BRAIN NEWS WE CAN USE
There is good news and bad news on the brain front depending on which side of the neural network you are on. According to a recent article in Popular Science, the concept of brain emulation has a long, colorful history in science fiction, but it's also deeply rooted in computer science. An entire subfield known as neural networking is based on the physical architecture and biological rules that underpin neuroscience. Computer engineers have created artificial neural networks capable of forming associations, or learning. However, any neuroscientist will tell you that artificial neural networks don't begin to incorporate the true complexity of the human brain. Researchers have yet to characterize the many ways neurons interact and have yet to grasp how different chemical pathways affect the likelihood that they will fire. It appears there are rules they just don't know yet. So in the battle between human and machine, it seems we are still winning. We are discovering new things about how we learn everyday, which is another reason that teaching continues to be such a fascinating career or vocation. A lesson for our students is to practice good living like getting the proper rest, avoiding high anxiety situations right before assessment, and developing healthy eating habits to make sure their neurons are firing properly.
MEMORY AND REPETITION
"The average person probably remembers more of what they see than what they hear," says Dr. Dave Yearwood in a great article about exposing your students to the same information multiple ties to insure it sticks. He writes, "according to molecular biologist John Medina, the key to more remembering what we see and hear is enhanced when repetition is involved. Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating mass memorization of anything by anyone. Memorization is necessary in some cases, but given the easy access to all kinds of information, I see little reason for my students to commit large amounts of information to organic memory as opposed to knowing how and where to find it. What I am merely suggesting is that frequent re-exposure to snippets of content will likely aid understanding of what was presented or discussed."
STUDENT ENGAGEMENT CREATES LONG-TERM BENEFITS
Raise your hand if you believe it is a professor's job to stimulate, care about, and encourage their student's hopes and dreams? Put your hand down and take a look at this article by Scott Carlson in The Chronicle of Higher Education. He writes, "If you believe the new Gallup-Purdue Index Report, a study of 30,000 graduates of American colleges on issues of employment, job engagement, and well-being, it all comes down to old-fashioned values and human connectedness." Harold V. Hartley III, senior vice president at the Council of Independent Colleges said, "The thing that I think that is of particular value of this survey is that it is looking at outcomes of college that are different from the outcomes that we typically look at—like did you get a job, what is your salary, and those kinds of things."
Showing posts with label memory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label memory. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
HEALTHY LIVING CREATES BRAINS FOR LEARNING
One of the many topics we teach in the College Success Skills course offered at BRCC is the benefits of being healthy. The discussion centers on how your lifestyle really impacts your ability to learn. Part of the lesson is about diet and how foods affect your brain. Another aspect discussed is the benefits of exercise. I like to use some of the examples from Dr. Terry Doyle's book Learner-Centered Teaching. Doyle surveyed faculty members at different institutions to find out how they got their students moving rather than just having them sit and talk. One method he discovered is the "moving discussion" which allows student to walk for 15 to 20 minutes with a partner or a group and discuss various topics which are assigned by the instructor. When they return, they are asked to share their conclusions with the class. An even simpler method he shared allows students time to stand and stretch when needed during class. It provides a respite from boredom and allows you to recapture your student's attention. Research shows that having built in breaks during your class, will improve learning as it battles short attention spans and encourages deeper thinking about the subject at hand.
ASK FOR FEEDBACK REGULARLY
With all this talk about flipping, here is an idea about how you can increase the participation rate of your students on the end-of-the-semester ratings they are asked to complete. Ask your students to complete their student ratings on your teaching effectiveness based on their learning and explain to them that you plan to use their feedback to update and improve your approach based on their feedback. Ask them to give you specific comments on the things that helped them learn. Also, ask them to give you some examples of things they think would have helped them learn better in your classes. This is a continuation of the Stop-Start-Keep Doing periodic method that I have been encouraging you to use throughout the semester, so it ties in nicely if you have utilized this process. In addition, you might want to spend some time throughout the semester talking about the specific things that the student ratings are meant to capture. Sometimes students don't complete the ratings because they aren't really sure what we are asking of them. The flip in all of this is to move away from a mandate and towards a request for help.
