcement.
My son entered junior high a strong, academic student with good behavior and a shy personality. It wasn’t long before I noted significant changes in his behavior and appearance. Without rehashing all of the details during that period of our lives, it will suffice to say that he was dealing with exposure to drugs, fights, and bullying. He described junior high as “survival of the fittest and a dog-eat-dog” world. Regardless of the support I or teachers offered, he had to choose how to deal with his new environment and determine his own identity. Despite my love, support or words of encouragement, my son was developing his sense of self and determining who he wanted to be through the lens of peers and social pressures. Bracher (2006) points out that when students encounter knowledge that threatens their sense of identity, they will often vigorously resist the information in order to preserve their sense of self and defend their beliefs.
I once got a call from his math teacher to tell me about the high score my son achieved on his recent math test. Just as I was about to say how great the news was, he informed me that when he returned the test to my son and congratulated him on a job well done, my son got very angry. When the teacher waited to talk to him about this behavior after class, my son told the teacher that he had been embarrassed and did not want others knowing his grades. I, too, tried to talk to him, on several occasions, about this issue and other issues related to choices he was making (ie/ choice of friends, habits, etc). However, after the test score incident, we saw a marked decline in my son’s efforts and consequently his grades. It appears that his reputation and social position among his friends was of primary importance compared to academic achievement.
The evidence from this reading suggests that some students will lower the academic standards they set for themselves and reduce their efforts in order to associate with a certain peer group. This concept is referred to as downward social comparisons which are tactics people use to “support their identity by comparing themselves to others who are inferior to them in a significant way” (p.22). Students who do this are comparing their academic abilities to those with inferior performances and thereby lowering their own standards and undermining their own motivation to achieve. Essentially, they are abandoning their own “pursuit of excellence in order to maintain relationships...” (p.22). Once again, we can see from this point how youth may choose recognition from friends over academic achievement.
Another central idea that I found interesting is that the sex of the parent can impact the learning of the child. “Where the mother is the more intelligent parent, learning may seem to be feminine and may result in conflict in the boy. This conflict may be heightened if there are bright sisters or female cousins, or bright classmates. Excelling in school is then often regarded as a sign of being a sissy.... Proof of one’s masculinity demands a certain amount of defiance or behavior disorder” (p.19). After reading this, I wondered if being a single mother and working so hard toward my own academic achievement could have negatively affected my son’s learning. It occurred to me that he was the only “man” in the house and was surrounded by strong women--mother, grandmother, sister, etc-- and his newly developing identity seemed to be resisting the dominant female influences he had. It is possible that the negative behaviors he was displaying were a rejection of these feminine influences and an immersion of his new “bad boy” identity.
Both Katz and Erikson (Bracher, 2006) have discussed the negative behaviors that are displayed as a way to preserve an identity that is associated with being “bad ass”. Erikson referred to this as “negative identity” while Katz pointed out the hypermasculine signifiers boys/men will showcase to make themselves appear hard or tough. Some of the behaviors displayed can lead to social problems such as violence and crime as men [boys] feel the “need to enact or defend their identity as a “man” (p. 23). I can believe that my son’s actions may very well have been a cry for recognition as a man and a rejection of feminized education and influence. Although this seems extraordinary, the initial point made in this article is that humans will often choose death in defense of their identity before the surrender who they believe themselves to be.
These points are certainly food for thought for anyone working with youth as we struggle to recognize and validate the path they are on when developing their identity. Furthermore, as Bracher suggested, we need to have a full understanding of the nature of identity and its needs so that we can understand how these needs motivate both learning and the failure to learn and also how they contribute to our social problems (2006).
Monday, February 25, 2013
Blog Post #4: Classrooms as Communities for Learning and Personal Development
For this week’s post, I wanted to focus on the power of education and the impact classroom learning can have to create communities of people who are shaped through mutual learning and exchange. Therefore, I decided to draw attention to some similarities among Wenger, Ambrose, and another author’s work, bell hooks. The connection I have made among the three authors is the attention they give to learning as a community—as a collective of people engaged, shaped, and developed together.
Each author points out the importance of creating learning communities that are safe for engagement and participation while learners develop, shape, and re-shape their identities throughout the learning process. Wenger (1999) talks about the balance that a community of practice must find between participation and reification in the development and negotiation of meaning. He explains that communities of practice come to agree upon meaning through joint social action as they work to develop meanings (through participation) and to re-negotiate meanings (reifications) as time passes and things change. What is understood among the participants in the community has been shared and passed along to its members through cultural and social learning that shapes and influences each individual who is part of the community. Together they contribute individual capacities that form a joint enterprise where individuals learn, grow, share, bond, and collaborate with one another. As a community, they share a history of learning and a history of their own established meanings and reifications that have been possible because of their mutual care, respect, co-operation, and connection.
