Transcript Document

Understanding and
Enhancing Student Learning
Kerri-Lee Krause
http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au
Overview
• Understanding student learning in a changing
environment
• What the research tells us…
• Implications for enhancing student learning
in higher education
Kerri-Lee Krause
The student experience . . .
Kerri-Lee Krause
The changing student experience . . .
Kerri-Lee Krause
PART A: Learning in a changing environment
What the research says . . .
• Sources: Various studies conducted by the
Centre for the Study of Higher Education,
University of Melbourne. All are available on the
CSHE website http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au
• National studies
– First Year Experience studies
– Managing Study and Work
• Institutional studies
Kerri-Lee Krause
What is changing in the student experience?
• Some changes include:
– Part-time paid work commitments
– Patterns of enrolment - flexibility, double degree courses
– Modes of engagement - use of information and
communication technologies (ICTs)
– Responding to labour market/industry demands
– Increased mobility due to globalisation and
internationalisation of education and the labour market
– Aspirations, motivations, expectations
Kerri-Lee Krause
1. Changing part-time paid work commitments
• P/T paid work as a source of income for students
(% of first year students)
1994
Only
source
Main
source
Minor
source
Not a
source
4
22
22
52
9
27
23
40
N=4028
1999
N=2609
•
Source: McInnis, James & Hartley, 2000 (First Year on Campus)
Kerri-Lee Krause
1st year students’ time spent in paid work
• Hours spent in paid work in a typical university
week (% of first year students)
1994
1-5 hrs
6-10
11-15
16-20
21-25
26-30
31+hrs
22
38
20
12
4
2
2
16
32
25
17
5
2
3
N=4028
1999
N=2609
Source: McInnis, James & Hartley, 2000 (First Year on Campus)
Kerri-Lee Krause
Paid work and the student experience
•
Part-time work does not necessarily impede progress and
satisfaction at university
•
Part-time workers often more strategic about time use in all
areas, including:– study,
– peer interaction at uni, and
– extra-curricular activities
Source: McInnis & Hartley, Managing Study and Work (2002)
Kerri-Lee Krause
How undergrad students spend their time
(Krause et al., in progress, one faculty only)
Activity
Course contact
Private study
Social activities
Recreation/sport
Web for study
Web for recreation
Library study
Paid work
Typical Uni Day
Typical weekend
How undergrad students spend their time
(Krause et al., in progress, one faculty only)
•Activity
•Typical Uni Day
•Course contact
•3-4hrs (58%)
•Private study
•1-2hrs (39%)
•Social activities
•1-2hrs (35%)
•Recreation/sport
•None/ <1hr (70%)
•Web for study
•<1hr (48%)
[1-2hrs 28%]
•Web for recreation •<1hr (45%)
[none 28%, 1-2hrs 18%]
•Library study
•<1hr (39%)
•Paid work
•None/<1 (77%)
[1-6hrs 21%]
•Typical weekend
How undergrad students spend their time
(Krause et al., in progress, one faculty only)
•Activity
•Typical Uni Day
•Typical weekend
•Course contact
•3-4hrs (58%)
•N/A
•Private study
•1-2hrs (39%)
•3-4hrs (32%)
•Social activities
•1-2hrs (35%)
•3-4hrs (30%)
•Recreation/sport
•None/ <1hr (70%)
•1-2hrs (31%)
•Web for study
•<1hr (48%)
•1-2hrs (34%)
[1-2hrs 28%]
•Web for recreation •<1hr (45%)
•<1hr (35%)
[none 28%, 1-2hrs 18%]
[1-2hrs 26%]
•Library study
•<1hr (39%)
•None (53%)
•Paid work
•None/<1 (77%)
•None (57%)
[1-6hrs 21%]
[5-10hrs 26%]
How undergrad students spend their time
(one faculty only)
•Activity
•Typical Uni Day
•Typical weekend
•Course contact
•3-4hrs (58%)
•N/A
•Private study
•1-2hrs (39%)
•3-4hrs (32%)
•Social activities
•1-2hrs (35%)
•3-4hrs (30%)
•Recreation/sport
•None/ <1hr (70%)
•1-2hrs (31%)
•Web for study
•<1hr (48%)
•1-2hrs (34%)
[1-2hrs 28%]
•Web for recreation
•<1hr (45%)
•<1hr (35%)
[none 28%, 1-2hrs 18%]
[1-2hrs 26%]
•Library study
•<1hr (39%)
•None (53%)
•Paid work
•None/<1 (77%)
•None (57%)
[1-6hrs 21%]
[5-10hrs 26%]
2. Changing patterns of enrolment
• Double degrees/ combined courses are having a
significant impact on student program selection
(Ramsay, commenting on DEST study “Combined Courses of
Study”, 2001)
• But what is the impact on student identity and
belongingness?
