Making it Stick: How a Faculty Book Group is Reshaping Courses Across the Curriculum
Type of Presentation
Individual paper/presentation (20 minute presentation)
Target Audience
Higher Education
Location
Room 1005
Proposal
Do you find your library full of students cramming the night before a major exam? Is your classroom full of sleepy students on exam day, supplying ill-thought-out responses? Do you as an instructor ever say, “What were they thinking?” as you grade their papers? Perhaps your students are not really “learning” the material, even though they have spent hours trying. Traditional study methods of continually rereading the material or memorizing a sheet of facts do not allow for retrieval of information in a manner that can be applied to problem solving and diverse situations.
Sponsored by the Center for Excellence through Teaching and Learning (CETL) at our university, faculty came together to read a common book and discuss these issues. Faculty were able to discover ways to reshape their current courses to change the atmosphere immediately. Simply by adding more intentional testing, more specific feedback, and a tailored approach to purposeful practice, students are now able to develop better mastery and retention of material, making them more independent learners and supplying them with lifelong learning skills. This session will give ideas on facilitating a faculty book talk that results in actionable curriculum change.
Short Description
Do you ever say, “What were they thinking?” as you grade papers? Perhaps your students are not really “learning” the material, even though they spend hours trying. Traditional study methods of rereading and memorization do not allow for deep learning that can be applied to problem solving. Learn how faculty were able to collaborate and discover ways to reshape current courses by adding strategic testing, specific feedback, and purposeful practice. Students now demonstrate improved mastery and retention of material, making them more independent learners.
Keywords
problem solving, faculty collaboration, strategic testing, purposeful practice, retention, study methods, teaching and learning
Publication Type and Release Option
Event
Recommended Citation
Dennis, Pam and Land, Janet, "Making it Stick: How a Faculty Book Group is Reshaping Courses Across the Curriculum" (2017). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 79.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2017/2017/79
Making it Stick: How a Faculty Book Group is Reshaping Courses Across the Curriculum
Room 1005
Do you find your library full of students cramming the night before a major exam? Is your classroom full of sleepy students on exam day, supplying ill-thought-out responses? Do you as an instructor ever say, “What were they thinking?” as you grade their papers? Perhaps your students are not really “learning” the material, even though they have spent hours trying. Traditional study methods of continually rereading the material or memorizing a sheet of facts do not allow for retrieval of information in a manner that can be applied to problem solving and diverse situations.
Sponsored by the Center for Excellence through Teaching and Learning (CETL) at our university, faculty came together to read a common book and discuss these issues. Faculty were able to discover ways to reshape their current courses to change the atmosphere immediately. Simply by adding more intentional testing, more specific feedback, and a tailored approach to purposeful practice, students are now able to develop better mastery and retention of material, making them more independent learners and supplying them with lifelong learning skills. This session will give ideas on facilitating a faculty book talk that results in actionable curriculum change.
