diagnosing study problems strengthening student success richard baiardo, ms evergreen valley college
TRANSCRIPT
Diagnosing Study Problems Strengthening Student Success
Richard Baiardo, MS
Evergreen Valley College
First Interview
Surface Learning Problem
Explain How Learning & Memory Work
Introduce Remediation Steps
First Question
“Was all the exam information contained in your notes?”
– Purpose: determine if complete notes?
(Student is required to bring lecture notes to the appointment.)
Second Question
If No – – “Do you have difficulty deciding when
something important has been said?”
– Listening or note-taking problem
Third Question
If Yes– “Describe everything that happens with
notes from time you walk out of class?”
– Study technique problem
Subjects Requiring Different Approaches and Techniques
Some academic disciplines present special study technique problems such as:– Mathematics – Accounting– Chemistry
Chemistry
Subject with symbols, formulas, definitions, and lawsIdeas presented in: – mathematical terms in a sequential and hierarchical way
First task: memorizing symbols– Symbols for elements* formulas (compounds) chemical
reactions (equations) stoichiometry
*Fe (iron), Cl (chlorine) = FeCl3 (i.e., FeCl3 + 3NaOH Fe(OH)3 + 3NaCl)
Foundation topics must be learned early.
Pavlov of Memory
Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850 - 1909)
Owe fundamental understanding of human memory to one man.
1885 published On Memory – Described memory experiments on
himself.
First scientific study of memory.
Research Method
Constructed lists – 20 “nonsense syllables.” CVC
DAR
FOT
BEL
MUK
LIM
KIR
VUZ
HUQ
PIW
RUJ
MAF
LEV
ZAD
Research Method
Practiced list by repetition until correct two times in row.
Counted number of times took to master list.
Varied lengths of time before trying to remember.
Forgot, practiced until remembered list perfectly again.
Ebbinghaus’ Data
Delay Savings immediate 100% 20 minutes 60% 1 hr 45% 9 hr 35% 1 day 30% 2 days 25% 6 days 22% 30days 20%
Forgetting
Most rapidly soon after end of practice.
Rate slowed as time went on.
Retention pattern = first forgetting curve.
Time Spent Reviewing
More times practiced list on day 1, fewer repetitions required to relearn on day 2.
Amount remembered depended on:
– Time spent on repetition.
– When started rehearsal.
Principle I
Memory decays as a function of time.
Rate of forgetting:
– Fastest after initial learning
– Slower for more meaningful material
Principle III
Effect of “overlearning”:
Information practiced beyond mastery more resistant to disruption or loss.
Strategies With Limited Value
Listening in class.Taking notes.– Only taking notes using the lecture outline.
“Rote” rehearsal (memorizing facts and conclusions).– Examples: rereading and repeating.
Shallow processing.
Shallow Processing
Recopying or retyping your notes.
Waiting until after lecture to read textbook assignment.
Waiting until last minute to review.
Human Brain
About 3 pounds
78% water, 10% fat, 8% protein
Less than 2.5% of body’s weight
Uses 20% of body’s energy at rest
Brain Numbers
100 billion neurons
Each neuron has 10,000 connections
1,000 trillion synaptic connection points
280 quintillion memories
How does Brain Lay Down and Retrieve Memories?
Grow and develop, neurons are 'wired up' to each other.Communicate through thousands of connections - synapses. Memories formed when
certain connections are
“strengthened.”
Synaptic Density
Natural pruning process– Pruning of unused
connections– Most of pruning
occurs between 10-16 years
– Synaptic density reduced
Connections
To maintain connections, cells must stay active
“Strengthening” means:– Neuron grows more dendrites– Adds more receptors on
dendrites/cell body
Disintegrate/disappear if cell doesn’t use
Brain Modified by Environment
Dendrites can grow at any age
Synaptic connections occur at any age; easier earlier in life
Brain is adaptable
Plasticity
‘Use it or Lose it’
Memory is “Associative”
Memory of new information is increased if:
Associated with previously acquired knowledge
Meaningful association = effectively remembered.