– I’m studying in X Department and Y Department. I
don’t really feel like I belong anywhere. I haven’t
really made friends in either place. (student voice)
Kerri-Lee Krause
2. Changing patterns of enrolment
• Double degrees/ combined courses are having a
significant impact on student program selection
(Ramsay, commenting on DEST study “Combined Courses of
Study”, 2001)
• But what is the impact on student identity and
belongingness?
– The worst thing is shifting across campus. I don’t feel
I belong anywhere. I keep in touch with school friends
a lot. But I’m learning to accept that this is uni and
not like school where you really feel that you fit in.
Kerri-Lee Krause
3. Changing modes of
engagement - using ICTs
• Online learning and teaching environments
– New skills required: Technical skills, information
literacy skills, communication skills
– Changing nature of interactions - flexibility,
anonymity
I use email a lot instead of going to knock on the
lecturer’s door. It means I don’t have to feel
anxious about asking stupid questions or facing
scary professors. (FY student voice)
– Changing student expectations - online delivery of
content
Kerri-Lee Krause
4. Changing expectations
• Expectations
– Of university experiences, processes and outcomes
– Of teachers, learning and teaching
– Of support services
– Of selves as university students
• Aspirations and motivations
– Employability issues
– Shifting concepts of career pathways
– International mobility
Kerri-Lee Krause
PART B: Implications for
enhancing student learning
• What does “student-centred” mean in universities of
the 21st century?
• It means
– Placing the best interests of the student at the centre of all
that happens in universities
– Quality teaching practices
– Closely monitoring student expectations
– Responding with their best interests in mind, but not
necessarily meeting all their demands and expectations
– Communicating and upholding Dept/Faculty/University
expectations of students
Kerri-Lee Krause
PART B: Implications for
enhancing student learning
“The aim of teaching is simple:
it is to make student learning possible”
(Ramsden, 1992, p. 5)
• What is the most important thing you want students
to learn in your classes?
• Possibly …
– Critically assessing the arguments
– Compiling patterns to integrate their knowledge
– Becoming aware of the limitations of theoretical knowledge
in the transfer of theory to practice
– Coming to accept relativism as a positive position
Kerri-Lee Krause
Enhancing student learning
“The aim of teaching is simple:
it is to make student learning possible”
(Ramsden, 1992, p. 5)
• What is the most important thing you want students
to learn in your classes?
• What strategies do YOU use to accomplish this goal?
• What strategies do STUDENTS use to accomplish this
goal? i.e., what do students DO in the learning
process in your classes?
