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2017 Fall

This semester, we are reading Make It Stick, which was also read and discussed in the KCTL reading group a few semesters ago.

 

Session 2: 10/19/17

In attendance:  Rich Legum, Marge McGovern, Dorina Tila, Betsy Tompkins, Janine Graziano

The group discussed Chapters 4, 5, and some of 6.

 

 


Session 1: 10/5/17

In attendance:  Maudelyn Maxineau, Marge McGovern, Dorina Tila, Betsy Tompkins, Janine Graziano

The group discussed Chapters 1-3. We considered the definition of learning from the text, i.e., “learning is acquiring knowledge and skills and having them readily available so you can make sense of future problems and opportunities.”  Under this definition, learning:

  • requires memory
  • is lifelong
  • is an acquired skill, and effective strategies are counterintuitive

The text argues that evidence suggests that for learning to “stick,” it must be the result of effort, and studies show that we are poor judges of when we are learning because rereading and underlining text and mass practices (i.e.,, cramming) are fairly passive activities that give the illusion of mastery, but learning does really get into long term memory. Effective practices include:

  1. engaging in retrieval practice (quizzing)
  2. spacing out practice over time
  3. attempting to solve problems before being taught
  4. going wide and not being restricted to preferred learning styles
  5. extracting underlying principles or rules
  6. interleaving practice of different skills and knowledge
  7. varying practice
  8. practicing elaboration (expressing in your own words and connecting to what you know) t o create a “mental model” (Betsy connected this to work by Bandura)

One idea a that was explored by the group was the notion of a “mental modal” that formed as the result of elaboration; another was the impact of “just in time” instruction; a third the idea that multiple choice might be used to prime prior knowledge while while open-ended and fill in type questions might result “generation.”