Any use of material to better help a student understand and develop their thinking process is not bad at all. The use of good note taking and being able to summarize what you hear and write it down so you understand it is the best way to get ahead. A student has to be shown how to take good notes if you expect them to be able to do so. I can remember one of my teachers telling the class what to write down the first part of the school year and then we had to do it on our own the rest of the year. He would test us and depending on how well we took notes depended on how our grade was; it was an open notebook test. Understanding what material is important and where to organize it helps to associate so that we can remember where it was on the page and what category it was under. "Software with multimedia capabilities can also provide advance organizers." (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007) I think that students need to take better notes and have better techniques on how to understand why they listed information in a certain area. The use of computers will dramatically help in this undertaking.
Hearing cues in the classroom such as "I don't understand" and "what is he talking about" tell us that we need to further explore into the topic that was just discussed. If a few students don't understand, that means that many probably don't either. By asking students questions and having them interact, students can sometimes answer their own questions and then realize what they need to know. The student might remember this "episode" (Laureate, 2009) and recall it in the future when they get confused. If organization is present and tended to, a student can develop new connections and have a easier time doing it.
Concept mapping and virtual tours help students to have an understanding of what happened and shows connections that they may have not thought of. Visual aids help many students and all topics have more visuals than can be used. Concept maps are easy to make either on the computer or by hand. They are good study guides and copies of them can be made for all to study. Any program or technique, whether it be in a book or the use of the computer, can only help a student to advance in their schooling. If a student begins to think about and try to learn new topics, then the cognitive perspective should be happy with that. The use of technology and other programs to help stimulate thinking are great ways to get the attention of the students and keep them working. With the use of computers, students can now explore and adapt to new ideas while recalling old ones to build on.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program five. Cognitive Learning Theories [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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Phil
ReplyDeleteI like what your teacher did with notetaking--model the way it should be done and then have students try it on their own. Notetaking and summarizing seem to be difficult areas for my students, and my plan is to show them the capabilities in Microsoft Word that assist with both of these skills.
Also, I think your idea of using concept maps as study guides is very good. The class can create one together or students can create their own unique version to use as a review of concepts presented and practiced.
Phil,
ReplyDeleteI really liked the idea you shared about the way one of your teachers made you take notes. I know this was one of my weaknesses when I got to college and in the big lecture halls with 200 students. I had no idea where to begin taking notes. The technique that your teacher used with you and your classmates was wonderful. Hopefully by your teacher doing this helped you build note taking skills and made you confident that you were writing down the important facts that made you successful in years beyond.
I am a very visual learner and I have found that to be true of 85% of my students. I would agree with you and say that concept maps would be great study tools for students. An activity that could be used is to put students into groups and have them make a concept map on what students will be tested on. Come together and have each group share their map and then make a "class" map from each of the groups input. It would give everyone a chance to rehearse the information in order to be able to recall it for another concept of even the test.
Visual learning is important and when a student can see what they are supposed to write down in their notes lets them filter out the unimportant and concentrate on what they need to know and how to write it down. Showing and then doing makes for good instruction and students will learn from this for future use.
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