Transcript Building Community in the Classroom Transforming Developmental Students into Successful College Learners and Participants Dr.

Building
Community in the
Classroom
Transforming Developmental Students into
Successful College Learners and Participants
Dr. Paul and Kimberly Nolting, Academic Success Press, Inc.
www.academicsuccess.com
Long Term Teaching Goal for
Education Faculty
By the Completion of a Student’s DE Course Series
Instructor
Level of
Responsibility
Ownership
Student
Timeline of a Student’s DE Course Series
Agenda
Psychosocial factors related to student
persistence:
Self-efficacy: Theory and Application
Sense of Belonging: Theory and Application
Social Support: Theory and Application
Self-regulated Learning
Includes examples of instruction and curriculum as well
as collaboration with counselors.
Goal: Nurture these skills and attributes before
students enter into college level courses
Preparation for reading,
writing, math in college
courses
Psychosocial
factors
related to
student
persistence
Sense of
belonging
Social support
Psychosocial Factors Related to Student
Persistence
Selfefficacy
Selfregulation
Social
Support
Belonging
Motivated and Resilient
College Learner
Self-efficacy
Belief in one’s ability to accomplish a
specific task or reach a specific goal
Students make personal
interpretations of their past
accomplishments and failures and set
their own goals based on these
interpretations.
These goals become their personal
standards.
Self-efficacy can be developed and
taught. Ames, 1990; Bandura, 1988; Tollefson, 2000
Students with low self-efficacy get
overwhelmed easily & manifest
defensive or learned helplessness
behaviors.
Students with high self-efficacy
attempt tasks and persist when the
tasks get difficult. They figure out
different ways to get the task done.
Self-efficacy & Academic Performance
A person’s interpretation (include feelings) of his or her academic
performances and past learning experiences
alters or
shapes
Current learning environments,
behaviors and self-beliefs that affect
self-efficacy
Current learning behaviors and
academic performance*
influences
*Responses to these experiences can either re-affirm current self beliefs and a person’s
interpretation of events or change the self beliefs and interpretation. This is important in
helping students acquire stronger self-efficacy and/or manage math anxiety. Bandura;
Pajares
Measuring Task-specific Self-efficacy
The more specific the task, the more accurate
measurement of self-efficacy. (Pajares, 1995 and 1996)
Pre and post measurement
Pre measurement may ask why they are
confident or not confident of learning the task.
Post measurement may include questions asking
why the students felt either stronger, same, or
less self-efficacy after completing the task.
Samples
(Self-efficacy Believes in Academic Settings, Pajarec, 1995, 1996)
Source
Question
Answer Options
Reading for understanding
a section from a history
textbook about what led
up to the American
Revolution
How confident are you that 1 (I’m sure I can) to 5 (I’m
you will be able to organize sure I can’t) with intervals
the reasons for the
of 1
revolution into a timeline?
Into a who, what, how, why
matrix?
Writing a paragraph about
a significant person in your
life
How well can you use
concrete descriptions and
specific examples to write
a paragraph about a
significant person in your
life?
0 (not well at all) to 7 (very
well) with intervals of 1
Samples
(Self-efficacy Believes in Academic Settings, Pajarec, 1995, 1996)
Source
Question
Answer options
Solving a discount word
problem
How much confidence do
you have when it comes to
solving discount word
problems?
0 (no confidence) to 9
(complete confidence) with
intervals of 1
Self-efficacy about a math
test
How sure are you about
earning at least a B on this
math test?
1 (I’m sure I can) to 5 (I’m
sure I can’t) with intervals
of 1
Note that some students will go down in confidence/self-efficacy at some point
because they have inflated self-perceptions, particularly students just out of high
school. Reality hits about learning in college and their self-perceptions are more
realistic. If they change their learning behaviors, their self-efficacy should increase.
Insert pre and post questions about why they assessed their self-efficacy they way
they did. This provides insight about their struggles.
Instructional Formula for
Building Self-efficacy
Short-term learning
goals
+
Strategies to make
progress toward the
goals
Learning strategies help
students to engage in
real learning and value
knowledge.
