Multi-Year Study of Learner-Centered Strategies in General Education Geoscience Classes
Abstract
We present the results from our collaborative research in cognitive theory applied to Geoscience education at George Mason University. In our multi-year ongoing study we assess the effectiveness of self-regulated learning activities on learner centered instruction. We focus on the large general education geosciences classes serving mostly non –science student majors, often seniors holding off the science courses to the last semester. While attitudes towards the discipline may contribute to the outcomes of the course, we found that the gap between perceived level of understanding and actual understanding is a significant obstacle to learning effectiveness. We use a variety of self-regulated learning activities to assess students’ perceived and performed level of knowledge of core concepts applied to inquiry based problems. Our goal is to assess the nature and size of the gap perceived-performed learning to achieve the following outcomes: 1 - to address said gap during the course to empower student learning 2 - after the course, to assess learning environment/effectiveness. We share with the audience examples of activities used for our studies, including analysis of concept maps, self-efficacy rubrics, self-correction on exams. We will discuss strategies to apply these self-regulated learning techniques to large classes and few resources.
Location
Room 2010
Publication Type and Release Option
Event
Recommended Citation
Kysar Mattietti, Giuseppina and Peters-Burton, Erin, "Multi-Year Study of Learner-Centered Strategies in General Education Geoscience Classes" (2015). SoTL Commons Conference. 49.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2015/49
Multi-Year Study of Learner-Centered Strategies in General Education Geoscience Classes
Room 2010
We present the results from our collaborative research in cognitive theory applied to Geoscience education at George Mason University. In our multi-year ongoing study we assess the effectiveness of self-regulated learning activities on learner centered instruction. We focus on the large general education geosciences classes serving mostly non –science student majors, often seniors holding off the science courses to the last semester. While attitudes towards the discipline may contribute to the outcomes of the course, we found that the gap between perceived level of understanding and actual understanding is a significant obstacle to learning effectiveness. We use a variety of self-regulated learning activities to assess students’ perceived and performed level of knowledge of core concepts applied to inquiry based problems. Our goal is to assess the nature and size of the gap perceived-performed learning to achieve the following outcomes: 1 - to address said gap during the course to empower student learning 2 - after the course, to assess learning environment/effectiveness. We share with the audience examples of activities used for our studies, including analysis of concept maps, self-efficacy rubrics, self-correction on exams. We will discuss strategies to apply these self-regulated learning techniques to large classes and few resources.
