How Students Learn

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How Students Learn

• Elliot P. Douglas
• Materials Science and Engineering

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Group Activity

• You are working on a research project that
  requires you to know quantum chromodynamics. In
  order to learn this topic, you have available to
  you a textbook and up to 2 hours of time with a
  subject matter expert. You have a maximum total
  of 6 hours of time to learn the topic. Create a
  set of learning activities that will allow you to
  learn this topic and give a presentation to the
  rest of the research team.

There can be a mismatch between how people learn
and how we teach.
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Cognitive Model of Learning
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Constructivism

• Knowledge is created in mind of learner.
• Practical application of the cognitive model.

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Teaching and learning are correlative or
corresponding processes, as much so as selling
and buying. One might as well say he has sold
when no one has bought, as to say that he has
taught when no one has learned. John Dewey,
1910
Bad teaching is when the information is
transmitted from the notes of the professor to
the notes of the student without going through
the mind of either one.
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Elliots message 1
Teaching is about student learning, not
disseminating information.
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Perrys Model of Intellectual Development

• Dual Authority provides correct answers.
• Multiple/Relative There are many, equally
  correct answers.
• Commitment There are many answers, but a best
  answer can be determined objectively.

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Felders Learning Styles Index
Perception
Input
Organization
Processing
Understanding
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Learning Style Preferences
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Elliots message 2
Your students are not like you.
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What Constitutes Exemplary Teaching?

• Intellectual Excitement
• Technical Expertise
• Organization
• Clarity of Communication
• Engaging Presentation
• Enthusiasm
• Interpersonal Rapport
• Interest in students as individuals
• Interest in students learning
• Receptive to students preferences about
  assignments and policies

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Lowmans Two Dimensional Model of Teaching
INTERPERSONAL RAPPORT
9. Complete Exemplar
8. Exemplary Lecturer
6. Intellectual Authority
INTELLECTUAL EXCITEMENT
7. Exemplary Facilitator
3. Adequate
5. Competent
1. Inadequate
2. Marginal
4.Socratic
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Lowman says...
The subtleties of a college teachers behavior
toward a class throughout the term do more to
produce optimal class atmosphere than sweeping
structural changes at the beginning.
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Get to Know Your Students
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Lowman says...
Outstanding teachers have often expressed the
sentiment that to become a great classroom
instructor, one must genuinely like college-age
students and identify with their interests,
both serious and foolish.
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Elliots message 3
You must genuinely like your students, believe
they want to learn, and believe they have the
ability to learn.
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A Model for Teaching Learning

• Provide an orientation
• Why is this important?
• How does it relate to prior knowledge?
• Provide learning objectives.
• Provide information,
• Stimulate critical thinking on the subject.
• Provide models.
• Provide opportunities to apply the knowledge
• In familiar contexts.
• In new and unfamiliar contexts.
• Assess the learners performance and provide
  feedback.
• Provide opportunities for self-assessment.

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Resources

• The Effective Efficient Professor, by Phillip C.
  Wankat A variety of resources and teaching tips
  specifically for engineering.
• Mastering the Techniques of Teaching, by Joseph
  Lowman A general discussion of various aspects
  of teaching.
• Rich Felders website http//www4.ncsu.edu/unity
  /lockers/users/f/felder/public/ A variety of
  useful articles, including information on active
  learning and learning styles.