Bob Doyle, Columnist
As a teacher, I want all of my students to leave my classes with some ideas that they can later use in other courses or even their own lives.
What is discouraging to me (and possibly to them) are some students’ confusion about key ideas in courses, some of which have been repeated and illustrated by interesting examples.
If these points have been a big focus in classes, how could the students not retain them?
The usual response by learning experts is: These students don’t own these ideas, they don’t relate to them. Somehow you must make these ideas more relevant to them. This leads to a prescription of introducing fewer main ideas.
Let students discover these concepts on their own at their own speed, perhaps working in groups, perhaps being given equipment so the instruction can be “hands on” — limiting learning to even fewer concepts.
The problem with the above approach is that it focuses on what the instructor must do — take additional steps to bring education to the student’s level of interest and motivation.
So if the interest and motivation are lacking, it requires even more effort on the part of the instructor. The students can see that by acting uninvolved, they will be rewarded with more entertaining instruction that asks little from themselves in terms of response. This is called a negative feedback loop; the absence of response leads to even less response.
My outlook is that the crucial area in learning is not the role of the instructor but the role of the student. If we had hidden cameras in all classrooms, I would bet that most teachers I know (both secondary and college ) would be seen as clearly articulating the key ideas at a level that students can grasp.
Where there is a great variation, even in the same classroom is what individual students are learning. A few students will leave the room thinking about the concepts but a larger number will leave the room thinking about their friends, what they will be doing after classes conclude, etc.
It is this larger number of students that are apt to quickly forget what happened in class. So if these students don’t have good study habits, little of what happens in class will be retained, unless it is a mistake by the teacher, an embarrassing gaffe by a fellow student or something out of the ordinary.
I ascribe the lack of good study habits to the need for speed that has infected our society. High cell phone usage is driven by the need to do more than one can reasonably do in sequence.
Instead, more and more of us are multitasking, talking on the cell phone while driving, checking on our text messages as we walk our dog, surfing the web on our cell phones as we listen to a talk at a conference, etc.
Most students study for tests with the technique that is quick, as they have so many other things they want to do. Their method is memorization.
If the pressure is intense (studying for the first time the night before the test), most students feel energized and feel that their brain can go into overdrive and learn at a faster rate than regular study habits.
So aided by caffeine (energy drinks, coffee, even some carbonated sodas), student pore over their notes, chapter summaries, look over homework, class quizzes, study guides and even read the chapters of the textbook.
Usually studying goes on into the early hours of the morning and eventually fatigue ends their effort.
When the students wake up later in the morning, what they have studied earlier, seems not quite to have jelled. When they receive their test, they are not quite sure of what to put down in the slots, which letter for the multiple choice item and what to write for the short answer questions. Naturally, the problem is the wording of the test items and their lack of mastery of concepts.
To understand how to learn, there is no better model than being on a sports team.
You start training before the season actually opens. Then you have daily practice sessions, prepare for a particular team by learning a game plan, then have a final light practice session. It is your job to come to the game well rested and ready to engage the other team, being aware of their strengths and weaknesses.
Good study habits include daily study sessions, going over the material repeatedly until it sinks in, understanding the examples and learning the vocabulary, key numbers and techniques, which can vary from test to test.
On the last day before the test, get a good night’s sleep and come to the test refreshed and ready to do your best.
Regular study habits take more time (considerably more time out of class than time in class) and results in classes being a confirmation of what the student is aware of rather than a showering of unfamiliar ideas.
We have a special end of March sky feature — being able to see four bright planets as it gets dark. Low in the West is the brilliant planet Venus, now on the far side of its orbit. In another week, Venus will be joined by the dimmer planet Mercury, which appears below and to the right of Venus.
High in the south is the planet Mars, to the left of Gemini’s bright stars, Pollux and Castor. Mars will shine steadily, not twinkling as Pollux or Castor. Low in the southeast is the planet Saturn, to the left and below the tail of Leo. The only remaining bright planet is Jupiter, seen very low in the southeastern dawn.
Now showing at the Frostburg State Planetarium is “Quick Intro to the Universe,” giving a quick overview of the key basics about our universe. Our programs last about 45 minutes, including a quick tour of the current evening sky.
After a brief intermission, visitors are invited to tour the Science Discovery Center, to see a fantastic collection of mammals from five continents.
All of this is free for the public in the Tri-State area.
Our show times are 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. this Sunday and next Sunday. Call Bob Doyle at (301) 687-7799 to request a free Planetarium bookmark be sent to your mailing address.
Bob Doyle invites comments or questions from readers by leaving a voice message at the above phone number.
