Johnnie Terry, Philosophy Professor, Sierra CollegeJohnnie Terry, Philosophy Professor, Sierra College

Anne Argyriou, Basic Skills Committee, De Anza Anne Argyriou, Basic Skills Committee, De Anza CollegeCollege

ASCCC Student Success Institute: ASCCC Student Success Institute: Basic Skills Across the CurriculumBasic Skills Across the Curriculum

February 25, 2011February 25, 2011

Introductions

Who are we???Why are we presenting on this topic???

Moment of connection

Who was involved? Topic? How did people connect? Why?

Reflect What factors may have contributed to that

connection? How do you think that connection affected

everyone involved (any change)?

Brainstorm

What would these connections look like? What would the effects of these

connections be? Connections:

Student-Teacher, Student-Student

First—Why? Then—How?

“Connections” & the Classroom

Establish a social identity

Positive, academic self Create one to replace any negative academic

identity Strengthen existing identity (neutral or

insecure)

Social identity crucial for learning to occur Individually Collaboratively

Why do connections work?

Social Identity

Before

Nothing I can do…

I’m just a bad writer.

My grade will never change, so why put in effort?

After

I just need to do x, y, z!

This is difficult, but I think I’m getting better.

I just need to work harder so my grade will increase…

Attribution: to establish reason(s) to explain why

something happened (assign a cause).

Specifically applies to lay people (non-psychologists)

Weiner: Three main axes underlie attributions Locus (internal—external) Stability (variant—invariant) Control (influence—no influence)

Attribution Theory

Review the “Social Identity” slide (no. 6)

Can you identify the axis for each statement?

Identify: Axes of Attribution

Identity Learning

How does social identity affect how we learn?How do we change from the “Before” to the “After”?

Teachers

Reasons why assignment not successful Show steps necessary to learn How to achieve those steps

Can you identify the three axes?

Students (peers) How do students affect a student’s identity? Modeling, direct instruction, verbal reassurance

What changes identity?

Learning is individually constructed (Piaget)

We create schema of the world Conflict is the catalyst to create or shape schema Schema are assimilated or accommodated Stages: Sensori-motor, Pre-op., Concrete-op., Formal-

op.

Social-cultural constructivism (Vygotsky) Construction occurs during interaction with others Interaction Internalization (how experts perform task) Zone of Proximal Development: the level at which a

student can succeed only with assistance Independence ZPD Potential

Learn through others?

How does this constructed learning work?

Scaffolding (Bruner) Narrowing the possible choices to accomplish a

task so the student can concentrate on the skill itself, rather than deciding what to do…

Highly Structured No Structure (as student progresses)

Create an “external” consciousness that student gradually absorbs to spontaneously use later (internal)

Source for Slide: Mercer, Neil and Staar Kleinemann, Judith, Lecture notes, Feb. 7, 2007

Construction: Nuts and Bolts

Learn Identity

How does socially constructed learning transform a student from “Before” to “After”?

Definition: beliefs a person holds about capabilities,

but may not accurately reflect actual capabilities… “Do I belong here?” “Can I do this? Will I be successful at it?”

Source: Webb, Jane, Lecture notes, Jan. 22, 2007

Without a strong self-efficacy, difficult to accurately assess one’s own abilities and accomplishments, particularly what one lacks or needs to develop.

Desire to continue, and change, in face of difficulty. Source: Dweck

Self-Efficacy

Mindset (Dweck)

Fixed

Nothing I can do…

I’m just a bad writer.

My grade will never change, so why put in effort?

Growth

I just need to do x, y, z!

This is difficult, but I think I’m getting better.

I just need to work harder so my grade will increase…

Facilitating Connections

Listing office hours is not enough.

Build connection into course (see handout): So that I can get to know who you are and associate

a personality with your name, you can receive five points extra-credit toward your first exam score by calling me during my office hours tomorrow, Thursday, February 3, 2011, from 12:40-2:00. When you call me during my office hours, I'll be subjecting you to a quirky and weird set of survey questions. I'm using these survey questions to "mine for quirkiness." If I find something quirky about you, it will help me to remember who you are. The questions are non-offensive but if you'd prefer, you may always say "pass.“

Faculty/Student Connections

Listing office hours is not enough

Survey Questions

1. Where did you go to high school? City/State/Country?

2. What was your favorite class in high school or what has been your favorite class thus far in college?

3. Pets? Children? Both? Neither?

4. Are you a first, last or middle child?

5. When you aren’t in school or completing school work, what do you like to be doing?

Faculty/Student Connections

What is the goal?

Forming groups to use throughout the semester.

Fruits:

Candy Bars:

Vegetables:

Animals:

Student/Student Connections

What is the goal?

Ice-breakers—First day(s) of class:

What signals do we send?

Post cards for math anxiety. What grade can you expect for this class?

Your favorites?

Student/Student Connections

What is the goal?

Not just once.

Evaluating personal ads for Philosophy of Women in Western Cultures

Group problem solving for Symbolic Logic

Student/Student Connections

What is the goal?

Not just once.

Archaeological Expedition: Mythology

Stations around the room

Your favorites?

Student/Student Connections

Questions? Comments? —What surprised you? Interested you?

Please contact us if you need more info., ideas, etc.

Johnnie Terry— jterry@sierra.edu Anne Argyriou – argyriouanne@deanza.edu

Thank you for attending

Conclusion

Barkley, Elizabeth F. Student Engagement Techniques: A

Handbook for College Faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010.

Barkley, Elizabeth F. Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004.

Fink, L. Dee. Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003.

Gabriel, Kathleen. Teaching Unprepared Students: Strategies for Promoting Success and Retention in Higher Education. Sterling: Stylus Publishing, 2008.

Kuh, George. Student Success in College: Creating Conditions that Matter. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010.

Johnnie’s References

Dweck, Carol S. (2006) Mindset: The new psychology of

success. New York: Ballantine Books.

Fincham, Frank and Hewstone, Miles. (2003) Attribution Theory and Research: from basic to applied, in M. Hewstone, and W. Stroebe, (Eds) Introduction to Social Psychology (3rd edition) (Chapter 7). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.

Vygotsky, Lev. S. and Kozulin, A. (ed.) (1986) Thought and Language. Boston: MIT Press.

Weiner, B. (1986) An attributional theory of motivation and emotion. New York: Springer Verlag.

Woolfolk, Anita. (2001) Educational psychology (8th edition). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Lecture Notes from Courses in MPhil Psychology and Education, University of Cambridge.

Anne’s References