CELEBRATING LEARNING
We continue to celebrate learning at BRCC. One of our Engaged Scholars, Paul Guidry who teaches criminal justice, sent us the following pictures from some of his classes. All of the students pictured increased their exam scores by one or more letter grades from the last exam. That is quite an accomplishment and illustrates the importance of having your students think about their preparation regimen when they receive their graded material back. Research shows that by having your students journal about how they prepared for the current test, they can begin to alter their preparation approach for the next assessment. Another technique that has been proven to improve performance on assessment instruments (like exams or papers) is to have the student correct the errors they made on the original assignment. It reinforces the right answers or methods and prepares them for the next time they are asked to apply the same knowledge. As I have shared with you in a previous tweet, research by Dr. Daniel Schacter shows that it takes both repetition and elaboration over time to form long-term memories. Dr. Carol Dweck's research also informs us that it is important when students fail, to focus the feedback on having them increase their effort and use improved strategies.
One of the many topics we teach in the College Success Skills course offered at BRCC is the benefits of being healthy. The discussion centers on how your lifestyle really impacts your ability to learn. Part of the lesson is about diet and how foods affect your brain. Another aspect discussed is the benefits of exercise. I like to use some of the examples from Dr. Terry Doyle's book Learner-Centered Teaching. Doyle surveyed faculty members at different institutions to find out how they got their students moving rather than just having them sit and talk. One method he discovered is the "moving discussion" which allows student to walk for 15 to 20 minutes with a partner or a group and discuss various topics which are assigned by the instructor. When they return, they are asked to share their conclusions with the class. An even simpler method he shared allows students time to stand and stretch when needed during class. It provides a respite from boredom and allows you to recapture your student's attention. Research shows that having built in breaks during your class, will improve learning as it battles short attention spans and encourages deeper thinking about the subject at hand.
ASK FOR FEEDBACK REGULARLY
With all this talk about flipping, here is an idea about how you can increase the participation rate of your students on the end-of-the-semester ratings they are asked to complete. Ask your students to complete their student ratings on your teaching effectiveness based on their learning and explain to them that you plan to use their feedback to update and improve your approach based on their feedback. Ask them to give you specific comments on the things that helped them learn. Also, ask them to give you some examples of things they think would have helped them learn better in your classes. This is a continuation of the Stop-Start-Keep Doing periodic method that I have been encouraging you to use throughout the semester, so it ties in nicely if you have utilized this process. In addition, you might want to spend some time throughout the semester talking about the specific things that the student ratings are meant to capture. Sometimes students don't complete the ratings because they aren't really sure what we are asking of them. The flip in all of this is to move away from a mandate and towards a request for help.
CELEBRATING LEARNING
We continue to celebrate learning at BRCC. One of our Engaged Scholars, Paul Guidry who teaches criminal justice, sent us the following pictures from some of his classes. All of the students pictured increased their exam scores by one or more letter grades from the last exam. That is quite an accomplishment and illustrates the importance of having your students think about their preparation regimen when they receive their graded material back. Research shows that by having your students journal about how they prepared for the current test, they can begin to alter their preparation approach for the next assessment. Another technique that has been proven to improve performance on assessment instruments (like exams or papers) is to have the student correct the errors they made on the original assignment. It reinforces the right answers or methods and prepares them for the next time they are asked to apply the same knowledge. As I have shared with you in a previous tweet, research by Dr. Daniel Schacter shows that it takes both repetition and elaboration over time to form long-term memories. Dr. Carol Dweck's research also informs us that it is important when students fail, to focus the feedback on having them increase their effort and use improved strategies.
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| Rosalind and Kiara with Mr. Guidry |
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| Xiaotang, Tarlesha, Devin, William, Felicia, Corey, Gloria, Hannah, Brandon, and AJ with Mr. Guidry |
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| Terrance, Honore, Tyler, Ridge, Kiara, Maria, Juan-Guevara, Kimberly, and Guysthaino with Mr. Guidry |
Thursday, January 30, 2014
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY
Are you using the discussion board function on your Blackboard site? Do you receive angry emails for your students related to technology use in your courses? Have you ever wondered how you can increase your engagement by utilizing online resources? An answer of yes to any of these questions suggests that you should plan on attending the Transforming the Challenging Online Students into a Master Student webinar. It is being held in the Teaching+Learning Center on Thursday, February 6 from noon until 1:00 PM. Shawn Orr will deliver an informative webinar utilizing her more than 18 years of experience as a professor, department chair, adviser and dean. Orr also received the 2010 Post-Secondary Teacher of the Year for the Ohio Business and Technology Teacher Association and the 2011 North Central Educators Association Educator of the Year. She hold a Master's degree with a curriculum development specialty. Come and learn from her experience and the ideas and input from your faculty colleagues. You can register now for the faculty professional development webinar sponsored by the Teaching+Learning Center.
