Video presentation by Marsha Lovett: "How Learning Works":
a summary of the "How Learning Works" video:
This video is presented by co-author of the book "How Learning Works", Marsha Lovett. Dr. Lovett is the Senior Associate Director at the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence, and Associate Research Professor in the Department of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon.
Dr. Lovett begins her seminar by suggesting we shift our perspective from "how do we teach" to "how do students learn", making the point that students are in charge of their assimilation of information and the teacher is there to influence what the student does to learn. From this idea, the basis of the book was formed; to help teachers change their perspective to that of the students and teach in a way that flows with how students learn.
The authors developed seven principles of learning as the basis of their book. The first principle is focused on "prior knowledge". The chapter discusses the importance of activating that prior knowledge, and ways in which teachers can activate it. Students may have a strong basis on parts of a subject but not be able to apply it in certain situations. The reverse may also be true, where students can apply the knowledge but do not understand why it works, or a deeper understanding of the information. Lovett discusses strategies for pre-assessment besides just multiple-choice questions. She has also used clickers to immediately gain information as to the level of pre-knowledge in the class.
Organization of knowledge is the second principle. How students organize knowledge will greatly influence how they apply what they know. The book and the video illustrate how the connection between bits of knowledge are very different between experts and novices. Experts have clusters of knowledge that are interconnected. Novices/students have more linear connections that aren't inter-related. The more inter-richly connected the structures, the more deep the knowledge and associations between topics. We need to help students develop more interconnected structures for organizing what they have learned. We can accomplish this by giving them a graphic organizer of the lessons up front, initiating peer conversations at the start of each class to review what was covered in the last class, or by having review materials ready at the beginning of class.
The third principle of learning is factors that motivate students to learn. Motivation is a key component to students' learning. The students' motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn. Their motivation is all about their perception that the task has value and the belief that the information will be useful to them. Students' motivation increases as they see multiple goals to which they can relate, so the more value your lesson demonstrates, the better.
The development of "mastery", the fourth principle, involves three steps. The first step is acquiring skills, next is practicing those skills, and (at the hierarchy) knowing when to use those skills. Getting to the final level requires a lot of synthesizing of skills, and there can be a lot of difficulty in integration and application. As experts gain skills and become more competent, they gradually lose consciousness of the lower level skills they once learned, as they become automatic (think of driving a car). This can even make it more difficult for the expert to teach the novice student. Lovett calls this the "Expert Blind Spot", a good analogy for this situation.
The fifth principle explores what kind of practice and feedback enhance learning. Goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances learning. This may seem obvious, but we as instructors need to remember to stay focused on that goal. If we can remain centered on the real problem areas and not so much on the areas in which students are more confident, we can tackle the overall picture more efficiently. Having a specific goal to achieve as well as having their performance criteria (or rubric) communicates to students what they should be focusing on and leads to a higher level of achievement.
Targeted feedback should be constructive, actionable, and timely. It sometimes helps to give students limited feedback on changes to be made and allow them to edit their own work with that knowledge.
Moving on to the sixth principle, Lovett explores why student development and course climate matter. The students' level of development is very connected to course climate, such as the support of the teacher, the ability to comfortably ask questions, and the encouragement from instructor and peers. Especially in the post-adolescent years, students are dealing with a lot of changes (such as moving away from home for the first time, adapting to a new environment, and moving towards a career path. The social and emotional gains they make are considerably greater than the intellectual gains over the same span of time. It's important for instructors to keep this in mind as part of the overall picture. Theories of intellectual development show that students go through various stages of intellectual development. Students develop at different rates and may develop faster in some areas than others, and may even move backwards at times. Lovett illustrates four stages of development, of which college students may or may not reach the latter two. We can help the students move to higher levels by giving them problems that help them find more than one answer and engage in their learning.
As stated in the seventh principle, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning to become self-directed learners. Lovett outlines five processes the students should consider:
1. Assess the task (students often don't!)
2. Evaluate strengths and weaknesses (students tend to overestimate their strengths)
3. Plan (students skip this or do it poorly)
4. Apply strategies/monitor performance
5. Reflect and adjust if needed (students often get stuck in a rut with these two)
It helps to give students encouragement and activities where they practice their skills of planning and reflecting. This allows them to become self-directed learners who can monitor and adjust their approaches to learning.
While some of the principles of this book may seem like common sense, I found that as an educator I often become focused on deadlines and testing schedules. This book is a great reminder of what we already “really” knew, and provided some wonderful insights on how to help our students become independent, lifelong learners. As I settle into my new career as an instructional designer, this book gives a lot of food for thought when re-constructing classes to be effectively taught online. I highly recommend this book!
