Lost in Translation: Teaching College Freshmen

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Lost in TranslationTeaching College Freshmen

• Dr. De Gallow
• UC Riverside
• April 9, 2004

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A trip down memory lane
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My, how times have changed
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Agenda

• Where students are coming from (attitudes,
  experience, cognition)
• What works
• Applying what you (now) know

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The Millennial Generation

• 97 born in 1984 or 1985!
• Paul Newman makes salad dressing
• Bert Ernie are old enough to be their parents
• Computers have always fit in their backpacks
• Rock n Roll has always been a force for social
  good

Source The Beloit College Mindset List for the
Class of 2007
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Do you remember?

• What was your primary goal in attending college?
• To be financially well off?
• To develop a meaningful philosophy of life?
• To meet a potential partner?
• To become an authority in your field?
• To get away from your parents?

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Financially Well Off
Source Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA
(the nations most comprehensive and longest
running assessment of student attitudes and plans)
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How Many Hours Per Week Did You Spend Studying
During Your Senior Year of High School?

• 0-6 hours
• 7-10 hours
• 11-20 hours
• 20 hours

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Are Todays Students More or Less Politically
Engaged Than You Were as a College Freshman?

• More
• Less

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Political Engagement
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Political Orientation 2003

• 22.7 Conservative/Far Right
• 24.2 Liberal/Far Left
• 50.3 Middle-of-the-Road
• Socially liberal/fiscally conservative

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Portrait of the Millennials

• Demanding of a secure, regulated environment
• Trust authority figures
• Close with their parents
• Focused on grades performance
• Savvy in technology
• Busy with extra-curricular activities

Source Howe Strauss, Millennials Go to
College, American Assoc. of Collegiate Registrars
Admissions Officers, 2004.
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Cognitive/Learning Styles

• Concrete
• Sensing
• Dual or Relativistic
• Visual/Kinesthetic

• This does not mean they dont or cant learn in
  other ways.

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7 Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate
Education

• Good practice encourages contacts between
  students faculty.
• Good practice develops reciprocity cooperation
  among students.
• Good practice uses active learning techniques.
• Good practice gives gets prompt feedback.
• Good practice emphasizes time on task.
• Good practice communicates high expectations.
• Good practice respects diverse talents ways of
  knowing.

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In what ways have you increased meaningful and
frequent contact with students, even in large
classes?
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How Many of You Have Used Small Groups or Other
Inter-dependency Activities? How Have You Used
Them?
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In What Ways Do You Balance Levels of
Intellectual Challenge with Intellectual Support?
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How Have You Integrated Respect for Diverse Ways
of Knowing?
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How Might You Give ( Get) Prompt Frequent
Feedback?
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OPTIONS

• Each table selects one colleagues class to use
  as a model and generates ideas for 1-3 selected
  Principles.
• We select one class and generate ideas that will
  address 1-3 of the Principles.
• Collectively we can address selected Principles.

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In Groups 15 Minutes

• Select one colleagues class from the group
• Brainstorm
• In what ways might you add relevant, real world
  examples to this class?
• In what ways might you add active learning?
• In what ways might you incorporate strategies and
  assessments for diverse learning styles?

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Reports

• Course
• Relevance
• Active
• Diverse

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Collectively Select One Class

• Someone volunteers their class or we make one up
  http//www.discoveryseminars.ucr.edu/students.php?
  contentcourses/s/current.html
• Each group collectively generates ideas to
  address the following Principles
• Group 1 Developing Reciprocity
  Cooperation Among Students
• Group 2 Incorporates Diverse Talents
  Ways of Knowing
• Group 3 Uses Active Learning Techniques

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We Collectively Address Principles You Select

• Good practice encourages contacts between
  students faculty
• Good practice develops reciprocity cooperation
  among students
• Good practice uses active learning techniques.
• Good practice gives gets prompt feedback.
• Good practice emphasizes time on task.
• Good practice communicates high expectations.
• Good practice respects diverse talents ways of
  knowing.

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1. Good Practice Encourages Contacts Between
Students Faculty

• Frequent student-faculty contact in out of
  class is a most important factor in student
  motivation involvement. Faculty concern helps
  students get through rough times keep on
  working. Knowing a few faculty members enhances
  students intellectual commitment encourages
  them to think about their own values plans.

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2. Good Practice Develops Reciprocity
Cooperation Among Students.

• Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team
  effort than a solo race. Good learning, like
  good work, is collaborative not competitive and
  isolated. Working with others often increases
  involvement in learning. Sharing ones ideas and
  responding to others improves thinking and
  deepens understanding.

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3. Good Practice Uses Active Learning Techniques.

• Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do
  not learn much by just sitting in classes
  listening to teachers, memorizing prepackaged
  assignments, and spitting out answers. They must
  talk about what they are learning, write
  reflectively about it, relate it to past
  experiences, and apply it to their daily lives.
  They must make what they learn part of
  themselves.

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4. Good Practice Gives Gets Prompt Feedback.

• Knowing what you know and dont know focuses
  your learning. In getting started, students need
  help assessing their existing knowledge and
  competence. Then, in classes, students need
  frequent opportunities to perform and receive
  feedback on their performance. At various point
  during college, and at its end, students need
  chances to reflect on what they have learned,
  what they still need to know, and how they might
  assess themselves.
• Teachers also need frequent, formative feedback
  from students during a course, as well as
  summative feedback at the end.

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5. Good Practice Emphasizes Time on Task.

• Time plus energy equals learning. Learning to
  use ones time well is critical for students and
  professionals alike. Allocating realistic
  amounts of time means effective learning for
  students and effective teaching for faculty.

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6. Good Practice Communicates High Expectations.

• Expect more and you will get it. High
  expectations are important for everyonefor the
  poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert
  themselves, and for the bright and well
  motivated. Expecting students to perform well
  becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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7. Good Practice Respects Diverse Talents Ways
of Knowing.

• Many roads lead to learning. Different students
  bring different talents and styles to college.
  Brilliant students in a seminar might be all
  thumbs in a lab or studio students rich in
  hands-on experience may not do so well with
  theory. Students need opportunities to show
  their talents and learn in ways that work for
  them. Then they can be pushed to learn in new
  ways that do not come so easily.