Doing the Right Thing Right:

1. Doing the Right Thing Right: Reconfiguring Learning Communities at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

2. Introduction • Purpose of Session: • To describe an ongoing three-stage best practices learning community initiative at UAB Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

3. Our Goals Statistically significant gains in retention Statistically significant gains on critical thinking assignments. Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

4. The Three Stages • Learning Community I (Conditional Admits/2 Courses) • Learning Community II (Regular Admits/3 Courses) • Learning Community III (Conditional and Regular Admits/3 Courses Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

5. BestPracticesComponents • Close Interaction with Advisors • Emphasis on Critical Thinking Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

6. Assessment Data • Advising Component Very Effective (Subjective Student/Faculty Evaluations) • Critical Thinking Component Less Effective (Objective Pre-test/ Post-test measurements) Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

7. Closing In On the Problem • Critical Reading Skills a Weakness in All Three Learning Community Assessment Results Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

8. Significance? • Learning Communities Work at UAB and Nationwide • Learning Communities Enhance Academic Performance • Learning Community Gains Could Possibly Be Enhanced by Targeting Critical Reading Skills. Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

9. Next Steps Interdisciplinary Instruction and Exercises Using a Variety of Best-Practices Approaches Bloom/Chaffee ACT EPAS Pathway Skills SQ3R/Jason Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

10. Reading Models Chaffee ACT SQ3R JASON Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

11. ChaffeeCritical Thinking • Fact • Interpretation • Analysis Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

12. Chaffee’s Definitions • Fact Declarative Statement Falsifiable • Interpretation Relationships of Facts (temporal, causal, process) • Analysis Conclusions about Facts Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

13. Applying Chaffee ModelIdentifying Facts • According to Chaffee, critical thinkers • A.  Support point of view with evidence and reason • B.  Rely on past experience to understand current events • C.  Trust their instincts to know what is true • D.  Follow their friends’ and family’s judgment about what is true Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

14. Applying Chaffee ModelIdentifying Facts • In Hawai’ian ceremonies, who was subject to be the target of cannibalism? • A. Priests of the heiau • B. Chiefs captured in war • C. Ku, the God of war • D.  Kanoloa who was cast into the underworld Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

15. Applying Chaffee ModelInterpretation • Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy of Intellectual Development suggests that • A.  Fact recognition is more complex than analysis B.  Interpretation is less complex than fact recognition • C.  Analysis is more complex than either fact recognition or interpretation • D.  Fact recognition, interpretation, and analysis are equally difficult Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

16. Applying Chaffee ModelInterpretation • Which of the Hawai’ian Gods most closely parallels Lucifer, the fallen angel in Christian mythology? • A.                Ku • B.                 Kane • C.                Lono • D.                Kanaloa Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

17. Applying Chaffee ModelAnalysis • Which statement is most likely? • A. The UFO model discovered in the Walters’ house is evidence of their lying. • B. The UFO model discovered in the Walters’ house is irrelevant in deciding whether are lying. • C. The UFO model discovered in the Walters’ house is evidence that they are telling the truth. Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

18. Applying Chaffee ModelAnalysis • In Hawai’ian myth, men and women were banished from Mokapu because • A. Kanaloa seduced Ke-aka-huli-lani • B. Ku accepted human sacrifices • C. Lono was honored at celebrations • D. Kane had an affair with Ku’s wife Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

19. ACT Pathway SkillsFrom 16-19 to 20-23 • Draw simple conclusions using details that support the main points of more challenging passages • Locate important details in uncomplicated passages • Order simple sequences of events in uncomplicated literary narratives • Identify comparative relationships between ideas and people in uncomplicated passages Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

20. ACT Pathway SkillsFrom 16-19 to 20-23, cont. • Identify clearly stated cause-effect relationships in uncomplicated passages • Use context clues to define some words and interpret some figurative language in uncomplicated passages Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

21. Application of ACT Pathway SkillsIdentifying Facts Text: The Spirit Catches You, and You Fall Down • According to legend, the Hmong live on high ground due to • Tribal preference • Conflict over territory • Decrees of the gods • Natural disaster Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

22. Application of ACT Pathway SkillsIdentifying Facts, Con’t, Text: The Spirit Catches You, and You Fall Down The main source of income in pre-war Laos was • Industry • Tourism • Exports • Farming Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

23. Application of ACT Pathway Skills:Initiatives/Correlations • Item 1=simple conclusions • Item 2=simple details • Item 3=sequences • Item 4=comparison & contrast • Item 5=causal relationships • Item 6=meanings of words. Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

24. SQ3R • Survey • Question • Read • Recite • Review Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

25. SQ3R: Survey • Survey the chapter before you read • Read the chapter title, introduction, all section headings and subheadings, and chapter summary • Look at all illustrations, charts, maps, etc. and read captions Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