Ambrose (2010) also highlights how learning environments foster connections among learners while social and emotional dynamics are formed in the classroom. Depending on the topics being discussed in the classroom, learners may be challenged in new ways as they come together to share openly and discover themselves and others. Students cycle through various emotions as they develop intellectually and socially through their exchanges with others. In many ways, the learning shared among the class members helps to shape or re-shape identities (Chickering’s theory refers to this stage as “Establishing Identity”, p. 161) and affects who they become after the post secondary experience. Ambrose explains that students “grapple with ideas and experiences that challenge their existing values and assumptions” (p.159) which often forces learners to confront their beliefs and to develop new understandings and meanings. For some students, new learning can lead to new perspectives and awareness while others may remain more closed; however, all students will be impacted in some way from the experiences they shared together. The shared learning experiences occurring in the classroom can contribute to student’s overall development as they establish competence, integrity, purpose, autonomy, interpersonal relationships, identity, and emotional regulation (Ambrose, 2010).
For personal growth and development to occur, educators must be able to foster safe and engaging classrooms that can support a community of learners in their pursuit of personal and academic growth. The challenge for educators is how to develop learning spaces that are safe, respectful and engaging so that all learners can participate and develop in meaningful ways. This is where hooks and Ambrose both offer insightful suggestions that can support educators as they work to foster positive classroom climates.
Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope (2003) is a book written by bell hooks that offers pedagogical practices to help create community in our classrooms. It is about bringing students together to share with one another in ways that lead to enhanced interpersonal skills, openness, growth and learning. Hooks talks extensively about the role educators must play to establish safe learning environments that engage students in dialogue and democratic practices so they can learn and grow together. The focus of building community in our classrooms is to foster social justice and to help students use their voice to make social change. Hooks views education as a liberating process that is a fight to end oppression because “students in the progressive classroom learn how to think critically and open their minds” (2003, p.8). The opportunity to mutually share ideas and experiences with others is how community is established and connections are made.
Because we have all read the teaching practices suggested in the Ambrose chapter, I will not recite those here, but rather, I will point out those that align closely with suggestions offered by hooks. These include: the importance of empowering students to use their own voice and share openly; to help students connect and establish respect (perhaps through the use of ground rules); to accept that students enter and leave college at various stages therefore community cannot be forced; building community is not always pleasant and positive because true growth often arises from challenge and discomfort; educators must challenge worldviews so as to move students forward; we must understand students holistically and recognize the tensions that may occur in order to be proactive and progressive; we must offer sensitivity, support and validation.
Lastly, I wanted to point out how the practice of establishing classroom ground rules (suggested by Ambrose) demonstrates similarity among the three author’s works. Developing a set of classroom ground rules is a collaborative practice that involves the participation of everyone in the community (Wenger). When the rules are agreed upon and accepted, these rules have then been reified (they are the outcome of the negotiation among the members). If, collectively, the members decide to change the rules later, they will then participate once again in a discussion to determine what reifications will be made. In this process, the classroom is acting as a democratic and engaged community (hooks) as they share, collaborate, and develop together.
If you are interested in the bell hooks book, you can find it at the following link...
http://www.amazon.ca/Teaching-Community-A-Pedagogy-Hope/dp/0415968186
Each author points out the importance of creating learning communities that are safe for engagement and participation while learners develop, shape, and re-shape their identities throughout the learning process. Wenger (1999) talks about the balance that a community of practice must find between participation and reification in the development and negotiation of meaning. He explains that communities of practice come to agree upon meaning through joint social action as they work to develop meanings (through participation) and to re-negotiate meanings (reifications) as time passes and things change. What is understood among the participants in the community has been shared and passed along to its members through cultural and social learning that shapes and influences each individual who is part of the community. Together they contribute individual capacities that form a joint enterprise where individuals learn, grow, share, bond, and collaborate with one another. As a community, they share a history of learning and a history of their own established meanings and reifications that have been possible because of their mutual care, respect, co-operation, and connection.
