1. by Dr. P.K. Imbrie Department of Freshman Engineering Purdue University Learning About Learning Center For Excellence in Teaching and Learning Kettering University Kettering University October 2, 2001

2. Department of Freshman Engineering Purdue University Have you ever had (or heard) a conversation like this: Scenario: Three engineering classmates are walking out of the building after having just completed a heat transfer exam. Mary and Jim are talking about the exam and Dave is listening silently and looking grim. Mary: “OK, so Problems 1 and 2 were pretty much straight out of the book, but Problem 3 was typical Jones – he gives use a heat exchanger design and asks us to criticize it. I said the design might be too expensive, but we could say anything and he couldn’t tell us we’re wrong.” Jim: “Sure he could– it was a lousy design. They were putting a viscous solution through the tube side so you’d have a big pressure drop to overcome, the flow was laminar so you’d have a low heat transfer rate, the salt would….”

3. Department of Freshman Engineering Purdue University Have you ever had (or heard) a conversation like this: (continued) Mary: “Maybe, but it’s just a matter of opinion in questions like that—it’s like my English teacher taking off points because of an awkward expression or something when anyone with half a brain would know exactly what I was saying.” Jim: “Come on, Mary—most real problems don’t have just one solution, and he’s trying to….” Mary: “Yeah, yeah—he’s just trying to get us to think and I’m with that game as long as I don’t lose points if my opinion isn’t the same as his. What do you think Dave?” Dave: “I think that problem sucks!!! Which formula are you supposed to use for it?” Mary: “It’s not that kind of question—not everything has a formula you can…”

4. Department of Freshman Engineering Purdue University Have you ever had (or heard) a conversation like this: (continued) Jim: “It’s a thinking question—you have to try to come up with as many….” Dave: “OK, so when did he tell us the answer? I memorized every lousy word he said after I bombed that last test and not one question had anything to do with….” Dave: “That’s bull man! I already know how to think—I’m here to learn how to be an engineer.” Dave: “What really bothers me Jim is that on Monday you asked him that question about best exchanger tube material and he starts out by saying ‘it depends’….I’m paying tuition for the answers, and if this bozo doesn’t know them he shouldn’t be up there.”

5. Department of Freshman Engineering Purdue University Student Development l Perry Model of Intellectual Development – the Perry model is a hierarchy of nine levels grouped into four categories. u Dualism (Levels 1&2) – Knowledge is black and white, every problem has one and only one correct solution, the authority (the faculty) has all the solutions, and the job of the student is to memorize and repeat them. u Multiplicity (Levels 3&4) – Some questions may not have answers now but the answers will eventually be known (3) or responses to some questions may always remain matters of opinion (4). Students start using supporting evidence to resolve issues rather than relying completely on what authorities say. Most college graduates are at Level 3 or 4.

6. Department of Freshman Engineering Purdue University Student Development (continued) u Relativism (Levels 5&6) – Students in relativism see that knowledge and values depend on context and individual perspectives rather than being externally and objectively based. Using real evidence to reach and support conclusions becomes habitual and not just something professors want them to do. A few college graduates attain Level 5. u Commitment within relativism (Levels 7-9) – The highest category of the Perry Model, individuals start to make actual commitments in personal direction and values, evaluate the consequences and implications of their commitments and attempt to resolve conflicts, and finally acknowledge that the conflicts may never be fully resolved. These Levels are rarely reached by college students,

7. Department of Freshman Engineering Purdue University How do we know if our students are actually developing? l Benjamin Bloom et.al. created a taxonomy for categorizing the level of abstraction of questions that commonly occur in educational settings, which is now simply called Bloom’s Taxonomy. l The taxonomy has six levels – knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. u Knowledge – observation and recall of information, knowledge of dates, events, places, and knowledge of major ideas. u Comprehension – understanding information, grasp meaning, translate knowledge into new context, interpret facts, compare, contrast, and predict consequences. u Application – use information, use methods, concepts, theories in new situations, and solve problems using required skills or knowledge.

8. Department of Freshman Engineering Purdue University How do we know if our students are actually developing? (continued) l Analysis – see patterns, organization of parts, recognition of hidden meanings, identification of components. l Synthesis – use old ideas to create new ones, generalize from given facts, relate knowledge from several areas, and draw conclusions. l Evaluation – Compare and discriminate between ideas, assess value of theories, make choices based upon reasoned argument, and verify value of evidence.

9. Department of Freshman Engineering Purdue University Five Major Themes that have Changed Conceptions of Learning l Memory and structure of knowledge – knowing how learners develop coherent structures of information has been particularly useful in understanding the nature of organized knowledge that underlies effective comprehension and thinking. l Analysis of problem solving and reasoning – there is a clear distinction between learned problem-solving skills in novice learners and the specialized expertise of individuals who have proficiency in particular subjects. Views of how effective learning proceeds have shifted from the benefits of diligent drill and practice to focus on students’ understanding and application of knowledge.

10. Department of Freshman Engineering Purdue University Five Major Themes that have Changed Conceptions of Learning (continued) l Early foundations – as a result of studying early learning, educators are re-thinking the role of the skills and abilities students bring with them to school to take advantage of opportunities for learning in a college setting. l Metacognitive processes and self-regulatory capabilities – individuals can be taught to regulate their behaviors, and these regulatory activities enable self-monitoring and control of one’s performance. l Cultural experience and community participation – learning involves becoming attuned to the constraints and resources, the limits and possibilities, that are involved in the practices of the community. Learning is promoted by social norms that value the search for understanding.

11. Department of Freshman Engineering Purdue University Experts – Key Characteristics l They notice features and meaningful patterns of information that are not noticed by novices. l They have acquired a great deal of content knowledge that is organized, and their organization reflects a deep understanding of the subject. l Their knowledge cannot be reduced to sets of isolated facts, but instead, reflects contexts of applicability. l They retrieve important aspects of their knowledge with little attentional effort. l They have varying levels of flexibility in their approaches to new situations. l Because they know “it” does not mean that they can teach “it”.

12. Department of Freshman Engineering Purdue University Transfer of Learning l Skills and knowledge must be extended beyond the narrow texts in which they are initially learned. l It is essential for a learner to develop a sense of when what has been learned can be used – the conditions of application. Failure to transfer is often due to a learners’ lack of this type of conditional knowledge. l Learning should be guided by generalized principles in order to be widely applicable. Knowledge learned at the level of rote memory rarely transfers; transfer most likely occurs when the learner knows and understands the underlying principles.

13. Department of Freshman Engineering Purdue University Transfer of Learning (continued) l Learners are helped in their independent learning attempts if they have conceptual knowledge. l Learners are most successful if they are mindful of themselves as learners and thinkers.

14. Department of Freshman Engineering Purdue University So How Do We Learn! l We develop meaning patterns of information – since there are limits on the amount of information that people can hold in short-term memory, short-term memory is enhanced when people are able to chunk information into familiar patterns. l We organize knowledge around core concepts or “big ideas” that guide our thinking -Many approaches in curriculum design make it difficult for students to organize knowledge meaningfully. l We need to understand the conditions of applicability, i.e., the when, where and why to use the knowledge. Are students getting novel problems.

15. Department of Freshman Engineering Purdue University So How Do We Learn! (continued) l Fluent Retrieval – fluency is important because effortless processing places fewer demands on conscious demands. l We develop an adaptive expertise – affects the degree to which people explicitly search for what they don’t know and take steps to improve the situation. Are we providing students with the opportunity to do things better?