Ah...truly a disorienting dilemma! :-) Anita ________________________________ From: Teaching Breakfast List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jagels, Rick Sent: Monday, January 16, 2012 1:36 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Interesting article on teaching and learning Anita, I looked at that site. I don’t like it; it forces me to question my assumptions and understand the context in which I have formed them. It forces me to actually consider other points of view and gather MORE information that may not comport with the conclusion I want. In a word, it makes me….uncomfortable! (wink wink). Just imagine how dangerous that could be if we did it to students- of WHATEVER persuasion (minority, majority, conservative, liberal, wealthy, poor…etc, etc.). For professors it would also be disastrous- imagine the kinds of disagreeable conclusions students might arrive at- totally contrary to the position I might have wanted them to arrive at! It’s just makes everything so complex. Thanks Rick From: Teaching Breakfast List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Levine, Anita Sent: Monday, January 16, 2012 1:11 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Interesting article on teaching and learning Hi Rick, The suggestions that Tinto gave remind me of both John Dewey's philosophy of learning and the role of the educator when working with students (I'm thinking in particular his book Experience & Education), and Jack Mezirow's work in transformative learning theory, which he started (he worked in the field of adult education; he's still alive and has to be about 90 or so and lives, I think, in NYC). Mezirow is considered the 'father' of transformative learning. For some information on his learning theory, here's a great site: http://transformativelearningtheory.com/corePrinciples.html Anita ________________________________ From: Teaching Breakfast List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jagels, Rick Sent: Monday, January 16, 2012 12:11 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Interesting article on teaching and learning TB- Great article. The description of the desired theory of change reminded me of an talk by Vincent Tinto. The Chronicle article described the change required, and Tinto seems to answer. CHRONICLE: A genuine theory of change, as such a systematic evaluation of effectiveness is sometimes called, would be grounded in knowledge about how students learn, and in the best way to put that knowledge to work. The theory should also be educationally robust; that is, it should not just help colleges expose students to certain subject matter, but also challenge institutions to help students develop the long-lasting survival skills needed in a time of radical and often unpredictable change. And it must also have its feet on the ground, with a sure footing in financial realities. TINTO: Most students, especially during their first year, experience learning as isolated learners whose learning is disconnected from that of others. Just as important, students typically take courses as detached, individual units, one course separated from another in both content and peer group, one set of understandings unrelated in any intentional fashion to the content learned in other courses. Courses have little academic or social coherence; …. It is little wonder that students seem so uninvolved in learning. Their learning experiences are not very involving, do little to evoke serious communal conversations about what they are learning. He calls for … the acquiring of the habit of finding many and diverse meanings and ways of making meaning of any events or phenomena we examine. This should not be confused with the acquisition of different paradigms, schema, disciplines and so on. Rather it is the habit of the mind of looking for new meanings and questioning old ones and being open to the possibility of yet undiscovered meanings. It is the habit of the mind that asks what role one plays in the construction of meanings and how those meanings may change. Where am I going with this? What I want to argue is that such education requires that we construct settings that actively involve students in ways that brings to the fore their current understandings and call upon them to constantly negotiate those understandings with others, Though delivered a number of years ago, Tinto echoes many of the practices the Chronicle article found effective- and, ironically, proposes something that the last few Teaching breakfasts have touched upon- an element of intentional interdisciplinariness (if we can have systemness, we can have …) Taking Student Learning Seriously: Rethinking the University of the Future** Vincent Tinto Syracuse University LINK: http://faculty.soe.syr.edu/vtinto/Files/Pullias%202003%20Lecture.pdf Rick From: Teaching Breakfast List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Greenberg, Jim Sent: Monday, January 16, 2012 8:46 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: FW: Interesting article on teaching and learning Tbers, This was recently forwarded to me by Dr. K. Let’s discuss at our first meeting of the new year. Perhaps the TB group can help foster discussions campus wide? Jim G. http://chronicle.com/article/Lets-Improve-Learning-OK/130179/ Dear folks, I thought you might be interested in this article. Among other things, it cites findings from the National Study of Student Engagement about the 10 “high impact practices” that increase student engagement, and it draws the following conclusions from the Wabash National Study, which has tracked more than 1700 students’ learning and development in different institutional settings. “The study found, however, four clusters of practices that make a drastic difference to students' growth in both academic and nonacademic areas: good teaching and high-quality interactions with faculty; academic challenge and high expectations; diversity experiences; and higher-order, integrative, reflective learning. “If one looks more closely at the components of these clusters, one finds not the usual bromides about accessible teachers and a supportive educational environment, but specific forms of interaction that evidence shows are truly effective. These practices, moreover, are not the exclusive domain of prestigious and affluent institutions, nor are they especially expensive to adopt. Much depends on the expectations institutions set for their students and for themselves, and on their determination to allocate time and other resources where they make a demonstrable difference, and pare them back when they don't.” I would welcome your thoughts about how to foster this discussion on campus. Best regards, Nancy Nancy Kleniewski President, SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, NY 13820 607-436-2500 [log in to unmask]<UrlBlockedError.aspx> ------ End of Forwarded Message