Supporting Students’ Academic Success

What is within our locus of control?

Kay M. Sagmiller, Ph. D

What influences students’ learning?

As professors, some things are simply not within our locus of control…

► Sleep deprivation► Distractions► Effort

Factors Within Faculty’s Locus of Control

►Course Design

►Assessment of student learning

►Implementation

Design Matters: Alignment

Curriculum

Explicit

Planned

Taught

Learned

Assessed

Unplanned

Untaught

Unlearned

Unassessed

ImpliedNull

Course Design…Where does this course fit in the

curriculum?

Which program

outcomes are central to this

course?

Course Design…

At the end of this course… what must my students know…and be able to do?

How can I find out if they learned what I intended?

Course Design…

Whatquestions areat the core of this course?

What will be difficult for my students to learn?

What type of thinking will this course require of students?

What models, analogies and examples willhelp to illustrate keypoints?

Course Design…

►Align course outcomes to program outcomes

►Sequence knowledge and skills development

►Plan assessments

Student work is the window into

the student’s thinking and

learning

Assessment

Understanding develops over time

Strategic thinking

Basic applicati

on

Recall

Extended thinkingPerformance

Tasks: multi-stage projects

Academic prompts: Open-ended questions or problems requiring analysis

Tests and Quizzes: Factual content,Discreet skills

Designing summative tasks

1. Goal2. Role3. Audience4. Situation5. Product, performance and purpose6. Standards and Criteria for success

You are an associate professor proposing a new model of teacher evaluation to the

promotion and tenure committee. Your task is to convince your colleagues student

evaluations are insufficient data for P & T purposes. Prepare a 10 minute presentation that defends your argument and proposes a more robust and reliable data source for the

evaluation of teaching.

Your presentation needs to…Your work will be judged by…

Your presentation must meet the following standards

Implementation

Set

Serve

Evaluate

Content

Construct Meaning

Organize

Store

Humans link new information to their existing schema

Enhancing the Retention of Content

1) Provide advance organizers

2) Present information graphically, pictorially

3) Review key ideas and concepts

4) Use storytelling, analogies, metaphors

5) Require students to discuss content

Working memory is 20 minutes

Plan short “Wake and Engage” moments

►Think, pair, share►Compare your notes to your

neighbors and clarify any misconceptions

►Summarize the lecture since our last break and share it with your neighbor

►Review your notes and highlight the following main points

Skills

ConstructModel

Shape Internalize

Supporting Skill Development

1. Demonstrate while thinking aloud

2. Scaffold practice

3. Point out common errors, give feedback

4. Analyze exemplary models

5. Ask student to explain what they are doing and why

Assessing Skills

►Performance►Performance►Performance►Performance►Performance►Performance►Performance

Emotions and the Senses Influence Memory Storage

Self-perception influences Learning

Do I value feedback?

►Am I sensitive to the feelings of others?

Open minded?Do I seek clarity in my work?

Address students’ attitudes and perceptions…

►The Classroom Climate Acceptance by the teacher Acceptance by peers Comfort and order of the classroom

Classroom Tasks Value Ability Clarity

Day One: Getting off on the right foot

1. Be friendly, welcoming2. Address preconceived ideas about the

course and your teaching3. Encourage students to study together4. Clearly communicate academic

expectations: Value, ability and clarity

Factors Within Faculty’s Locus of Control

►Course Design

►Student Assessment

►Implementation