LET ME LEARN FOR COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Why Focus on Learning?

• Learning is central to our human essence, our wellspring (Pr. 4.23), the source from which our life develops.
• Learning challenges us, surrounds us, encompasses us, engages us, and defines us.
• Learning is the purpose of the academy.

Bean and Eaton state that the factors affecting retention are ultimately individual, and include attitude, coping, self-efficacy, and locus of control. (Bean, J., & Eaton, S. B. (2001-2002). The psychology underlying successful retention practices. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory, and Practice, 3(1),73).

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What Does Understanding Learning Do for the Learner?

So what is an instructor left to do? How can one win by "giving out hand-outs" and "Having open discussions, rather than, busy work with handouts."? The answer lies within the learner. When the student becomes aware of their learning selves, they take ownership for their learning. And when students understand themselves as learners, they can develop strategies which serve them well in the world outside the classroom.

The statements which follow tell us that students know well what works for them and what doesn’t. As you read each think of your own Faculty "teaching" Characteristics.

Specific things instructors do which made it more difficult for me to learn

• "Didn’t follow a book or some kind of syllabus to follow by."
• "An instructor who tells me to do an assignment/project with no directions or example."
• "Assigning work out of the book without going over it."
• "Strictly lecture."
• "Lecturing without visuals, samples, cases, notes, or speaking on own opinions"
• "Simply talked w/o writing anything down."
• "Drone on in a monotone?no feeling or spirit in the tone of the voice, going through the motions of the curriculum."
• "Made you feel stupid when you ask a questions."
• "Did nothing but write notes and hand out assignments. I didn’t sign-up for an on-line course but it sure felt like one."
• "They taught the way they thought was best and that’s it."
• "Lectured too quickly."
• "Didn’t explain what they wanted."
• "Did not encourage questions during a lecture."
• "One instructor used little class discussion, which made it harder to stay focused."
• "Would never go over the quizzes or the test."

Specific things instructors do that really helped me learn.

• "Agenda is very clear and topics discussed in an organized pattern."
• "Instructors, in my opinion, need to be accessible to the students."
• "Took the extra time to stay after class and answer any questions that I have had."
• "Relate the course to real-life experiences."
• "By giving thorough examples."
• "Providing real-life experiences for topics being discussed so that we could see the importance or value of whatever was being discussed."
• "The instructor involved me in the lecture to keep me on my toes."
• "Gave one-on-one help."
• "Allowed class to have humor rather than get too strict."
• "Gave me choices and options."
• "Study guides."
• "Hands-on examples."
• "Having open discussions, rather than, busy work with handouts."
• "Use power point so that we can see what he is lecturing on."
• "Go over and explain any wrong answers or difficult questions."

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What Difference Does Understanding Learning Make in Terms of Persistence and Retention?

Here are some students expressing the difference knowing about themselves has made.

"I think that my low level precision may have held me back in my understanding of the questions. I am more prone to see the big picture and not pay attention to the small details. This was not good for this assignment because I need to give attention to small details in the working of the equations. I have a fairly high level in sequence that helped me through this assignment, because I was able to set up a plan to accomplish a task." -- Foothill Entry Level Math Student ("Metacognition as vehicle for organizational change: How ’thinking about thinking’ and intentional learning break the mold of ’heroic’ teaching in higher education." Pearle, Kathleen M.. UMI 3115307 based on a two year study of the implementation of the LML Process® at Foothill College, CA.)

"Using personalized strategy cards gave me and my group the courage to keep trying. I even began to use personal strategies in my western civ and psych classes. It wasn’t easy, but it really paid off. I never thought I could read and understand what I read very well. Now I know I can do it if I forge my precision and don’t give up." --Roxanne (Kressler, P. and Johnston, C. (2003), "The Effects of Innovative Teaching on Student Growth in Knowledge of Economics and the Intentional Use of Their Learning Processes," presented at the Annual Meeting of DEBE, September 15, 2003, Edinburgh, Scotland)

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What is the Theoretical Basis for the Let Me Learn System?

