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Effective Assignments: Facilitating Learning
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Higher Education’s Dark secrets Despite our rhetoric about teaching higher order skills—critical thinking & problem solving many faculty focus on the acquisition of knowledge (Cashin & Downey, 1995) (Cashin & Downey, 1995) Students learn what the professors emphasize
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A week has 168 hours Full-time students spend about 16 hours a week in class That means 90% of the time students are NOT in class When, where, and how does most the most effective learning take place? Eder
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Typical undergraduate …studies less than 10 hours per week for a full-time load …graduates with a B+/A- average What explains this remarkable pair of findings? Eder
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Why Give Assignments Students acquire and refine skills Reinforce lecture and other materials Preparation for future learning activities Assess what students have learned Apply previous learning in new situation Acquire the discipline’s conventions
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Why Give Assignments Allow students to explore their interests Allow students to work at their pace Able to use resources not in the classroom Encourage independent learning Encourage self-discipline Makes the best use of class time
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Effective Assignments Have a specific understood purpose Create a positive learning experience Make the best use of student’s time Value utilization of information resources Alleviate the instructor’s workload Increase understanding of the subject Are worth doing
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Effective Assignments Have clearly written learning objectives Have clear parameters, directions, terminology & schedules Match students’ interests & prior knowledge Require students to use information skills & resources in meaningful ways Foster evidence-based reasoning & higher order skills
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Effective Assignments Break down large projects into smaller tasks Reflect the discipline & potential careers Identify the expected characteristics Inhibit academic dishonesty Are “do-able”
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Check Your Assumptions
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It makes a Difference: Teaching Subject vs. Students Teaching the subject focuses on covering course content Teaching students focuses on the context for individual learning
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Teaching Students What do they know? What do they expect? What do they misunderstand? What experiences do they have that I can use to connect them to content What study skills do they lack?
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What is Prior Knowledge? Knowledge, skills, or abilities brought to the learning process Dynamic, explicit and tacit, includes various types of knowledge organized in schemata Includes correct understandings and misunderstandings Gonsalves & Lyke 2006
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Why Assess Prior Knowledge? Effective teaching connects new content to prior knowledge Learning is the integration of new information into existing knowledge Better able to facilitate learning when you know what students know Misconceptions stand in the way of learning Learning outcomes are best evaluated relative to prior knowledge Gonsalves & Lyke 2006
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Why Assess Prior Knowledge? Students understand prior knowledge is important Class time can be spent more efficiently Students understand their deficiencies and can take responsibility for repairing them Can avoid making decisions based on assumptions Gonsalves & Lyke 2006
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Active Learning What I hear, I forget What I hear and see, I remember What I hear, see, and discuss, I understand What I hear, see, discuss, and do, allows me to acquire knowledge and skills
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Active Learning Tell me, I will forget Show me, I may remember Involve me and I will understand
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