What classes should I take next?

Students often ask, “What classes should I take next?” If the class they are completing was one of a sequence, I would suggest taking the next one in the sequence, even though I did not offer the class. However, I became stuck when asked what to take when there was no sequence. Feeling a need to help the students, I searched for a solution.

The first place I looked was the current class schedule. Not surprising, there were a number of classes that expanded on various topics within my class. So, I wrote down the titles along with a brief description and created a handout. The handout was disseminated at the next meeting or emailed to the students if the class had concluded.

One such handout can be viewed by clicking here. Your program coordinator (Glenda, Nancy, Paul, or Rachael) can help you construct something similar.

A Teaching Resource:The Teaching Professor

A blog by the name of The Teaching Professor is a rich source of information on teaching students who attend colleges and universities. Much of what is posted on the blog is easily applied to the students enrolled in our community learning courses.

Recent posts of particular note include:
“Factors That Lead to Rapport” (April 9, 2009), “Concerns About Active Learning” (April 3, 2009), and “Course Characteristics That are Most Important to Students” (March 31, 2009)

The Teaching Professor can be viewed at http://www.teachingprofessor.blogspot.com/

Applying the Three Principles of Memory

Last week’s post prompted people to ask for examples of how to bring the three principles, repeated below, into the classroom. The strategies I use are shown in italics.

1. Memories are formed as the residue of thought. Help the students think about the material by clearly drawing their attention to what is important.

My approach has been to provide the students with a printed outline that focuses only on the most important elements of the meeting. Minor points, anecdotes, examples, etc. are not on the outline.

2. Memories are inaccessible, mostly due to missing or ambiguous cues. Provide cues (mnemonics, images, associations, etc.) and use them in class to help students connect with the important elements.

I offer a number of cues that have helped me develop memories related to the material. For example, a typical workflow process used in editing digital photos is to Rotate, Crop, Overall fixes, Individual fixes, Sharpen, Save. The mnemonics for the process is Real Crazy Or Insane Some Say.

3. People tend to think their learning is more complete than it really is. Students can confuse familiar with the material for actually knowing it (italics added). Encourage the over- studying of important parts.

It has often been said that the best way to learn something (over-study) was to teach it. Thus, I suggest that the students go home and teach the meeting’s topics to someone. When they can teach it without the “errrs,” “umms”, pauses, etc., they have over-studied!

Share some strategies you use with us.

Helping our Students Remember Class Material

Puzzled why students cannot remember the steps necessary to complete a task?

Insight can be found in an article by Daniel T. Willingham where he discusses the issue from a cognitive psychology point of view. The article is full of ideas, examples, and suggestions on how we, as community learning instructors, can help our students.

The author’s position is that to remember something, one must have a memory of it. Further, he suggests there are three principles of memory. Helping the student develop those memories is the thrust of the following.

1. Memories are formed as the residue of thought. Help the students think about the class by clearly drawing their attention to what is important.

2. Memories are inaccessible, mostly due to missing or ambiguous cues. Provide cues (mnemonics, images, associations, etc.) and use them in class to help students connect with the important elements.

3. People tend to think their learning is more complete than it really is. Students can confuse familiar with the material for actually knowing it (italics added). Encourage the over- studying of important parts.