The theoretical basis of the Let Me Learn Process is the Interactive Learning Model^© (Johnston, 1994). The Interactive Learning Model depicts the simultaneous interactions of cognition, conation, and affectation (Snow, 1992) within our mental processing as four synchronous patterns (Sequence, Precision, Technical reasoning, and Confluence). These patterns represent how the learner sees the world, takes in stimuli, integrates the stimuli and formulates a response to it. The Interactive Learning Model is based upon research conducted in cognitive science, brain science, and multiple intelligences (Allport, 1961; Bruer, 1997; Gardner, 1983; Johnston, 1996; Keefe & Ferrell, 1990; McClean, 1978; Pay, 1981; Perkins, 1993; Philip, 1936; Snow & Jackson, 1992; Sternberg, 1996).

For more information about the theory of the Let Me Learn System, click here to download the PDF file.

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What Difference Does the Let Me Learn System Make for College Students?

What follows are comments from Cumberland College students made after they took part in a project that used the Learning Connections Inventory and Let Me Learn techniques to enhance their success.

• "I have become more reliable and I am not scared any more of trying new ways of getting the job done."
• "I have used the information to try to help me determine which way to do my work."
• "Since my teacher is a confluent learner and I am sequential, I try to ’translate’ her lectures into an outline or sequence."
• "I look at students with different learning patterns and try to integrate their patterns into my pattern."

And here are the insights of some of their instructor, who participated in the same project:

• "For me, sequential learners were the ones I previously did not understand well. Why did they want me to repeat what I said three or four times? I thought they weren’t listening. Now, understanding how they learn better, I have begun to slow down, to write the steps out in a clearer manner."
• "Let Me Learn has helped me realize how many students there are that DO NOT have the same learning patterns as I have?which means they may have a difficult time with some of my directions and preciseness of details?. I have "eased up" on some of the rules."
• "It allowed me to teach with a different perspective. I had a better understanding of my students as learners. It also brought greater clarity and understanding about myself as a learner."

For more information on the differnce this advanced learning system makes for students, read Steve Mallory’s reflections.

You can read other reflections by graduate students’ and collegiate faculty who have learned about the Let Me Learn System and the way it has affected their progress as scholars.

Who is Using the Let Me Learn System?

Currently, twenty-five universities and colleges within the United States, Europe, and Australia are using some apsect of the Let Me Learn System. In addition, scholars, doctoral students, and researchers have elected to explore the principles and practices of Let Me Learn.

Undergraduate and graduate students can find themselves facing increasing difficult learning challenges requiring them to be self-directing. Instructors, meanwhile, discover to their frustration that the lecture model is often ineffective at reaching increasing numbers of their students. By providing insights into the learning patterns of both college students and their instructors, including the way in which their patterns interact with one another in classroom and lecture hall, Let Me Learn helps students and teachers create a positive learning environment and greater student achievement.

Click here for a list of academic papers that describe the effects of the Let Me Learn System on student achievement.

Click here for the list of Doctoral Dissertations on the Let Me Learn Process.

Here are other research articles on the effects of Let Me Learn System in Higher Education:

Developing Metacognitive Engineering Teams, Newell, Dahm, Harvey, and Newell
Let Me Learn®, un sistema de aprendizaje para toda la vida aplicado a la formación en TICs de profesores universitarios
A Teambuilding Model for the Educational Leadership Classroom, Marcellino
The Effects of Innovative Teaching on Student Growth in Knowledge of Economics and the Intentional Use of Their Learning Processes, Kressler
Applying Learning Pattern Theory to Electronic Portfolio Development: Navigating On-going Programmatic Evaluation
Let Me Learn in-service training: A teacher’s experience, Calleja and Montebello
Vee Heuristics, Concept Mapping And Learning Patterns: Merging Metacognitive Tools And Learning Processes To Improve Facilitation Of Learning With Primary Children, Vanhear and Johnston
One size doesn’t fit all: Achieving accountability through application of learning patterns, Jorgensen
The Interactive Learning Model: Intentional Learning Fosters Cultural Change At Foothill College, Pearle

How Can I Bring the Let Me Learn System to My Institution?

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