Increasing Student Academic Success Through Interactive Learning

1. Increasing Student Academic Success Through Interactive Learning Presented by: Dr. Barbara M. Montgomery Colorado State University-Pueblo Colorado, USA

2. RELATIONSHIP OF TEACHING AND LEARNING • Definitions • Teaching = content and methods • Learning = knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation • Models • Hypodermic Model: Teaching  Learning • Interactive Model: Teaching <-> Learning

3. Academic difficulty Inability to adjust Weak completion goal Vague life goals Lack of commitment Insufficient finances Lack of connection Misfit with institutional culture Withdrawal from academic and social life V. Tinto, 1996 Challenges to Learning: Students

4. Challenges to Learning: Faculty • Competing priorities • Traditions and models • Isolated pedagogical research • Lack of professional development resources • Minimum institutional rewards

5. Costs of Student Underachievement • Economic – lost intellectual capital, tax revenue, productivity • Social – lost stability (volunteerism, charitable giving, family cohesiveness) • Higher Education – lost prestige, efficiency • Personal – lost opportunities, earnings, life satisfaction

6. Who is responsible for student learning? • The student • The faculty • The institution • All of the above

7. Student-faculty contact Student cooperation Active learning Prompt feedback Time on task High expectations Respect for diversity Chickering & Gamson, 1991 Progressive learning Synthesizing experiences Integrating experiences On going skill practice Assess learning/feedback Informal contact with students Special attention to early years Jones & Ewell, 1993 Factors Promoting Student Achievement

8. TRADITIONAL TEACHING Teaching-centered Faculty – dominate Students – attentive Focus – knowledge, comprehension INTERACTIVE LEARNING Learning-centered Faculty – direct Students – engaged Focus – application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation Traditional & Interactive Learning

9. Interactive Learning Methods • Group discussion and projects • Question-answer dialogue • Case study debates • Faculty/student interaction out of class • Peer tutoring • Internships • Service learning • Community research projects • Faculty/student research

10. Research Findings • Knowledge acquisition • Mastery of content • Problem-solving skills • Critical thinking skills • Persistence • Psychosocial benefits For summary see Braxton, et al., 2000; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005

11. Learning Communities • A group of students take two or more thematically linked courses • Peer support groups – collaborative learning • Student interaction and engagement • Synthesizing experiences • Integration of student’s academic and non-academic lives • Research: Enhanced learning, academic development (see Johnson, Johnson & Smith, 1998; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Mansfield et al., 2004)

12. Key Characteristics: “High risk” courses Peer mentors as model students Supplementary seminars on study and learning skills Promotes: Collaborative learning Student engagement Proactive, not reactive interventions Higher level of learning Higher graduation rates Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005 Supplemental Instruction

13. 2004 & 2005 Learning Communities – Writing in the disciplines Supplementary Instruction 9.3 point increase in student retention rate Positive response from students and faculty 2006 + Learning Communities in mathematics, writing & sciences courses First-year Seminar Expanded Supplemental Instruction Comprehensive data tracking Colorado State University-Pueblo

14. References Braxton, J., Milem, J. & Sullivan, A. (2000). The influence of active learning on the college student departure process: Toward a revision of Tinto’s theory. The Journal of Higher Education, 71 (1), 569-590. Chickering, A. & Gamson, Z. (1991). Applying the seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Johnson, D., Johnson, R. & Smith, K. (1998). Cooperative learning returns to college. What evidence is there that it works? Change, 30, 26-35. Jones, D. & Ewell, P. (1993). The Effect of State Policy on Undergraduate Education: State Policy and Collegiate Learning. Denver, Colorado: Education Commission of the States. Mansfield, N., Commander, N. & Fritz, W. (2004). Freshmen Learning Communities: meeting the Needs of Commuting Students at an Urban Research University. Metropolitan Universities, 15 (1), 122-134. Pascarella, E. & Terenzini, P. (2005). How College Affects Students: A Third Decade of Research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Shapiro, N. & Levine, J. (1999). Creating Learning Communities. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Tinto, V. (1996). Reconstructing the first year of college. Planning for Higher Education, 25, 1-6.