09 February 2011
Medium Review: Book
How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching, by Susan A. Ambrose, Michael W. Bridges, Michele DiPietro, Marsha C. Lovett, and Marie K. Norman. Jossey-Bass, 2010.
How Learning Works takes results collected from the educational research community and puts them into terms that an educational practitioner can understand and use. The seven principles—students' prior knowledge can help or hinder learning; how students organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know; students' motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn; to develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned; goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances the quality of students' learning; students' current level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and intellectual climate of the course to impact learning; and to become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning—seem common sense at first glance, but the details behind each and how to use those in students' educational experiences are valuable and applicable anywhere from K-12 to higher education. It's the how to apply these principles part that's most valuable. A good read for anyone in the educational world.
How Learning Works takes results collected from the educational research community and puts them into terms that an educational practitioner can understand and use. The seven principles—students' prior knowledge can help or hinder learning; how students organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know; students' motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn; to develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned; goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances the quality of students' learning; students' current level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and intellectual climate of the course to impact learning; and to become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning—seem common sense at first glance, but the details behind each and how to use those in students' educational experiences are valuable and applicable anywhere from K-12 to higher education. It's the how to apply these principles part that's most valuable. A good read for anyone in the educational world.
Labels: ambrose, education, how learning works, learning, principles, teaching, techniques
10 May 2009
Five Songs: Education
Five songs about education:
- Alice Cooper, "School's Out"
- Kaiser Chiefs, "Never Miss a Beat"
- Phish, "Chalkdust Torture"
- Pink Floyd, "Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. II"
- Ramones, "Rock and Roll High School"
Labels: education, five songs
16 July 2008
Randomness
Hi, all. Just got back tonight from a couple of nights in and around the District of Columbia, our nation's seat of government. Was up there representing NOGLSTP on the Engineers Week Diversity Council at a meeting with Obama's staffer for education (Senate, not presidential campaign).
The randomness:
The randomness:
- First time I was in one of the legislative office buildings. Got a good look at the Capitol, but didn't arrange time for a tour. Looking forward to going back.
- Backgrounding on matters of assessment in engineering education. How do we ensure that we turn out quality engineers from our degree programs? There's a sense that traditional methods need scruitiny, and the ABET accreditation processes we all go through is designed to make sure that the engineers we graduate are succeeding in the workplace, but what can we do different to assess in a very short term that students are learning what we want them to without starting over from scratch? Or am I over-estimating the downside to starting over from scratch?
- Still working on Alaska pics. Three or so more days to go: Barrow, Anchorage, and last day.
- Trying to figure out how to get more involved in the Vote No on Amendment 2 activities. The number of straight people who don't get it—that our (gay people's) lives are just as full of love, are just as valid, as theirs; that discrimination is not in their best interest; that one day they're negatively impacting their own children or grandchildren—is frustrating. May be going to "speaker training" this weekend. (SEND MONEY TO THESE PEOPLE, PLEASE!)
- The Washington trip is very interesting. I mean, it's fun to be involved in setting the direction—or at least being valued in what that direction is—for an enterprise. Imagine when that enterprise is the USA!
- Some say that civilization as we know it is headed down the tubes, but I present three examples that say those folks are wrong: (1) A young man waiting for a plane a few weeks ago was reading Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl, a book I can recommend without reservation; (2) young man on the plane next to me the other day was reading The True Believer by Eric Hoffer, an author I can recommend without reservation (even if he did turn into a crank in his dotterage); (3) young (Israeli—kid was no older than fourteen) man on the plane next to me today had a CD of King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King. Have confidence in the next generation. We are in good hands.
- I supposedly have a sabbatical coming up a year from now. What to do? What? To? Do?
Labels: abet, amendment 2, assessment, council, dc, district of columbia, diversity, education, engineering, eweek, fairness, families, noglstp, obama, randomness, washington
