On 11/02/2012,
in active learning, attention, change, learning theories, memory, metacognition / metacognitive skills, project-based learning, real-world assignments, student-related,
by Daniel Christian
The article, “Technology changing how students learn, teachers say,” reminds me of the graphic below. It appears that teachers now have a definite answer to the question I was asking back in June 2010:
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Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
Teachers who were not involved in the surveys echoed their findings in interviews, saying they felt they had to work harder to capture and hold students’ attention.
“I’m an entertainer. I have to do a song and dance to capture their attention,” said Hope Molina-Porter, 37, an English teacher at Troy High School in Fullerton, Calif., who has taught for 14 years. She teaches accelerated students, but has noted a marked decline in the depth and analysis of their written work.
Bottom line:
Like so much in life, we have very little control of most things. Students are changing and we cannot control that situation — nor should we seek to. Why? Because most people I know — including myself — do not like to be controlled. We can and should attempt to pulse check these sorts of changes, plan some experiments around them, and then see and report on what works and what doesn’t work. This all relates to something I saw on earlier today on Twitter from Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya):
If you declare a no-media classroom, you better be damn fascinating.
Also, a relevant quote:
The biggest problem area for teachers is students’ attention span, with 71% saying saying entertainment media use has hurt students either “a lot” (34%) or “somewhat” (37%) in that area.
— from Children, Teens, and Entertainment Media: The View From The Classroom
A Common Sense Media Research Study – NEW REPORT
November 1, 2012
Download the full report
On 10/24/2012,
in business side of he, cost of getting a degree, student-related,
by Daniel Christian
On 10/15/2012,
in learning, learning spaces, learning theories, research, smart classrooms, student-related,
by Daniel Christian
Excerpt:
When we take notes during a lecture, however, something amazing happens. As we write, we create spatial relationships between the pieces of information we’re recording. The region of the brain that handles spatial information is engaged and, by linking it with the verbal information the brain filters wheat from chaff.
Research bears this out. In a study of a lecture class, students who took notes remembered no more content than the students who didn’t take notes; the act of taking notes did not increase the amount of what they remembered. But the students who took notes remembered more key facts, those who merely listened remembered more or less random content from the lecture.
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Note taking isn’t the only way to help the brain recall important stuff. Other kinds of writing, such as scrawling ideas on a whiteboard or pencilling a reminder on a calendar, create a link between the spatial and verbal parts of our brains and strengthen how important information is stored in our brains.
Kleiner Perkins now accepting applications for its Second Annual Engineering Fellows Program — from techcrunch.com by Leena Rao
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Excerpt:
Last year, venture firm Kleiner Perkins debuted its plans for a summer internship program to place top engineering talent from colleges at the firm’s portfolio companies. The benefit is two-fold: students get to work at the startup level and are mentored (and have the prestige of Kleiner Perkins on their resume), and startups get access to young engineering talent. After a successful inaugural program this summer, the venture firm is now accepting applications for the 2013 class.
On 09/26/2012,
in learning theories, student-related,
by Daniel Christian
Students think they can multitask. Here’s proof they can’t. — from Faculty Focus by Maryellen Weimer
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Excerpt:
With easy access to all sorts of technology, students multitask. So do lots of us for that matter. But students are way too convinced that multitasking is a great way to work. They think they can do two or three tasks simultaneously and not compromise the quality of what they produce. Research says that about 5% of us multitask effectively. Proof of the negative effects of multitasking in learning environments is now coming from a variety of studies.
The question is, how do we get students to stop? We can tell them they shouldn’t. We can include policies that aim to prevent it and devote time and energy trying to implement them. I wonder if it isn’t smarter to confront students with the facts. Not admonitions, but concrete evidence that multitasking compromises their efforts to learn. The specifics are persuasive and here are some examples to share with students.
From DSC:
If you can’t beat ’em, join em! 🙂 I vote for having students use such devices in achieving the same learning outcomes/objectives that you normally would like the students to cover. That is, to integrate the technologies that they are so engaged with — if possible. But I like Maryellen’s thought about just confronting them with the facts — that if they choose to “multitask,” they will significantly reduce their ROI that they’re making in their education.
On 09/25/2012,
in cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, higher education, student-related,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC (with a thanks going out to Academic Impressions for the find/email on this):
I’ll bet many people don’t know that they would ultimately not pay the published “sticker price” for a degree. But how do we expect people who don’t eat and breathe this stuff to know that?!? It’s confusing enough for many of us who work within higher education!
Why do you have to be a financial aid wizard or a grants/scholarship researcher extraordinaire in order to understand what you will actually be paying in order to get your degree?