Four Closely Studied Memory Factors
Intention - how much effort you expend.Repetition - how often material is repeated.Emotion - whether material brings emotional response.Depth of processing - whether related to known material.
Shallow vs. Deep Processing
Simple rehearsal– Definition: Repeating information
Elaborative rehearsal– Definition: Actively reviewing and connecting to
knowledge already stored.
How to Take Notes
Cornell note-taking system.– Important features:
• Red line– Position on the page
indicates importance.– Only a major point touches– Everything else is indented – Further from red line, less
important.
• Cue column– Key words & phrases– Permits review by recall
Cues Students Use to Decide They Know Something
Cognitive science: two cues important in guiding judgments of what we know:
– (1) our “familiarity” with a given body of Information.
– (2) our “partial access” to that information.
Getting a Complete Set of Notes
Start a Study Group Advantages:– Get a complete set of lecture notes.
• Immediately after class, meet with your group to fill in any gaps in your lecture notes.
• Won’t matter how hard you study if you missed an important point in the lecture.
– Opportunity for review and exam preparation.• You can ask questions.• Explain to others what you know.• Gain emotional support.
Multiple Reviews Are Essential
1st review: within minutes
2nd review: within 24 hours
3rd review: within the week
4th review: within the month (before the test)5th review: within the semester (before final exam)
Deeper Level Processing
Review by recall not by recognition
Establishing more connections with LTMs – Making associations.– Attaching meaning.– Forming relationships.– Creating hierarchies.
Deep Processing Techniques
Techniques:– Writing outlines.– Self-examination during learning.– Review questions.– Previews.
Encourage integration of material and thereby process (i.e., think about) meaning.
Review Recent Set of Notes
Student brings recent set of lecture notes – (taken within 24 hours)
What worked; what did not? Review notes togetherAdditional Suggestions
Role of Sleep
Brain uses to process the day’s experiences– Compensates for inadequate sleep with:
• Shorter attention span• Lowered creativity • Reduced memory capacity• Rigid viewpoints• Irritability• Increased appetite
In both animals and humans: – Increase in rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep during night
following learning experience.
Sleep Deprivation
Sleep deprivation adversely effects learning.
Low-frequency sleep - mainly at start of night– Plays a role in memory consolidation
REM sleep - mainly at the end of a night’s sleep– Plays role in problem solving
Interference and Sleep
Without interferingevents, recall isbetterAfter sleep
After remaining awake
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Hours elapsed after learning syllables
90%
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Percentageof syllables
recalled
“A” Students
What is the single behavior that distinguishes an “A” student from a “B” or “C” student?
“A” students start early!
References
Bloom, Benjamin S. Developing Talent in Young People, 1985, Ballantine BooksEricsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Romer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100, 363-406. Pauk, Walter. How to Study in College. 2005, Houghton MifflinRoss, Philip E. “The Expert Mind” Scientific American, August 2006Willingham, Daniel T., “Inflexible Knowledge: The First Step to Expertise,”American Educator, Winter 2002 Willingham, Daniel T., “How Knowledge Helps: It Speeds and Strengthens Reading Comprehension, Learning—and Thinking,” Am. Educator,Spring 2006Willingham, Daniel T., “Why Students Think They Understand—When They Don’t,” American Educator, Winter 2003-2004 Willingham, Daniel T., “Practice Makes Perfect, But Only If you Practice Beyond the Point of Perfection,” American Educator, Spring 2004 Willingham, Daniel T., “Students Remember...What They Think About,” American Educator, Summer 2003
“Rote” Knowledge
Memorizing form in absence of meaning.– Knowledge devoid of meaning.
– Memorizing something you do not understand.
“Shallow” Knowledge
Meaning - understand each isolated part.– Unlike rote knowledge
Lacks deeper meaning that comes from understanding relationship among parts.
“Inflexible” Knowledge
It may appear as rote, but it’s not.
Knowledge - meaningful but narrow.
Doesn’t translate to other relevant situations.– Example: classical conditioning.
Knowing particulars of an example– Meant to illustrate a principle not the principle.
New Knowledge
Tends to be shallow and inflexible when it is first learned.
