1. Why Not Be Explicit In The Classroom?
Learning to Learn:
Why Not Be Explicit In The Classroom?
Karl Wirth

2. Changing Landscape of Teaching & Learning
Research on the Brain
Research on Learning
New Students & Learning Styles
Technology
Globalization

3. Research on Learning Active & Learner-Centered
Teamwork & Collaborative
Roles of Transfer & Metacognition
Importance of Community & Civic Engagement
Multi-dimensional
How People Learn (NRC, 2000)
Significant Learning (Fink, 2003)

4. New Students & Learning StylesGI
Silent
Boomer
Gen X
Millennial
1924
1942
1960
1982
Faculty are mostly Boomers and Gen Xers
Millennial Preference for Sensing Styles
Active Learning
Teamwork
Civic Engagement
Use of Technology

5. Technology & Globalization
Age of Communication & Multimedia
New Definition of “Educated”
Adaptability & Lifelong Learning
Friedman (2005)
Tapscott (1998)

6. Critical Competencies
Personal responsibility,
Ability to act in principled, ethical fashion,
Skill in oral and written communication,
Interpersonal and team skills,
Skills in critical thinking and problem-solving,
Respect for people different from oneself,
Ability to change,
Ability and desire for lifelong learning.
(from Gardiner, 1994)

7. Educating “Intentional Learners”
“to help college students become Intentional Learners who can adapt to new environments, integrate knowledge from different sources, and continue learning throughout their lives.”
Intentional Learners Are:
Empowered
Informed
Responsible
Greater Expectations
(2002 AACU Report)

8. Intentional Learners
Becoming an intentional learner means: developing self-awareness about the reason for study, the learning process itself, and how education is used
Intentional learners are integrative thinkers who see connections in seemingly disparate information to inform their decisions.
Greater Expectations
(2002 AACU Report)

9. Self-Directed Learners
Self-directed learners are highly motivated, independent, and strive toward self-direction and autonomy. They take the initiative to diagnose their learning needs, formulate learning goals, identify resources for learning, select an implement learning strategies, and evaluate learning outcomes.
Greater Expectations
(2002 AACU Report)

10. 2006 Panel Report Commission on Further of Higher Education
“we are disturbed by evidence that the quality of student learning at U.S. colleges and universities is inadequate and, in some cases, declining”
“employers report repeatedly that many new graduates they hire are not prepared to work, lacking the critical thinking, writing and problem-solving skills needed in today’s workplaces”
“business and government leaders have repeatedly and urgently called for workers at all stages of life to continually upgrade their academic and practical skills”

11. Learning to Learn How will you get there…
…if you don’t know where you are going ?

12. Learning Co-Curriculum
Outgrowth of Faculty Teaching Seminar
Search for “Overview of Learning” For Students
Preparation of Learning Document
Students & Faculty

13. The “Language” of Learning
Definition of Learning
Levels of Understanding
Significant Learning
Critical Thinking
Research on The Brain
Learning Styles
Metacognition
Affective Domain
Intellectual Development
Behavioral Dimensions of Grades

14. An OED Definition of Learning
To acquire knowledge of a subject or a skill through education or experience,
To gain information about somebody or something, or
To memorize something, for example facts, a poem, or music.
Shift from “recall” to “use”
Simon (1996)

15. Levels of Understanding
Beyond Memorization
Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956)

16. Revised Taxonomy
Revised by Anderson & Krathwohl (2001)

17. Significant Learning
Learning that will be “significant to the learner”
Foundational Knowledge
Application
Integration
Human Dimension
Caring
Learning How to Learn
Relational & Interactive
Fink (2003)

18. Significant Learning

19. Critical Thinking
“… is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action”
National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking

20. Elements of Reasoning Purpose & Motivation Question or Problem
Assumptions
Point of View
Data, Information, Evidence
Concepts & Ideas
Inferences & Conclusions
Implications & Consequences

21. The Brain as a Dynamic Organ
Learning Changes Physical Structure of the Brain
Synapse Addition, Experience, and Environment
Structural Changes Alter Functional Organization
Learning Literally Involves “Re-Wiring the Brain”
“Novices” and “Experts”
How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School
NRC (2000)

