Transcript The Responsibility for Learning: A Priority for Learning

Please reflect on how faculty might respond
to these situations
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Many students complain that we talk too fast for
them to take good notes
Many students complain that they do not know
how to study for our tests or say the tests are
impossible or not fair
We feel we have a huge amount of material to
cover in our courses
We want our students to read literature in our
field, so we give them specific articles to read
and test them on the material without discussing
it in class
This is their course: Getting
students to take greater
responsibility for their learning
Phyllis Blumberg, Ph.D.
[email protected]
Outcomes of this session
Participants will be able to:
 Assess the long term impact of who takes
responsibility for learning
 Discuss alternative ways to foster students to
assume responsibility for learning
 Begin planning for changes in your courses
What are the consequences in terms of
student and faculty behaviors of these facts?
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College students are more diverse than they
were previously
 Many college students are unprepared in
terms of background and study skills
 Many college students are non-traditional,
older or part-time
Many college students hold additional
responsibilities such as 20-40 hours of
employment or dependent care
Many college students have less motivation to
work hard
Consequences of current
student characteristics
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Fewer students may be autonomous,
responsible learners
Faculty adapt their teaching to fit
requests/ needs of students
What do faculty do to respond?
When faculty assume more responsibility for
the students’ learning
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They direct how students learn
They determine what students will learn
Faculty become the sole judges of how well
students have learned
When faculty assume more responsibility for
the students’ learning
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Students remain passive
Students lack confidence in their abilities
to learn on their own
Students do not become lifelong, selfdirected learners
Does this sound familiar?
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Consider the four situations you reflected
on initially in terms of who takes
responsibility for learning
How do the data on the previous slides
effect you, your students, and how you
teach?
What have you done to assume
responsibility for your students’ learning?
How would you like to help your students
take more responsibility for learning?
How much do you trust your students
to take responsibility for their own
learning?
Not at all
 Somewhat
 Mostly
 Completely
Hopefully the rest of this workshop will help
you find ways to increase your trust in
students in this regard by engendering
skills so they can take this responsibility
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What should faculty do to assist
students?
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Most instructors do not use strategies to
help our students take responsibility for
their own learning
See the next slide for USciences data
This workshop will offer some strategies
These strategies are part of an approach
to teaching called learning/learner
centered teaching
Use of strategies to help students take
responsibility for learning
We will discuss the philosophical
overview and 6 ways faculty can
assist students to take responsibility
for learning (refer to blue sheet)
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Taking responsibility for Learning
Developing skills for further learning
Developing self-directed, lifelong learning
skills
6 ways faculty can increase student
taking responsibility for learning
(continued)
4. Developing their ability to assess their
own learning
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Developing proficiency at selfassessment of their strengths and
weaknesses
This is not the same as self-grading
6. Developing proficiency in information
literacy skills
Peer teaching activity (12 minutes)
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Divide into groups of 5.
Each person is responsible to teach others in
groups about 1 skill (components numbered 2-6
on your handout)
2 minute self-study with a focus on the example
given
Take turns teaching each other with each person taking
about 2 minutes to describe the skill
I will be happy to answer questions, clarify ideas, etc.
Choose a skill or component you might
want to assist students to develop
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From among those you just discussed,
select a skill/component you want to focus
on
Choose on the basis of what these
students need the most, or would help
students learn better
I have questions to help you you teach
this specific skills- 10 minute individual
exercise
2 part small group activity (20
minutes)
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Groups will be working on the same skill
Part 1- consider possible changes
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Consider which changes you might make
Agree upon 1-2 possible changes
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Part 2- planning for transformation
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Discuss the answers to the questions on the
planning for transformation form for the
selected component
Complete the planning for
transformation form (green sheet) as a
group or individually
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Use the form as a stimulus to plan how
you can assist your students to take
responsibility for their learning on this
component
Pay special attention to the following
tactical questions
Answer tactical planning questions
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What do you need to do, decide prior to
making changes?
Identify obstacles or challenges that need
to be overcome
Identify strategies for overcoming
obstacles
Identify necessary resources
How can you get students to accept this
change?
Any questions or feedback?
Reports from the groups