Making Students More Effective Learners by Challenging their Misconceptions about Learning

1. Making Students More Effective Learners by Challenging their Misconceptions about Learning Stephen L. Chew Samford University slchew@samford.edu New American Colleges & Universities Westminster College June 22, 2012

2. Goals of the Presentation • Discuss the level of college readiness of incoming freshmen • Discuss what students need to know about how people learn and the development of a program to help students become more effective learners based on cognitive principles • Correct misconceptions about learning • Provide a cognitive framework for effective study • Discuss what faculty should know about how people learn and what they can do to help students learn more effectively • Discuss cognitive basis of effective pedagogy

3. Teacher Beliefs about How People Learn • Teaching requires a mental model of how people learn. • Most teachers cannot articulate their model of learning, but they have one. • Determines which teaching methods are selected, how they are implemented and assessed, and how to adjust if there are problems. • If the model is accurate, the teacher will be effective • If it is flawed or simplistic, the teacher will be less effective

4. Student Beliefs about How People Learn • Students also base their study behavior based on their models of how people (specifically themselves) learn. • Determines whether or not they go to class, if and how well complete assignments, how they study material, and when material is mastered. • The better the model, the better the student learns • If the model is flawed or simplistic, it will undermine student learning

5. A typical incoming college student… • Has graduated from high school with an average GPA of 3.00 (NAEP, 2009) • Has probably passed a high school exit or graduation exam • Has been tested for scholastic achievement or aptitude many times • Probably taken an entrance exam and was admitted to college

6. % of Students Deemed Ready for College by ACT (2011)

7. A typical college freshman is • Inadequately prepared for college work • Unaware of the fact because it is contrary to their successful high school experience • Likely overconfident in their preparation and abilities for college-level work • Few students enter college believing they will struggle

8. As a consequence • Many students will struggle academically in their first year of college • Culture of access vs. culture of completion • Overconfidence may hinder their recognition and willingness to try to make the necessary changes • Even when willing to change, they do not know what changes to make (or not make) • Some percentage of these students will not succeed in college even though they have the ability to do so • A larger percentage will perform poorly as they adjust to college level study

9. The Primary Goal of Teaching Either • To present information that students are solely responsible for learning • In which case student adjustment to college level work is not the teacher’s problem • The teacher cannot or should not influence learning Or • To develop a sophisticated, useful, and generative level of understanding of various academic topics on the part of the students • In which case student adjustment to college level work is the teacher’s problem • Teachers share responsibility for student learning

10. How to help students make a successful transition to college • Remediation • Teach them to adjust through college transition courses, advising, study skills centers, and other resources • Personal and social adjustment; study “tips”, and time management • Teach them how to be more effective learners by correcting misconceptions and teaching them cognitive principles of learning

11. Evolution of a Presentation • Given many workshops for teachers on how to teach effectively using cognitive research on how people learn • In 2006, I was asked to give a presentation to Samford’s entire freshman class on how to study effectively in college based on cognitive research • Focus on what students need to know about how people learn in order to make them better learners

12. It’s not that simple • Student expect to be lectured to about how hard college is going to be and how hard they will have to work. • Student overconfidence • “I’m a college professor and you better study hard because college is tough!” • “Look to your left…” • “I’m a scary, old guy who will make you work hard for no apparent reason.” • Such a lecture would be useless

13. The Challenges • Overcome the negative preconceptions • “I want you to succeed, and I have information that will help you meet the academic challenge.” • Overcome student misconceptions about learning, e.g. mistaken beliefs and “magic bullets” • Present cognitive principles and research to help students become more effective learners • Make the presentation engaging, accessible, and memorable • Do it in 45 minutes

14. Goals of the Presentation • Give students a coherent, research-based framework that would allow them to become effective learners in any situation • More than disconnected study tips, e.g. don’t cram at the last minute; space out learning; serial position; study in same place you will be tested • Show them how to apply the framework to their study • Make it obvious to students this was useful information they should care about • It is worth the investment of time

