Creating RDG 020 From
Research and “Best Practices”
·
Research states that one of the greatest mistakes that
program development makes is to begin with materials before establishing
exactly what the learning outcomes should be.
If we look at Patricia Cross’ and others steps for achieving a student learning focus, we will find that
curriculum is built backwards from the intended outcomes; even the standards
for measuring outcomes precede curriculum or the materials used.
The CHALLENGE is how to improve learner (1) attitude toward reading and
their self-efficacy about reading while helping them learn the (2) cognitive
and more importantly the (3) metacognitive skills
needed for deeper comprehension and learning?
Said another way, in terms of learning outcomes, what
“attitudes, knowledge, skills” do we expect RDG 020 students to have acquired
by the end of the semester.
1.what are the learning
outcomes we expect to have been met at the end of the semester?
2.from these learning
outcomes, what would be the most authentic assessment?
3.what pedagogies will
we focus on?
4.from these learning
outcomes, what are relevant and authentic materials and instruction?
5.how
do these learning outcomes meet the learning to read needs of the students, as
well as providing the foundation for
RDG 030, while not usurping RDG 030?
What Basic Philosophy of Learning is Relevant?
Social Constructivism: "social constructivism",
emphasizes how meanings and understandings grow out of social encounters.
Vygotsky:
What do Active Learning Students Do?
Said Another Way; Students Should
Be:
1.
reading or listening intently: (gathering information)
2.
taking notes: (gathering and organizing information)
3.
monitoring comprehension (metacognition
and/or elaboration)
4.
asking questions: (metacognition,
critical thinking, and foundation of higher order thinking) helping students
have a constant dialogue in their head in which asking questions is predominant
is very important (can’t learn metacognition skills
without them and can’t find reading interesting without them, nor can
higher-level thinking develop
5.
participating in class discussions: (expression –writing, speaking,
presenting) collaborative learning, problem-based learning
Active Means DOING Something:
The
degree or amount of mental energy invested in the learning process increases
substantially when students physically act on, or engage in some action
with respect to, the material they are learning--i.e., they actually do
something with the subject matter at hand.)
Useful and Meaningful (Organization)
Comprehension
does not necessarily lead to learning--at least, not to learning of a
meaningful, useful kind.
Basic Cognitive Strategies
Prior Knowledge
David Ausubel “. . . the acquisition of new materials is highly
dependent on the relevant ideas already in cognitive structure and that
meaningful learning in humans occurs through an interaction of new information with
relevant existing ideas in cognitive structure.” Elaboration strategies is
how we tie new information to old information.
Predominant Elaboration Strategies
•
explain and demonstrate Asking Questions as an
elaboration strategy.
•
explain and demonstrate Talking About the Material with Yourself as an elaboration strategy
•
explain and demonstrate Comparing and Contrasting as an elaboration strategy
•
explain and demonstrate Visualizing as an elaboration strategy
(creating a picture in your mind about the idea or subject you're studying)
•
explain and demonstrate Transforming as an elaboration strategy
(representing ideas with a diagram, a chart, a picture, a poem, putting it into
a different shape)
•
explain and demonstrate Explaining the Material in Your Own Words
as an elaboration strategy (paraphrasing, summarizing, teaching someone else -
the reader captures and puts own words the central ideas of the entire passage)
How DO Learners Learn?
Learners learn by making
connections between new information and previous knowledge by development of organization, elaboration, and
comprehension-monitoring strategies
Studies indicate capable,
self-directed learners use several strategies to:
the learning activities required for to acquire new knowledge
or skills.
What Is
Metacognition?
Metacognition is an
important concept in cognitive theory. It consists of two basic processes
occurring simultaneously: monitoring your progress as you learn, and making
changes and adapting your strategies if you perceive you are not doing so
well.
"Metacognitive
skills include taking conscious control of learning, planning and selecting
strategies, monitoring the progress of learning, correcting errors, analyzing
the effectiveness of learning strategies, and changing learning behaviors and
strategies when necessary."
