Learning and Teaching Strategies.docx
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Learning and Teaching Strategies.docx
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LearningandTeachingStrategies
LearningandTeachingStrategies
Frompersonalexperienceandresearchcomesadviceonwhatworksandwhy
RoaldHoffmann,SaundraY.McGuire
Learningandteachingsciencechallengesmanystudentsaswellasinstructors.
Wehavebeenteachingandhelpingotherstoteachchemistryateverylevel—fromhighschoolteacherstoundergraduateandgraduatestudentstouniversityfaculty—foroverfourdecades.Fromthatexperiencehavecomeanumberofteachingandlearningtacticsthatwefindeffectiveinfacilitatingstudentlearning.Initiallyimprovised,thesestrategiesaremorethangimmicks,fortheyhaveproventhemselvesinpractice.
We’vealsosoughtoutrecentadvancesincognitivepsychologythatgiveinsightintowhytheseapproacheswork.We’vethoughtthroughwhytheyareofuseinanysubject,notjustchemistry.Andwe’vealsoidentifiedpotentialproblems.
Apotentialinjusticeinouraccountisthatcreditmaynotbegiventotherealinnovators.Frankly,wedonotknowwheresomeofthesestrategiesoriginated—inexamplesbyothers,oroutofourownimprovisationsaswestruggledtobecomebetterteachers.Manypeoplehaveindependentlycometosimilarpractices.
Someofwhatwewriteisaddressedtoteachers,sometostudents.Thisisdeliberate.Cognizanceoflearningstrategiesbenefitsteachers,andawarenessofteachingstrategiescanhelplearnersunderstandthemotivesofteachers.Teachingandlearningareadoubleflame
SixLearningStrategies
Thefirstlearningstrategyistotakenotesbyhand,eveniftheclassnotesareprovided.Preferablynolaterthantheeveningoftheclassday,rewriteyournotes,byhand,amplifyingtheircontent.Duringtherewritingstage,itisimportantthatyounotjustrecopyyournotes,butratherbothcondenseandextendthemwhereappropriate,paraphrasingthemsothatyoumakethemeaningyourown.Thequestionofwhethertakingnotesonalaptoporbyhandismoreeffectiveisacontentiousone.Wethinktakingnotesbyhandworksbest,largelybecauseitisdifficulttotypeinchemicalstructures,graphsandequationsonacomputer.
Itisnowwellestablishedthatactiveengagementintheprocessisimperativeforlearningtooccur.Whenstudentstaketheirownnotes,theyareengaged,inrealtime,andtheirmindsfocusonthetask.Forkinestheticlearners(thosewholearnbestwhenmoving,activatinglargeorsmallmuscles),themovementinvolvedintakingnotesfacilitateslearning.
Theprocessofparaphrasingandrewritingthenotesshortlyafteralecturehelpstotransferinformationfromshort-termtolong-termmemory.Iftherewritingisdelayedlongerthan24hours,muchoftheinformationneededtofleshoutthenotestakeninclasswillhavedisappearedfromaccessiblememory.Anditissomuchbetterthatgapsinunderstandingsurfaceintheengagedrewritingofnotes,ratherthaninthefranticcrammingthenightbeforeanexam.Studentsneedtobeconvincedthatitisimportanttotakethetimetorewritetheirnotes,eveniftheyfelttheyhaveunderstoodthematerialthefirsttime.
Missedclassesprovidethesecondlearningstrategy.Ifyoumustmissaclass,ratherthansimplydownloadthenotesfromaWebpage,getthenotesfromafellowstudent.Thisstrategyisanotherwayintogroupdiscussionandlearning.Itisimportanttodeveloprelationshipswithotherclassmembersandtoformstudygroupsearlyinthecourse.Duringdiscussionoftheclassnotes,muchlearningtakesplace.Atypicalscenario:
StudentA(theonewhomissedlectureandisborrowingthenotes)says“Idon’tunderstandthispartofwhatyouwrote,”tostudentB,thenotetaker.BecauseBisafellowstudent,Aiscomfortableaskingherthequestion,whereasAmightbereluctanttoaskitofthecourseinstructor.Bexplains,andisthusengagedinthemostsalutaryoflearningactions,teaching.Theonlypotentialproblemsarethatthenotetakermaynotunderstand,ormaypropagateamisconception.Additionally,somepeoplearejusttooshytoaskanotherhumanbeing.
Athirdstrategymakesthebestuseofacourse’stextbook.Moststudentsdotheirhomeworkinsolitude(orasmuchofthatasaresidencehallroomallows)bytryingtofollowtextexamplesofsimilarproblems.Butoftenthetextexamplesarenotexploitedforthelearningopportunitiestheyprovide.Firstdotheobvious;studythetextandlectureinformationrelevanttotheproblems.Butthentreattheexamplesinthetextandinlecturenotesasiftheywerehomeworkproblems—workouttheexamplebeforelookingattheanswer,andcompareyourapproachtothetext’s,notjustyouranswer.Thereareoftenseveralwaystodoaproblem,buttrytounderstandthetext’smethod.Ifthehomeworkanswersprovideddonotincludeawayofworkingouteachproblem,theinstructorsshouldbeencouraged(that’sputtingitmildly)toprovidecompletesolutions.Theabilitytoworkaproblemwithoutusingamodelistheessentialskilltestedbyallexams(whichisobvioustoinstructors,butnottomoststudents).Thisapproachtohomeworkfocusesonmethodsratherthanfinalanswers.Furthermore,exploringalternativemethodswillhelpyoutolearntobeanagile,flexiblethinker.
