Helping students help themselves

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Helping students help themselves

• Marilla Svinicki
• Educational Psychology
• The University of Texas at Austin

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Where do students need help?

• Decreasing their focus on memorization
• Increasing their self-regulation strategies
• Increasing and focusing their own motivation
• Recognizing the need for transfer

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Instructional problem Emphasis on memorization
Students dont have the same definitions of
learning that we do.

• I studied so hard and thought I knew everything.
  How could I get a C?
• Could you post all the notes on the website?
• Whats the right answer?

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What does it mean to understand?

• Put a concept in your own terms?
• Give your own examples?
• Apply the concept to new situations?
• Understand the structure of a concept and how it
  relates to other concepts.

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Structural knowledge the
concept map
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Why does structure help?5

• It provides organization to memory, which reduces
  cognitive load.
• It identifies similar concepts for
  generalization.
• It forms the basis for analogical reasoning.
• It allows you to fill in gaps by inference.
• It allows you to imagine possible realities you
  havent directly experienced.

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A simple comparative organizer
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Example of a cumulative,
comparative organizer
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A generative chart
Columns
Rows
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Applying this to your own situation.

• Is there an example of a structural model of the
  content that you use in your course?
• How can you encourage students to use or create
  their own structural understanding
  representations?

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Instructional Problem Poor
student self-regulation
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How can we help our students be better
learners?

• The GAMES model
• G oal-oriented learning
• A ctive learning
• M eaningful learning
• E xplanations and learning
• S elf-regulation of learning

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Goal-oriented learning

• Example of good goals for studying
• Be able to list, define and give my own example
  of the key vocabulary in a chapter.
• Be able to solve the problems highlighted in a
  chapter without looking at the solution
  beforehand.
• Be able to explain how the statistical test
  described in this chapter differs from the one in
  the previous chapter.

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Active learning

• Examples of good active learning strategies for
  studying
• Outlining or creating charts to make connections
• Summarizing or paraphrasing sections of the
  reading
• Working through problems
• Thinking of examples or questions
• Creating mental images, metaphors, analogies
• Whats wrong with highlighting?
• What about in your field?

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Meaningful learning

• Encourage structural understanding
• Making outlines
• Using concept maps
• Creating comparative organizers
• Drawing flow charts
• Creating a story line for sequences

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Explanations and learning

• Using peer learning during and outside of class
  time
• Face to face in class group activities
• Online discussion boards or chat rooms
• Contributor FAQs sites
• Reflective journals or blogs with responses
• Identified Audience summary sheets

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Self-regulation of learning

• What does it involve?
• Self, task, strategy knowledge
• Self-monitoring, evaluation and correction
• Examples of Self-regulation activities
• Students hand in a critique of own papers.
• Study plans or phased paper writing
• Selection amongst options

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Would GAMES work for your students and your
content?

• What do you do already that helps your students
  become better learners?
• How would you adapt GAMES to your classes?
• What special learning strategies are particularly
  salient for your discipline? (Can you help my
  research team?)

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Instructional problem Misplaced or lack
of motivation

• Will that be on the test?
• I need an A in this class. What can I do for
  extra credit?
• Just tell me the right answer.
• Students are too focused on grades or not focused
  at all.

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Motivation Goal Orientation

• Four proposed orientations
• Mastery I want to learn
• Approach I want to succeed
• Avoidance I dont want to fail
• Strategic effort I want the biggest bang for my
  buck

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Fostering mastery goals7

• Clear expectations
• Focus on personal improvement
• Emphasize learning value of errors
• Positive support and useful feedback
• De-emphasize comparison with others
• Allow some personal control over the process
• Develop classroom community

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Motivation Self-efficacy for a task

• What is it and what effects does it have?
• Encouraging accurate self-efficacy
• Past success
• Present success
• Persuasion through support
• Mindful analysis of learning

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Motivation Value of a task

• Where does value come from?
• Utility
• Interest
• Challenge
• Self-determination
• Societal influences
• Why should students learn your content?

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How would this apply to you?
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Instructional problem Transfer failure

• Didnt you learn how to do this last semester?
• That stuff is from the previous chapter. Do I
  have to remember it now?
• Students fail to make use of what they already
  know, and they forget everything after the test.

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Useful learning theory

• Cognitive learning theory
• The value of activating prior knowledge
• The need to overcome situated learning
• The need to create a transfer mindset
• Teaching strategies
• Building on what students know
• Providing lots of varied practice
• Emphasizing mindful learning
• Build in activities that point forward

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How would this apply to you?

• How do you help students connect?
• What previously learned content/skills would be
  important to remind students of in your class?
• How do you make the connection between the
  present and future uses of content?

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A quick review

• Foster structural understanding instead of
  memorization.
• Help students learn to self-regulate.
• Cultivate student motivation.
• Encourage students to think about transfer while
  theyre learning.

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Readings about learning

• Bransford, J., Brown, A. and Cocking, R. (1999)
  How People Learn Brain, Mind, Experience, and
  School. Washington, DC National Academy Press.
• Halpern, D. and Hakel, M. (2002) Applying the
  science of learning to university teaching and
  beyond. New Directions for Teaching and Learning
  no. 89 San Francisco Jossey-Bass Publisher.
• Halpern, D. and Associates (1994) Changing
  College Classrooms. San Francisco Jossey-Bass
  Publisher.
• Svinicki, M. (2004) Learning and Motivation in
  Postsecondary Classrooms. Bolton, MA Anker
  Press.