Neil & Others,

    This experience, which has to be occurring all over, is a big reminder of how important it is for college teachers - especially teachers of first-year courses, to not only teach "the subject matter" but to "teach" students about and how to learn effectively.

      Neil's response of bringing in some seniors to talk about reading and taking notes is a great idea, and will likely get good attention after students have received some feedback that what worked in high school isn't going to work in college.

       This is one of those areas that we will all have to learn a lot more about in the next decade or so.

Dee Fink

On Thursday, September 10, 2015, Neil Haave <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

First the context: this is a first year course for majors and non-majors in biological function. Most of the students are either majoring in biology or intending to enter a professional program in the health sciences.

My question: How have people on this list handled the huge disappointment that happens with the first RAT of the first term in freshman courses?

This is typically students' very first university quiz as I start right after the first week of setting up the course structure with the first TBL module. This past weekend I gave students their reading assignment complete with reading guide (key objectives and keywords matched to the pages and figure numbers in the text book). Then they wrote their first RAT yesterday. I received fairly typical results I think except that the iRAT score were lower then I had hoped.

It breaks my heart when I hear stories from students during the tRAT and after class that they studied 10-15 hrs and made 10-15 pages of notes over the long weekend only to receive an iRAT mark of 2/10. They had such energy at the start of the term last week. Now I think I have killed it.

How do the rest of you manage this sort of disappointment and help students regain their spirit for learning (and mine for teaching!)? I suspect the issue is that many of these excellent students (and I have no doubt they achieved excellence in high school) simply were able to excel in high school without developing good study, reading, and note-taking skills. I have a couple of excellent senior students who will be coming into class tomorrow to explain how they read and take notes. I hope that helps.

I would love to hear the collective wisdom of the TBLC.

Thanks very much.

Neil

Neil Haave, PhD

Associate Professor, Biology

Managing Editor, CELT

Vice-President, AIBA

Faculty Affiliate, CTL

McCalla Professor

University of Alberta, Augustana Faculty

Rm C155, Science Wing, Classroom Building, Augustana Campus

4901 - 46 Avenue, Camrose, AB, CANADA   T4V 2R3

email | Augustana dossier | Google+ | blog | Twitter | LinkedIn

"We do not learn from experience . . . we learn from reflecting on experience" - John Dewey

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***********************
L. Dee Fink         
234 Foreman Ave.
Norman, OK  73069
Phone/FAX:  405-364-6464
Email:  [log in to unmask]
Websites:      
        www.designlearning.org   [multiple resources on course design]
        www.deefinkandassociates.com   [offer workshops & online courses]
        www.finkconsulting.info  [Fink's consulting activities & publications]

**Former President of the POD Network in Higher Education (2004-2005)
**Author of: Creating Significant Learning Experiences (2003, Jossey-Bass)
**Senior Associate, Dee Fink & Associates Consulting Services

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