Ambrose (2010) also highlights how learning environments foster connections among learners while social and emotional dynamics are formed in the classroom. Depending on the topics being discussed in the classroom, learners may be challenged in new ways as they come together to share openly and discover themselves and others. Students cycle through various emotions as they develop intellectually and socially through their exchanges with others. In many ways, the learning shared among the class members helps to shape or re-shape identities (Chickering’s theory refers to this stage as “Establishing Identity”, p. 161) and affects who they become after the post secondary experience. Ambrose explains that students “grapple with ideas and experiences that challenge their existing values and assumptions” (p.159) which often forces learners to confront their beliefs and to develop new understandings and meanings. For some students, new learning can lead to new perspectives and awareness while others may remain more closed; however, all students will be impacted in some way from the experiences they shared together. The shared learning experiences occurring in the classroom can contribute to student’s overall development as they establish competence, integrity, purpose, autonomy, interpersonal relationships, identity, and emotional regulation (Ambrose, 2010).
For personal growth and development to occur, educators must be able to foster safe and engaging classrooms that can support a community of learners in their pursuit of personal and academic growth. The challenge for educators is how to develop learning spaces that are safe, respectful and engaging so that all learners can participate and develop in meaningful ways. This is where hooks and Ambrose both offer insightful suggestions that can support educators as they work to foster positive classroom climates.
Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope (2003) is a book written by bell hooks that offers pedagogical practices to help create community in our classrooms. It is about bringing students together to share with one another in ways that lead to enhanced interpersonal skills, openness, growth and learning. Hooks talks extensively about the role educators must play to establish safe learning environments that engage students in dialogue and democratic practices so they can learn and grow together. The focus of building community in our classrooms is to foster social justice and to help students use their voice to make social change. Hooks views education as a liberating process that is a fight to end oppression because “students in the progressive classroom learn how to think critically and open their minds” (2003, p.8). The opportunity to mutually share ideas and experiences with others is how community is established and connections are made.
Because we have all read the teaching practices suggested in the Ambrose chapter, I will not recite those here, but rather, I will point out those that align closely with suggestions offered by hooks. These include: the importance of empowering students to use their own voice and share openly; to help students connect and establish respect (perhaps through the use of ground rules); to accept that students enter and leave college at various stages therefore community cannot be forced; building community is not always pleasant and positive because true growth often arises from challenge and discomfort; educators must challenge worldviews so as to move students forward; we must understand students holistically and recognize the tensions that may occur in order to be proactive and progressive; we must offer sensitivity, support and validation.
Lastly, I wanted to point out how the practice of establishing classroom ground rules (suggested by Ambrose) demonstrates similarity among the three author’s works. Developing a set of classroom ground rules is a collaborative practice that involves the participation of everyone in the community (Wenger). When the rules are agreed upon and accepted, these rules have then been reified (they are the outcome of the negotiation among the members). If, collectively, the members decide to change the rules later, they will then participate once again in a discussion to determine what reifications will be made. In this process, the classroom is acting as a democratic and engaged community (hooks) as they share, collaborate, and develop together.
If you are interested in the bell hooks book, you can find it at the following link...
http://www.amazon.ca/Teaching-Community-A-Pedagogy-Hope/dp/0415968186
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Blog Post #3: Providing Meaningful & Timely Feedback through Social Learning Opportunities
After completing this week’s readings, I wanted to write a blog post about how to utilize some of the suggestions about practice and feedback from Ambrose’s chapter (#5) with Wenger’s research about social learning theory and communities of practice. The idea is to merge the concepts to reflect a classroom practice that would support student learning by offering more social opportunities to engage in reflective practice and peer feedback while also receiving adequate support from the faculty/teacher.
The importance of writing and critical thinking are essential skills for college and university students to acquire, yet can be some of the most difficult learning to achieve. Learning to write critically, to examine research, and to articulate an argument are skills that take considerable time to develop and require ongoing practice and support. Many universities often set up writing workshops and resource centres to help support students in the pursuit of strong academic writing to help equip them with the essential skills needed for success. Writing can also be especially challenging for ESL students or for students with learning disabilities. Specific cases like this will also require additional supports such as tutoring, resource facilitation, and more.
In any classroom, there will be broad diversity among student’s writing abilities and vast differences in their strengths and weaknesses as writers/researchers, yet they will all need to work to refine and edit their writing in order to be successful in their courses. If we consider the points made in both Ambrose’s chapter and the research offered by Wenger, then we can include many key elements to help devise strategies and techniques that can help students in very practical ways and that will be helpful to teachers who have limited time and resources to provide the kind of feedback and practice that are necessary.
