Engaging and Supporting the Wake Forest Student: Pedagogical approaches to

1. Engaging and Supporting the Wake Forest Student: Pedagogical approaches to success The Office of Multicultural Affairs and The Teaching & Learning Center

2. Welcome • Introductions • Alta Mauro Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs • Tom Benza, Associate Director of Financial Aid • Nate French, PhD Director of the Magnolia Scholars Program • Catherine Ross, PhD Director of the Teaching and Learning Center • Who else is in the room and why?

3. Agenda • What? • The case for increased awareness and competence • So what? • Who are our high-need and first-generation students and what assets do they bring to our classrooms and campus community? • What challenges do they face? • Now what? • What can we do to position them for success?

4. Disclaimers & Limitations • We won’t cover everything. • The information shared will not reflect all students in all settings / situations. • An intercultural mindset is more effective than a monocultural one (IDI, LLC, 2012). • But generalizations are still possible. • Supporting these students benefits all students.

5. What? • “Increased diversity on our campus will enrich the fabric of our own community and offer students even more opportunity to learn from one another-an opportunity that incoming students now eagerly seek” (WFU Strategic Plan, 2006). • These students, who have little or no family history in college, can enter a university with scarce knowledge of the “jargon, traditions, and patterns of expected behavior” (educationnews.org, 2012 ). • These factors could prevent first-generation students from fully engaging and could potentially lead to dropout (Education Today, 2012).

6. So What? • “…students who master course content but fail to develop adequate academic self-confidence, academic goals, institutional commitment, social support and involvement may still be at risk of dropping out” (Chandler, 2008). • “Students must develop a strong affiliation with the college academic environment both in and out of class” (Chandler, 2008).

7. A Case Study of Financial Need:understanding the cost and burden of a Wake Forest education Tom Benza, Associate Director Financial Aid

8. 2012-13 Cost of Attendance • Tuition/Fees $43,700 • Room 7,800 • Board 3,860 • Subtotal $54,860 • Books 1,100 • Transportation 800 • Miscellaneous 1,500 • Total $58,310

9. Case StudyParents’ Contribution • Total Income $49,299 • Federal Tax 1,390 • State & Other Tax (NC) 4,930 • FICA 2,761 • Income Protection (family size = 4) 29,020 • Annual Ed Savings 749 • Employment Allowance 4,010 • Available Income $6,439 • Contribution from Income (22%) $1,417

10. Case StudyParents’ Contribution • Cash, savings, checking $1,500 • Home equity $45,000 • Investment equity 0 • Other real estate equity 0 • Adjusted business/farm 0 • Total Net Assets $46,500

11. Case StudyParents’ Contribution • Total Net Assets $46,500 • Emergency Reserve 27,720 • Cum Ed Savings 23,170 • Net Worth $0 • Contribution from Assets $0 • + Contribution from Income $1,417 • Total Parent Contribution $1,417

12. Case StudyStudent’s Contribution • Total Income $3,560 • Federal Tax 0 • State Tax (NC) 89 • FICA 201 • Available Income 3,270 • Min. Contribution from Income 2,400 • Total Assets 0 • Contribution from Assets 0

13. Case StudyFamily Contribution • Parent Contribution $ 1,417 • + Student Contribution 2,400 • = Family Contribution $3,817

14. Case StudyFinancial Need • Total Costs $58,310 • - Family Contribution $3,817 • = Need $54,493

15. Case StudyAward • WF College Scholarships 29,300 • Federal Grants 4,800 • State Grants 4,300 • Federal Work-Study 2,000 • Loans 14,000 • TOTAL AWARD (70% gift) $54,400

16. The First-Generation College Student at Wake Forest Dr. Nate French, Director The Magnolia Scholars Program

17. Teaching Every Student CATHERINE ROSS TEACHING AND LEARNING CENTER WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY

18. How can we foster learning environments in which diversity becomes one of the resources that stimulates learning? students self pedagogy content

19. How can we foster learning environments in which diversity becomes one of the resources that stimulates learning? students self pedagogy content

20. Reflective Practice Questions to ask yourself

21. Reflection Questions • How do your own experiences, values, beliefs and stereotypes influence your knowledge and understanding of groups that are different from your own? • Do I expect that First Gen students will do better? • Do I assume that all First Gen students are alike?

22. Reflection Questions • How do your own experiences, values, beliefs and stereotypes inform the way you interactwith students whose racial background is different from your own? • Am I afraid of students whose background differs markedly from mine? • Do I rationalize or tolerate lack of participation from First Gen students more than I would from other students?

23. Reflection Questions • How do your own experiences, values, beliefs and stereotypes influence the way you behave in the classroom? • How open am I to multiple modes of discourse? • Am I impatient with First Gen students if they don’t know what I expect them to know?

24. How can we foster learning environments in which diversity becomes one of the resources that stimulates learning? students self pedagogy content

25. Classroom Biases • Problematic assumptions? • Raise our awareness of assumptions • about teaching and learning • about the learning capacities of students • about students’ beliefs about learning capacity!

26. 2012 Classroom Biases • Problematic assumptions? • For example: • Students will seek help when they are struggling with a class. What happens when you fail?

