Mythbusters: Matching How We Teach with
How Students Learn
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Who We Are
• School of Education: Educational Psychology
Measurement and Evaluation Program
– William P. Jackson, Doctoral Student
– Seung B. Yu, Doctoral Student
– Jeffrey A. Greene, Associate Professor
Agenda
• Explore: Learning myths
• Share: Pedagogy for life-long learners
• Implement: Finding solutions for challenges
But First we need Volunteers!
• One volunteer who can roll with the punches
and is an auditory learner
• One volunteer who is a GPS Wiz
We’re not in Kansas Anymore!
Explore: Learning Styles
Search for learning styles…
• …comes from a wonderful place
• Differentiation!
Learning
≠
Styles
Pashler et al. (2009) and Kirschner & van Merrienboer (2013)
Unnecessarily Limiting
Instruction should focus on helping students create meaning
Please
Don’t
Explore: Digital Natives
Today’s students are “different”
The Myth
• Digital natives’ extensive use of computers has
rewired their brains.
“It is very likely that our students’ brains have
physically changed – and are different from ours –
as a result of how they grew up.”
“But whether or not this is literally true, we can
say with certainty that their thinking patterns have
changed.”
- Prensky (2001)
Digital Natives “Need”…
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fast delivery of information
Parallel processes and multitasking
Graphics before text
Random access to information (hypertext)
Networking
Instant gratification and frequent rewards
Games, not “serious work”
Digital Native Technology Use
•
•
•
•
Majority own computers and phones
Used for word processing, emailing, surfing
Less than 25% engaging in content creation
Few show ability to effectively search for, and
critically evaluate, information on the web
• *More research is needed
Are Digital Natives Disenchanted with
Traditional Education?
• No more than students in the past
• They understand difference between school and
home Internet use
• Lack ability to use Internet to learn academic
content
Digital Natives are not Homogeneous
• Differences in technology knowledge, skills,
ownership, and use by:
– SES
– Cultural/ethnic background
– Gender
– Discipline/major
– Family dynamics
• *More research is needed
Why are people infatuated with “Digital
Native” Idea?
• Moral panic: the public discourse about a topic
may not be supported by evidence, yet still
proliferate
– Rhetoric
– Appeals to common sense
– Compelling anecdotes
– Blaming the “experts” (i.e., teachers, educators)
Critique
• Where’s the evidence?
• How well do these claims align with what we
know about cognition, motivation, instruction,
and learning?
• Is there anything new here?
• (Bennett et al., 2008)
So What Do Digital Natives Need?
• Guidance on how to …
– Comb thru all the info available via the internet
– Use information available to develop deep
understanding
– Reflect on and identify those learning strategies that
work best for them
Explore: Self-Regulated
Learning
Teaching students how to learn as opposed to
teaching content…
Self-Regulated Learners…
• Clearly define tasks
• Make plans constructed of specific learning
criteria
• Monitor effectiveness of enacted strategies
• Reflect on how they learn
A Cycle of Self-Regulated Learning
Planning
Use
Strategy Use
Strategies
Monitoring
Adapt
References: Azevedo et al., 2008; Zimmerman, 2002
Planning, Strategy Use & Monitoring
Planning
Strategy Use
Monitoring
Planning
Strategy Use
Monitoring
?
?
?
Planning & Forethought
• Orienting to the task and accessing prior
knowledge
• Assessing gap between prior knowledge and
stated learning goals
• Creating learner specific goals
• Identifying an overall learning plan
Strategy Use & Performance
• Maintaining focus on set learning goals
• Corroborating that learned ideas are accurate
• Coordinating multiple sources of information
Strategy Use & Performance
• Comparing & Contrasting information
• Elaborating on information learned
• Making connections to solidify newly learned
ideas
*strategies can be very domain specific (e.g.,
historical perspective taking, establishing
chronology)
Monitoring & Control
• Select relevant resources
• Check and be aware of understanding or lack of
it
• Delayed, full recall when predicting future
assessment performance
• Track effectiveness of strategies used
• Make changes when needed
Planning, Strategy Use & Monitoring
Planning
Strategy Use
Monitoring
Orient to the task
Corroborate Sources
Pick useful information
Check
Knowledge Gaps
Coordinate Information
Sources
Check Progress
Check learning
Set Goals
Make connections
Control your learning
Identify a general
approach
Compare & Contrast
Elaborate
Time Planning
Share: How Do You
Promote SRL?
Teaching Planning
• Why might planning be especially important for
students learning from the internet?
• Learners need clear goals to maintain task focus
• Learners with out clear and appropriate goals run
the risk of gaining irrelevant knowledge
Teaching Planning
• Share examples where you have seen teachers
giving students an opportunity to plan.
• What type of lesson goals allow students to
make effective and appropriate plans?
How to match Teaching to SRL…
• Modeling is key
• Allowing students to make mistakes so they can
self-correct with assistance
• Making sure scaffolding includes fading
• Explicit but couched in real learning task
Shifting Roles of Pedagogy
• Provide examples of how you’ve seen teachers
effectively shift from a deliverer of knowledge
to a guide illuminating the path to knowledge?
• Examples of setting the stage for modeling
• Talk about excellent examples of scaffolding
and fading you have seen
Helping Students to become more aware
• Increasing students knowledge about verified
research related to learning
• Giving them opportunities to be more aware of
those learning behaviors that work best for them
Promoting Self-Knowledge
• Examples of instances where teachers have
done a good job of helping students understand
how they learn best
• Examples of good reflection activities that
promote student knowledge of their own
learning
• Promoting the use of full knowledge recall
when self-testing
Implement: Anticipate
Challenges & Circumvent
If It Were Easy…
• What are the challenges of creating learning
environments that foster SRL?
• Come to a consensus about those which will be
the most difficult to over come
• Think of this as an FAQ list
Solution Share
• Share challenges
• Find solutions
In Sum
•
•
•
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Learning styles are too limiting
Today’s students aren’t “digital natives”
Students need help self-regulating
Students need opportunity and support to learn
SRL skills
References
• Bennett, S., Maton, K., & Kervin, L., (2008). The ‘digital
natives’ debate: A critical review of the evidence. British
Journal of Educational Technology, 39(5), 775-786.
• Kirschner, P. A., & van Merrienboer, J. J. G. (2013). Do
learners really know best? Urban legends in education.
Educational Psychologist, 1-15.
• Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2009).
Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological Science
in the Public Interest, 9(3), 105-119.
• Willingham, D. T. (2010, Summer). Have technology and
multitasking rewired how students learn? American Educator,
23-28.