Fostering STEM Retention & Completion Through Key Instructional Strategies

1. Fostering STEM Retention & Completion Through Key Instructional Strategies Jodi Long, Ph.D. Rhonda Felheim, D.C. Santa Fe College STEMtech Conference 2011

2. Session Goals • Identify importance of completion. • Address challenges of teaching Today’s Student. • Discuss and practice techniques to reach Today’s Student.

3. Think/ Pair/ Share • How do you define completion? • Why is completion important?

4. Why is completion important? • More educated – more likely to be employed National Average = 9.1% Source: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm

5. Why is completion important? • More educated – better earning power Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2011). The Condition of Education 2011 (NCES 2011–033), Table A-17-1.; http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=77

6. Why is completion important? • Less educated – more likely to be below poverty line Source: http://factfinder.census.gov

7. Characteristics of Many of Today’s Students • Working more hours • More ADD/ADHD • Interested in obtaining credentials • Feel entitled to an A or B if they consistently attend class • Few time management skills • Few learning skills • Very social

8. Think/Pair/Share What is the difference, if any, between studying and learning? Which, if either, is more enjoyable?

9. Desired Outcomes • Address why students don’t study, or seldom get significant results from their study time • Consider some basic principles of cognitive science and learning theory that can be used to improve teaching and learning • Student motivation • Discuss concrete strategies that we can teach students to increase critical thinking • Immediate results in student performance and self-perception

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11. Why don’t students know how to learn? • It wasn’t necessary in high school - 66% of 2003 entering first year students spent less than six hours per week doing homework in 12th grade. - More than 46% of these students said they graduated from high school with an “A”average. • Students’ confidence level is high - 70% believe their academic ability is above average or in the highest 10 percent among people their age Higher Education Research Institute Study: http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/03_press_release.pdf

12. How do faculty add to the problem? • By assigning homework and giving tests that require little, if any, higher order thinking • By assessing learning too infrequently • By not requiring students to be responsible for their own learning • By having little ability to teach students concrete learning strategies • By rewarding passive learning

13. How does the collegeexacerbate the problem? • Orientation programs that stress fun, recreation, and campus organization involvement • Counselors who assist students in scheduling courses “back to back” with no breaks between • Faculty who discourage students from buying the course textbook

14. What is Metacognition? The ability to: • think about thinking • be consciously aware of oneself as a problem solver • monitor and control one’s mental processing • accurately assess what one understands

15. Rote Learning v. Meaningful Learning • Rote Learning involves: • verbatim memorization • Cannot be manipulated or applied to novel situations • Meaningful Learning involves: • Relating to previous knowledge • Can be manipulated, applied to novel situations, and used in problem solving tasks

16. Motivating Students Bases of Intrinsic Motivation • Autonomy (Control Their Own Destiny) • Competence (Do Things that Help Them Feel Successful) • Belonging (To Feel Part of a Group Effort) • Self-Esteem (To Feel Good About Who They Are) • Involvement and Enjoyment (To Find Pleasure in What They Do) • Relevance and Value (To See Why They Need to Know It) James Raffini, Allyn and Bacon, 1996

17. Strategies • Learning Styles/ Teaching Styles • Portable Skills • Student-directed activities • Instructor-directed activities

18. Learning Styles • Auditory • Visual • Kinesthetic • Interactive

19. Teaching Styles • Formal Authority • Demonstrator • Facilitator • Delegator

20. Portable Skills • Time Management Schedule • Daily Schedule • Study Cycle

21. Time Management Schedule

22. The Study Cycle Phase One: Preview chapters to be covered in class… before class (Create chapter maps) Phase Two: Go to Class. Listen actively, take notes, participate in class Phase Three: Review and process class notes as soon as possible after class Phase Four: Incorporate Intense Study Sessions Repeat

23. Intense Study Sessions • 2 - 5 minutes: Set goals for next 40 min. • 30 - 40 minutes: Accomplish the goals Read text more selectively/highlight • Make doodles/notes in margins • Create mnemonics, work examples • Create concept maps • 10 minutes Review what you have just studied • 10 minutes Take a break • Repeat

24. Student-Directed Activities • Chapter Preview • Bold-print & Picture method of reading • Note-taking skills • Networking within the class • Big Idea Summaries

25. Metacognition “Metacognitionis an appreciation of what one already knows, together with a correct comprehension of the learning task and what knowledge and skills it requires, combined with the ability to make correct inferences about how to apply one’s strategic knowledge to a particular situation, and to do so efficiently and reliably.” Taylor, 1999

26. Instructor-Directed Activities • Think/ Pair/ Share • One-minute papers • Learning Strategies Boot Camp • Group Exam • iClicker

27. What techniques can you implement in your class when you arrive home? • One-minute Papers • Think/ Pair/ Share • Time Management Schedules • Note-taking • All of the Above

28. 100% Student Success

29. Questions? What are you thinking about right now?

30. Contact Us Jodi Long Jodi.long@sfcollege.edu Rhonda Felheim Rhonda.felheim@sfcollege.edu

31. Sources • Willingham, DT. (2009). Why Don’t Students Like School? : A cognitive scientist answers questions about how the mind works and what is means for the classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, a Wiley Imprint • http://www.cas.lsu.edu