{"id":96,"date":"2018-06-04T17:05:23","date_gmt":"2018-06-04T21:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/?p=96"},"modified":"2018-06-04T17:05:40","modified_gmt":"2018-06-04T21:05:40","slug":"notes-on-how-learning-works-by-ambrose-et-al-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/2018\/06\/04\/notes-on-how-learning-works-by-ambrose-et-al-2010\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes on “How Learning Works” by Ambrose et. al., 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

Notes based on How Learning Works : Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching<\/span> by Susan A. Ambrose, Michael W. Bridges, , Michele DiPietro, , Marsha C. Lovett, Marie K. Norman, and Richard E. Mayer.\u00a0 Wiley 2010.<\/p>\n

Chapter 1: Prior knowledge.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There can be a mismatch between the prior knowledge and how it needs to be used in the new course.\u00a0 In addition, “we may uncover misconceptions … [in] prior knowledge that are actively interfering with [learning]”.\u00a0 Overestimating prior knowledge can lead to “a shaky foundation”.<\/p>\n

Idea: “prior knowledge can help or hinder learning”.<\/p>\n

Prior knowledge may be inactive, insufficient, inappropriate, or inaccurate (hinders).<\/p>\n

Or it may be activated, sufficient, appropriate, accurate (helps).<\/p>\n

Activation: Small prompts (“think of the second problem in relation to the first”) can help with activation.<\/p>\n

Sufficiency:\u00a0 Declarative knowledge (“knowledge of facts and concepts that can be stated or declared”) vs procedural knowledge (“knowing how and knowing when to apply various procedures, methods, theories…”).\u00a0 Knowing what vs how vs when are different ways of knowing the same topic.\u00a0 Identify which the students need for a new task, and assess these separately.<\/p>\n

Appropriateness: common meanings to words may make technical meanings harder to use.<\/p>\n

Accuracy: Isolated facts can be corrected, but flawed models (misconceptions) “are difficult to refute”.\u00a0 “Conceptual change often occurs gradually” – more than a single refutation is needed.<\/p>\n

Strategies<\/em><\/p>\n

Gauge prior knowledge: talk to colleagues, use a diagnostic (concept inventory), use self-assessment (“I have heard the term”, “I could define it”, “I could explain it”, “I could use it to solve problems”), use group brainstorming, have them create a concept map, and look for patterns of errors.<\/p>\n

Activate accurate prior knowledge: link new material to prior knowledge from other semesters; link material to prior knowledge from the current semester; use analogies to connect to everyday experience; have them reason based on what they already know.<\/p>\n

Address insufficient prior knowledge: identify prior knowledge requirements (distinguish what and why – declarative, from how and when – procedural.); remediate by revising the course, having 1-2 classes or review, working with a few students individually, or encouraging more prerequisite coursework.<\/p>\n

Help students recognize inappropriate prior knowledge: when is it appropriate to apply this idea?; provide rules of thumb; be explicit about conventions and which disciplines they apply to; identify where analogies break down<\/p>\n

Correct inaccurate knowledge: use justified reasoning problems; extra time can help students be more thoughtful; offer repeat opportunities to use the accurate knowledge.<\/p>\n

Chapter 2: Organizing knowledge
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Experts organized knowledge in meaningful ways; new learners may have facts in isolation.<\/p>\n

Matching knowledge organization and task demands is helpful.<\/p>\n

Knowledge “nodes” may be less connected in new learners.\u00a0 In experts, information can be processed into highly connected knowledge structures.\u00a0 New learners may connect topics that seem similar on the surface, while experts use underlying meaning.<\/p>\n

Provide a structure in which to fit the new knowledge; generating organizing schemes can be part of learning.<\/p>\n

