Tuesday 28 March 2017

developing students' mastery

Our SoTL Teaching Circle met last week to discuss the fourth chapter of How Learning Works which asks the question: how do students attain mastery? Ambrose et al explain that there are three elements to developing mastery of a skill or body of knowledge:
  1. the component skills - this is knowledge of how to do something or how something works. In my mind this involves the rote portion of knowledge - learners simply need to know the language or the steps before being able to speak, think, or perform in the discipline;
  2. Those component skills then need to be integrated into our existing knowledge structure. This assumes a constructivist understanding of knowledge. Until our existing mental models are restructured to incorporate the new learning, what we have just learned will not stick - it will not make sense with the rest of our worldview;
  3. Finally, students need to understand in which contexts the newly learned skill may be applied. They need to know when and where our knowledge will be useful. When is it appropriate to use a hammer? When is it appropriate to use a screwdriver?
Our teaching circle discussion focused on how to develop these different aspects of mastery in our students. A common approach was to provide practice inside of our classrooms during which we as instructors can help students integrate their learning and understand when to apply their skills. Clearly, this requires aspects of active learning. And it seems that the best way to do this is to flip the classroom so that some of the component skills (rote learning) is done outside of class, before class, so that there is time inside of class to practice integrating and contextualizing the knowledge. 

But, knowing when to flip for an instructor. Sometimes students need help with the component skills (What is significant of that particular chemical structure? How is this word pronounced? What does this sentence mean?). Thus, depending upon the level of the particular course content (introductory, intermediate, advanced) will impact how much we can leave to students for the first contact with the course material and therefore how much time we have in class for nurturing students integration and contextualization of that course content.

Which means that as designers of learning experiences we need to be clear ourselves of what can be reasonably expected for students to truly learn. And I think this comes down to making choices about depth and breadth of what we teach our students. If the course has a great breadth of content, then maybe the course really needs to only expect students to develop the component skills. On the other hand, if the course objective is to have students learn the material in great depth, then maybe not as much content can be included in the course.

The difficulty I have in teaching is that I have found that learning for students does not stick very well if it is mostly breadth that they are learning. My experience suggests that when students learn something to a great depth, it has more impact on their understanding and thus the newly earned knowledge tends to stick. This seems to make sense. The pedagogical literature is clear that depth of learning produces better outcomes than superficial learning. Is that the same as breadth and depth of a course's content? I am not sure. But clearly, if we want our students' learning to be to a sufficient depth of understanding, then the course content cannot be too broad. Clearly, there is a balance between breadth and depth of content that needs to be carefully designed for each topic/discipline and the level of prior knowledge of students enrolling in the course.


Resources

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How do students develop mastery? In How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching (pp. 117–146). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, a Wiley imprint.

Thursday 23 March 2017

motivating our students to learn

Our SoTL Teaching Circle met again a couple of weeks ago to discuss the third chapter of How Learning Works by Ambrose et al. All of us strive to motivate our students to learn because we understand that unless the motivation to learn and master the material exists, then learning is simply too painful to occur. Learning is difficult and time-consuming work. So, if students aren't motivated to study, they simply will not exert the effort required to learn. Ambrose et al explain in this chapter that there are a number of factors that impact students' motivation to learn. Students need to be aware of how the course material enables their ability to achieve their own goals, that the course material has value to them, and that the time and effort required to learn the material will produce acceptable results. Thus, if students do not believe that success in the course will occur as a result of their own efforts, then they will not put in the effort required to succeed. Similarly, if students do not view the particular course as contributing to their own career, professional or development goals, they will not find it worth their effort to learn.

Studies reported in this third chapter indicate that motivation is impacted by both internal and external factors and that intrinsic motivation produces better learning outcomes. Ironically, if students are learning to achieve a good grade they probably will not earn as good a mark as when they learn to master the material. Are they learning to impress someone else or are they learning for their own development as a person? Do they view learning the course material as developing their own skills that will contribute to their ability to succeed in their desired vocation?

So the task of teaching to produce successful learning is to make it apparent to students that what they are learning has significance to the students themselves. This is part of what my learning philosophy study is trying to do for students. By having students' reflect on and articulate their own learning philosophy, my hope is that they will internalize their desire to learn and thus exert the effort to become engaged rather than passive learners. Of course, there are many factors which impact our motivation to accomplish tasks, but if we can design a venue that enables students to reflect on their own values and goals and place their current coursework in the context of those learning values and goals, then this may develop the internal motivation to master the course content. As instructors, we need to facilitate and nurture students' connection to what they are learning.

Resources

Ambrose SA, Bridges MW, DiPietro M, Lovett MC, Norman MK. 2010. How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. San Francisco, CA.
Chapter 3 - What Factors Motivate Students to Learn? pp 66-90.