USING TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE LEARNING
We tweeted earlier about an article by Rob Kelly that explains how to create a learner-friendly online presence for your classes. Kelly points to Cynthia Schmitt, senior director of continuing education at Florida Institute of Technology, as a good example. According to the article, Schmitt tries to make the online learning experience comfortable and efficient for students. I'll share one of her tips here. "One way to increase the students’ comfort in the online classroom is to conduct synchronous sessions." Each unit in Schmitt’s course includes one-hour synchronous sessions. "Students select the time for these sessions at the beginning of the course and meet with the instructor in groups of 10 to 12 using Adobe Connect, which enables them to see the instructor on camera and hear her or his voice. (Adobe Connect has the capability to allow students to use video and voice as well, but students in remote areas typically do not use these features because of bandwidth limitations and instead communicate via text chat.) Remember that Susan Nealy, eLearning Program Manager is ready and willing to help you enhance your online presence.
TEACH FOR THE BRAIN
Terry Doyle and Todd Zakrajsek have put out a great little book entitled The New Science of Learning: How to Learn in Harmony with Your Brain. I have actually started using some of the information from the book to improve my teaching and my students learning in my CSSK classes. In the chapter on memory, Doyle and Zakrajsek point out that "when learning something new, it helps to be interested in it, see a value to it, pay a lot of attention to it, and practice it a lot. The human brain is wired to more easily learn things that are important, and for the most part, what's important is also interesting." They recommend distributed practice to take advantage of this scientific breakthrough. By repeating important information numerous times over the course of your semester, your students are more likely to make the links to memory stronger which will allow them to retrieve it more easily. Repeated exposure to the new knowledge is also enhanced by making your students use it often. If you want to read more from this terrific book, the BRCC Library does own a copy (LB1134 .D68 2013).
Are you using the discussion board function on your Blackboard site? Do you receive angry emails for your students related to technology use in your courses? Have you ever wondered how you can increase your engagement by utilizing online resources? An answer of yes to any of these questions suggests that you should plan on attending the Transforming the Challenging Online Students into a Master Student webinar. It is being held in the Teaching+Learning Center on Thursday, February 6 from noon until 1:00 PM. Shawn Orr will deliver an informative webinar utilizing her more than 18 years of experience as a professor, department chair, adviser and dean. Orr also received the 2010 Post-Secondary Teacher of the Year for the Ohio Business and Technology Teacher Association and the 2011 North Central Educators Association Educator of the Year. She hold a Master's degree with a curriculum development specialty. Come and learn from her experience and the ideas and input from your faculty colleagues. You can register now for the faculty professional development webinar sponsored by the Teaching+Learning Center.
USING TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE LEARNING
We tweeted earlier about an article by Rob Kelly that explains how to create a learner-friendly online presence for your classes. Kelly points to Cynthia Schmitt, senior director of continuing education at Florida Institute of Technology, as a good example. According to the article, Schmitt tries to make the online learning experience comfortable and efficient for students. I'll share one of her tips here. "One way to increase the students’ comfort in the online classroom is to conduct synchronous sessions." Each unit in Schmitt’s course includes one-hour synchronous sessions. "Students select the time for these sessions at the beginning of the course and meet with the instructor in groups of 10 to 12 using Adobe Connect, which enables them to see the instructor on camera and hear her or his voice. (Adobe Connect has the capability to allow students to use video and voice as well, but students in remote areas typically do not use these features because of bandwidth limitations and instead communicate via text chat.) Remember that Susan Nealy, eLearning Program Manager is ready and willing to help you enhance your online presence.
TEACH FOR THE BRAIN
Terry Doyle and Todd Zakrajsek have put out a great little book entitled The New Science of Learning: How to Learn in Harmony with Your Brain. I have actually started using some of the information from the book to improve my teaching and my students learning in my CSSK classes. In the chapter on memory, Doyle and Zakrajsek point out that "when learning something new, it helps to be interested in it, see a value to it, pay a lot of attention to it, and practice it a lot. The human brain is wired to more easily learn things that are important, and for the most part, what's important is also interesting." They recommend distributed practice to take advantage of this scientific breakthrough. By repeating important information numerous times over the course of your semester, your students are more likely to make the links to memory stronger which will allow them to retrieve it more easily. Repeated exposure to the new knowledge is also enhanced by making your students use it often. If you want to read more from this terrific book, the BRCC Library does own a copy (LB1134 .D68 2013).
