 |
 |
I, like Bina Vanmall, am also impressed with John Bransfo Hi, I, like Bina Vanmall, am also impressed with John Bransford’s How Humans Learn and I am in the process of trying to incorporate the findings in my college reading class. www.cms185redesign.pbworks.com I got a Mark Taylor Instruction redesign grant this summer for redesigning instruction in CMS 185 (College Reading: COMPASS scores 80-84), and one of the objectives was (1) to make the course content relevant to the students’ goals, and another objective was (2) to help the students to see the value of thee strategies they are to learn and how it will benefit them (again their goals, not the instructor’s goals). From a motivational point of view, the student’s aren't as motivated by the instructor’s goals. Immediately it became apparent that a reading goal of being able to read and comprehend their textbook better was not sufficient enough to make the course content relevant to the student. Their goals are to get a credential or degree and to secure employment related to their degree. Again, reading textbooks better is not sufficient motivation. At this point I took my cues from Wiggings and Tighe’s Understanding by Design, which insists thatthere should be before any consideration of redesign details an overarching goal for the course that transcends the content of the course. In this case the students’ goals transcend the content of CMS 185. Overarching Goal: “Learning strategies for developing competence in an area of inquiry.” My next step was to look at what the research literature has to say about the goals of human learning. In John Bransford’s Human Learning, the concept of deep learning (in this case developing competence in an area of inquiry – the discipline reading selections we include in CMS 185. The basis of developing competence is that newly learned information and concepts do not transfer to new situations or make learning related concepts easier unless certain learning criteria are met. These criteria are the keys to deeper learning and building competence. They are – the learner needs to: (1)Develop a deep foundation of factual knowledge, (2)Understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and (3)Organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application. This criteria for learning is considered to be essential to the overarching goal of “Learning strategies for developing competence in an area of inquiry.” The areas of inquiry in CMS 185 are math, sociology, psychology, business, biology, and history (the most taken content courses taken by first time freshmen and large numbers f allied health students). All strategies taught in CMS 185 are taught in the context of the learning framework of the overarching goal (again, “Learning strategies for developing competence in an area of inquiry.”) Brief explanations for each of the disciplines in CMS 185 can be found in a larger framework at my PBWiki at www.cms185redesign.pbworks.com The overarching goal provides consistency across discipline readings as a learning conceptual framework. The following questions drive the organization instruction of cognitive strategies to meet the overarching goal. - Do the cognitive strategies help the students “develop a deep foundation of factual knowledge?” What cognitive strategies do that? - Do the cognitive strategies help the students “ understand the facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework?” What cognitive strategies do that? - Do the cognitive help the student “organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application?” What cognitive strategies do that? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To access the LRNASST-L archives or User Guide, or to change your subscription options (including subscribe/unsubscribe), point your web browser to http://www.lists.ufl.edu/archives/lrnasst-l.html To contact the LRNASST-L owner, email [log in to unmask]