Kerri-Lee Krause
Kolb’s Learning Style Model
(source: Evans, Forney & Guido-DiBrito, 1998, p.211)
Accommodator
• action-oriented and at ease
with people, prefers trial-anderror problem-solving
• good at carrying out plans,
open to new experiences,
adapts easily to change
Converger
Diverger
• people- and feeling-oriented
• has imagination and is aware
of meaning and values, good at
generating and analysing
alternatives
Assimilator
• prefers technical tasks over
social or interpersonal settings
• emphasizes ideas rather than
people
• excels at problem-solving,
decision-making and practical
applications
• good at inductive reasoning,
creating theoretical models, and
integrating observations
Kolb’s Learning Style Model
(source: Evans, Forney & Guido-DiBrito, 1998, p.211)
CONCRETE EXPERIENCE
(Feeling)
Accommodator
Diverger
• action-oriented and at ease
with people, prefers trial-anderror problem-solving
• good at carrying out plans,
open to new experiences,
adapts easily to change
Converger
• people- and feeling-oriented
• has imagination and is aware
of meaning and values, good at
generating and analysing
alternatives
Assimilator
• prefers technical tasks over
social or interpersonal settings
• emphasizes ideas rather than
people
• excels at problem-solving,
decision-making and practical
applications
• good at inductive reasoning,
creating theoretical models, and
integrating observations
ABSTRACT CONCEPTUALISATION
(Thinking)
Kolb’s Learning Style Model
(source: Evans, Forney & Guido-DiBrito, 1998, p.211)
CONCRETE EXPERIENCE
(Feeling)
Diverger
Accommodator
• action-oriented and at ease with
• people- and feeling-oriented
people, prefers trial-and-error
problem-solving
• has imagination and is aware of
meaning and values, good at generating
and analysing alternatives
• good at carrying out plans, open to
new experiences, adapts easily to
change
Converger
Assimilator
• prefers technical tasks over social
• emphasizes ideas rather than people
or interpersonal settings
• good at inductive reasoning, creating
theoretical models, and integrating
observations
• excels at problem-solving, decisionmaking and practical applications
ABSTRACT CONCEPTUALISATION
(Thinking)
Some views of student learning
in higher education
• Student learning is about the learner …
– acquiring high-level knowledge - passive reception
– actively engaged in forming ideas
– processing, storing and retrieving information in well-defined
and sequenced sets of knowledge structures
– engaging with concepts in a sociocultural context - i.e.,
situations co-produce knowledge through activity (situated
learning, authentic activity)
Kerri-Lee Krause
Situated or mediated learning?
• Situated learning
– Everyday knowledge: located in our experience of the world
• Mediated learning in higher education (Laurillard, 2002)
– Academic knowledge: located in our experience of our
experience of the world
– Involves higher order ‘reflecting on’ experience
– Involves constructing the environments which afford not only
learning of the world, but also learning of descriptions of the
world
– Relies heavily on symbolic representation - usually language,
but also mathematical symbols, diagrams
Kerri-Lee Krause
Enhancing Student Learning
9 Principles
•
1. Atmosphere of
intellectual excitement
What students say . . .
•
One of my lecturers keeps
the students interested by
asking questions
throughout the lecture and
moving around the lecture
theatre with a microphone
for students to respond
(so that EVERYONE can
hear). It’s only fun when
you know the answer
though!
Kerri-Lee Krause
Enhancing Student Learning
9 Principles
•
1. Atmosphere of
intellectual excitement
•
2. Intensive research
culture
What students say . . .
•
It’s quite interesting
hearing about what the
lecturer does when
they’re not teaching. I
just thought they
lectured - I didn’t really
understand about their
research as well. It kind
of brings them to life a
bit more.
Kerri-Lee Krause
Enhancing Student Learning
9 Principles
What students say . . .
•
1. Atmosphere of
intellectual excitement
•
One of the best things
about this semester?
•
2. Intensive research
culture
•
Completing group
projects with friends
•
3. Vibrant, embracing
social context
•
I met nice people, they
made it more interesting
as we helped each other
through the classes
Kerri-Lee Krause
Enhancing Student Learning
9 Principles
•
1. Atmosphere of
intellectual excitement
•
2. Intensive research
culture
•
3. Vibrant, embracing
social context
•
4. International, culturally
diverse curriculum &
learning community
What students say . . .
