Providing Effective Tutoring and Study Group Sessions: Strategies that Work!

Providing Effective Tutoring and
Study Group Sessions:
Strategies that Work!
Saundra Yancy McGuire, Ph.D.
Assistant Vice Chancellor
Professor, Department of Chemistry
Past Director, Center for Academic Success
Louisiana State University
Desired outcomes
• We will identify the challenges faced by
tutors who are helping their peers
• We will understand the role of metacognition
in helping peers
• We will collaboratively develop concrete
strategies that will increase our effectiveness
with our peers
• Other outcomes you’d like to see?
Reflection Questions
• What’s the difference, if any, between
studying and learning?
• What are two things that inhibit your
effectiveness as a peer tutor?
The Story of Four Students
• Travis, junior psychology student
47, 52, 82, 86
B in course
• Robert, first year chemistry student
42, 100, 100, 100
A in course
• Maryam, first year art student
57, 87
B in course
• Dana, first year physics student
80, 54, 91, 97, 90 (final)
A in course
Final Examination Improvement
Chemistry 2001
Test 1
Test 2
Test 3
Final
Class
Average Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Student 4
76
65
67
70
83
52
67
65
46
55
72
61
68
68
65
78
107
88
88
90
Date of Final Exam:
December 14, 2005
Meeting with Student No. 1:
December 12, 2005
Meeting with Student Nos. 2 & 4:
December 2, 2005
Meeting with Student No. 3:
December 8, 2005
The final was worth 100 points with a 10 bonus question.
How’d They Do It?
They became expert, strategic learners
by using metacognition!
They studied to LEARN,
not just to make the grade!
Metacognition*
The ability to:
• think about one’s own thinking
• be consciously aware of oneself as a problem
solver
• monitor and control one’s mental processing
(e.g. “Am I understanding this material?”)
• accurately judge one’s level of learning
*Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem
solving. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), The nature of intelligence
(pp.231-236). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Why don’t many students already
have effective learning strategies?
It wasn’t necessary in high school*
- 63% of 2010 entering first year students spent less
than six hours per week doing homework in 12th grade.
- More than 48% of these students said they
graduated from high school with an “A” average.*
*2010 Higher Education Research Institute Study
Peer Tutors Can Help Students close “the
gap” between effective and ineffective
learning behaviors
current behavior
effective behavior
current grades
desired grades
Peer Tutors Must Help Students
Learn How to Learn!
• Help them understand the learning process
• Teach them specific learning strategies
• Encourage them to monitor their use of the
learning strategies
Turning Your Students into
Efficient, Expert Learners
• Have them constantly ask “why” and “what if”
questions
• Have them test their understanding by verbalizing or
writing about concepts; practicing retrieval of
information
• Have them move their activities higher on the
Bloom’s taxonomy scale by comparing and
contrasting, thinking of analogies, thinking of new
pathways, etc.
Combining information to
form a unique product;
requires creativity and
originality.
Evaluation
Synthesis
Using information to solve
problems; transferring
abstract or theoretical ideas
to practical situations.
Identifying connections and
relationships and how they
apply.
Application
Comprehension
Restating in
your own words;
paraphrasing,
summarizing,
translating.
Knowledge
Louisiana State University  Center for Academic Success  B-31 Coates Hall  225-578-2872  www.cas.lsu.edu
High School
Memorizing verbatim
information. Being able to
remember, but not
necessarily fully
understanding the
material.
Identifying
components;
determining
arrangement, logic,
and semantics.
Undergraduate
Analysis
Making decisions and
supporting views;
requires
understanding of
values.
Graduate School
Bloom’s
Taxonomy
This pyramid depicts the different levels of thinking we use when learning.
Notice how each level builds on the foundation that precedes it. It is
required that we learn the lower levels before we can effectively use the
skills above.
A Learning Strategy that can be
quickly and easily implemented to
help students think at higher levels:
The Study Cycle*
*adapted from Frank Christ’s PLRS system
The Study Cycle
34
Reflect
Review
Preview
Preview before class – Skim the chapter, note headings and boldface words,
review summaries and chapter objectives, and come up with questions
you’d like the lecture to answer for you.
