Lost in Translation: Teaching College Freshmen

1. Lost in Translation:Teaching College Freshmen Dr. De Gallow UC Riverside April 9, 2004

2. A trip down memory lane…

3. My, how times have changed…

4. Agenda • Where students are coming from (attitudes, experience, cognition) • What works • Applying what you (now) know

5. The “Millennial Generation”: • 97% born in 1984 or 1985! • Paul Newman makes salad dressing • Bert & Ernie are old enough to be their parents • Computers have always fit in their backpacks • Rock ‘n Roll has always been a force for social good Source: The Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2007

6. Do you remember? • What was your primary goal in attending college? • To be financially well off? • To develop a meaningful philosophy of life? • To meet a potential partner? • To become an authority in your field? • To get away from your parents?

7. Financially Well Off Source: Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA (the nation’s most comprehensive and longest running assessment of student attitudes and plans)

8. How Many Hours Per Week Did You Spend Studying During Your Senior Year of High School? • 0-6 hours • 7-10 hours • 11-20 hours • 20+ hours

9. Are Today’s Students More or Less Politically Engaged Than You Were as a College Freshman? • More • Less

10. Political Engagement

11. Political Orientation: 2003 • 22.7% Conservative/Far Right • 24.2% Liberal/Far Left • 50.3% Middle-of-the-Road • Socially liberal/fiscally conservative

12. Portrait of the “Millennials” • Demanding of a secure, regulated environment • Trust authority figures • Close with their parents • Focused on grades & performance • Savvy in technology • Busy with extra-curricular activities Source: Howe & Strauss, Millennials Go to College, American Assoc. of Collegiate Registrars & Admissions Officers, 2004.

13. Cognitive/Learning Styles: • Concrete • Sensing • Dual or Relativistic • Visual/Kinesthetic This does not mean they don’t or can’t learn in other ways.

14. 7 Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education • Good practice encourages contacts between students & faculty. • Good practice develops reciprocity & cooperation among students. • Good practice uses active learning techniques. • Good practice gives [& gets] prompt feedback. • Good practice emphasizes time on task. • Good practice communicates high expectations. • Good practice respects diverse talents & ways of knowing.

15. In what ways have you increased meaningful and frequent contact with students, even in large classes?

16. How Many of You Have Used Small Groups or Other Inter-dependency Activities? How Have You Used Them?

17. In What Ways Do You Balance Levels of Intellectual Challenge with Intellectual Support?:

18. How Have You Integrated Respect for Diverse Ways of Knowing?

19. How Might You Give (& Get) Prompt & Frequent Feedback?

20. OPTIONS: • Each table selects one colleague’s class to use as a model and generates ideas for 1-3 selected Principles. • We select one class and generate ideas that will address 1-3 of the Principles. • Collectively we can address selected Principles.

21. In Groups: 15 Minutes • Select one colleague’s class from the group • Brainstorm: • In what ways might you add relevant, real world examples to this class? • In what ways might you add active learning? • In what ways might you incorporate strategies and assessments for diverse learning styles?

22. Reports: • Course • Relevance • Active • Diverse

23. Collectively Select One Class • Someone volunteers their class or we make one up http://www.discoveryseminars.ucr.edu/students.php?content=courses/s/current.html • Each group collectively generates ideas to address the following Principles: • Group 1: Developing Reciprocity & Cooperation Among Students • Group 2: Incorporates Diverse Talents & Ways of Knowing • Group 3: Uses Active Learning Techniques

24. We Collectively Address Principles You Select: • Good practice encourages contacts between students & faculty • Good practice develops reciprocity & cooperation among students • Good practice uses active learning techniques. • Good practice gives [& gets] prompt feedback. • Good practice emphasizes time on task. • Good practice communicates high expectations. • Good practice respects diverse talents & ways of knowing.

25. 1.Good Practice Encourages Contacts Between Students & Faculty • “Frequent student-faculty contact in & out of class is a most important factor in student motivation & involvement. Faculty concern helps students get through rough times & keep on working. Knowing a few faculty members enhances students’ intellectual commitment & encourages them to think about their own values & plans.”

26. 2. Good Practice Develops Reciprocity & Cooperation Among Students. • “Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race. Good learning, like good work, is collaborative not competitive and isolated. Working with others often increases involvement in learning. Sharing one’s ideas and responding to others improves thinking and deepens understanding.”

27. 3. Good Practice Uses Active Learning Techniques. • “Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much by just sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing prepackaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write reflectively about it, relate it to past experiences, and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.”

28. 4. Good Practice Gives [& Gets] Prompt Feedback. • “Knowing what you know and don’t know focuses your learning. In getting started, students need help assessing their existing knowledge and competence. Then, in classes, students need frequent opportunities to perform and receive feedback on their performance. At various point during college, and at its end, students need chances to reflect on what they have learned, what they still need to know, and how they might assess themselves.” • Teachers also need frequent, formative feedback from students during a course, as well as summative feedback at the end.

29. 5. Good Practice Emphasizes Time on Task. • “Time plus energy equals learning. Learning to use one’s time well is critical for students and professionals alike. Allocating realistic amounts of time means effective learning for students and effective teaching for faculty.”

30. 6. Good Practice Communicates High Expectations. • “Expect more and you will get it. High expectations are important for everyone—for the poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves, and for the bright and well motivated. Expecting students to perform well becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

31. 7. Good Practice Respects Diverse Talents & Ways of Knowing. • “Many roads lead to learning. Different students bring different talents and styles to college. Brilliant students in a seminar might be all thumbs in a lab or studio; students rich in hands-on experience may not do so well with theory. Students need opportunities to show their talents and learn in ways that work for them. Then they can be pushed to learn in new ways that do not come so easily.”