I recently finished reading Minds Online by Michelle Miller, a professor in the psychological
sciences at Northern Arizona University. The book discusses much more than
online learning. First the basis for learning is laid out given what we know
from research on learning and cognition. Three of the nine chapters in the book
are devoted to Attention, Memory and Thinking. In each chapter, the author
suggests practical strategies of incorporating the principles discussed into an
online learning context. I found that many of the suggestions translate well
(with minor modification) into face-to-face classes too. Overall, this is a
book I will probably want on my bookshelf. So I’m likely to purchase it after I
return my library copy.
One of the things I have been thinking about this semester
is how to teach metacognitive strategies to my students. This, I think, is
really important for students to get the most out of their own learning. Are
there best-practice strategies? Over the years I spend some amount of time in
my office hours teaching students how to study effectively, particularly if
they are first-year students. (In my first year teaching I was a little shocked
by how ineffective strategies employed by the average student.) I have been
trying to add a dose of self-reflection strategies to my students’ thinking,
but it seems harder for them to “catch”, or I’m not doing a very good job
trying to convey how one actually goes about doing this.
In the chapter on Thinking, there is a section on Transfer,
i.e., getting students to apply what they have learned to new domains. Prof.
Miller writes: “Teaching metacognition does not have to be highly technical or
theoretical in nature… [Having faculty] introspect about how they approach
material, as disciplinary experts, [is] a way to uncover what they should teach
their students about thinking in a discipline… Infusing metacognition into
teaching means focusing on the ‘process as well as the product’… and maximize
transfer between [old and new problems]”.
Five suggestions are provided by the author. I do some of
these things, but perhaps not well. Here’s my self-analysis.
1. Emphasize how
knowledge is organized when the original material is being taught. In
class, I’m decent at making connections and describing the organizational
structure, but I don’t do it as consistently I should. There’s room for
improvement.
2. Go for depth rather
than breadth. One of the problems teaching General Chemistry is that it is
a pre-requisite for subsequent science courses that assume a certain body of
knowledge. Therefore I find that I’m often pressed for time just to get
“coverage”. I have made some progress, i.e., I’ve cut out a few peripheral
things and drilled down a little further in some areas. However what I really
need to do is sit down with my colleagues and really revisit our curricular
structure and content.
3. Emphasize
underlying principals and conceptual structure. The author suggests drawing
students’ attention to abstract, general aspects rather than on surface features.
In class I’m good at posing questions, listening to students answer, and posing
follow-up “why” and “why not” questions. However, sometimes I don’t do this as
consistently if I’m trying to cover a certain amount of material, so I’ll need
to work more on this.
4. Frequent quizzing.
Finally, this is something I do consistently!
5. Tell students why
wrong answers are wrong. I get the students to help figure this out for
themselves in class and in my office hours. However I’m not sure how much
reflection they do when they’re working on a homework assignment outside of
class.
My semester is drawing to an end, but I am looking forward
to being a better teacher in my classes next semester!
No comments:
Post a Comment