Know What You Know to Learn Better

Teachers waste a great deal of time going over material that a student already knows. We pound information into our student’s head hoping that something will stick.

This study looks at some ways that students can learn better. The focus of this study was “metacomprehension”. The researchers were looking for techniques that would help learners understand their own learning.

One technique they found was that summarizing text helps them understand what they have learned from the text. Another example is to recall ideas from the text and then compare those results with the right answer.

For students to employ these techniques they have to be more active in their learning. The majority of students I know treat education like a one way street. They sit expending as little effort as possible and often blame others when they do not learn.

Application
Student could review their learning everyday in a journal. They could be given a list of skills and told to define them with examples. You could also use the techniques that the study itself suggests.

Positive Behavior Over Time

There have been studies that look at behavior programs, and shown their benefits. We know that students benefit from the use of programs that help teach students social and behavioral skills.

This study looked at School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) in a number of schools over five years, and compared it to schools that did not use SWPBIS. They schools who did not use SWPBIS did use other programs, but they were not as all encompassing as SWPBIS. The researchers found that the schools using SWPBIS showed significant improvements in behavior and learning.

Two points were made about the programs; they were school wide and lasted for five years. Programs like this are most effective when everyone supports them and when they are repeated every year. The two are connected. When a school uses a program over a number of years the teachers get behind it. Unfortunately most schools do not stick with any program either from lack of money or leadership.

Application
The school needs to focus as one on a program like this. It is not enough for one teacher to teach the students about behavior and social situations. The training needs to be school wide and last longer than a year. Difficult to do if you are the not the principal.

Testing for Memories

I have looked at how testing can improve learning before. This study looks at why testing improves learning. It seeks to understand what it is we do when we take a test.

Researchers used learning a foreign language for their study. They found that to learn the word in another language the participants would use word associations. The act of taking a test forced them to create better word associations.

We want to do well on tests. Therefore we improve our strategy for taking the test. The test exerts a pressure on us. That is I think why testing improves memory. There is a difference to the student when a teachers says do this work and take this test. A test carries much more weight than the study sheet on the same material.

Part of the problem is that students do not see the connection. If they knew that doing well on the study sheet would improve their grade on the test they might work harder on the study sheet.

The problem is keeping the balance. If we give too many tests student begin to devalue them and we would lose the pressure that makes them learn from the tests. If we give too few they lose the opportunity to learn and grow.

Application
A teacher needs to keep tests relevant and stress their importance. Teachers could give quizzes in place of tests. While quizzes would not carry as much weight they would encourage the student to form better connections with the information they are learning without lessening the impact of testing.

Students Teach Students

Students learn a great deal of things from their friends. They teach them new words and behaviors, most of which parents and teachers frown on. Imagine if they could teach them content from their English or math class.

This study on peer learning looked at what would happen if students focused on learning content together. The researchers looked at universities that used supplemental instruction. First year students would meet with an older student with a high average once a week and go over material from their classes.

The students with high attendance at the meetings on average passed 30 percent more credits than those who did not attend. Also the older students improved because they had to refine their study skills when helping the younger student.

Students were able to meet and learn without the fear of being evaluated. The meetings had supervisors who were available for questions but not to act as a teacher. This allowed students to think in a relaxed environment.

Application
Applying this requires a larger commitment than just one classroom. Ideally an entire school would support this type of program. Older students who were preforming well in class would be given the opportunity to volunteer to help other students.

What to Test

Tests. Teachers give them and students hate taking them. Teachers give tests to assess if students learned the material, and also to aid in learning. Most teachers do not focus on using a test as an aid in learning.

A recent study from the Netherlands has found that teachers often give tests for the wrong reasons or the reasons behind the test are not clear. In a class on assessment the professor taught us that we should list on the test the purpose of the test, and I have tried to do that ever since. A student should know what is expected of them.

The teacher should know what they want to get out of the test. Often all a teacher gets out of a test is a grade. This is often because of a variety of factor all draining the teacher’s stamina and time.

The study found that by not examining the tests for data on the student’s teachers were not able to best support the student’s learning. Tests should be used as part of the learning process. They can serve multiple purposes, but they should not serve all those purposes in one test. The study stated that tests should be specific in their goals.

Application
This could be applied by teachers taking the time to look at the tests they give. Instead of teachers creating material in a bubble they should be collaborating. Each teacher should not have to create every test. They should work on the tests they give collectively. This would help teachers create more effective tests because they would be able to put more time into individual questions. Also the study suggests using portfolios to assess students. The portfolio would be a way to direct the student’s learning and keep up with their progress.

Coach to Teach

Teaching and coaching have a great deal in common. They both seek to give knowledge about an area. They both want the students to become the best they can in that area of knowledge.

They differ in how they reach those goals. Teaching focuses on the mental. It seeks to delve into the depths of the mind and implant knowledge or understanding. Coaching focuses on the physically training the muscles to react as quickly as possible.

Simply put one teaches the mind and the other the body. However that is not true. Coaches teach their players how to study an opponent and seek out their weaknesses. They give them rulebooks and playbooks that they must study and learn. Those all involve complex mental processes. There is a connection.

This study takes a look at the power of coaching. Researchers found that participants who were faced with a coach that focused on their individual goals were more open to learning and better at it. Those faced with a coach that focused on what they were doing wrong “shut down”. Something I often see students do when they feel there is nothing they can do to improve their situation.

Powerful stuff. If we focus on the positive and what a student needs to do instead of what they have failed to do we might get a more positive reaction. If we ask them what they want to get from the class then we might understand them better or at least let them know that we care about them.

Application
We can apply this in the classroom at the beginning of the year, by interviewing students to find out what they want to get from the class. To see what blocks we need to break down. Teachers should encourage their students not tear them down. We should coach with compassion. By doing this we gain insight into our students. They will be more open to the things we try to teach them.

Taking Action in the Classroom

We have known for years that when students take an active role in their learning they learn better. This study reinforces that fact.

Researchers had one group of participants, the active group, memorize a set of images by shading the images allowing the movement of a mouse to reveal them. The other set of participants, the passive group, watched a video of the active groups screen. The active group were able to recall more of the images than the passive.

To encourage active learning you need students to deal with the information. They need to do more than just copy definitions or listen to a lecture. They need to manipulate the information to learn it.

Application
One of the ways you can make students deal with information is to ask them to write their own questions about the material. Another method is to use the jigsaw method which makes students experts in specific parts of the material.