Johnnie Terry, Philosophy Professor, Sierra College
Anne Argyriou, Basic Skills Committee, De Anza College
ASCCC Student Success Institute:
Basic Skills Across the Curriculum
February 25, 2011
Introductions

Who are we???
Why are we presenting on this topic???
Brainstorm

 Moment of connection




Who was involved?
Topic?
How did people connect?
Why?
 Reflect
 What factors may have contributed to that connection?
 How do you think that connection affected everyone
involved (any change)?
“Connections” & the
Classroom

What would these connections look like?
What would the effects of these connections be?
Connections:
Student-Teacher,
Student-Student
First—Why?
Then—How?
Why do connections work?

 Establish a social identity
 Positive, academic self
 Create one to replace any negative academic identity
 Strengthen existing identity (neutral or insecure)
 Social identity crucial for learning to occur
 Individually
 Collaboratively
Social Identity

Before
After
 Nothing I can do…
 I just need to do x, y, z!
 I’m just a bad writer.
 This is difficult, but I
think I’m getting better.
 My grade will never
change, so why put in
effort?
 I just need to work
harder so my grade will
increase…
Attribution Theory

 Attribution: to establish reason(s) to explain why
something happened (assign a cause).
 Specifically applies to lay people (non-psychologists)
 Weiner: Three main axes underlie attributions
 Locus (internal—external)
 Stability (variant—invariant)
 Control (influence—no influence)
Identify: Axes of Attribution

 Review the “Social Identity” slide (no. 6)
 Can you identify the axis for each statement?
Identity Learning

How does social identity affect how we learn?
How do we change from the “Before” to the “After”?
What changes identity?

 Teachers
 Reasons why assignment not successful
 Show steps necessary to learn
 How to achieve those steps
 Can you identify the three axes?
 Students (peers)
 How do students affect a student’s identity?
 Modeling, direct instruction, verbal reassurance
Learn through others?

 Learning is individually constructed (Piaget)




We create schema of the world
Conflict is the catalyst to create or shape schema
Schema are assimilated or accommodated
Stages: Sensori-motor, Pre-op., Concrete-op., Formal-op.
 Social-cultural constructivism (Vygotsky)
 Construction occurs during interaction with others
 Interaction  Internalization (how experts perform task)
 Zone of Proximal Development: the level at which a student
can succeed only with assistance
 Independence  ZPD  Potential
Construction: Nuts and Bolts

 How does this constructed learning work?
 Scaffolding (Bruner)
 Narrowing the possible choices to accomplish a task so
the student can concentrate on the skill itself, rather
than deciding what to do…
 Highly Structured  No Structure (as student progresses)
 Create an “external” consciousness that student
gradually absorbs to spontaneously use later (internal)
 Source for Slide: Mercer, Neil and Staar Kleinemann, Judith,
Lecture notes, Feb. 7, 2007
Learn  Identity

How does socially constructed learning transform a student
from “Before” to “After”?
Self-Efficacy

 Definition: beliefs a person holds about capabilities,
but may not accurately reflect actual capabilities…
 “Do I belong here?”
 “Can I do this? Will I be successful at it?”
 Source: Webb, Jane, Lecture notes, Jan. 22, 2007
 Without a strong self-efficacy, difficult to accurately
assess one’s own abilities and accomplishments,
particularly what one lacks or needs to develop.
 Desire to continue, and change, in face of difficulty.
 Source: Dweck
Mindset (Dweck)

Fixed
Growth
 Nothing I can do…
 I just need to do x, y, z!
 I’m just a bad writer.
 This is difficult, but I
think I’m getting better.
 My grade will never
change, so why put in
effort?
 I just need to work
harder so my grade will
increase…
Facilitating Connections

Faculty/Student
Connections

 Listing office hours is not enough.
 Build connection into course (see handout):
 So that I can get to know who you are and associate a
personality with your name, you can receive five points
extra-credit toward your first exam score by calling me
during my office hours tomorrow, Thursday, February 3,
2011, from 12:40-2:00. When you call me during my office
hours, I'll be subjecting you to a quirky and weird set of
survey questions. I'm using these survey questions to
"mine for quirkiness." If I find something quirky about
you, it will help me to remember who you are. The
questions are non-offensive but if you'd prefer, you may
always say "pass.“ 
Faculty/Student
Connections

 Listing office hours is not enough
 Survey Questions
 1. Where did you go to high school? City/State/Country?
 2. What was your favorite class in high school or what has
been your favorite class thus far in college?
 3. Pets? Children? Both? Neither?
 4. Are you a first, last or middle child?
 5. When you aren’t in school or completing school work,
what do you like to be doing?
Student/Student
Connections

 What is the goal?
 Forming groups to use throughout the semester.
 Fruits:
 Candy Bars:
 Vegetables:
 Animals:
Student/Student
Connections

 What is the goal?
 Ice-breakers—First day(s) of class:
 What signals do we send?
 Post cards for math anxiety. What grade can you
expect for this class?
 Your favorites?
Student/Student
Connections

 What is the goal?
 Not just once.
 Evaluating personal ads for Philosophy of Women in
Western Cultures
 Group problem solving for Symbolic Logic
Student/Student
Connections

 What is the goal?
 Not just once.
 Archaeological Expedition: Mythology
 Stations around the room
 Your favorites?
Conclusion

 Questions?
 Comments? —What surprised you? Interested you?
 Please contact us if you need more info., ideas, etc.
 Johnnie Terry— jterry@sierra.edu
 Anne Argyriou – argyriouanne@deanza.edu
 Thank you for attending 
Johnnie’s References

 Barkley, Elizabeth F. Student Engagement Techniques: A
Handbook for College Faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010.
 Barkley, Elizabeth F. Collaborative Learning Techniques: A
Handbook for College Faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004.
 Fink, L. Dee. Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An
Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses, San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 2003.
 Gabriel, Kathleen. Teaching Unprepared Students: Strategies for
Promoting Success and Retention in Higher Education. Sterling:
Stylus Publishing, 2008.
 Kuh, George. Student Success in College: Creating Conditions that
Matter. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010.
Anne’s References

 Dweck, Carol S. (2006) Mindset: The new psychology of success. New
York: Ballantine Books.
 Fincham, Frank and Hewstone, Miles. (2003) Attribution Theory
and Research: from basic to applied, in M. Hewstone, and W.
Stroebe, (Eds) Introduction to Social Psychology (3rd edition) (Chapter
7). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
 Vygotsky, Lev. S. and Kozulin, A. (ed.) (1986) Thought and
Language. Boston: MIT Press.
 Weiner, B. (1986) An attributional theory of motivation and emotion.
New York: Springer Verlag.
 Woolfolk, Anita. (2001) Educational psychology (8th edition). Boston:
Allyn and Bacon.
 Lecture Notes from Courses in MPhil Psychology and Education,
University of Cambridge.