In recognizing the importance of continual writing practice for students, it would be useful to break assignments down into smaller chunks so that they can work toward a larger goal by setting smaller objectives along the way. For example, if the assignment is to write an APA research essay, then perhaps the tasks can be broken down into increments whereby the topic and thesis are submitted first, followed by research and references, then submitting a first draft, etc. The pieces that get submitted can be weighted for a smaller grade and can provide incremental and meaningful feedback that can help direct the focus of the paper. Each step along the way allows the teacher an opportunity to provide meaningful and timely feedback and provides direction to help the student set goals for improving their performance. There is also an opportunity here to build in peer review and peer feedback whereby classmates review one another’s work and offer comments and critique. As Ambrose pointed out, peer critique will require guidance and instruction by the teacher; however, providing minimal instruction and guidance to help peers establish how to provide critique could save considerably compared to the teacher marking every individual piece of work. If classmates reviewed one another’s draft papers for content, errors, etc then the feedback could help support each learner to see their work through “fresh eyes” and integrate the feedback into the final draft.
To ensure this type of assignment worked well, it would be critical to provide clear direction on expectations including the use of a rubric. The use of a rubric will clearly identify what is required and how the assignment will be evaluated so that students know how their work will be assessed. The details of the assignment should be specific and provide the structure students need to reach performance measures. Students could even help to build the rubric by offering suggestions on how they think the work should be evaluated. Allowing the students to contribute to the rubric/evaluation scheme would lead to more student engagement and help to clarify expectations. Engaging in an exchange like this is also a social process that integrates other’s ideas and would help students to feel a vested interest in their mutual learning.
If the students engage in the development of a rubric and then the peer review session to evaluate one another’s drafts, they are essentially contributing to a learning community. The opportunity to interact and provide one another with insight into ways to improve and revise their work is a social process that will also support the individual student by helping them to re-evaluate and revise their own work after receiving the feedback from their peers. The role for the teacher in this process would be to consult/supervise as the students engage in the critique. The teacher could circulate throughout the classroom offering support and additional feedback where needed and collectively, the whole class would be immersed in shared learning and mutual engagement.
Hosting writing and review sessions like this could happen during regular class time, outside of regular hours (ie/ through workshops or lunch hours) or through social media sites such as wikis or blogs. As Wenger points out, the learning community can occur anywhere people can meet to share in and exchange ideas. If the students get interested in collaborating in this way, then they may be engaged enough to remain committed to supporting one another’s mutual learning on their own time. If regular feedback and practice sessions are established (in or outside of the classroom), then students will receive the timely and meaningful feedback they need to help build success while the teacher monitors and measures performance outcomes along the way.
I believe this approach is strongly in line with Vygotsky’s scaffolding approach (Zone of Proximal Development) because it provides the one-on-one tutoring support that is needed to challenge students without making the work too difficult. This technique/practice would further help all students to learn what to look for in terms of exemplary versus poor quality work, to identify patterns of errors, and learn to give and receive feedback constructively. This type of learning opportunity lends itself to the community of learning Wenger describes by generating social energy, building leadership, requiring trust, and giving the time needed to support and contribute to shared learning goals.
For interest purposes, the following are a few links that offer online writing workshops, access to rubrics, and additional readings related to collaborative learning...
Online Writing Courses/Workshops:
http://continuingstudies.wisc.edu/lsa/online/writing/?dcs=adwords&gclid=CKXnsYy1n7UCFSNqMgodTy8AbA
Rubistar (Creating Rubrics):
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/
Collaborative Learning Enhances Critical Thinking:
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/v7n1/gokhale.jte-v7n1.html
Collaborative Learning Culture:
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/leadership/ideasintoactionspring.pdf
The importance of writing and critical thinking are essential skills for college and university students to acquire, yet can be some of the most difficult learning to achieve. Learning to write critically, to examine research, and to articulate an argument are skills that take considerable time to develop and require ongoing practice and support. Many universities often set up writing workshops and resource centres to help support students in the pursuit of strong academic writing to help equip them with the essential skills needed for success. Writing can also be especially challenging for ESL students or for students with learning disabilities. Specific cases like this will also require additional supports such as tutoring, resource facilitation, and more.
In any classroom, there will be broad diversity among student’s writing abilities and vast differences in their strengths and weaknesses as writers/researchers, yet they will all need to work to refine and edit their writing in order to be successful in their courses. If we consider the points made in both Ambrose’s chapter and the research offered by Wenger, then we can include many key elements to help devise strategies and techniques that can help students in very practical ways and that will be helpful to teachers who have limited time and resources to provide the kind of feedback and practice that are necessary.