Experiences on which
students can shape new
images of their ability to
learn. Ames, 1990
Example: Reading for Personal Involvement
Long term goal:
Read, understand, and
apply chapter one in
Navigating College
Short term goal:
Skim chapter for overall
picture and to develop
an interest in topic
Strategies to reach short term goal
Read introduction
Read chapter objectives and write
questions (in the margins) that
reflect how you react to them
Read quotes with pictures and
write your response next to
each of them.
Read bold subtitles or italicized
words. Select at least five and
write your personal reaction for
each one in the margin.
Example: Writing an Explanatory Paragraph
Long term goal:
Write an explanatory
paragraph about
what you learned
after meeting with
your instructor
Strategies to reach short term
goal:
Short term goal:
Develop the content
outline
Provide a structural outline for them
Provide set of questions (for selecting
content) that leads them through the
process from topic sentence, 2 major
support ideas and details to support
each major idea.
Model the process with small group
writing workshop.
Sense of Belonging:
“Mattering” and Marginality
Mattering refers to individual’s feeling that he or she
counts, makes a difference… others being interested
in us and being concerned with our fate.
Marginality refers to not fitting in, not important, and
not being accepted.
Rosenberg and McCullough; Schlossberg, 1989; Rayle and Chung, 2007.
Collegial Relationships
Many students need strategies and
guidance in developing collegial
relationships with faculty and
students.
Incorporate out of class activity that
involves developing collegial
friends. This can become a “how
to” writing activity, whether
paragraph or essay.
Students can develop basic research
reading on the topic of getting
along with professors and
developing collegial friends. Then
they can discuss what they find
and learn in class.
Social Support
Research relates a student’s social (friends and family)
support to college persistence.
New college students are in a new environment that
detaches them from social supports on which they depended in
the past… or, at the least, changes the dynamics.
Research has linked level of support with the level of tenacity
to face tough academic situations and the accompanying
academic stress.
Social support involves emotional and information support
people.
Rosenberg and McCullough; Schlossberg, 1989; Rayle and Chung, 2007.
Counseling and Faculty Collaboration:
Building Social Support System
Invite counselor in for two classes to talk about building a support
system of at least two people to help when college gets tough and
to celebrate victories, both small and large.
Counselor can provide follow up support as they see possible.
Navigating College chapter focuses specifically on this process.
This can be a descriptive paragraph: Describe a significant person in
your life
Students can read a simple biography of an important person and
discuss (not write) what they learned from the book in class.
Counselor and Instructor Collaboration:
Self-perception as a College Student
Bring awareness to the power of
students’ self talk.
Provide strategies and guidance to
reshape negative self talk into
productive.
Counselor provides expertise and
presents chapter on productive
attitudes.
Design small group or individual
activity based on chapter.
Role play
Writing dialogue for skit
Principles for Productive Learning
Self-regulated Learner
Attempt to control their behavior,
motivation, affect and cognition.
They have an academic
thermometer.
Have goals to accomplish and these goals
are standards by which they assess how
they are doing.
Individual student is in control of his/her
actions.
Guiding Process of Self-regulating
The self-regulated learner asks…..
In chapter Planning Productive
Academic Study, there are sets of
self-regulated questions.
Students can practice writing short
answer questions with these
questions while actually applying
them to the strategies that they
are practicing.
Active Learning
Collaborative learning –
home/task groups
Pair share- work
problem-review notes
Student
tutoring/teaching
Students put problems
on board before class
Student roll play
Collaborate with
counselors in the
instruction of these
areas.
Create a meaningful
learning experience
that nurtures well
adjusted,
involved and
academically
prepared students
Conclusion?
Integrate curriculum
that supports students
in developing necessary
psychosocial attributes
into the skills courses.
Design activities that
nurture collegial
relationships that can
be carried on to the
next semester.
Collaborate with
counselors in the
instruction of these
areas.
Create a meaningful
learning experience
that nurtures well
adjusted,
involved and
academically
prepared students