As you look at the responses from college students about how instructors both frustrate them and engage them, you will see their comments can be categorized. Clearly, however, no instructor has the time to deliver classroom content in ways to address all of these sometimes polar opposite comments. And students don’t have the option of matching instructors with they way they learn.
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.
Understanding Learning and Student Retention
Kathleen Pearle’s two-year study on metacognition, conducted at a large community college in California, identified the importance of knowing one’s self as a learner. At the beginning of the study only eight percent of those entering a class mentioned knowing themselves as learners as being critical to succeeding in their courses. However, at the end of those courses which used the Let Me Learn System, sixty percent of the students completing their semester mentioned knowing themselves as learners as being critical to succeeding in their courses. (“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.)
| “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.) |
Here are some students from Cumberland County College in New Jersey expressing the difference knowing about themselves has made.
- “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 instructors, 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.”
Tags: difference, higher education, impact on students, persistence, retention, student feedback