How
Does a Novice Learner Differ from an Expert Learner?
Novice
Learners don't stop to evaluate their
comprehension of the material. They generally don't examine the quality of
their work or stop to make revisions as they go along. Satisfied with just scratching
the surface, novice learners don't attempt to examine a problem in depth. They
don't make connections or see the relevance (fail to organize or elaborate) of
the material in their lives.
Why Are
Metacognitive Strategies So Important?
As
students become more skilled at using metacognitive
strategies, they gain confidence and become more independent as learners.
Transferability and Metacognition
Current
curriculum and methods can successfully impart facts and rote skills, but are
far less successful in developing higher order reasoning skills, i.e., pupils
can memorize large bodies of information for limited periods, but do not
necessarily understand what they are learning. They don't internalize it. They
don't 'work at it' so as to give it personal meaning. They can recall the
information (possibly highly effectively) but unless they really understand it
they are unable either to use it in different unfamiliar circumstances, or
through its practice to build up skills which are, in a real way
'transferable'.
'Transferability'
is at the nub of the issue about flexible skills, creativity and problem
solving. 'Transfer means applying old knowledge in a setting sufficiently novel
that it also requires learning new knowledge.'
So What Should an Instructor Do?
There is nothing an instructor can
do short of getting into the student’s head and helping the student get in the
instructor’s head. This calls for nothing short of modeling and scaffolding.
There are two ideas that are
important to constructivist and/or cognitive approaches to learning – modeling
or coaching, and scaffolding. This is very different than just introducing
knowledge, or skills and then providing exercises for the students to accomplish.
As an instructor, one will approach learning as helping students learn metacognitive strategies with which they think and use
while studying a text. Think of these approaches as ones in which you and the
student get in one anothers’ heads and discuss the
thinking that is going on (not just the content, but the thinking about the
thinking that is going on).
Asking Questions (from What
Five
Essential Elements That Make Up A Natural Critical
Learning Environment
(1) An
intriguing question or problem
(2) Guidance in helping the students understand the significance of the
question.
(3)Engages students in some higher-order intellectual activity; encouraging
them to compare, apply, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize, but never only to
listen and remember.
(4) Helps students answer the question; often challenging the students to
develop their own explanation and understanding - and defending them.
(5) Leaves students with a question; "What's the next question?"
Modeling and Scaffolding
Students
can become independent, self-regulated learners through instruction that is
deliberately and carefully scaffolded.
By
providing the proper conditions, an instructor allows a student to progress
from a level of overt support, where the instructor models strategies to
illustrate (meta)cognitive processes, to a level where
the student has internalized the (meta)cognitive processes and can successfully
complete a task independently.
Authentic Learning
Authentic learning implies several
things: that learning be centered around authentic
tasks, that learning be guided with teacher scaffolding, that students be
engaged in exploration and inquiry, that students have opportunities for social
discourse, and that ample resources be available to students as they pursue
meaningful problems. Advocates of authentic learning believe these elements
support natural learning, and many of these ideals are based in theory and
research on learning and cognition.
Collaborative Learning
Students learn best when they are
actively involved in the process. Researchers report that, regardless of the
subject matter, students working in small groups tend to learn more of what is
taught and retain it longer than when the same content is presented in other
instructional formats. Students who work in collaborative groups also appear
more satisfied with their classes.
There are five elements of
collaborative learning:
1.Clearly
perceived positive interdependence
2.Considerable
interaction
3.Individual
accountability and personal responsibility to achieve group goals
4.Use
of the relevant interpersonal and small group skills
5.Frequent
and regular group processing of current functioning to improve the group's
future effectiveness
The first element, positive
interdependence, is essential and the most neglected (ex. roles)
Problem-Based Learning:
STEP 1:
STEP 2:
Once they
have worked with the problem as far as possible and identified what they need
to learn, the learners engage in self-directed study to research the
information needed finding and using a variety of information resources.
