I teach first semester students who need some support in reading/learning skills. But let’s face it, many of our first semester students could use this help, no matter their SAT scores. In class, we work a lot on active reading strategies to help students get the most important information out of a reading assignment – things like Cornell Notes, outlining, and concept mapping.
Since this is a reading course, I don’t usually stray into presentation skills or note taking during lectures, but as I got frustrated for the umpteenth time last week, watching them zone out during a short lecture that sets up the class activity, I decided to change my approach.
“Please take out a piece of paper and set it up as a Cornell Notes sheet. Put your names at the top. I want to collect these to see how you do. Your goal during this session is to write down everything I put on the board and also the important ideas you hear me say during the upcoming lecture. Look especially for examples and further details. Let’s get started.” I decided on a concept map frame for the main ideas to be covered and used this on the board to build out the lecture. And voila – everyone was working along side me – gathering the ideas.. No glazed over eyes, no chattering, no cell phones.
Now of course, this is only the starting point (for those active learning advocates having a heart attack right now).. and yes, we move into active learning and application soon thereafter… BUT… what I realized is that I was getting angry at students for not taking notes during a lecture, when I was assuming that they already knew how to do it and were simply choosing not to. Wrong.
One of the things I’ve come to realize while teaching this course is that students need to experience the expectations of college-level work… That means creating opportunities for students to DO the work of college – so what do you want them to be doing during a lecture… during a discussion ( preparing ahead of time by doing the reading, asking questions and responding meaningfully), while reading, during an exam? We can’t assume they know this.
To me this realization was an epiphany. I challenged my assumptions about their willingness/readiness to take notes during a lecture, and I set up an experience in which they were shown how to do it, and then had to do it – with accountability added in (yes, you’ll need to collect it and minimally take a look at it) Lastly we reflected on the difference between their passive experience (wasted time!) and one in which their brains were starting to be primed – schema constructed – that would allow them to even begin to tackle higher-order tasks.
What should “sitting through a lecture” look and feel like? What should it NOT look and feel like? What are the results of each? Let them experience it!
I don’t think we can take very much for granted anymore in terms of students’ preparedness and academic skills. They are not us at that age. Many students are prepared, but many are not – so instead of getting angry, or blaming students, it doesn’t take a lot of planning to embed an experience in a lecture from which students acquire an experiential sense of the expectations of your course and college. So if your students aren’t engaged during the lecture, consider an assignment that shows them your expectations, models it during an actual lecture, and requires them to complete it for points. Reflection is the last and very important phase… Asking questions like, “How has your active engagement during the lecture prepared you for success in the activities and assessments to come?”
Next semester I plan to lead with this strategy and reinforce it throughout the course. Rome will be built!