22. Learning Styles Focus on different types of information
Operate on that information differently
Achieve understanding at different rates
No learning style is “better”
Instructors tend to teach to their learning style

23. Learning Styles Kolb Learning Style Inventory
Sensing, Watching, Thinking, Doing
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Four Dichotomous Dimensions: Extroversion versus Introversion, Sensing versus Intuition, Thinking versus Feeling, Judging versus Perspective
VARK (Visual, Aural, Reading, Kinesthetic)
Preferences for input and output of information
Strategies for enhancing learning

24. Metacognition How We Think Strategies for Learning
How One’s Thinking is Changing
Assessing One’s Own Understanding
Progress on Learning Goals

25. Journaling on Metacognition
Describe the learning strategies that you are currently using in this course? How successful are they? How might they be modified for more effective learning?
Describe the methods you are using to monitor your understanding? How well are these working?

26. Affective Domain Attitudes Motivation Willingness to Participate
Valuing What is Being Learned
Incorporating Values Into Life

27. Journaling - Affective Domain
How have your attitudes about the significance and relevance of the course materials changed?
Describe how the content and skills you have learned in this course might be relevant to other courses you are currently taking. How about in your future education? In your career?

28. Intellectual Development
Perry’s (1968) Study of Harvard Students
Nine Positions of Intellectual Development; Four Sub-Categories
Stage I - Dualism (Positions 1 & 2)
Either-Or thinking; Authorities have all the answers
Stage II - Multiplicity (Positions 3 & 4)
Recognition of uncertainty; Everyone’s opinions equally legitimate
Stage III - Relativism (Positions 5 & 6)
Critical thinking; Knowledge is contextual and relativistic
Stage IV - Commitment to Knowing (Positions 7, 8 & 9)
Developing commitment and sense of being; Knowledge is the resolution between uncertainty and the need to act

29. Behavioral Dimensions of Grades
Commitment
Preparation
Curiosity
Attitude
Talent
Retention
Effort
Communication Skills
Performance
from Williams (1993)

30. The Learning Co-Curriculum
Reading at Beginning of Semester
In-Class Discussion & Activities
Learning Styles Surveys
Reflective Journaling
Frequent Reference Throughout Semester

31. “Learning to Learn” Document
Available from:
Macalester.edu/Geology/Wirth/CourseMaterials
Send Your “Top 10” Ideas to:

32. Opportunities for New Conversations
About Learning . . .

33. Bloom's Levels of Understanding
Definition
Verb Examples That Can Represent Intellectual Activity
Evaluation
Appraise, assess, or critique on basis of standards or criteria
appraise, argue, assess, attach, choose, defend, estimate, judge, predict, rate, select, evaluate
Synthesis
Originate, integrate, or combine ideas into a new product or plan
arrange, assemble, compose, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, organize, propose
Analysis
Distinguish, classify, or relate assumption, hypotheses or evidence
analyze, appraise, categorize, compare, distinguish, examine
Application
Select, transfer, and use data or principles to complete new task
apply, choose, demonstrate, employ, illustrate, interpret, solve, use
Comprehension
Translate, comprehend, or interpret information
classify, describe, discuss, explain, indicate, restate, translate
Knowledge
Recall or recognition of information, ideas and principles
arrange, define, label, list, name, relate, recall, repeat, reproduce

34. Importance of Neural Networks
The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange things into different groups. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else, due to lack of facilities, that is the next step, otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do a few things at once than too many.
(from Bruer, 1993)

35. Importance of Neural Networks
“Washing Clothes”
The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange things into different groups. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else, due to lack of facilities, that is the next step, otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do a few things at once than too many.
(from Bruer, 1993)

36. Teaching, Learning & Communication
Form Groups
Select and assemble “teachers”
Lesson plan
Two-minute lecture; no illustrations
Students take notes, no questions
(from Duch et al. 2001)

37. Stand and Deliver Exercise

38. Teaching, Learning & Communication
Teacher conference
Students draw figure; no discussion
Groups work to refine representation
Teachers return; distribute original
Discussion & Reflection
Did everyone draw the same picture?
Did discussion improve representation?
How would learning be improved?
Challenge of “teaching” mental images
Importance of communication & feedback