Studygroupsareimportantinlearning,butitseemstoworkbesttoalternategroupworkwithindividualeffort.First,youshouldtrytodoahomeworkproblemorprepareforanexamonyourown.Then,thecollectivewisdomofastudygroupcanbeenlisted.Threetosixfellowstudentswhohaveeachdonetheirbesttodigestandabsorbdifficultmaterialarepowerfulresourcesforeachother.Socialconstructivistlearningtheoristshaveshownthatmeaningfullearningresultsfromsmallstudygroupswithtwocrucialfeatures:
discussionandproblem-solvingactivities.Severalwebsitesprovideexcellenttipsonformingandrunningsuccessfulstudygroups.Butfinally,youmustreturntosolvingtheproblemsetorfacingtheexampreparationonyourown.
Notallinstructorsarecomfortablewithhomeworkdoneingroups,butourexperienceisthatgroupsareveryeffective.Do-it-yourselfistheprimaryprincipleofactivelearning,thoughgroupscanhelpresolvetheoccasionalblindspot.Somesocialdynamicsmaylimitgroupvalue—forinstance,passivepersonalitiesarelikelytomerelylisten.
Groupscanalsobeusefulstudyaidsifstudentsmakeuppracticequizzesandtestsforeachother,therebythinkingfromtheteacher’sperspective.Oneofus(Hoffmann)tellshisstudents:
“Theonlywayyouwillgetintomymindabouttheexamis…totrytogetintomymind.ThatmeanstodowhatIdo,andmakeupanexam.”Creatingapracticeexaminvolvesnotonlyselectingandorganizingallthematerial(includingchoosingwhatisrepresentativeandwhatisimportant)butalsodiscussingtheexaminagroupsetting.
Anotherwaytoenterthetester’smindisbyteachingthematerial,onestudenttoanother.Whenoneofus(McGuire)asksinstructorsattendingfaculty-developmentworkshopswhentheybegantodevelopadeepunderstandingoftheconceptualstructureoftheirdiscipline,mostsaythatitdidnothappenuntiltheybeganteaching.Helpingafellowstudentnotonlyacceleratesone’slearningbutmovesonepastdisappointmentaboutnotgettingthingsrightoneself.Usually,ifyoucanhelpsomeoneelsegetgoing,thegratificationismotivatingforbothparties.
Finally,weencouragestudentstosetattainablegoals.Ifyouarespinningyourwheelsandstudyingdoesnotleadtolearning,theprocesscansharesomesymptomswithdepression—feelingunabletoact,forinstance.Forthisreason,itisimportanttotacklesmall,achievabletasks.
Inworkingproblemsandtakingtests,moveslowly,fromsimpleproblemstomorecomplicated,integrativeones.Success,self-achieved,buildsconfidence,andsoisaverypowerfulmotivator.Whenyouattempttoreachagoalthatiswithinyourgrasp,awonderfulcycleofinitialsuccess,moreeffort,andadditionalsuccessisputintomotion.
Itisimportantforstudentstorealizethateveryonelearnsdifferently;anattainablegoalforonestudentmaybetrivialforanother.Itismostrelevanttodevelopthelearningskillsnecessarytoperformmorecognitivelydemandingtasks.
SixTeachingTactics
Movingtotheteacher’ssideoftheclassroom,werecommendinstructorsgradeonacontractwiththestudents,wherebygradesarebasedonacombinationofamajor,absoluteperformancecomponent(examinationsandquizzes)andaminor“curved”partofthecourse(suchaslabsandothermultisectionpieces).Theonlyreasonforcurvingshouldbefairness—ifseveralgradersareinvolved,forinstance.Thegradingcriteria—thepercentagemasteryequivalenttoanA,B,etc.—mustbeexplainedtothestudentsatthebeginningofthecourse,alongwithapromisethattheborderlinesbetweengradeswillnotberaised.Studentsareempoweredwhentheyseethattheoutcomeoftheircoursegradeisdependentontheirwork,ratherthanonacomparisonwiththeworkofothers.Youngpeoplereactverypositivelytofairness;acontractboostsconfidence.
However,theprofessorwillneedtoconstructexamssuchthatthelevelofmasteryofthematerialisaccuratelyreflectedbythegradethatstudentsachieveonthetest.Inpsychometrics,thisisreferredtoascontentvalidity.Inparticular,onehastowatchformisjudgmentsofmasteryinmultiple-choiceexamsofthetypewherethesimplestarithmeticmistakewillyieldanincorrectanswer.
Thekindofcontractwerecommendisveryscarytosomedepartmentadministrators,whomayinsistthateachcoursehasapredeterminedmediangrade.Suchworries,amusingly,reflectalackofconfidenceinfacultymembers’abilitytoassessmasterylevels.
Asecondteachingstrat
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