Making Connections with Students

1
Making Connections with Students

• Johnnie Terry, Philosophy Professor, Sierra
  College
• Anne Argyriou, Basic Skills Committee, De Anza
  College
• ASCCC Student Success Institute
• Basic Skills Across the Curriculum
• February 25, 2011

2
Introductions

• Who are we???
• Why are we presenting on this topic???

3
Brainstorm

• Moment of connection
• Who was involved?
• Topic?
• How did people connect?
• Why?
• Reflect
• What factors may have contributed to that
  connection?
• How do you think that connection affected
  everyone involved (any change)?

4
Connections the Classroom

• What would these connections look like?
• What would the effects of these connections be?
• Connections
• Student-Teacher,
• Student-Student
• FirstWhy?
• ThenHow?

5
Why do connections work?

• Establish a social identity
• Positive, academic self
• Create one to replace any negative academic
  identity
• Strengthen existing identity (neutral or
  insecure)
• Social identity crucial for learning to occur
• Individually
• Collaboratively

6
Social Identity

• Before

• After

• I just need to do x, y, z!
• This is difficult, but I think Im getting
  better.
• I just need to work harder so my grade will
  increase

• Nothing I can do
• Im just a bad writer.
• My grade will never change, so why put in effort?

7
Attribution Theory

• Attribution to establish reason(s) to explain
  why something happened (assign a cause).
• Specifically applies to lay people
  (non-psychologists)
• Weiner Three main axes underlie attributions
• Locus (internalexternal)
• Stability (variantinvariant)
• Control (influenceno influence)

8
Identify Axes of Attribution

• Review the Social Identity slide (no. 6)
• Can you identify the axis for each statement?

9
Identity ?Learning

• How does social identity affect how we learn?
• How do we change from the Before to the After?

10
What changes identity?

• Teachers
• Reasons why assignment not successful
• Show steps necessary to learn
• How to achieve those steps
• Can you identify the three axes?
• Students (peers)
• How do students affect a students identity?
• Modeling, direct instruction, verbal reassurance

11
Learn through others?

• Learning is individually constructed (Piaget)
• We create schema of the world
• Conflict is the catalyst to create or shape
  schema
• Schema are assimilated or accommodated
• Stages Sensori-motor, Pre-op., Concrete-op.,
  Formal-op.
• Social-cultural constructivism (Vygotsky)
• Construction occurs during interaction with
  others
• Interaction ? Internalization (how experts
  perform task)
• Zone of Proximal Development the level at which
  a student can succeed only with assistance
• Independence ? ZPD ? Potential

12
Construction Nuts and Bolts

• How does this constructed learning work?
• Scaffolding (Bruner)
• Narrowing the possible choices to accomplish a
  task so the student can concentrate on the skill
  itself, rather than deciding what to do
• Highly Structured ? No Structure (as student
  progresses)
• Create an external consciousness that student
  gradually absorbs to spontaneously use later
  (internal)
• Source for Slide Mercer, Neil and Staar
  Kleinemann, Judith, Lecture notes, Feb. 7, 2007

13
Learn ? Identity

• How does socially constructed learning transform
  a student from Before to After?

14
Self-Efficacy

• Definition beliefs a person holds about
  capabilities, but may not accurately reflect
  actual capabilities
• Do I belong here?
• Can I do this? Will I be successful at it?
• Source Webb, Jane, Lecture notes, Jan. 22, 2007
• Without a strong self-efficacy, difficult to
  accurately assess ones own abilities and
  accomplishments, particularly what one lacks or
  needs to develop.
• Desire to continue, and change, in face of
  difficulty.
• Source Dweck

15
Mindset (Dweck)

• Fixed

• Growth

• I just need to do x, y, z!
• This is difficult, but I think Im getting
  better.
• I just need to work harder so my grade will
  increase

• Nothing I can do
• Im just a bad writer.
• My grade will never change, so why put in effort?

16
Facilitating Connections
17
Faculty/Student Connections

• Listing office hours is not enough.
• Build connection into course (see handout)
• So that I can get to know who you are and
  associate a personality with your name, you can
  receive five points extra-credit toward your
  first exam score by calling me during my office
  hours tomorrow, Thursday, February 3, 2011, from
  1240-200. When you call me during my office
  hours, I'll be subjecting you to a quirky and
  weird set of survey questions. I'm using these
  survey questions to "mine for quirkiness." If I
  find something quirky about you, it will help me
  to remember who you are. The questions are
  non-offensive but if you'd prefer, you may always
  say "pass. ?

18
Faculty/Student Connections

• Listing office hours is not enough
• Survey Questions
• 1. Where did you go to high school?
  City/State/Country?
• 2. What was your favorite class in high school or
  what has been your favorite class thus far in
  college?
• 3. Pets? Children? Both? Neither?
• 4. Are you a first, last or middle child?
• 5. When you arent in school or completing school
  work, what do you like to be doing?

19
Student/Student Connections

• What is the goal?
• Forming groups to use throughout the semester.
• Fruits
• Candy Bars
• Vegetables
• Animals

20
Student/Student Connections

• What is the goal?
• Ice-breakersFirst day(s) of class
• What signals do we send?
• Post cards for math anxiety. What grade can you
  expect for this class?
• Your favorites?

21
Student/Student Connections

• What is the goal?
• Not just once.
• Evaluating personal ads for Philosophy of Women
  in Western Cultures
• Group problem solving for Symbolic Logic

22
Student/Student Connections

• What is the goal?
• Not just once.
• Archaeological Expedition Mythology
• Stations around the room
• Your favorites?

23
Conclusion

• Questions?
• Comments? What surprised you? Interested you?
• Please contact us if you need more info., ideas,
  etc.
• Johnnie Terry jterry_at_sierra.edu
• Anne Argyriou argyriouanne_at_deanza.edu
• Thank you for attending ?

24
Johnnies References

• Barkley, Elizabeth F. Student Engagement
  Techniques A Handbook for College Faculty. San
  Francisco Jossey-Bass, 2010.
• Barkley, Elizabeth F. Collaborative Learning
  Techniques A Handbook for College Faculty. San
  Francisco Jossey-Bass, 2004.
• Fink, L. Dee. Creating Significant Learning
  Experiences An Integrated Approach to Designing
  College Courses, San Francisco Jossey-Bass,
  2003.
• Gabriel, Kathleen. Teaching Unprepared Students
  Strategies for Promoting Success and Retention in
  Higher Education. Sterling Stylus Publishing,
  2008.
• Kuh, George. Student Success in College Creating
  Conditions that Matter. San Francisco
  Jossey-Bass, 2010.

25
Annes References

• Dweck, Carol S. (2006) Mindset The new
  psychology of success. New York Ballantine
  Books.
• Fincham, Frank and Hewstone, Miles. (2003)
  Attribution Theory and Research from basic to
  applied, in M. Hewstone, and W. Stroebe, (Eds)
  Introduction to Social Psychology (3rd edition)
  (Chapter 7). Oxford, UK Blackwell.
• Vygotsky, Lev. S. and Kozulin, A. (ed.) (1986)
  Thought and Language. Boston MIT Press.
• Weiner, B. (1986) An attributional theory of
  motivation and emotion. New York Springer
  Verlag.
• Woolfolk, Anita. (2001) Educational psychology
  (8th edition). Boston Allyn and Bacon.
• Lecture Notes from Courses in MPhil Psychology
  and Education, University of Cambridge.