FPDC Director Mary Lou Holly provided opening remarks and Presenter Marcia Baxter Magolda summarized the previous evening session. Participants met in self-selected groups (Liberal Education, Student Life, Faculty Group 1, Faculty Group 2, Digital Learning) to discuss which level of student (introductory, intermediate, or advanced) they interact with most. They further explored the students’ view of knowledge, view of themselves as a learner, and view of the learning relationship as it related to a specific level. After sharing with the larger group, the participants returned to their smaller groups to discuss their biggest challenge in working with students at a particular level. Lastly, they reviewed the leading edge (see handout provided) and discussed ways to help students move to the next level.
October 20, 2009 at 3:12 am
The Liberal Education group felt that the faculty members teaching liberal education courses typically work with students at the introductory and sometimes intermediate levels. The group discussed all three levels of students but focused specifically on the intermediate level student. Intermediate level students still require permission in order to voice their opinions. They are at the “crossroads” in that they recognize they are capable of directing their own learning but still feel the need for approval. These students have discovered the ambiguity of truth. In some cases, these students have gone from the one extreme, believing that there is only one right answer to a question, to the other extreme, believing that no truth exists. Intermediate level students may need the professor to serve as a counselor and validate the students’ opinion. Students at intermediate levels have not yet realized that good opinions are supported by a solid foundation of knowledge. At this level, they merely move from knowing answers to applying knowledge. Sometimes these students want to jump straight from the introductory level to the advanced level, skipping the intermediate level. These students see their learning relationships but have yet to fully engage in learning.
The group identified large lecture courses as their biggest challenge. Potential solutions for increasing student involvement in lecture courses included clickers, pausing after discussing key issues and asking student to journal about what they are thinking, and asking students to write a few sentences about the questions on a multiple choice test which they struggled with the most.
Marcia offered additional suggestions: 1) deliberately trying not to show students the right answer (professor controls the expression on their face); 2) reviewing examples of good and bad learning experiences, asking students which experiences the class should use, and explaining what is required of them; 3) explaining where knowledge actually comes from (it’s made it up). One of the group members makes a point to share her pedagogical choices with her classes in order to better help them understand.