why can t students read college texts

1. Why Can�t Students Read College Texts?

3. Helping Students Achieve the Learning Outcomes You Want Cognitive Learning Theory Application to Reading Assignments Prereading Reading Recall Example of Reading Assignment: Machiavelli�s The Prince

4. Cognitive Learning Theory Learners make sense out of information by organizing it and by relating it to information they already know Learning is information processing guided by strategies, patterns and hypotheses Learning is motivated by the search for meaning and order

5. Three Key Elements in Learning The Knowledge Base ��what we already know/schema Cognitive Strategies ��the processes we use to retrieve and build on what we know Metacognition ��our awareness of ourselves as learners and processers

6. Learning Theory & Teaching Help students relate new knowledge to knowledge they already have (knowledge base/schema) Show students how to organize and find relations within the new knowledge (cognitive strategies) Teach students how to monitor their understanding while they are learning (metacognition)

7. Three Stages of Study Reading Stage #1: Pre-Reading Stage #2: Reading Stage #3: Recall

8. Which Stage of Reading Is most important? Do instructors typically spend the least time in preparing students? Pre-Reading

9. Stage #1: Pre-Reading According to Cognitive Learning Theory, students need to Establish a purpose Activate their schema Predict the organization of the reading selection Develop a reading strategy

10. Teaching Strategies for Pre-Reading Communicate to students what you want them to learn from the reading � the learning outcome (s) Help students relate to the content of the new reading selection Alert students to the organization of the text or selection

11. Stage #2: Reading According to cognitive learning theory, students need to read interactively with the text, in a constant process of Organizing Relating Monitoring Fixing-Up

12. Teaching Strategy #1: Annotate Encourage students to annotate the organization of information within the text main points & supporting details; clue words that indicate time order, listing, cause-effect, comparison/contrast; recurrent structural, stylistic or thematic elements

13. Teaching Strategy #2: Question/Response Encourage students to monitor their understanding of the text self-reflective comments response to study guides guided questions summaries

14. Stage #3: Recall Effective recall of reading material requires students to Review in their own words Select what�s important Reorganize in terms of learning goals Relate to what they already know/schema

15. Assessing Reading Recall Do ask students to Select the most important points, according to desired learning outcomes Support the main points with specific examples, supporting details, illustrations Relate the new information to knowledge they already have Apply the information to new situations

16. Assessing Reading Recall Do not ask students to Focus on isolated details Rely too heavily on material outside the text � personal opinion, outside issues Deviate from the stated student learning outcomes

17. Sample Reading Assignment: Machiavelli�s The Prince Student Learning Outcome: In an in-class essay, students will demonstrate their understanding of the key points of Machiavelli�s political philosophy as expressed in The Prince

18. You are teaching a Political Science class. How would you prepare students to read The Prince? Prereading ? Reading? Recall?