Taking Student Learning Seriously Vincent Tinto Syracuse University

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Taking Student Learning SeriouslyVincent
TintoSyracuse University

• Mobilizing for Student Success An
  Institutional Responsibility
• Association of Canadian Community Colleges
• Vancouver, British Columbia
• January 29, 2004

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Taking Student Learning Seriously
Moving from Teaching to Learning
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Conditions for Student Learning
What do we know about the conditions that
promote student learning?
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Conditions for Student Learning

• Expectations

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Conditions for Student Learning

• Expectations
• High expectations

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Conditions for Student Learning

• Expectations
• High expectations
• Clear, consistent advising

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Conditions for Student Learning

• Expectations
• Support

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Conditions for Student Learning

• Expectations
• Support
• Academic Support (academic assistance, advising,
  tutoring, etc.)

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Conditions for Student Learning

• Expectations
• Support
• Academic Support (academic assistance, advising,
  tutoring, etc.)
• Social Support (mentoring, counseling, advising,
  etc.)

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Conditions for Student Learning

• Expectations
• Support
• Feedback

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Conditions for Student Learning

• Expectations
• Support
• Feedback
• Frequent, early, in-class

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Conditions for Student Learning

• Expectations
• Support
• Feedback
• Involvement

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Conditions for Student Learning

• Expectations
• Support
• Feedback
• Involvement
• Contact with students, faculty, and staff

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Conditions for Student Learning

• Expectations
• Support
• Feedback
• Involvement
• Contact with students, faculty, and staff
• Time on task

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Students will become more involved in learning
and spend more time learning when they are
placed in supportive settings that hold high
expectations for their learning, provide frequent
feedback about their learning, and require them
to share the experience of learning with others.
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Building Involvement / Promoting Learning Some
Possibilities

• Differing strategies to promote
  student involvement and learning

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Building Involvement / Promoting Learning

• Cooperative learning

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Building Involvement / Promoting Learning

• Cooperative learning
• Problem-based learning

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Building Involvement / Promoting Learning

• Cooperative learning
• Problem-based learning
• Learning communities

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Building Involvement / Promoting Learning

• Cooperative learning
• Problem-based learning
• Learning communities
• Service learning

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Building Involvement / Promoting Learning

• Cooperative learning
• Problem-based learning
• Learning communities
• Service learning
• Classroom assessment

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Building Involvement / Promoting Learning

• Cooperative learning
• Problem-based learning
• Learning communities
• Service learning
• Classroom assessment
• Supplemental instruction/Study groups

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Cooperative/Collaborative Learning

• Positive interdependence
• Promotive group processing
• Interpersonal and group skills
• Individual and group accountability

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Problem-Based Learning Shared Problem Solving
within the Classroom

• Learning in groups to solve problem(s)
• Curriculum/pedagogy organized to promote problem
  solving.

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Learning Communities

• Building involvement across the curriculum

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Learning Communities

• Students enroll in classes together

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Learning Communities

• Students enroll in classes together
• Theme or problem which organizes curriculum

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Learning Communities

• Students enroll in classes together
• Theme or problem which organizes curriculum
• Students asked to build academic as well as
  social connections

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Learning Communities

• Students enroll in classes together
• Theme or problem which organizes curriculum
• Students asked to build academic as well as
  social connections
• Team designed and sometimes team taught

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Learning Communities

• Students enroll in classes together
• Theme or problem which organizes curriculum
• Students asked to build academic as well as
  social connections
• Team designed and sometimes team taught
• Use of cooperative/collaborative and/or
  problem-based learning

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Learning Communities

• Different types of learning communities

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• Linked Courses

Sociology
Freshman Writing
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• Linked Courses

Chemistry
Mathematics 100
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• Freshman Interest Groups

U.S. History
Political Science
Freshman Seminar
English
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• Freshman Interest Groups

U.S. History
English
Learning to Learn
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• Cluster Learning Communities

ESL
Learning to Learn
Speech
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• Coordinated Studies Programs

The Presentation of Race in America
Communications Writing 100 U.S.
History
Faculty team
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Research Findings
Understanding the impact of shared learning
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Research Findings

• Developing supportive peer groups

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In the cluster we knew each other, we were
friends, we discussed everything from all the
classes. We knew things very, very well because
we discussed it all so much. We had discussions
about everythingit was like a raft running the
rapids of my life.