In recognizing the importance of continual writing practice for students, it would be useful to break assignments down into smaller chunks so that they can work toward a larger goal by setting smaller objectives along the way. For example, if the assignment is to write an APA research essay, then perhaps the tasks can be broken down into increments whereby the topic and thesis are submitted first, followed by research and references, then submitting a first draft, etc. The pieces that get submitted can be weighted for a smaller grade and can provide incremental and meaningful feedback that can help direct the focus of the paper. Each step along the way allows the teacher an opportunity to provide meaningful and timely feedback and provides direction to help the student set goals for improving their performance. There is also an opportunity here to build in peer review and peer feedback whereby classmates review one another’s work and offer comments and critique. As Ambrose pointed out, peer critique will require guidance and instruction by the teacher; however, providing minimal instruction and guidance to help peers establish how to provide critique could save considerably compared to the teacher marking every individual piece of work. If classmates reviewed one another’s draft papers for content, errors, etc then the feedback could help support each learner to see their work through “fresh eyes” and integrate the feedback into the final draft.
To ensure this type of assignment worked well, it would be critical to provide clear direction on expectations including the use of a rubric. The use of a rubric will clearly identify what is required and how the assignment will be evaluated so that students know how their work will be assessed. The details of the assignment should be specific and provide the structure students need to reach performance measures. Students could even help to build the rubric by offering suggestions on how they think the work should be evaluated. Allowing the students to contribute to the rubric/evaluation scheme would lead to more student engagement and help to clarify expectations. Engaging in an exchange like this is also a social process that integrates other’s ideas and would help students to feel a vested interest in their mutual learning.
If the students engage in the development of a rubric and then the peer review session to evaluate one another’s drafts, they are essentially contributing to a learning community. The opportunity to interact and provide one another with insight into ways to improve and revise their work is a social process that will also support the individual student by helping them to re-evaluate and revise their own work after receiving the feedback from their peers. The role for the teacher in this process would be to consult/supervise as the students engage in the critique. The teacher could circulate throughout the classroom offering support and additional feedback where needed and collectively, the whole class would be immersed in shared learning and mutual engagement.
Hosting writing and review sessions like this could happen during regular class time, outside of regular hours (ie/ through workshops or lunch hours) or through social media sites such as wikis or blogs. As Wenger points out, the learning community can occur anywhere people can meet to share in and exchange ideas. If the students get interested in collaborating in this way, then they may be engaged enough to remain committed to supporting one another’s mutual learning on their own time. If regular feedback and practice sessions are established (in or outside of the classroom), then students will receive the timely and meaningful feedback they need to help build success while the teacher monitors and measures performance outcomes along the way.
I believe this approach is strongly in line with Vygotsky’s scaffolding approach (Zone of Proximal Development) because it provides the one-on-one tutoring support that is needed to challenge students without making the work too difficult. This technique/practice would further help all students to learn what to look for in terms of exemplary versus poor quality work, to identify patterns of errors, and learn to give and receive feedback constructively. This type of learning opportunity lends itself to the community of learning Wenger describes by generating social energy, building leadership, requiring trust, and giving the time needed to support and contribute to shared learning goals.
For interest purposes, the following are a few links that offer online writing workshops, access to rubrics, and additional readings related to collaborative learning...
Online Writing Courses/Workshops:
http://continuingstudies.wisc.edu/lsa/online/writing/?dcs=adwords&gclid=CKXnsYy1n7UCFSNqMgodTy8AbA
Rubistar (Creating Rubrics):
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/
Collaborative Learning Enhances Critical Thinking:
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/v7n1/gokhale.jte-v7n1.html
Collaborative Learning Culture:
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/leadership/ideasintoactionspring.pdf
Monday, January 28, 2013
Blog Post #2: Student Motivation
As Faculty teaching in a college context, the issue of student motivation is certainly a main challenge for myself and many of my colleagues. Ironically, I was just mentoring a new staff person recently and was talking about the issue of how hard it is to get students motivated and interested in course content--I often attribute the behaviors they display as the "nature of some students". I sometimes find student motivation lacking and I may assign the blame to student's own laziness or lack of willingness to expend effort.
While saying that however, I do acknowledge that all students are unique and I strive not to lump students into any one category. I strive to treat each individual independently of the others. However, as a Faculty who pours passion and effort into preparing for class, it can be very disheartening and discouraging when students do not expend nearly the same effort as I do to reach for their own success. This is also challenging because I strongly value education in ways some students do not. For me, education is a thrill and I gain personal satisfaction from achieving success, while others are often in pursuit of "the piece of paper" or are attending college because someone else is pressuring them.