– Normal
– Usefulness is limited.
“Flexible” Knowledge
As continue to work with knowledge, you gain expertise.
Knowledge no longer organized around examples
Organized around principles.
Where Knowledge Seems Flexible
Suppose know how to find the area of a rectangle.That knowledge is probably generalizable:– Can apply it to any rectangle.
– Formula not tied to specific examples in which learned.
– Can use formula in novel situations: determining total square footage of a: hallway kitchendining room
Types of Multiple Choice
A blood pressure reading of 200/96 mmHg is considered:
A. HypotensionB. HypertensionC. Cardiac hypertrophyD. Renal hypertension
Types of Multiple Choice
A newly admitted client has a blood pressure of 200/96mmHg. The client has a family history of diabetes mellitus. Which nursing action is most appropriate at this time?
A. Call the doctorB. Retake the blood pressureC. Assess for other signs and symptomsD. Ask the client if he/she is taking antihypertensives.
What’s the Difference?
First question - recalling factual information
Second question - clinical decision using critical thinking skills.
– Clinical scenario-type questions are commonly used in nursing exams.
Testing for Factual Knowledge and Critical Thinking
You are the nurse on a med-surg. unit who has just received report. Which patient should you assess first?a. A 35 yo admitted 3 hours ago with a gunshot wound; 1.5cm area of dark drainage noted on the dressingb. A 43 yo s/p mastectomy 2 days ago with 23cc of serosanguinous fluid noted in the drain.c. 59 yo with a collapsed lung due to an accident; no drainage in the chest tube over the previous shift.d. A 62 yo s/p abd-peritoneal resection 3 days ago; pt now with complaints of chills.
Background Knowledge Needed
Medical terminology:– yo– S/p– Pt– Abd
Vocabulary:– serosanguinous– Peritoneal
Nature of the four surgeries
What is normal and expected?
What do you not expect to see?
“d.” - huge surgery - big, deep-bowl cancer.
Chills =– Internal bleeding– infection
Spacing Effect
Cognitive research evidence: – Distributing study time over several sessions:
• better long-term retention than a single study session.
Short periods of practice daily are better than cramming.
“mass vs. distributed practice”
Sustained Practice
= Regular, ongoing review or use.
Practice beyond one perfect recitation.
Practice past point of mastery is necessary to develop expertise.
Useful for developing automaticity.
"Practice makes perfect"
Obvious that practice is important.
Unexpected finding:
practice does not make perfect.
Practice until perfect – perfect only briefly.
STM or LTM requires ongoing practice.
Developing Expertise
Practice involves more than repetition.
Experts engage in “deliberate practice:”
– Setting specific goals
– Obtaining immediate feedback of results
– Concentrating on technique more than outcome
– Exerting effort to improve performance
Expert’s Attitude
Approaches everything with need to learn more.Never loses intensity of a beginner. Never feels finished or satisfied.
Engages in ongoing effortful study:– Continually tackling challenges that lie just beyond
one's competence.
Overlearning
Overlearning – Studying material one already knows.
For a new skill to become automatic or for new knowledge to become long lasting, sustained practice, beyond the point of mastery, is necessary.
Developing “Automaticity”
Permits higher levels of competence.
Become more skillful in mental tasks.– Effective writer knows:
• Rules of grammar and usage • To begin a paragraph with a topic sentence• Include relevant detail automatically
Developing “Automaticity”
When cognitive processes automatic, demand very little space in working memory.
– In any field certain procedures used again and again.
– Procedures must be learned to point of automaticity so they no longer consume working memory space.
Major Point
Will only remember what extensively practiced.
Only remember long term what practiced in a sustained way over many years.
Take In New Information
Comprehension of new information depends on what you already know that can be connected.
More basic knowledge = easier to build new knowledge– Easier to fix in memory when have knowledge about topic.
Deeper processing, comprehension, and listening all depend on background knowledge.
Think About New Information
Language is full of semantic breaks where knowledge is assumed.
Making correct inferences demands background knowledge.