27. How can we foster learning environments in which diversity becomes one of the resources that stimulates learning? students self pedagogy content

28. Motivation and Metacognition Learning to Learn

29. Food for Thought “We’ve gotten accustomed to a system in which the very few excel in school (and reap the rewards in the vocational world beyond) and the many stumble along and more or less get by, or get through, or fail.” • Warner, J. 2003. “Clueless in Academe: An Interview with Gerald Graff.” The Morning News, September 16th.

30. Why motivation and metacognition? “Research shows that the more actively engaged students are-with college faculty and staff, with other students, and with the subject matter they study-the more likely they are to learn, to stick with their studies, and to attain their academic goals.” (Community College Survey of Student Engagement, 2006, as cited in McGlynn, p. 106)

31. Definition: motivation • Motivation refers to the personal investment that an individual has in reaching a desired state or outcome (Maehr & Meyer, 1997). • In the context of learning, motivation influences the direction, intensity, persistence, and quality of the learning behaviors in which students engage.(Ambrose, et al, 2010)

32. Definition: motivation Principle: Students’ motivation generates, directs, and sustains what they do. • Value • Expectancy • Environment (Ambrose et al, 2010)

33. Mo Understanding Motivation: Ambrose et al, p. 80

34. Areas of Concern • Hopeless • No expectation of success • Low levels of motivation • Behave in helpless fashions • Fragile • Want to succeed • Dubious about abilities • Protect self-esteem • Feigning understanding • Avoiding performance • Denying difficulty • Making excuses

35. Expectancies Positive expectancy Negative expectancy Student achieves/doesn’t achieve a goal but attributes outcome to: External causes (easy/hard assignment, bad teacher) Uncontrollable factors (luck, fixedability/lack of talent) Does not expect future success! • Student achieves/doesn’t achieve a goal but attributes outcome to: • Internal causes (ability, innate talent) • Controllable causes (effort, persistence, preparation) Expects future success!

36. How to Enhance Efficacy How can we help students with self-efficacy and keep them motivated? Metacognition! “Metacognitive interventions…may be an especially powerful tool in helping the “academically adrift” student find a way to get into the game, to become more aware of the kind of thinking that supports strong academic performance.” Ottenhoff, Liberal Education (handout)

37. Intro to Metacognition • Brief intro to metacognition

38. Definition: Metacognition Metacognition is “the process of reflecting on and directing one’s own thinking” • Metacognitive processes to monitor and control learning:(Ambrose et al, pp. 190-193). • Assess the task at hand • Evaluate own skills and knowledge, identify strengths and weaknesses • Plan approach to task • Apply strategies and monitor progress • Reflect on whether approach is working/adjustments

39. Assessing the Task • Be more explicit than you may think necessary. • Clear and explicit goals for assignments • Articulate what students need to do to accomplish goals • Guidelines, checklist, rubrics • Connect with course learning goals

40. Assessing the Task • Tell students what you do NOT want. • Refer to common misconceptions from past students • Share samples of good and bad work and have students grade using rubric.

41. Assessing the Task • Check students’ understanding of the task. • Ask them what they think they need to do to complete task • Ask them how they will study for exam, memorize vocabulary, etc. and offer them strategies they may not have thought of • Have them rewrite the main goal of the assignment in their own words

42. Assessing the Task • Provide performance criteria with the assignment. • A rubric that represents component parts of the task along with descriptions of levels of mastery • Distribute rubric, checklist, etc. at the same time as assignment, NOT just when returning graded work

43. Evaluating Oneself • Give early, performance-based assessments • EARLY in the semester, ample and timely feedback on strengths and weaknesses • Formative assessments to help students detect knowledge or skills gaps

44. Evaluating Oneself • Provide opportunities for self-assessment. • Practice exams, online quizzes, practice problems. • Ask them to reflect on performance—what did you do well, what did you not do well on?Why? What could you do differently in the future? • Exam wrappers

45. Planning an Approach • Have students create their own plan. • Make the first deliverable of a large or complex assignment/project, a plan of work • EX: Learning Logs, project proposal, annotated bibliography, timeline, etc.

46. Planning an Approach • Make planning the goal of the assignment. • Instead of completing the task, ask students to plan a solution or recommend strategies for solving problems • Ask students to ‘think aloud’ while doing an assignment

47. Applying and Monitoring • Provide simple heuristics for self-correction. • Practical guidelines on assignments • How long should it take? • Teach basic strategies for assessing own work • Is this a reasonable answer given the problem? • What assumptions am I making and are they appropriate?

48. Applying and Monitoring • Have students do guided self-assessments as well as peer review. • Have them grade their homework before turning it in • Have them compare their answers/solutions/homework in small groups before self-assessing and turning it in

49. Applying and Monitoring • Require students to reflect on and annotate their own work • Annotating videos of their speeches and marking points of success and areas needing • Read-aloud protocols • Annotating problem solving steps

50. Reflecting and Adjusting • Activities that require reflection • What did you learn form doing this project? • What skills do you still need to work on? • Before I took this course, I _____, but now I______. • I used to _____ but now I_____.