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Research Findings

• Developing supportive peer groups
• Studying together Becoming involved in
  learning

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You know, the more I talk to other people about
our class stuff, the homework, the tests, the
more Im actually learning ... and the more I
learn not only about other people, but also
about the subject because my brain is getting
more, because Im getting more involved with the
other students in the class. Im getting more
involved with the class even after class.

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Research Findings

• Developing supportive peer groups
• Studying together Becoming involved in
  learning
• Involvement, learning, and persistence

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• Activity Score CSP Comparison
• Course 3.05 2.46
• Library 2.15 1.94
• Faculty 2.25 1.99
• Students 3.12 2.85
• Writing 2.81 2.65
• Gain 2.68 2.46
• indicates significant difference between groups
  at .05 level.

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• Perceptions of... CSP Comparison
• Classes 6.03 5.16
• Other students 5.64 5.19
• Faculty 6.00 5.62
• Administrators 4.86 4.54
• Campus climate 5.31 5.17
• Yourself 5.80 5.01
• indicates significant difference between groups
  at .05 level

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Learning Outcomes
Community Comparison
76.6 55.9
Pass Rates . . .
Continuation . .
57.3 41.2
estimated from several studies
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Research Findings

• Developing supportive peer groups
• Studying together Becoming involved in
  learning
• Involvement, learning, and persistence
• Learning better together

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I think more people should be educated in this
form of education. I mean because it is good. We
learn not only how to interact with ourselves,
but with other people of different races,
different sizes, different colors, different
everything. I mean it just makes it better ...
not only do you learn more, you learn better.
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Supplemental Instruction

• Mini learning communities applied to
• individual courses

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Supplemental Instruction (SI)
Freshman English
Instructor
Supplemental Study Groups
A
B
C
D
Tutor A Tutor B
Tutor C Tutor D
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• SI Learning Communities

Chemistry
Mathematics 100
Supplemental Instruction Groups
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Closing Thought

• Though it is true that learning is an individual
  experience, it is also true that individuals
  learn better together.

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Closing Thought

• Though it is true that learning is an individual
  experience, it is also true that individuals
  learn better together.
• Shared learning should be the norm, not the
  exception of the college experience.

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ResourcesCooperative Learning

• Barbara Millis Philip Cottell, Cooperative
  Learning for Higher Education Faculty (Phoenix
  Oryx Press, 1998)

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Resources Problem-Based Learning

• University of Delaware
• Institute for Problem-Based Learning
• http//www.udel.edu/pbl/

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Resources Learning Communities

• The Learning Community Commons
• The National Learning Communities Project
• Evergreen State College
• http//learningcommons.evergreen.edu

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• DeAnza CollegeLearning Community Project
• Edwina Stoll and Sally Woods
• [phone]
• www.deanza.fhda.edu/depts/interdisp/index.html

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• The Learning Community Listserv
• Temple University
• Learncom_at_listserv.temple.edu
• Dan Tompkins and Jodi Levine

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Resources Service Learning

• Barbara Jacoby, Service-Learning In Higher
  Education Concepts And Practices (San Francisco
  Jossey-Bass, 1997)
• Service Learning Project
• American Association for Higher Education
• www.aahe.org/service/

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Resources Supplemental Instruction

• Center for Supplemental Instruction
• University of Missouri-Kansas City
• www.umkc.edu/centers/cad/si

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ResourcesClassroom Assessment

• Thomas Angelo and Patricia Cross, Classroom
  Assessment Techniques A Handbook for College
  Teachers,
• (2nd Edition, San Francisco Jossey-Bass, 1993)

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We too have to become connected learners. Call or
write if I can help.
phone [phone] email vtinto_at_syr.edu