Information Stated vs. Implied
“John’s face fell as he looked down at his protruding belly. The invitation specified “black tie”and he had not worn his tux since his own wedding 20 years earlier.”
What is John concerned about?
Thinking About New Information
Read through one time, then look away and recall letters:
CN
NFB
ICB
SCI
ANC
AA
General Education Prerequisites
Purpose is to create a larger body of general knowledge.
Some researchers maintain prior knowledge actually makes up or replaces aptitude.
Motivation
“Motivation is a more important factor than innate ability.”
“The preponderance of psychological evidence indicates that experts are made, not born.”
- Philip E. Ross
How Do We Know That We Know Something?
Psychologists distinguish between:
– Familiarity - knowledge of having seen or otherwise experienced some stimulus before, but having little information associated with it.
– Recollection - characterized by richer associations.
Feeling of Knowing
If believe know material, likely to divert attention elsewhere.– You will stop:
• Listening• Reading• Working• Participating
Mentally “checking out” is never a good choice.
Feeling of Knowing
Some common causes:– Rereading.– Shallow processing.– Recalling related information.
Feeling of knowing becomes a problem if have feeling without knowing.
Rereading
Prepare for exam by rereading class notes & textbook.
Encounter familiar terms – know you’ve heard these terms before– become even more familiar to you as you reread
“Yes, I’ve seen this, I know this, I understand this.”
Feeling you understand material as it is presented not same as being able to recount it yourself.
Feeling of Knowing
Some students quit once some facts have been memorized, believing already done quite a bit of studying.
Cues Students Use to Decide They Know Something
Cognitive science: two cues important in guiding judgments of what we know:
– (1) our “familiarity” with a given body of Information.
– (2) our “partial access” to that information.
Guarding Against “Familiarity”
Insidious effect of familiarity: – Feeling know something when really don’t.
– Fools mind: think know more than do.
Guarding Against “Partial Access”
Knowing a lot of related information
– Makes feel as though know the target information.
Mind fooled when know part of material or related material.
The Test!
Standard of “knowing:”
– “ability to explain to others,” not “understanding when explained by others.”
Process information as if preparing to teach it to another.
“To teach is to learn twice.”
Source: “Thinking You Understand When You Don’t” by Daniel T. Willingham
Bloom’s Study of High Achievers
Five-year study
120 nation’s top artists, athletes, & scholars
Research goal - understand keys to high achievement.
Case Studies
Conducted in-depth anonymous interviews with top 20 performers in six fields.
Research hypothesis:
Expected to hear tales of great natural gifts.
Findings
Heard accounts of an extraordinary drive and dedication not great natural talent.
Bloom’s study concluded drive and determination are keys.
Training a Future Expert
Bloom proposed training involved four stages:Stage 1– introduced to area under playful conditions as a
child – promise was noted
Stage II– Lessons were provided, usually with a teacher or
coach who worked well with children– regular practice habits were established.
Training a Future Expert
Stage III– internationally recognized teacher or coach
engaged– requires significant commitment of resources
from parents– dedicated and likely exclusive study by the child.
Stage IV– student absorbs all that he or she could from
teachers – began to develop his/her personal contribution to
the field.
Summary
Start earlyReview new material by recall at least 3X/wkStudy in shorter spaced periods vs. massed effortIncrease background knowledgeStrive for automaticityUse overlearningJoin a study groupTutor othersGet 8-9 hours of sleep per night
References
Bloom, Benjamin S. Developing Talent in Young People, 1985, Ballantine BooksEricsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Romer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100, 363-406. Ross, Philip E. “The Expert Mind” Scientific American, August 2006Willingham, Daniel T., “Inflexible Knowledge: The First Step to Expertise,”American Educator, Winter 2002 Willingham, Daniel T., “How Knowledge Helps: It Speeds and Strengthens Reading Comprehension, Learning—and Thinking,” American Educator,Spring 2006Willingham, Daniel T., “Why Students Think They Understand—When They Don’t,” American Educator, Winter 2003-2004 Willingham, Daniel T., “Practice Makes Perfect, But Only If you Practice Beyond the Point of Perfection,” American Educator, Spring 2004