•
I’m learning another
language so I can get
work overseas. It’s not
expected but I thought it
would help my job
prospects
•
With my not very strong
English background, I
find it hard to engage in
social activities and
make friends.
Kerri-Lee Krause
Enhancing Student Learning
9 Principles
•
1. Atmosphere of
intellectual excitement
•
2. Intensive research
culture
•
3. Vibrant, embracing
social context
•
4. International, culturally
diverse curriculum &
learning community
•
5. Explicit concern for
individual development
What students say . . .
•
It’s great that students are
able to receive help
outside of class time and
that there are heaps of
study facilities in the
building
•
It’s majorly different to
school. Far more open and
free. I like the idea that you
have to teach yourself,
rather than having
information ‘force-fed’
Kerri-Lee Krause
Enhancing Student Learning
9 Principles
•
•
6. Clear academic
expectations and
standards
I just received my first
assignment back. I’m not
sure where to go or who
to talk to for help. Is it
normal to feel
disappointed about a
grade like this?
What students say . . .
•
Why are they important?
•
I like it when the tutor
gives us the sheet the
week before and tells us
what needs to be done,
gives us strategies for
studying so we can
prepare for the tute. We
get much more out of it
that way.
Kerri-Lee Krause
Enhancing Student Learning
9 Principles
•
•
6. Clear academic
expectations and
standards
7. Learning cycles of
experimentation,
feedback and assessment
What students say . . .
•
Why are these important?
•
I’ll wait and see what I
pass and then decide if I
stay here or not
•
I’m not sure if I’m
understanding the
reading yet - I haven’t had
any feedback really (Week
4 Semester 1)
•
It’s a trial semester. I’ll
just see how I go
Kerri-Lee Krause
Enhancing Student Learning
9 Principles
•
6. Clear academic
expectations and
standards
•
7. Learning cycles of
experimentation,
feedback and assessment
•
8. Premium quality
learning resources &
technologies
What students say . . .
•
I like being able to
communicate issues to
lecturers and tutors on
the web
•
There are discussion
groups on the internet supposedly - but I’ve
never accessed any of
them at all … unless
you’re forced to
Kerri-Lee Krause
Enhancing Student Learning
9 Principles
•
6. Clear academic
expectations and
standards
•
7. Learning cycles of
experimentation,
feedback and assessment
•
•
8. Premium quality
learning resources &
technologies
9. An adaptive curriculum
What students say . . .
•
It’s good to have the staffstudent committee so they
hear about our ideas and
suggestions
•
I would have liked to know
more about how to prepare
for my career path from
first year. (4th year student)
•
I feel like my course
doesn’t really have much to
do with what the employers
are looking for (4th year)
Kerri-Lee Krause
Kerri-Lee Krause
PART B: Implications for
enhancing student learning
1. Proactive strategies for keeping your students
connected
– Quality teaching practices
– Assessment and feedback
– Fostering learning communities - social connections in
real and virtual environments
2. Communicate and operationalise expectations of
students
– Attendance and participation
– Preparation
Kerri-Lee Krause
Are “learning styles” the answer?
• Kolb
– Different academic disciplines tend to impose different kinds
of learning demands
– Sociocultural variation, Differences in student and staff
demographics, personality, values, group norms
– Education in an academic discipline represents for the
student a process of socialization to the norms of that field
– Over time an “increasingly impermeable and homogeneous
disciplinary culture” is produced, along with “a specialised
student orientation to learning” (Kolb, 1981, p. 234)
– I.e., norms within the academic discipline may become
exclusionary, and one learning style favoured
Kerri-Lee Krause
Enhancing student learning
Experiential
knowledge
Formal
knowledge
• Teaching in higher education is
– “essentially a rhetorical activity, seeking to persuade
students to change the way they experience the world
through an understanding of the insights of others.
– It has to create the environment that enables students to
embrace the twin poles of experiential and formal
knowledge.” (Laurillard, 2002, p.23)
Kerri-Lee Krause