There are many strategies to choose from when creating a lesson; the major piece to keep in mind is what experience students should have while gaining knowledge. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski(2007) describe several ways for students to interact with information to build knowledge, two strategies they describe are questioning and summarizing and note taking. No matter what class the student is taking they will encounter questions and be expected to take some form of notes, what Pitler et al (2007) describes are ways to make the notes and questions align with cognitive practices.
A key to questioning is to ensure that they are higher order questions so that the students are required to think about their answers and not simply parrot information back at the teacher (Pitler et al, 2007). By asking questions that require thought, the teacher provides avenues for their students to retrieve the information they already have stored and connect the new information with their prior knowledge; this process is cognitive theory in action (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). By using effective questioning, students can practice with the concepts they are learning to move the information from short term memory to long term memory (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).
While questions are very important for fostering thought, students need to organize information initially to be able to understand it, this is where summarizing and note taking comes in. In order to effectively understand a concept, students need to make meaning of the information being presented with what they already know (Novak & Canas, 2008). Summarizing provides the students with an opportunity to manipulate the information being presented in a way that focuses on the main ideas so that the students can encode the information in a way that makes sense with their prior knowledge (Pitler et al, 2007). A great technology tool for summarizing is wikis, they provide the students with the ability to display their information and work collaboratively to determine what information is most pertinent as well as provide the students with a means to a discussion of how the information correlates with their prior knowledge (Pitler et al, 2007). By having meaningful discussions with their peers about the information being summarized the students have the capability to make deeper connections then they could make on their own.
No matter what course the student is taking they will need to understand the importance of questioning and note taking. When the students are provided with information they will need to make sense of that information and construct knowledge based on their prior experiences. For more information about questioning go to the following site, it has some helpful advice as well as some helpful links http://beyondpenguins.ehe.osu.edu/issue/energy-and-the-polar-environment/questioning-techniques-research-based-strategies-for-teachers .
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program five: Cognitive learning theories [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollge.com/ec/default.learn?coureid=5700267&cpurl=laureate.ecollege.com&survey=1&47=2594577&clientnodeid=984650&coursenau=0&bhcp=1 .
Novak, J.D., & Canas, A.J. (2008). The theory underlying concept maps and ho to construct and use them, Technical Report IHMC CmaptTools 2006-01 Rev 01-2008. Retrieved from the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition Web Site: http://cmap.ihmc.us/publications/researchpapers/theoryunderlyingconceptmaps.pdf .
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Hi Rick,
ReplyDeleteGreat summary of our information for this week.
I looked at the link you included,which I enjoyed overall. I even sent the link to my principal! However,the following part, about WHEN to ask questions, caught my attention: "Teachers often pose questions prior to reading. Research shows that while this strategy is effective for older students, those with high ability, and those interested in the subject matter, it is not as effective for younger students and poor readers, who tend to focus only on the material that will help them answer the questions." I am not sure I agree with that statement. Surely one of the main reasons we ask questions prior to reading is actually to ENSURE that they focus on the information they need? Or am I misunderstanding the point?
What do you think?
Lisa
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I think an important aspect of questioning is to focus the students on the material that you want them to learn. I think it is also important to know your students. If you have a class that will just hunt for the answers, I think you can just make questions that the answers are not blatantly in the reading and the students need to understand the material to answer the questions.
Richard,
ReplyDeleteYour first statement made the entire blog explode with credibility. Early in my teaching career that the lesson begins with the end in mind which led me tot he practice of making the chapter assessment before teaching the lesson to the students. In addition, the assessment is revisited periodically throughout the lesson to ensure that all material is taught before the assessment is given. When conducting this process, cues and questions are given to the students to be placed in their mandatory notebooks for studing.
Note taking is a challenging skill for students. I found many are writing too much information, not enough or not any because they do not know how to pick out the important information. In my state, we have an English Language test in which they have to listen a story and take notes then answer questions about the story. This is usually the most challenging section because they do not have the story to look back at and did not write the correct notes. We complete many practices of this portion but I think that needs to be started from their first read-aloud and note taking. Trying to teach it is third grad for an important test is difficult. Cornell style is a good note taking way. They write questions and answers for the notes. By having good notes they will be able to understand the lesson and ask more in-depth questions.
ReplyDelete