Attend
Attend class – GO TO CLASS! Answer and ask questions and take meaningful
notes.
4
Reflect
Review
Study
Assess
Review after class – As soon after class as possible, read notes, fill in gaps
and note any questions.
Study – Repetition is the key. Ask questions such as ‘why’, ‘how’, and ‘what if’.
• Intense Study Sessions* - 3-5 short study sessions per day
• Weekend Review – Read notes and material from the week to make
connections
Assess your Learning – Periodically perform reality checks
• Am I using study methods that are effective?
• Do I understand the material enough to teach it to others?
*Intense Study Sessions
Decide what you want to accomplish in your study session
1
Set a Goal
2
Study with Focus
(30-50 min)
Interact with material- organize, concept map, summarize, process, re-read, fill-in notes,
reflect, etc.
3
Reward Yourself
(10-15 min)
Take a break– call a friend, play a short game, get a snack
4
Review
(1-2 min)
(5 min)
Go over what you just studied
Center for Academic Success
B-31 Coates Hall ▪ 225.578.2872 ▪www.cas.lsu.edu
Help Your Students Develop the Right Mindset
Dweck, Carol, 2006.
Mindset: The New Psychology
of Success. New York:
Random House Publishing
Shenk, David, 2010. The Genius in All of
Us: Why Everything You've Been Told
About Genetics, Talent, and IQ Is
Wrong. New York: Doubleday
Mindset* is Important!
 Fixed Intelligence Mindset
Intelligence is static
You have a certain amount of it
 Growth Intelligence Mindset
Intelligence can be developed
You can grow it with actions
Dweck, Carol (2006) Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
New York: Random House Publishing
Mindset determines reactions to
• Challenges – avoid vs. embrace
• Obstacles – give up easily vs. persist
• Tasks requiring effort – fruitless vs. path to
mastery
• Criticism – ignore vs. learn from
• Success of Others – feel threatened by vs.
find lessons and inspiration in
The Role of Confidence
in Learning and Performance
Students are more likely to attempt activities
about which they feel confident
Peer Tutors can give students the confidence to try and
the strategies to succeed! HOW?
“If you think you can...or if you think you can't...you're right!“
Henry Ford
Great Strategies
for Helping Peers LEARN!
• Establish expectations and ground rules
• Help tutee set goals and timelines
come often, prepared, and on ready to learn!
• Attribute failures to correctable causes
and success to personal competence
• Celebrate successes!
• Help students get to know each other and
form study groups
Metacognitive Get Acquainted Activity*
• What do you believe is important to
understand and learn in
_____________________?
• What do you believe to be critical
characteristics of successful students in
___________?
• How will you study and prepare for exams in
______________________________?
*Simpson, M. & Rush, L. (2012) in Teaching Study Strategies in Developmental
Education, Hodges, Simpson, Stahl eds. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s
Why Are Metacognitive Strategies
Important?
Consider the
email
from
a Spring 2011
student:
“…Personally,
I am
notbelow
so good
at chemistry
and Chemistry
unfortunately,
at
this point my grade for that class is reflecting exactly that. I am
emailing you inquiring about a possibility of you tutoring me.”
April 6, 2011
…And after learning metacognitive strategies, NOT tutoring:
“I made a 68, 50, (50), 87, 87, and a 97 on my final. I ended up
earning a 90 (A) in the course, but I started with a 60 (D). I think
what I did different was make sidenotes in each chapter and as I
progressed onto the next chapter I was able to refer to these notes.
I would say that in chemistry everything builds from the previous
topic.
May 13, 2011
Semester GPA: 3.8
Motivation:
The REAL Difference between
a 1.8 and a 3.8 GPA!
Motivate Your Students!
•
•
•
•
•
Strongly encourage them to:
Consider their goals
Develop a plan! (e.g. schedule study appointments
with themselves; make a study bet with friends;
devise a new place to study
Commit to Three or More Intense Study Sessions
per day (two during daylight hours)
Take the CAS on-line workshops (www.cas.lsu.edu)
Believe in themselves!!!
Small Group Activity
How can you infuse learning
strategies information into
sessions with your tutees?