By Lolita Paff, PhD
TURN STUDENTS FROM PASSIVE TO ENGAGED LEARNERS
Many students don’t have a clear understanding of what learning really means and how to go about it. Too often, they rely on ineffectual passive methods such as reviewing their notes or skimming their textbooks. They underestimate the difficulty in learning and overestimate their understanding.
Educators have to instruct their students not only in the course material itself, but also in how to learn it, how to engage with it, how to consider interrelationships and draw inferences.
BENEFITS
The presenter lays out diverse, ready-to-go approaches that educators in any discipline can apply almost immediately. Watch this video, and you will:
See how one-on-one assessments with students show that you’re invested in their progress
Assure students who do poorly that they can recover—and give them new processes to help
Get students who do well to share their insights class-wide
Help students recognize the connected relationships between what they learn and their lives beyond the classroom
Use metacognitive questions to lead students to more effective learning
You’ll discover techniques for getting students to work smarter, not just harder, such as how to debrief exams, which helps students understand the process they used to prepare for exams and its effectiveness.
LEARNING GOALS
After watching this video, you will be able to:
Identify common student misperceptions about learning
Acquire instructional strategies to help them as learners
Teach them the value of interrelationships between concepts
Assign projects that require deep work, interpretation, and application
Focus on productive task characteristics
Consider the place and importance of using rewards
TOPICS COVERED
Making it easier for students to learn that it is not about helping them get more A grades, but rather about outfitting them with tools to help them grasp, work with, and ultimately master tough, baffling, and sometimes boring material.
How Can I Help Students See that Sweat—Working Hard and Smart—Is Key to Their Success? arms you with multiple approaches for drawing out the best from students and showing them practical, efficient models for learning.
The presenter discusses the pivotal role that student reflection and self-assessment plays in improving learning. She covers questions of metacognition, the value of low-stakes feedback, and innovative ways that tests and quizzes can drive students to make more neural connections and increase long-term retention.
This presentation also reveals how students can acquire a sense of ownership of their work to get them more engaged and motivated to take more responsibility for the quality of their learning.