After reading the Ambrose article, chapter 3, I am still rather discouraged because I felt many of the strategies offered and explanations provided do not fully capture the whole picture of why students behave as they do nor does it appear to put the responsibility back on learners--which I feel should be part of the discussion. Although I agree with many of the strategies put forth and definitely agree with how important it is that educators contribute significant effort to motivate students, I believe that students need to have internal or intrinsic motivators to sustain their commitment and effort to their own success, beyond what a Faculty offers.
The strategies indicated in the chapter are certainly important and effective--most of which I agree with. I fully believe in providing a supportive learning environment that presents material that is relevant, challenging, authentic, and connects with student's interests and goals. I also think it is imperative that educators portray passion and enthusiasm in teaching while also providing consistent, timely, and thorough feedback that helps students know how to improve. Meaningful feedback, building on success, articulating expectations, providing flexibility, and encouraging learners are all tools for effective teaching. However, the tools students need to sustain their own motivation and the responsibility they have for their own learning and outcomes should also be addressed because learning is a two-way exchange.
Adult learners can and should be expected to prepare for classes and put forth effort to reach their own success, just as they would to sustain a job/career. Whether or not they lose motivation still requires the student to take initiative to self motivate and find strategies for success.
In addition to the two-way exchange required of teaching and learning, I also think educators must understand the unique challenges that prevent student success beyond the issue of motivation. These issues may include competing life demands, learning deficits, immaturity, family or financial issues, health concerns, etc. Additionally, in considering how social human beings are and the strong need we have for collaboration and social connectedness, there is also the influence of peers and social pressures that may interfere with a student's commitment to school. Some of these issues act as barriers to success regardless of how motivated an individual may be. I believe it was Abraham Maslow that developed a pyramid to highlight the theory of human motivation which acknowledged the complex layers of needs people have to satisfy in order to reach self actualization. It is issues like this that need to be considered, in addition to the role of educators, when assessing student motivation.
Ultimately, I think the discussion of student motivation requires a broader lens to examine the various factors at play involving the role of teacher, student and external issues.
While saying that however, I do acknowledge that all students are unique and I strive not to lump students into any one category. I strive to treat each individual independently of the others. However, as a Faculty who pours passion and effort into preparing for class, it can be very disheartening and discouraging when students do not expend nearly the same effort as I do to reach for their own success. This is also challenging because I strongly value education in ways some students do not. For me, education is a thrill and I gain personal satisfaction from achieving success, while others are often in pursuit of "the piece of paper" or are attending college because someone else is pressuring them.
After reading the Ambrose article, chapter 3, I am still rather discouraged because I felt many of the strategies offered and explanations provided do not fully capture the whole picture of why students behave as they do nor does it appear to put the responsibility back on learners--which I feel should be part of the discussion. Although I agree with many of the strategies put forth and definitely agree with how important it is that educators contribute significant effort to motivate students, I believe that students need to have internal or intrinsic motivators to sustain their commitment and effort to their own success, beyond what a Faculty offers.
The strategies indicated in the chapter are certainly important and effective--most of which I agree with. I fully believe in providing a supportive learning environment that presents material that is relevant, challenging, authentic, and connects with student's interests and goals. I also think it is imperative that educators portray passion and enthusiasm in teaching while also providing consistent, timely, and thorough feedback that helps students know how to improve. Meaningful feedback, building on success, articulating expectations, providing flexibility, and encouraging learners are all tools for effective teaching. However, the tools students need to sustain their own motivation and the responsibility they have for their own learning and outcomes should also be addressed because learning is a two-way exchange.
Adult learners can and should be expected to prepare for classes and put forth effort to reach their own success, just as they would to sustain a job/career. Whether or not they lose motivation still requires the student to take initiative to self motivate and find strategies for success.
In addition to the two-way exchange required of teaching and learning, I also think educators must understand the unique challenges that prevent student success beyond the issue of motivation. These issues may include competing life demands, learning deficits, immaturity, family or financial issues, health concerns, etc. Additionally, in considering how social human beings are and the strong need we have for collaboration and social connectedness, there is also the influence of peers and social pressures that may interfere with a student's commitment to school. Some of these issues act as barriers to success regardless of how motivated an individual may be. I believe it was Abraham Maslow that developed a pyramid to highlight the theory of human motivation which acknowledged the complex layers of needs people have to satisfy in order to reach self actualization. It is issues like this that need to be considered, in addition to the role of educators, when assessing student motivation.
