We know that what students believe about themselves as learners makes a difference, but sometimes a specific example really makes the point. Here’s a study that does just that. It involved beginning students taking a general chemistry course. At the beginning of the course they took a Self-Concept Inventory designed for chemistry students. Its five scales measure, among other things, a chemistry self-concept, a mathematics self-concept, and an academic self-concept.
Archive for March, 2010
Evidence of Effectiveness
Posted Thursday, March 25th, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerIn a recent editorial in the Journal of Management Education, a discipline-based pedagogical periodical I particularly admire, Jane Wilk-Schmidt identifies four characteristics of evidence valued by the journal. It’s a great list that offers a criteria for looking at the effectiveness of instructional innovations whether you are thinking about reporting what happened in an article or about assessing impact more objectively for your own information.
How Many Concepts?
Posted Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerHow many major concepts are you covering in the courses you teach? Do you know? Have you ever tried to list them? I have to be honest and say I never did. But I do see how beneficial it might have been. First off, generating the list seems like a very effective way to clarify what the course is really about—to get a handle on the content domain of the course. Then, with the list in hand, you can prioritize the concepts, maybe see a different way of ordering them or a way of better using content to support them.
Live Wires
Posted Thursday, March 18th, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerAt a teaching center I visited recently this quote was posted on a bulletin board: “A teacher’s constant task is to take a roomful of live wires and see to it that they’re grounded.” The quote was attributed to E.C. McKenzie.
Improve Thinking and Learning
Posted Thursday, March 11th, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerHere’s a list of some practical suggestions taken from a, “miniature guide for those who teach on how to improve student learning.” (Web address below) The guide was prepared by Richard Paul and Linda Elder, both well-known experts on critical thinking.
Pros and Cons of Rubrics
Posted Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerI had dinner with a group of faculty recently during which we had a prolonged and intense discussion of rubrics—I know, only college teachers could become impassioned about a topic like this. The debate centered on whether rubrics could capture all the aspects of an assignments or whether they constrained both instructors and students.
Reflection on Group Experiences
Posted Thursday, March 4th, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerIf you’re interested in having students learn something about how groups function as they participate in a group project, you might consider having them do some journaling about their group experience.
Characteristics of Good Teachers
Posted Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerOccasionally we need a reminder like this: based on a thorough literature review, Paul Ramsden, a noted researcher on teaching and learning, along with several co-authors offered this description of good teachers.
· Good teachers are also good learners; for example, they learn through their own reading, by participating in a variety of professional-development activities, by [...]
