Teaching and Learning News

Dr. Phil Winne, Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Faculty of Education, asks:

How often have you overheard comments such as these around campus?

“I can’t learn that way – I’m a visual learner.”

“For all you kinesthetic learners out there, try to feel the force diagram at the instant you reach the peak on a roller  coaster.”

Some students and professors believe that learning styles govern how people learn and should guide how people are taught. But there’s very little research that supports these beliefs.

Here’s what Professor Daniel Willingham, a psychologist from the University of Virgina, has to say:

You can also take a look at the following articles for further ideas about learning styles:

Mayer, R., & Massa, L. (2003). Three facets of visual and verbal learners: Cognitive ability, cognitive style, and learning preference. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 833-841.

Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork. R. (2009). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9, 105-119.

Let us know what you think about these ideas in our comments section below. Are learning styles an urban legend or scientifically valid?

Dr. Michelle Nilson studies higher educational leadership as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education.  For academically-grounded articles and suggestions on teaching and learning, she turns to “Tomorrow’s Professor,” a site put together by the staff at the Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning. This e-newsletter describes itself as seeking “to foster a diverse, world-wide teaching and learning ecology among its over 35,000 subscribers at over 700 institutions and organizations in over 100 countries around the world.” Nilson considers the site especially useful as a tool towards “mobilizing the research on pedagogy and andragogy in a way that is consumable among the teaching and learning community.”

Head to our comments feature! Let us know what you think of the “Tomorrow’s Professor” site or send us your go-to sites for updates and new ideas on teaching and learning.

Teresa Jenkins, an Associate in the Faculty of Education, suggests some basic tips for successfully engaging with students in the classroom:

• When gaining students’ attention after small group discussion, remember to use wait time effectively. Say something like, “Can we regroup for a moment, please.” or ” Can I have your attention here, please.” Then wait until all groups have stopped talking and are focused on you.  This respects their need to finish up briefly, and allows all students to hear what it is you have to say without missing any of it.  This wait time can feel uncomfortable at first but becomes easier with practice.
• When introducing a new concept or procedure to students use the instructional sequence “I do,” “we do”, “you do”, and include as many examples as appropriate.  First, I do: Model the process for the students as you think out loud so they can hear your thoughts and decisions as you go along.  Second, we do:  Do an example as a group, asking for student input, and student thinking.  Finally, you do: Assign independent practice or move from practicing in small groups or pairs to working independently.

Could you incorporate these suggestions into your own practice?

Let us know in the comments…

Dr. Lynn Fels is an arts education Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education.  As she says in her SFU profile, “I come to SFU with an enthusiasm and curiosity about the arts as an action site of exploration and learning.”  When asked what teaching strategies she has found most useful in her years of teaching, Professor Fels responds with the following:

• Take a moment to add comments to students’ submitted work. Students are keen to know that their work (and they) matter.  They especially appreciate it when you make a suggestion on how to improve their work. See “marking” as an opportunity for new learning for the student – a pedagogical engagement.
• Try to create opportunities for students to discuss articles or class assignments in pairs or groups of three or four rather than always holding full class discussions. As lecturers, we are up on our feet and actively engaged but students generally spend a lot of time sitting and taking notes in large classes.
• Connect the research, article, or lecture notes to lived experience. Storytelling is a great way to share information, put abstract concepts or theories into context, and anchor what you want students to learn by relating the material to why it matters.

These basic strategies are often overlooked.  Do you employ these ideas in your own methods?

Tell us more in the comments..

I work with school teachers, university instructors and educational administrators from around the world who come to SFU for four to six weeks to participate in short-term, non-credit programs in the Faculty of Education. Our international programs adopt an experiential learning approach,  which sometimes differs from the participants’ past educational experiences.

To help program participants prepare for the linguistic, cultural and pedagogical experience of studying in Canada, I contact them before they arrive and I pose questions that invite them to share their goals and expectations:

• What did you do before you came to Canada to prepare for this program of study?
• What outcomes are you hoping to achieve in your teaching or work by participating in this program before you return to your home country (e.g. Korea)?

My intention is to ensure that the participants develop personal academic plans so that they can get the most out of their educational experience at SFU.

During the program, I ask the participating teachers and administrators to talk about what they want to do when they return home and what resources they will need to effect the changes they envision. My aim is for each participant to develop a professional action plan that represents, both culturally and linguistically, the pedagogical priorities of their classrooms and schools in their own country. As part of the process, I encourage them to gather online and other IT resources that they can use in  their home country.

- Dr. Ian Andrews, Director, International Programs

Dr. Carolyn Mamchur is  the University Teaching Fellow and Professor in the Faculty of Education. Mamchur suggests the following five instructional strategies when working with students:

• Invite students to be part of the creation of a rubric. It gives them direct access to your thinking about evaluation and gives them a sense of power in being evaluated according to items they value.
• Take a few moments in the beginning of the class to “acclimatize” the group to your environment. It could be a quick review or outline of what you are planning that day, a question to think about, a personal story, an invitation to share an event – they have to leave one environment and enter yours;it takes a few minutes to settle psychologically.
• Give advanced organizers so that introverted students have time to think before having to answer questions orally “Today I will ask you these three questions ….”
• Give students time to “talk” to one another in small groups (the person next to you in a large auditorium) at least every half hour of lecture time to permit extroverted students a chance to discuss and ground ideas.
• Help students explore a topic before they begin to write to make sure they have clarity around purpose and personal commitment to a subject before beginning. Too often they start writing and researching without actually knowing what it is they are looking for.

Have you you experimented with a similar strategy in your classes? Post a comment and share your experiences.

At the first session of each course that I teach, I ask students to complete what I call a “Learner Survey”. The survey asks students for demographic information (academic background, professional work background, etc.) and poses questions that help me understand how much prior knowledge they have about the content of the course. For example, in one undergraduate course (325 Classroom Assessment), I ask them

• what they think the purpose of assessment is, and
• if they have experience assessing the learning of someone else and how they went about it.

In one of my graduate courses, (867 Qualitative Research Methods) the learner survey again includes demographic information and information about research experience but also questions like

• please describe your understanding of what qualitative inquiry/research is? and
• in reading research what do you most appreciate and what frustrates you the most?

At the second class, I anonymously compile the responses and present them in class to allow students to get a better feeling for who we are as a group. I also make copies and hand back the originals to students.I often ask some of the same questions as we move along and then they can compare their responses and get an idea of how their understanding is progressing. Finally, I often use the information on the survey to help me assign groups for a variety of in-class and out-of-class activities.

– Dr. Cheryl Amundsen, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education

Dowload the EDUC 325 and EDUC 867 learner surveys which Dr. Amundsen describes above.

Have you used a learner survey in your class? What kinds of questions do you ask to assess prior knowledge and to get to know your students? Share your experiences and suggestions in the comments below.