Dr. Lovett begins her seminar by suggesting we shift our perspective from "how do we teach" to "how do students learn", making the point that students are in charge of their assimilation of information and the teacher is there to influence what the student does to learn. From this idea, the basis of the book was formed; to help teachers change their perspective to that of the students and teach in a way that flows with how students learn.
The authors developed seven principles of learning as the basis of their book. The first principle is focused on "prior knowledge". The chapter discusses the importance of activating that prior knowledge, and ways in which teachers can activate it. Students may have a strong basis on parts of a subject but not be able to apply it in certain situations. The reverse may also be true, where students can apply the knowledge but do not understand why it works, or a deeper understanding of the information. Lovett discusses strategies for pre-assessment besides just multiple-choice questions. She has also used clickers to immediately gain information as to the level of pre-knowledge in the class.
Organization of knowledge is the second principle. How students organize knowledge will greatly influence how they apply what they know. The book and the video illustrate how the connection between bits of knowledge are very different between experts and novices. Experts have clusters of knowledge that are interconnected. Novices/students have more linear connections that aren't inter-related. The more inter-richly connected the structures, the more deep the knowledge and associations between topics. We need to help students develop more interconnected structures for organizing what they have learned. We can accomplish this by giving them a graphic organizer of the lessons up front, initiating peer conversations at the start of each class to review what was covered in the last class, or by having review materials ready at the beginning of class.
The third principle of learning is factors that motivate students to learn. Motivation is a key component to students' learning. The students' motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn. Their motivation is all about their perception that the task has value and the belief that the information will be useful to them. Students' motivation increases as they see multiple goals to which they can relate, so the more value your lesson demonstrates, the better.
The development of "mastery", the fourth principle, involves three steps. The first step is acquiring skills, next is practicing those skills, and (at the hierarchy) knowing when to use those skills. Getting to the final level requires a lot of synthesizing of skills, and there can be a lot of difficulty in integration and application. As experts gain skills and become more competent, they gradually lose consciousness of the lower level skills they once learned, as they become automatic (think of driving a car). This can even make it more difficult for the expert to teach the novice student. Lovett calls this the "Expert Blind Spot", a good analogy for this situation.
The fifth principle explores what kind of practice and feedback enhance learning. Goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances learning. This may seem obvious, but we as instructors need to remember to stay focused on that goal. If we can remain centered on the real problem areas and not so much on the areas in which students are more confident, we can tackle the overall picture more efficiently. Having a specific goal to achieve as well as having their performance criteria (or rubric) communicates to students what they should be focusing on and leads to a higher level of achievement.
Targeted feedback should be constructive, actionable, and timely. It sometimes helps to give students limited feedback on changes to be made and allow them to edit their own work with that knowledge.
Moving on to the sixth principle, Lovett explores why student development and course climate matter. The students' level of development is very connected to course climate, such as the support of the teacher, the ability to comfortably ask questions, and the encouragement from instructor and peers. Especially in the post-adolescent years, students are dealing with a lot of changes (such as moving away from home for the first time, adapting to a new environment, and moving towards a career path. The social and emotional gains they make are considerably greater than the intellectual gains over the same span of time. It's important for instructors to keep this in mind as part of the overall picture. Theories of intellectual development show that students go through various stages of intellectual development. Students develop at different rates and may develop faster in some areas than others, and may even move backwards at times. Lovett illustrates four stages of development, of which college students may or may not reach the latter two. We can help the students move to higher levels by giving them problems that help them find more than one answer and engage in their learning.
As stated in the seventh principle, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning to become self-directed learners. Lovett outlines five processes the students should consider:
1. Assess the task (students often don't!)
2. Evaluate strengths and weaknesses (students tend to overestimate their strengths)
3. Plan (students skip this or do it poorly)
4. Apply strategies/monitor performance
5. Reflect and adjust if needed (students often get stuck in a rut with these two)
It helps to give students encouragement and activities where they practice their skills of planning and reflecting. This allows them to become self-directed learners who can monitor and adjust their approaches to learning.
While some of the principles of this book may seem like common sense, I found that as an educator I often become focused on deadlines and testing schedules. This book is a great reminder of what we already “really” knew, and provided some wonderful insights on how to help our students become independent, lifelong learners. As I settle into my new career as an instructional designer, this book gives a lot of food for thought when re-constructing classes to be effectively taught online. I highly recommend this book!