Friday, October 12, 2012
ANOTHER REASON TO TEST
While reviewing some material for an upcoming presentation on Millennials, I found a terrific one-pager from Mary A. Pyc and Katherine A. Rawson entitled Why Testing Improves Memory: Mediator effectiveness hypothesis first published in Science (vol. 330) in 2010 (Q1 .S35 V.330). They set out to disprove the assumption that learning can only occur during study. They also wanted to see if testing could be used for something other than evaluating the state of memory. What they found was intriguing and could be incorporated in your classes as a test-restudy intervention. They noted that testing improves memory. One of the more important ideas to remember when constructing tests is to focus on what is truly important. Take a look at the course learning outcomes and make sure that you are aligning your learning experiences and assessment with those outcomes. The other important connection that this empirical research confirms is that important concepts should be included on subsequent tests and a comprehensive final may be your best opportunity to help your students retain what they have learned in your course.
TEACHING ONLINE
If you are looking for strategies for group learning activities for the online environment, take a look at this blog post by Debbie Morrison. Stephen Downes writes that the PAD (Personal Access Device) will become the dominant tool for online education, combining the function of book, notebook, and pen.
CHARACTER MATTERS
Paul Tough believes that character development may be the most important thing we can teach our students. He writes about that and may other things including the effects of poverty in his book How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. When asked how failure can help us succeed, he responds, "That’s an idea that I think was best expressed by Dominic Randolph, the head of the Riverdale Country School, where they’re now doing some interesting experiments with teaching character. Here’s how he put it: The idea of building grit and building self-control is that you get that through failure. And in most highly academic environments in the United States, no one fails anything. That idea resonated with a lot of readers. I don’t think it’s quite true that failure itself helps us succeed. In fact, repeated failures can be quite devastating to a child’s development. What I think is important on the road to success is learning to deal with failure, to manage adversity. That’s a skill that parents can certainly help their children develop--but so can teachers and coaches and mentors and neighbors and lots of other people." He elaborates in this podcast.
While reviewing some material for an upcoming presentation on Millennials, I found a terrific one-pager from Mary A. Pyc and Katherine A. Rawson entitled Why Testing Improves Memory: Mediator effectiveness hypothesis first published in Science (vol. 330) in 2010 (Q1 .S35 V.330). They set out to disprove the assumption that learning can only occur during study. They also wanted to see if testing could be used for something other than evaluating the state of memory. What they found was intriguing and could be incorporated in your classes as a test-restudy intervention. They noted that testing improves memory. One of the more important ideas to remember when constructing tests is to focus on what is truly important. Take a look at the course learning outcomes and make sure that you are aligning your learning experiences and assessment with those outcomes. The other important connection that this empirical research confirms is that important concepts should be included on subsequent tests and a comprehensive final may be your best opportunity to help your students retain what they have learned in your course.
TEACHING ONLINE
If you are looking for strategies for group learning activities for the online environment, take a look at this blog post by Debbie Morrison. Stephen Downes writes that the PAD (Personal Access Device) will become the dominant tool for online education, combining the function of book, notebook, and pen.
CHARACTER MATTERS
Paul Tough believes that character development may be the most important thing we can teach our students. He writes about that and may other things including the effects of poverty in his book How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. When asked how failure can help us succeed, he responds, "That’s an idea that I think was best expressed by Dominic Randolph, the head of the Riverdale Country School, where they’re now doing some interesting experiments with teaching character. Here’s how he put it: The idea of building grit and building self-control is that you get that through failure. And in most highly academic environments in the United States, no one fails anything. That idea resonated with a lot of readers. I don’t think it’s quite true that failure itself helps us succeed. In fact, repeated failures can be quite devastating to a child’s development. What I think is important on the road to success is learning to deal with failure, to manage adversity. That’s a skill that parents can certainly help their children develop--but so can teachers and coaches and mentors and neighbors and lots of other people." He elaborates in this podcast.
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