EDUC 6470 Week 9

Readings and ideas for EDUC 6470.

Readings

Gauging Students' Learning in the Classroom by Judith E. Heady<bibref>Heady

2002Gauging-StudentAA</bibref>

Heady uses the Student Assessment of Learning Gains, http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/salgains/instructor , to test numerically student responses to innovations in her biology classroom. Heady invited a sociology professor to her biology class to tell the students how valuable he found working in groups was. This might explain their more positive responses to SALG questions about their group work. Was this socialization just tautological, or did it have an impact outside of this self-congratulatory circle? Heady only posits that it "might indicate that functioning groups helped the students to gain greater understanding..."(p. 60) I'm setting up a SALG-based course survey for my electronics course, which I may study for my EDUC 6470 Final Project.

Concept Mapping in College Science by Joel J. Mintzes<bibref>Mintzes.etal

2006</bibref>

I will add concept maps to the list of innovations to consider for this class. See Pedagogical components.

Learning Science and the Science of Learning by Joseph Novak<bibref>Mintzes.etal

2006</bibref>

Novak's piece starts out like a philosophy of the study of teaching science, then re-focuses on what work he's been involved in in making teaching science meaningful. I've used the CMap Tools that he cites in the article, so I created a quick example of a concept map about electronic components: media:ElectronicsComponentsCmap.pdf

Motivation to Learn in College Science by Shawn M. Glynn and Thomas R. Koballa<bibref>Mintzes.etal

2006</bibref>

My interest is (intrinically) piqued by the citation of Garcia and Pintrich, who studied students who were allowed to select their own readings. Is this the beginning of studies in student-directed curriculum? I would use the motivational questionnaire in my classes. I often find myself assuming to much about such issues with students.

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