STEP 3:
The
learners then return to the problem and apply what they learned to their work
with the problem in order to more fully understand and resolve the problem.
STEP 4:
After
they have finished their problem, the learners assess themselves and each other
to develop skills in self-assessment and the constructive assessment of peers.
Self-assessment is a skill essential to effective independent learning.
Self-Efficacy
What to do? The students should have the opportunity to try, fail, and receive feedback from expert learners in
advance of and separate from any summative judgment of their effort.
Perceived self-efficacy is defined
as people's beliefs about their capabilities to produce designated levels of
performance that exercise influence over events that affect their lives.
Self-efficacy beliefs determine how people feel, think, motivate themselves and
behave. Such beliefs produce these diverse effects through four major
processes. They include cognitive, motivational, affective and selection
processes.
A strong sense of efficacy enhances
human accomplishment and personal well-being in many ways. People with high
assurance in their capabilities approach difficult tasks as challenges to be
mastered rather than as threats to be avoided. In contrast, people who doubt
their capabilities shy away from difficult tasks which they view as personal
threats.
Learning Communities
Current research does provide support for the effectiveness
of learning communities. Learning
communities have attracted a great deal of attention in the last decade and the
research on their effectiveness is generally positive. They may
be particularly significant
for community colleges, since, unlike at a residential college, the classroom
may offer the only opportunity to engage the students with the institution. The
learning community format also appears to be effective for
students in
developmental education. At the same time, though, in developing these programs
it is important for colleges to work out ways to organize them to allow the
participation of a wide range of students, including part-time students
and those who work.”
Learning Community Programs: address a variety of societal issues such as the
increasing fragmentation of information and student alienation toward
participation and engagement. With an emphasis on interpersonal dialogue,
collaboration, and experiential learning within the context of diversity, these
programs address a decreasing sense of community and connection and allow
students to relate their college-level learning to larger personal and global
questions.
Vocabulary/Concept Development
CONCEPTS
are (1) categories into which experiences are organized and (2) the larger
network of intellectual relationships brought about through categorization.
Understanding a concept requires some level of critical thinking in order to
make associations between words and ideas according to certain criteria.
Defining Literature Circles
1.
Students choose their own reading materials
2. Small
temporary groups are formed, based upon book choice
3.
Different groups read different books
4. Groups
meet on a regular, predictable schedule to discuss their reading
5. Kids
use written or drawn notes to guide both their reading and discussion
6.
Discussion topics come from the students
7. Group
meetings aim to be open, natural conversations about books, so personal
connections, digressions, and
open-ended
questions are welcome
8. In
newly-forming groups, students may play a rotating assortment of task roles
9. The
teacher serves as a facilitator, not a group member or instructor
10.
Evaluation is by teacher observation and student self-evaluation
11. A
spirit of playfulness and fun pervades the room.
12. When
books are finished, readers share with their classmates, and then new
groups form around new reading
choices.
Reader’Workshop
Three main parts:
1.
mini-lesson 5-10
minutes
2.
independent reading
20-35 minutes
3.
student sharing 10-15
minutes
Five Basic Principles For Readers' Workshop
1. TIME:
·
Students need time to
both look through books and also read independently. As the year goes on you
can gradually increase the amount of independent reading time.
2. CHOICE:
·
Students must have the
opportunity to choose the books they want to read. As the year progresses the
students will begin to choose books that appeal to them and also challenge
them.
3. RESPONSE:
·
It is important that we
give our students the opportunity to respond to the literature they are
reading. This can be done though response journals, class discussions, booktalks, or projects.
4. COMMUNITY:
·
It is also important
for the students to realize that they are part of a classroom community. Each
student is both a learner and a teacher.
5. STRUCTURE:
·
During Readers'
Workshop it is necessary that a great deal of structure exists. Students need
to understand the value of silent reading and the importance of sharing and
listening during discussions.