7 Ways of Learning

If you haven’t read Facilitating Seven Ways of Learning:  A Resource for More Purposeful, Effective, and Enjoyable College Teaching by Davis and Arend, I highly recommend it. (We've ordered it for the library but I would be happy to lend my copy to anyone who wants to take a look at it right away.)

Their thesis is that we learn in different ways depending on which of seven desired outcomes we are targeting: building skills; acquiring knowledge; developing critical, creative and dialogic thinking; cultivating problem-solving and decision-making abilities; exploring attitudes, feelings and perspectives; practicing professional judgment; or reflecting on experience). Each way of learning, they believe, requires different ways of teaching. Teachers who don't use a variety of teaching methods, therefore, are teaching too narrowly. 

If we simply want our students to acquire knowledge of a topic, for instance, we can teach via lecture and readings.  If we want them to learn specific skills, on the other hand, we can’t lecture that skill- building knowledge into existence; we need to provide practice exercises and set tasks for students to work through. If our desired outcome instead is for students to become good problem solvers, we can’t just provide canned practice exercises—we need to help them work through real-life problems, case studies, labs, projects.

It was eye-opening to consider the differences in learning outcomes, the related theories of learning associated with each, and the common teaching methodologies (See table with summary below) that lead to the desired outcomes.  Here, though, is the passage that made me stop and think hardest:

Almost anything that once required class time can be done outside class electronically, technologies can often perform educational tasks more efficiently than humans, and information is readily available for free to anyone with Internet access.  So the fundamental question arises:  What is class time for?

How would you answer that question?


Summary of Seven Ways of Learning

Intended Learning Outcomes (What Students Learn)	Way of Learning (Origins and Theory)	Common Methods (What the Teacher Provides)
Skill building (Physical and procedural skills where accuracy, precision, & efficiency are important)	1.       Behavioral learning (behavioral psychology, operant conditioning)	·         Tasks and procedures ·         Practice exercises
Acquiring Knowledge (basic information, concepts, and terminology of a discipline or field of study)	2.       Cognitive learning (cognitive psychology, attention, information processing  memory)	·         Presentations ·         Explanations
Developing critical, creative, & dialogical thinking (Improved thinking & reasoning processes)	3.       Learning through inquiry (Logic, critical and creative thinking theory, classical philosophy)	·         Question-driven inquiries ·         Discussions
Cultivating problem-solving and decision-making abilities (Mental strategies for finding solutions & making choices)	4.       Learning with mental models (Gestalt psychology, problem solving, & decision theory)	·         Problems ·         Case studies ·         Labs ·         Projects
Exploring attitudes, feelings, & perspectives (Awareness of attitudes, biases, & other perspectives; ability to collaborate)	5.       Learning through groups and teams (Human communication theory, group counseling theory)	·         Group activities ·         Team projects
Practicing professional judgment (Sound judgment  & appropriate professional action  in complex, context-dependent situations)	6.       Learning through virtual realities (Psychodrama, sociodrama, gaming theory)	·         Role playing ·         Simulations ·         Dramatic scenarios ·         Games
Reflecting on experience (Self-discovery & personal growth from real-world experience)	7.       Experiential learning (Experiential learning, cognitive neuroscience, constructivism)	·         Internships ·         Service-learning ·         Study abroad

from:

Davis, James R., & Arend, Bridget D. (2013). Facilitating seven ways of learning:  A resource for more purposeful, effective, and enjoyable college teaching.  Stylus: Sterling, VA.

What We Teachers Worry About

Those of you who read Faculty Focus probably saw the following list in a recent posting. It categorizes the concerns expressed by new teachers, listed from most to least important. 

• Exhibiting command of the material (being able to answer student questions, give relevant examples)
• Balancing "teacherly" authority and student rapport
• Dealing with communication anxiety (public speaking)
• Engaging rather than boring students
• Managing students’ perceptions of teacher
• Juggling roles (teaching, research, service, life)
• Resolving grade complexities
• Being memorable
• Negotiating flexibility in policies, assignments
• Overcoming cultural differences between teacher and students

I was struck, when I read through this “top 10” list how little I worried about some of the issues but how much some of the others, after all my many years of teaching, still cause the occasional sleepless night.  I don’t spend much time anymore thinking about authority vs. rapport, for instance; my comfort level there developed over the years, as did my comfort level with student perceptions of me, whatever they may be.  Similarly, being appropriately--but not too--flexible in my demands and being able to resolve student grade protests do not cause me much concern any more; one learns from experience, I guess.  

On the other hand, despite my experience I still find myself struggling with how to get my tired, busy, adult students focused and engaged, and with each new  semester I still experience nagging doubts that I have prepared enough to show that I’m up to date and in command of new scholarship.

One item I would add to the list, that I never used to worry about, is just what my role in any given class period should be.  Am I  still, too often, being that sage on the stage even if I am standing off to the side and talking about material on students' computer screens?  Did I prepare enough material to keep the learning going?  Too much?  The wrong sort?

I’d be interested in hearing--wherever you might be in your teaching career trajectory--what worries you the most as you strive to be successful in your chosen profession. Or what you don't worry about at all.

Improving Student Performance Before the Course is Finished

Guest Blogger: Brenda Snider

I have just finished a class on analysis and design, which has sparked my interest. As a professor, you are evaluating each student’s performance. I think it would be beneficial if the students learned to evaluate their own performance in addition to the professor’s evaluation.

After each of my classes, we have to complete an evaluation form. In my opinion, there should be two class evaluations, one in the middle of the course and one at the end.  If you complete an evaluation in the middle (or a few weeks in) of the course, you may gain an understanding of how the students are feeling about the course.  You could include questions such as “Do you think you are gaining a complete understanding of the material?”  “Do you need assistance/tutoring in any area?” “Are the class presentations interesting enough to keep your attention?”

The survey can be developed and completed online at Survey Monkey (www.surveymonkey.com). The results will be tabulated for you without much effort on your part.

Are professors here at Lincoln doing class evaluations in the middle of the course? Do you think this would be beneficial?  What other questions would you include in an evaluation to pique student interest in the class?

Questions of Identity

Listening to an interesting TED talk recently --“Bring on the Learning Revolution” by Sir Ken Robinson (http://youtu.be/r9LelXa3U_I)-- I found myself thinking a lot about one of his statements.   

He said that we have to move education from an industrial model (= linearity, conformity, batching people) to an agricultural model (= adapting methods to the local environment and goals).   

Robinson argues that human flourishing is an organic, not a mechanical, process.  We can’t predict outcomes, just create conditions under which people will begin to flourish. Robinson's claim is that good teaching involves customizing information to our own circumstances, personalizing education to the people we’re actually teaching, and helping them develop their own solutions to problems with external support based on a personalized curriculum.

Assuming that is so, what does that mean for us here at Lincoln?   

What are our “local circumstances”? What are the outcomes under which Lincoln students will flourish? How do our teaching methods and our teaching content differ from those of West Chester down the street, or Drexel farther down the street, or even Cheyney, right around the corner?  Should they differ?   

What is our uniqueness here at Lincoln and how does it/should it carry over into our classes?