Posts Tagged ‘learning’

While working as an early education consultant for Region 14 Education Service Center, we asked for feedback after each workshop. Sometimes the answers were merely an affirmation that we did well, especially the Likert scale-type questions. When people wrote out their feedback, however, that was where I felt I found the most opportunity to improve myself and my workshops. These questions seemed to elicit participants’ initial responses to the workshops, and often helped me see how to charge up or wind down how I presented. I was challenged by many people, some who I wrote off as naysayers, and others who gave real, constructive criticism. I cherished these, because by them, I improved.

As I read through Fink’s Creating Significant Learning Experiences (2003), I kept asking myself what the role of this feedback could be in college courses. Why don’t we ask for more formal feedback as we go along? Why wait for the course evaluations, the results of which will not even be seen until the next semester? Why not ask some of the same questions to the students of their own performance? I thought of a few reflection questions that could be helpful to ask on quizzes, exams, and even research papers. Some point to the material, some to the instructor, and others to the student.

* How do you think you did on this quiz/exam/paper?
* What could you have done better to learn the material?
* What could I have done better to help you learn the material?
* What else would you like to learn about this subject?
* What was the muddiest part of this unit for you? (I really like this one.)
* Did you put your full effort into learning the material and meeting the objectives for this unit?
* Given the opportunity, what else would you do to improve this paper?
* Did I do a good job of helping you understand the expectations for this quiz/exam/paper?
* What frustrated you most about the material?
* What frustrated you most about me?

Of course, some of these questions might be uncomfortable for students to answer unless they are guaranteed anonymity. Handing out paper slips for students to write on, or doing an anonymous Google Form or PollDaddy survey can provide such anonymity adequately. The key is to get feedback before everything is forgotten, before it all becomes an emotional memory rather than a memory of a series of events. Hopefully, you can get some great feedback to help you improve, even as soon as the next lesson!

What other questions might be helpful to ask students occasionally or frequently to help improve instruction?

There they are – students – faces in their hands, some with their heads on the desks, eyes barely open. What is an instructor to do? The most exciting presentation skills, the newest PowerPoint transitions, even the turn-to-your-neighbor think-pair-share activities don’t seem to break this cycle of disengagement. Professors, instructors, teaching assistants, it is time we stand up for learning! In fact, don’t stop there – have your students stand up for learning!

This trick really is that easy – ask your students to stand up. It’s not a punishment or shame, it’s a learning technique. Break the pattern of sitting idly by, and have your students stand to interact. Dr. Jean Feldman, renowned in early childhood circles as an active learning guru, said this about children and adults alike: “You learn on your feet, not on your seat!”

She has a point. When we stand, we immediately increase our heart rate from the sitting position, which means the brain gets more oxygen, which means our minds are more ready to process information and think creatively. If you want to enhance the effect even more, have your students take a few steps. If they then have to count the steps, they are accessing a part of the brain that works mathematically, and are now using more of their brain than they were when they were sitting and listening to the lecture.

Here’s how this might look in a face-to-face Communication class as a planned activity.

Instructor: “Let’s think about this together. First, everyone stand up.” (Pause for students to stand) “Now, everyone take 11 steps in any direction and pause for more instructions.” (Pause for students to take steps) “Find two other people who are closest to you so you are in groups of three, then wait for the question.” (Pause for groups to form) Now, as a group see if you can recall the major group roles we discussed, then decide which ones you think you saw in our case study this morning.” (Pause for discussion) “Okay, now each group choose a reporter and tell me one role you saw demonstrated in the case study. This group first!”

In this example, the discussion was not limited to one or two students who happened to be paying attention. Everyone in the class was engaged in discussing the application question. Furthermore, everyone in the class was brought out of their comfortable, sleepy seats to interact with students in the class that were previously unaccessible. Yes, some students were annoyed they had to stand up and interact. They wanted to stay seated and sleepy, not engage in the learning. The wise instructor, however, would not allow such apathy. She took a stand for learning.

Takeaways:
You learn on your feet, not on your seat.
Stand up for learning by having students stand up.

What’s the best way to teach? Is it lecture, group discussion, or active training? Is it social or individual? Is it classical or constructivist?

The best answer to this question, I think, is to ask a different question – how does the student best learn? It’s not about the techniques or the technology. It is not about statistics or surveys. Understanding how learners best learn is about relationship. The best way to reach a student, influence a student, and meet a student’s needs are to focus on that student, get to know that student, and love (agape) that student.

This might mean you have an ongoing relationship with 200 students or more. It might mean you have 3 or 4 students you directly mentor.That relationship helps us to understand what motivates a student as an individual, and when we can motivate a student, we can help them learn. As a colleague of mine said recently, “I remember well my teachers that loved me.” I do too, and those are the teachers from whom I learned the most. It is so much easier to learn from someone I like, and that I perceive cares about me.

We talk in academia about child-centered and learner-centered education, meeting a learner’s specific and individual needs. That is important, and the learner truly needs to be at the center of our model. Add meeting those needs to a relationship of agape love, and that equals the best way to teach. At least, that is, for this learner.