15. How to Study Long and Hard and Still Fail… Or How to Get the Most Out of Your Studying • Beliefs about Learning that Make You Stupid (common misconceptions) • Metacognition and its consequences • So how accurate are your beliefs about how people learn? (A quiz) • A demonstration of Levels of Processing • Operationalizing Levels of Processing • Applying Levels to studying, note taking, and highlighting and reading

16. Giving the Presentation(about 5 weeks into Fall Semester)

17. Beliefs about Learning that Make You Stupid • Learning is fast • Being good at a subject is a matter of inborn talent rather than hard work, • Knowledge is composed of isolated facts • I’m really good at multi-tasking, especially during class or studying

18. Metacognition • A student’s awareness of his or her level of understanding of a topic • Metacognition distinguishes between stronger and weaker students • One of the major tasks for a freshman is developing good metacognition • In high school, students spent years developing a metacognitive sense that is likely inadequate or even counterproductive for college.

19. Relationship between Estimated and Actual Grades: Psyc 101

20. The irony of poor metacognition • Students who have the poorest metacognition have no clue how weak their understanding of a concept is. • Part of being incompetent is not understanding just how incompetent you are. • So the students who most need to listen closely to this talk, are the ones who don’t believe they need to.

21. So how accurate are your beliefs about how people learn?

22. Which of the following is the MOST important ingredient for successful learning? The intention and desire to learn Paying close attention to the material as you study Learning in a way that matches your personal Learning Style? The time you spend studying What you think about while studying

23. Read the instructions for the demonstration to yourselves and do your best to follow them.

24. Levels of Processing Shallow processing focuses on spelling, appearance and sound. Rote memorization of facts Flashcards with isolated facts Deep processing focuses on subjective meaning. Relating new information to prior knowledge or other information Making information personally meaningful

25. Rate each word Do you find the word Pleasant? Does the word contain an E or G? Deep processing: You are relating the words to your own meaningful experiences. Shallow processing: You are focusing on spelling. These are orienting tasks that cause you to think in deep or shallow ways, regardless of your intention

26. Four different conditions Be forewarned you will be asked to recall all the words Front Left Right Shallow Warned about Recall Deep Warned about Recall Deep Not Warned Shallow Not Warned

27. Study Conditions • If motivation to learn • matters, the front tables • should recall best 3. If both deep processing and motivation matter, the front right should recall best Front Right Left Shallow Warned about Recall Deep Warned about Recall 2. If deep processing matters, The two right sections should recall best Deep Not Warned Shallow Not Warned

28. Intention vs. Level of Processing

29. Which of the following is the MOST important ingredient for successful learning? The intention and desire to learn Paying close attention to the material as you study Learning in a way that matches your personal Learning Style? The time you spend studying What you think about while studying

30. Implications for Learning Intention and motivation to learn are not important Attention and amount of study is necessary, but not sufficient for learning Learning strategy has a huge impact on learning Shallow processing undermines learning, even when intention and motivation are high Deep level of processing is critical for learning elaborative, distinctive, personal, appropriate

31. Implications for Students • Many students have highly practiced poor learning strategies • Studying more won’t help them • Increase overconfidence without learning • They need to unlearn highly practiced old strategies and develop new, more effective ones • Consider study skills in terms of orienting tasks and level or processing • Studying, note taking, reading, writing, listening

32. These findings are strongly counterintuitive • All study is effective, only amount and intensity matter • The more I study, the more I learn • The more motivated I am to learn, the more I will learn • Motivation automatically improves study effectiveness • Not all study is the same; some is useless no matter how long you do it and some is counterproductive • Motivation is no guarantee of effective study skills • Learning is hard work, but not all hard work leads to learning

33. Implications for Faculty • Pedagogy have a significant impact on learning • It isn’t all the same • Consider pedagogy in terms of orienting tasks and level of processing • Design assignments, problem sets, questions, examples to induce deep processing • What does this activity make students think about? • A badly designed assignment isn’t just useless, it can undermine learning

34. Achieving Deep Processing while Studying As you study, follow these principles: • Elaboration: How does this concept relate to other concepts? • Distinctiveness: How is this concept different from other concepts? • Personal: How can I relate this information to my personal experience? • Appropriate to Retrieval and Application: How am I expected to use or apply this concept? • These properties lead to development of connected understanding