Ultimately, I think the discussion of student motivation requires a broader lens to examine the various factors at play involving the role of teacher, student and external issues.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Blog Post #1: The Power of Prior Learning
The videos and chapter one from Ambrose 2010 were very enlightening for me in many ways. Although I knew the importance of recognizing and acknowledging students’ prior knowledge, I was less aware of how it can affect current and new learning. When I thought about students’ prior learning, I often thought about the formal education they had as well as their lived experiences. I knew as a teacher that it would be important for me to acknowledge the learning students had achieved and to embrace previous experiences as well. The connection I wasn’t making however was how prior learning could interfere with, limit, or enhance new material being taught. This information was new for me and insightful.
As I read the Ambrose chapter, I caught myself nodding and agreeing with the frustration other educators have encountered when trying to deliver new content and concepts and feeling like no matter what I say, it just doesn’t seem to get through to some students. I have had moments when I return to the Faculty office at my campus and express how difficult it is to reach the students, or I often ask others for tips, ideas, and support to help me “get through” to students. Sometimes this frustration can lead Faculty to assume that students are not trying hard enough or are not prepared for the class. Although this could possibly be true, it was new learning for me to consider how previous learning might be the true culprit preventing students from integrating new knowledge rather than a behavior issue. The “mismatch between the knowledge students have and the knowledge their instructor expects and needs them to have” (Ambrose, 2010, p.12) seems to be a key issue—this was an especially enlightening point for me. I expect students coming into my class to have a specific foundation of knowledge and I have not been fully aware of how the connections may not be there or may be blocked in some way. For example, how students may have learned certain information that may be inaccurate and can lead to distorting new material that we are trying to teach. This may be a problem further compounded by an adult learner’s lifetime of learning information that could be flawed or inaccurate in several ways. If we consider how diverse learning is across our lifespan, we must acknowledge how much we have been taught or told that could be wrong or very different than that of another. Again, the impact of prior learning can be very complex and expressed in varying ways.
This information does help teachers to be aware of the hindrance prior learning may have to developing new learning. Although prior learning can be positive in many ways, it can still pose a challenge for teachers to determine where the learning issue/block is stemming from—are students coming to our classes with a foundation that is not solid enough to build upon or is the issue that students’ prior learning is intruding on their ability to comprehend new information? Figuring this out can be a real struggle for educators who often have a tight timeline and need to dive into class content as soon as possible in order to achieve the learning outcomes required of the course curriculum within the number of hours available.
The other challenge it poses for teachers is how to determine what students are experiencing unless they communicate it with us in some way. In my experience, many students do not say very much in class and it can be hard to identify if they were struggling or not, especially in a larger class where having the time to connect individually with students is next to impossible. This makes it hard to understand what students already know when they come into our classes. I wonder how many of my students didn’t understand a concept and simply decided to not ask questions or communicate their struggle? In being reflective in my practice, I strive to always stop and see if material is making sense or if students have questions; however, that may not be enough.
After reading the chapter, I took away some new tips to help gage how students are doing and whether or not they are truly “getting it”. Some of the new tips that made a lot of sense to me include doing earlier assessment to determine what knowledge students have or are lacking. This could be done with a beginning quiz, discussion, clicker system assessment, etc. I could then help fill in the gaps by customizing the content to match where the students are. But again, I do wonder how practical this is when all students come in at different levels of knowledge and understanding. If a class of 20 students are at varying levels, I worry how challenging it will be to align the content to match their individual knowledge base.
The idea of finding where a student`s beginning point is, is reminiscent of Vygotsky`s theory of scaffolding which is essentially the same idea of building on a base of knowledge. I guess the trick is to identify where the last layer of scaffolding left off in order to know where to begin. Additionally Ambrose`s chapter suggests that “students must connect new knowledge to previous knowledge in order to learn” (Ambrose, 2010, p. 15). When I think about knowledge being like marbles deposited into a jar (banking concept of learning), I actually visualize magnets rather than marbles. Magnets connect to other magnets and build a mass, in much the same way as schemata are developed in the brain-- the brain makes synaptic connections attaching information to other related synapses and neurons to build a network of knowledge (connectomes). The idea of connecting learning with what students already know will certainly benefit my classroom practice as long as I can figure out what they actually do know and how their knowledge has been shaped by culture, perception, and experience. In essence, it may take additional work and thinking on a teachers part in order to figure out ways to tap into that learning and build upon it. The effort though can certainly help decrease the frustration we feel when students are not getting it and will be worth the effort. To apply some of the principles and neuroscience learned thus far, it will require us as teachers to engage in trial and error to find what works well for us and our students. After all, this is for us as it is for our students—adapting and integrating new learning with prior learning in order to build and retain a broader knowledge base.