26. As you survey, create Questions • Turn the title, headings, and subheadings into questions • Read any questions that are included with the sections or end of the chapter • Ask yourself, “What do I already know about this topic?” Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

27. As you Read • Look for the answers to the title, headings, and subheadings questions • Note underlined, boldfaced, or italicized words • Reread difficult sections • Reread the captions of illustrations and relate to associated text material • Reduce reading speed to prevent skipping text • Look up the definitions of words • Read and study one section at a time Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

28. Recite after reading each section • Summarize in your own words what you have read • Highlight or underline important information • Take notes from the text • Try to understand the information in a topic before proceeding to the next • Following a recitation of each section, briefly review your recitation notes from all previous sections Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

29. Review materials several times each week • Review all questions to see if you remember the answers • Reread sections for which you have difficulty answering questions • Review all highlighted text and margin notes • Review all illustrations • Develop flashcards or mnemonic devices to help remember specific information Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

30. JASON • R Reminds me of… • ? Question • V Visual Image • I Inference • * Importance Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

31. RMaking Connections:Reminds me of… T-S Text-to-Self T-T Text-to-Text T-M Text-to-Media T-W Text-to-Word Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

32. ? Question • A Question Answered in Text • D Answered by further Discussion • I Answer guessed from Text Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

33. ? Question, con’t. • BK Answered from Background Knowledge • R Question Requires Further Research • ?? Conclusion Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

34. VVisual Image • D Drawing or Representing • IM Imaging or Imagining • O Organizing Information Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

35. I Inference • G Informed Guess • P Prediction (Hypothesis or Conjecture) • T Theme Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

36. * Importance • F Familiar Topic • N New Topic • M All Part of Main Idea • ** Really Important Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

37. Results • Summary Putting Main Points Together • Synthesis Main Points plus Point of View Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

38. Reading ProtocolSQ3RJASON • Model each strategy as a classroom exercise • Group students to complete each model on new material • Assign individuals to complete strategies on new material Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

39. SQ3R Application:Survey • Text: Chapter 1, “Thinking,” Chaffee, 1-35 • Survey the chapter title and introduction on page • Read all section headings, subheadings, and summary • Look at illustrations, charts, maps, captions, etc. Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

40. Applying SQ3R:Question Question your findings: turn the title, headings, and subheadings into questions. For example, you might ask • What is the definition of thinking? • What is an examined life? • What is a goal? Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

41. Applying SQ3R:Question, con’t. • Read the Questions for Analysis on pages 14 and 35. What sorts of information is the author asking you to answer? • Does he ask for facts from the readings, for relationships between individuals, for conclusions based on the information he provides, or for a combination of all of these things? Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

42. Applying SQ3R:Question, con’t. • Finally, ask yourself what you already know about the topics that will be discussed in this chapter. • What do you need to learn more about? • Are there terms the author uses that you need to check the meaning of? • Does this subject interest you? • How does this topic relate to your own experiences? Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

43. Applying SQ3R:Read Read the material in the text in short segments, looking for answers to the questions that you asked in the previous exercise. • As you read, note any text that is presented in text, font, or color changes, a visual clue that the author considers that material especially important. • Read slowly, and reread any section that confuses you. Look up the definitions of any word you do not understand. Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

44. Applying SQ3R:Recite Recite, or summarize each section you read in your own words and then write this information in a separate piece of paper. • Highlight the most important ideas or terms in each section. • Continue this process as you read additional sections of the text, ending each summary with a note of how the information relates to the previous section you read. Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

45. Applying SQ3R:Review Review your questions and answers several times each week, reading any section that you do not understand. • Also review your highlighted texts, margin and summary notes. • This activity is an excellent study guide and will reinforce the information in the text and help you remember it as it moves from short-term to long-term memory.  Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

46. Applying JASON:Making Connections • How does the text relate to you? • Does the material remind you of other texts you have read? • Has the topic appeared in different types of media? • How does the information relate to issues in the larger world? Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

47. Applying JASON:Questioning • Are questions answered in the text? • Can answers be guessed from clues provided in the text? • Do concepts need further discussion for answers? • Can existing background knowledge provide answers? • Do answers require research? • What conclusions can be drawn? Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

48. Applying JASON:Visualizing • Study the drawings included. • What sorts of images would you provide to explain text? • Draw a chart or graph of the information’s organization. Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

49. Applying JASON:Inferring • Make an informed guess, inference, about the material’s meaning. • How would you interpret the facts? • What sorts of speculation does the material lead to? • What predictions do the facts lead to? • Identify the theme of the material. Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly

50. Applying JASON:Determining Importance • Is the topic familiar or obscure? • Are new topics presented in a clearly understandable way? • How do details support the author’s main idea? • What visual changes indicate the relative importance of each piece of information? Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly