Helping Students Learn to Learn Enhancing Understanding by:

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Helping Students Learn to LearnEnhancing
Understanding by

• Engaging Students in Building Knowledge for
  Themselves

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Objectives of this workshop series

• Identify the cognitive development needs of
  students
• Introduce some educational theories which can
  help us address the developmental needs
• Propose easy methods for teaching / assessment
  for helping with these cognitive development
  needs
• Explore ways for adopting / adapting some of the
  methods in your course

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Adopting / adapting the methods in your specific
context
The facilitators provide generic ideas The participants adopt / adapt the ideas in specific subjects
Designed generic worksheets Directly use / modify the worksheets for specific subjects
Suggested ways for implementing the ideas in teaching and assessment Brain storm how to adopt / adapt the ideas in your own courses
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I can only try to memorize.
I dont understand.

• I just cant understand the lecture. I memorise
  the things to take the examination.
• We have to memorize a lot of textsbasically we
  cant understand them when we read, so we just
  memorize them.
• I cant comprehend the formula.
• Actually I dont really know what they are
  doing. If you dont know, you have to memorise
  
• A cognitive weakness.

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Explain it to me !!

• I think the lecturer should explain it more
  clearly.
• I cant understand by reading it myself, I have
  to go to the lecturer.
• Its difficult to understand by reading a book.
  It will be better for a teacher to explain it to
  us.
• When I revise at home and have a problem, I hope
  that I can make a phone call right away or send
  an e-mail to the lecturer, and get the reply
  immediately.
• It will be great if the lecturer has ICQ and turn
  that on for 24 hours. It will be even better if
  he can give us his mobile phone number.
• An attitude problem dependent on teachers.

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Helping students to understand
Which approach works better?? Which approach works better??
More explanation by teacher Developing students abilities to understand
? ?
Students to receive knowledge from teachers passively Students to learn for themselves
We aim at developing independent learners ! We aim at developing independent learners !
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Why do students fail to understand?

• Students memorise information because
  they have difficulties with
• Seeing relationship among information
• Forming a holistic picture of the topic
• Integrating and assimilating knowledge for
  personal internalization
• Developing students abilities in understanding is
  helping students to change in this direction

Memorize information passively ? Assimilating, building knowledge for personal internalization
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Developing abilities to build knowledge What
educational theories can help us?
3 levels of understanding(based on Biggs - SOLO Taxonomy) Learning strategies to achieve them (based on Weinstein Mayer)
Extended abstract (go beyond what is given)theories, generalize, hypothesize, reflect Elaborationcreating analogy, self-questioninglinking to past knowledge experience
Relational (Understanding via relating ideas)compare, contrast, explain causes, analyse, relate, apply Organizationgrouping, categorizing, summarizing, constructing concept map
Multi-structural (Memorisation of information, algorithm)Describe, list, combine, do algorithms Rehearsalrepeating, underling, mental imagery
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Developing Abilities for Understanding at
2 Levels
Cognitive strategies for understanding Cognitive strategies for understanding Metacognitive strategies w.r.t. understanding Metacognitive strategies w.r.t. understanding
What are they? How to develop them? What are they? How to develop them?

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Metacognition

• What is metacognition?
• Awareness / knowledge of what cognition
  (learning) is
• Abilities to control cognition (learning), i.e.
  the disposition habits that support and drives
  learning
• Key operations in metacognition (control of
  learning)
• Planning your learning
• Monitoring your learning
• Assessing your learning

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Developing Abilities for understanding

• My Knowledge Building Worksheet
• 3-Step Thinking Worksheet
• Pattern Detector

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Knowledge Building Worksheet

• What is Knowledge Building worksheet?
• It is a tool to help student go beyond memorising
  facts into relational and creative thinking, both
  cognitively and motivationally
• Rationale
• Many students learn by simply memorizing facts as
  they misconceive it to be the goal of learning
• By showing that disconnected information is of
  little use, students are encouraged to link loose
  ideas together to form a meaningful structure

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Using the Knowledge Building Worksheet

• How to use?
• Points ?diagram ? new ideas
• Examples
• Revision worksheet
• Course formation revealer

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3-step Thinking Worksheet

• What is 3-step Thinking Worksheet?
• It provides a handy means to sharpen students
  understanding of learnt material
• Sharpen target cognitive abilities with option
  sets
• Logical Reasoning
• Knowledge Personalization
• Extension and Application
• Originality Enhancement

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Using 3-step Thinking Worksheet in Teaching and
Assessment

• Teaching
• Learnt Material Organizer
• Lecture notes quick-fixer
• Assessment
• Continuous assessment review exercise

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Pattern Detector

• What is Pattern Detector?
• It provides a scaffold for students to interpret
  data
• The worksheet
• The five guiding questions to interpret data
• We need your input!

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Using Pattern Detector in Teaching and Assessment

• Teaching
• Using the guiding questions to present graphic
  information in the lecture
• In-class activity
• Assessment
• Visual data hunt
• Regular assignment

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One thing I would like to try is