As I read the Ambrose chapter, I caught myself nodding and agreeing with the frustration other educators have encountered when trying to deliver new content and concepts and feeling like no matter what I say, it just doesn’t seem to get through to some students. I have had moments when I return to the Faculty office at my campus and express how difficult it is to reach the students, or I often ask others for tips, ideas, and support to help me “get through” to students. Sometimes this frustration can lead Faculty to assume that students are not trying hard enough or are not prepared for the class. Although this could possibly be true, it was new learning for me to consider how previous learning might be the true culprit preventing students from integrating new knowledge rather than a behavior issue. The “mismatch between the knowledge students have and the knowledge their instructor expects and needs them to have” (Ambrose, 2010, p.12) seems to be a key issue—this was an especially enlightening point for me. I expect students coming into my class to have a specific foundation of knowledge and I have not been fully aware of how the connections may not be there or may be blocked in some way. For example, how students may have learned certain information that may be inaccurate and can lead to distorting new material that we are trying to teach. This may be a problem further compounded by an adult learner’s lifetime of learning information that could be flawed or inaccurate in several ways. If we consider how diverse learning is across our lifespan, we must acknowledge how much we have been taught or told that could be wrong or very different than that of another. Again, the impact of prior learning can be very complex and expressed in varying ways.
This information does help teachers to be aware of the hindrance prior learning may have to developing new learning. Although prior learning can be positive in many ways, it can still pose a challenge for teachers to determine where the learning issue/block is stemming from—are students coming to our classes with a foundation that is not solid enough to build upon or is the issue that students’ prior learning is intruding on their ability to comprehend new information? Figuring this out can be a real struggle for educators who often have a tight timeline and need to dive into class content as soon as possible in order to achieve the learning outcomes required of the course curriculum within the number of hours available.
The other challenge it poses for teachers is how to determine what students are experiencing unless they communicate it with us in some way. In my experience, many students do not say very much in class and it can be hard to identify if they were struggling or not, especially in a larger class where having the time to connect individually with students is next to impossible. This makes it hard to understand what students already know when they come into our classes. I wonder how many of my students didn’t understand a concept and simply decided to not ask questions or communicate their struggle? In being reflective in my practice, I strive to always stop and see if material is making sense or if students have questions; however, that may not be enough.
After reading the chapter, I took away some new tips to help gage how students are doing and whether or not they are truly “getting it”. Some of the new tips that made a lot of sense to me include doing earlier assessment to determine what knowledge students have or are lacking. This could be done with a beginning quiz, discussion, clicker system assessment, etc. I could then help fill in the gaps by customizing the content to match where the students are. But again, I do wonder how practical this is when all students come in at different levels of knowledge and understanding. If a class of 20 students are at varying levels, I worry how challenging it will be to align the content to match their individual knowledge base.
The idea of finding where a student`s beginning point is, is reminiscent of Vygotsky`s theory of scaffolding which is essentially the same idea of building on a base of knowledge. I guess the trick is to identify where the last layer of scaffolding left off in order to know where to begin. Additionally Ambrose`s chapter suggests that “students must connect new knowledge to previous knowledge in order to learn” (Ambrose, 2010, p. 15). When I think about knowledge being like marbles deposited into a jar (banking concept of learning), I actually visualize magnets rather than marbles. Magnets connect to other magnets and build a mass, in much the same way as schemata are developed in the brain-- the brain makes synaptic connections attaching information to other related synapses and neurons to build a network of knowledge (connectomes). The idea of connecting learning with what students already know will certainly benefit my classroom practice as long as I can figure out what they actually do know and how their knowledge has been shaped by culture, perception, and experience. In essence, it may take additional work and thinking on a teachers part in order to figure out ways to tap into that learning and build upon it. The effort though can certainly help decrease the frustration we feel when students are not getting it and will be worth the effort. To apply some of the principles and neuroscience learned thus far, it will require us as teachers to engage in trial and error to find what works well for us and our students. After all, this is for us as it is for our students—adapting and integrating new learning with prior learning in order to build and retain a broader knowledge base.
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