35. The aftermath • The presentation was a huge success • Rated most useful and interesting of freshman activities • Faculty liked it as well as students • I’ve presented it annually, refining it each year • After two years, I was asked to give a follow up presentation for “at risk” students • But just how successful was it? • 2009 Assessment

36. Method The assessment employed a two pronged approach: • Study 1 involved three sections of Foundations, a course intended to help freshmen adjust to college • For these sections, I attended their class, gave a pretest, gave my presentation, gave an immediate posttest, then gave a follow-up survey two weeks later. • Study 2 involved other Foundations sections. • I asked instructors to give a pretest before the presentation, the students attended my presentation, then I gave a follow-up survey several weeks after the presentation.

37. Results • Students rated the presentation highly for interest and value in helping them study (Figure 1) • In both studies, the presentation had a significant impact on student understanding that the key factor in learning is deep processing (Figures 2 & 3) • But 43% of students maintained a misconception and correct understanding lowered slightly over time. • The presentation seemed particularly effective in reducing rote memorization as a study strategy and increasing deep processing. (Figure 4) • “As I study, my main strategy is to memorize the key facts and the definitions of key terms.” (F(1, 61)=12.49, p=.001) • “As I study, I try to think about how I might use this information either on an exam or in my future experience.” (F(1, 67)=4.43, p=0.039

38. Fig. 1: Presentation Assessment (Study 2)

39. Fig. 2: Rated Most Important (Study 1)

40. Fig 3: Rated Most Important (Study 2)

41. Fig. 4: Impact on Study Strategies

42. Conclusions • The presentation is interesting and effective at significantly altering student understanding of learning and their practice. • The presentation is particularly effective at decreasing rote memorization and increasing deep processing strategies • A significant portion of students still maintain misconceptions about learning and the positive impact may lessen with time. • To address these issues, I created videotaped modules of the presentation for students to review when needed.

43. Development of Video Series • Have the same helpful tone as presentation • Contain the same information as my two presentations • Serve as a resource for students and teachers on how to study effectively • Be as flexible as possible for different uses, such as online learning • Five brief modules • Be worth the time invested in terms of information learned • 6-8 minutes each

44. Creating the Videos • I examined the videos on studying that already exist • Most are either testimonials or selling products • A depressing, often boring, mix of some correct information, misconceptions, and simple tips • Nathan Troost—Ace Videographer • Visual sense of what works and what is interesting • A psych minor and former student of mine • A good editor for me • All five filmed in four hours one summer morning

45. Video Series: How to Get the Most Out of Studyinghttp://www.samford.edu/how-to-study/

46. How to Get the Most Out of Studying • Video 1: Beliefs That Make You Fail…Or Succeed • Video 2: What Students Should Understand About How People Learn • Video 3: Cognitive Principles for Optimizing Learning • Video 4: Putting the Principles for Optimizing Learning into Practice • Video 5: I Blew the Exam, Now What?

47. Videos posted in August, 2011 • Very well received: In use by many faculty; posted as a resource by many study and counseling centers; used in many college transition courses • Now being closed captioned • Faculty love them; Advanced students wish they had had them as freshmen; but freshmen reaction is mixed • It isn’t what they want or expect to hear • Misconceptions are hard to change • Just watching them is probably not sufficient

48. Viewing Pattern

49. What might explain this pattern? • When we tell students to watch them, we mean “Watch them all (maybe more than once), learn from them, work to incorporate the information into your study habits.” • What students think: • “I watched the first one and I figured that was enough.” • “Just watching should be enough to improve my grades. • Watching videos is passive, and they should be entertaining • “I already know or do this stuff.” (When they really don’t)

50. What Students Want vs. What the Videos Offer • How to make good grades • A concrete, foolproof, (easy) method • Simple tweaks to what I’m already doing • Immediate results • A guarantee that hard work will result in a good grade • How to learn more effectively • A framework for effective study • A radical change requiring much effort • No magic bullet • You can work hard and still fail