DISCLAIMER: The following post was originally completed as part of my coursework for EDUC 520-Student Learning and Motivation, one of my grad classes. If you are not interested in education, this is going to be wicked boring. Please feel free to check out some of my other posts!
Research
All teachers want students who really get it. Nothing makes a teacher happier than hearing from former students that they are still using what they learned in class years, even decades, after the fact! However, these events are somewhat rare, which is not surprising considering that only a handful of students are truly learning the material to begin with. Even among a group of students who mostly received good grades on a test, few of them will be able to recall that information even a couple weeks later. Oftentimes, this is not a matter of student intelligence or even teacher methodology, but of a student’s metacognitive ability (Clarke & Protheroe, 2008, 34).
A student with good metacognitive skills is often referred to as a self-regulated learner (Biehler, McCown, & Snowman, 2009, 285). Although there are many skills involved in being a self-regulated learner, such as understanding a learning task, monitoring their own progress, and knowing when and where to seek assistance, one of the main factors is their ability to employ learning strategies (Biehler, McCown, & Snowman, 2009, 285). Although responsibility to use these strategies rests solely with the students, teachers would do well to teach these strategies to the students. How often do teachers instruct their students to organize their thoughts to write an essay or study for a test, but spend no time at all teaching their students how to organize their thoughts or study? Teachers who want their students to be self-regulated learners must take the time to teach their students how to use these learning strategies.
Teachers, especially middle and high school teachers, have little choice but to teach these learning strategies in the context of their content area, but they must keep several things in mind as they do so. First, they must not attempt to teach a learning strategy and a new content area concept at the same time (Clarke & Protheroe, 2008, 35). Doing this only creates cognitive overload, which leads to confusion and probable loss of all the information presented. Teachers should instead endeavor to teach a learning strategy using content the students are already somewhat familiar with. Second, teachers must be sure the strategies being taught are age-appropriate (Clarke & Protheroe, 2008, 35). It does very little good to teach a kindergartener how to take comprehensive notes, but they can learn to report a simple summary of a passage. On the other hand, a simple summary would not be appropriate for a high schooler, but giving an example of an abstract concept or drawing an analogy would. Thirdly, teachers must be intentional about teaching learning strategies (Clarke & Protheroe, 2008, 35). They should not be briefly mentioned or explained in an esoteric way. Vocabulary should be taught, concepts broken down, strategies modeled, practice monitored, and opportunities given. This gives students the germane cognitive experience needed to use these strategies on their own later on and throughout their lives.
The first type of learning strategy is based on memory, and can be broken into two categories: rehearsal and mnemonic devices. Rehearsal simply repeats information, although advanced rehearsal techniques group information into categories, which aids in the retrieval process (Biehler, McCown, & Snowman, 2009, 287). Spaced practice aids in rehearsal greatly. Instead of studying something for hours on end, students should be taught to study a small amount every night. This causes them to forget a little bit and have to relearn it, which strengthens the synapses (Gonzalez, 2016), much the same way that working out strengthens muscles. Students may also employ the strategy of interleaving, in which they intentionally shuffle the concepts they are working on in their study time rather than working on concepts in blocks. This forces the mind to work out each problem or recall each fact individually, rather than becoming temporarily efficient but forgetful in the long run (Gonzalez, 2016). Mnemonic devices such as acronyms are especially effective memory-based learning strategies because they add a layer to the way the information is stored, thereby making it even easier to retrieve (Biehler, McCown, & Snowman, 2009, 288). A last way to enhance memory-based learning strategies even further is retrieval practice, in which students force themselves to recall information without the use of notes or devices. This forces the mind to store that information where it can be retrieved more easily in the future, rather than allowing the mind to rely on external aid to find it (Gonzalez, 2016).
There are other learning strategies that help with broad concepts and ideas known as comprehension-directed tactics (Biehler, McCown, & Snowman, 2009, 287). One of the most basic is self-questioning or peer-questioning, which causes students to use what they know to create questions that challenge what they know and possibly discover what they do not know (Biehler, McCown, & Snowman, 2009, 290). An extension of self-questioning is elaboration, in which students spend time explaining what they know in as much detail as possible, which causes the mind to make connections between the new raw information learned and encode that information in a much more comprehensive way (Gonzalez, 2016). Note-taking may seem like an obvious strategy, but needs to be intentionally taught because very few students actually possess the ability to take notes properly. Done correctly, note-taking not only provides a tool to aid in later study sessions, but also causes the student to be an involved listener in class and discern between miscellany and important facts (Biehler, McCown, & Snowman, 2009, 291). Concept mapping, the creation of visual representations of the relationships between bits of information (Biehler, McCown, & Snowman, 2009, 292) utilizes dual coding, in which information is stored two different ways: verbally and visually (Gonzalez, 2016). This creates additional connections and aids in the retrieval process. Students should also be taught to make their own concrete examples of abstract ideas. Most teachers already do this as a part of the teaching process, but they rarely ask the students to come up with their own analogies (Gonzalez, 2016).
In conclusion, teachers who want their students to do well on the final exam as well as the weekly quiz should be teaching learning strategies as well as content area concepts. This will not only benefit the student’s GPA, but will also aid the student in becoming a life-long learner!
Personal Application
As I read through my sources for this week’s research, I was both encouraged and challenged. I am already employing many of these methods, but need to increase my intentionality of teaching these learning strategies to my students.
One example of how I already employ these strategies is in my quarterly short persuasive essay. I have students put their laptops away and use only pencil and paper for these assignments, so it makes use of the retrieval practice strategy. Students must recall not only the minutia of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization without the aid of a computerized word processor, but they must also recall how to form a thesis, structure a paragraph, and compose an essay. This also causes students to use the elaborative process. I ask for them to form a point of view about a controversial issue and defend it using logic. Whereas most students prefer to answer such questions with as few words as possible, this assignment forces them to write several paragraphs about the issue and think about it from multiple angles. It also provides the opportunity for them to practice forming concrete examples of abstract ideas. Many students have a hard time explaining their point of view using logic, but they excel at giving examples to defend their beliefs.
One area in which I could grow is the use of rehearsal and mnemonic devices. Due to gaps in previous instruction, many of my students struggle to even recall the parts of speech, much less a list of auxiliary verbs or prepositions. Although I teach them how to recognize and correct grammatical errors, it would help them greatly if I were to require them to master basic grammatical vocabulary and a few such lists so they can have that information to draw on both while they are under my instruction and throughout their futures.
I also need to be more intentional in the teaching of these strategies. Students may be mastering some learning strategies without knowing it, but unless I share with them which strategies they are using and how they can be used more effectively, they may not be able to recall and use them later on in life.
Every teacher is doing more right than they realize. We can be very hard on ourselves when an entire class does poorly on an assignment or test, so it is encouraging to read about certain tried and true strategies and recognize them as something we are already doing in our classrooms. However, lest we become complacent, let us also take note of the things we are not doing and work those into our teacher toolbox so we can always be improving upon the impact we make in our students’ lives!
References
Biehler, R., McCown, R., & Snowman, J. (2009). Psychology applied to teaching. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Clarke, S., & Protheroe, N. (2008). Learning strategies as a key to student success. Principal, Nov/Dec 2008, 33-37.
Gonzalez, J. (2016, December 11). 6 powerful learning strategies you must share with students. Cult of Pedagogy. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/learning-strategies/
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