Strategies<\/em><\/p>\n

Experts can have trouble seeing how they structure knowledge, so make a concept map to walk students through.\u00a0 Think about knowledge organization in the context of a specific task.\u00a0 Provide the overall organization of the course and each class meeting\/week\/etc.\u00a0 Identify cases that illustrate looking more deeply to build connections (two things that are superficially similar or superficially different).\u00a0 Connect each new concept explicitly to old ones.\u00a0 Use multiple organization structures, not just one.\u00a0 Incorporate concept mapping and sorting tasks.\u00a0 Look for common mix-ups in student work.<\/p>\n

Chapter 3: Motivation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Motivation is key.\u00a0 Two core contributors: “the subjective value of a goal” and “the expectations for successful attainment of that goal”.<\/p>\n

Goals: Students may be motivated by performance goals (“protecting a desired self-image” by performing a certain way in the activities).\u00a0 Performance-approach goals lead to a “focus on attaining competence by meeting standards”.\u00a0 Performance-avoidant goals lead to a “focus on avoiding incompetence”.\u00a0 Students may have learning goals where they wan “to gain competence and truly learn what an activity or task can teach them”.\u00a0 Students may have work-avoidant goals (“finish work as quickly as possible with as little effort as possible”).\u00a0 Affective and social goals also have influence.\u00a0 Goals may conflict, as well.<\/p>\n

Value: Sometimes finishing a task (perhaps completing a level in a game) is satisfying.\u00a0 This is attainment value.\u00a0 Sometimes doing the task has intrinsic value.\u00a0 A goal might be a stepping stone to some other goal, having instrumental value.\u00a0 There can be multiple sources of value.<\/p>\n

Expectancies: Outcome expectancies are beliefs about the outcomes associated with actions, such as “doing this means I’ll be able to do the problems on the exam”.\u00a0 Efficacy expectancies are about whether “one is capable of identifying, organizing, initiating, and executing a course of action” to bring about the outcome.<\/p>\n

Environment: It sits on a spectrum from supportive to unsupportive.<\/p>\n

Three levers: value, efficacy, environment (so 8 possible combos – want a positive on all three).<\/p>\n

low value, high efficacy –> evading behavior (this is doable but unimportant)
\nhigh value, low efficacy –> either hopeless (unsupportive environment) or fragile (supportive environment).\u00a0 May feign understanding, make excuses about performance, and deny difficulty
\nhigh value, high efficacy –> defiant (in an unsupportive environment) or motivated (in a supportive environment).<\/p>\n

Strategies<\/em><\/p>\n

Value: Connect the material to the world; provide authentic tasks; show how the material is relevant to other courses; make clear the relevance of the skills to future professional lives; identify what I value in the course and reward that int he course incentive structure; show enthusiasm for the discipline.<\/p>\n

Expectancy: Align all the elements (objectives, assessments, and instruction).\u00a0 Find the right level for challenges in the course, and create assignments at that level.\u00a0 Have early assignments that provide success opportunities.\u00a0 Make the course goals and expectations clear.\u00a0 Provide rubrics and targeted feedback.\u00a0 Use fair standards and criteria.\u00a0 Share information about how attributing success or failure to internal and external factors can shape success (help them attribute success to hard work, time management, choices of study strategies, etc, and to focus on what is controllable).\u00a0 Describe effective strategies.<\/p>\n

Value and Expectancy: Offer multiple options when it is possible.\u00a0 Create space and time for reflection (what did you learn, what was a valuable feature of this, what did you do to prepare, what do you need to work on, what would you do differently)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Notes based on How Learning Works : Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching by Susan A. Ambrose, Michael W. Bridges, , Michele DiPietro, , Marsha C. Lovett, Marie K. Norman, and Richard E. Mayer.\u00a0 Wiley 2010. Chapter 1: Prior knowledge. There can be a mismatch between the prior knowledge and how it needs to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8032,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[157887],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-learning-and-teaching"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7E5LF-1y","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":228,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/2020\/06\/29\/notes-on-abolitionist-teaching-and-the-future-of-our-schools\/","url_meta":{"origin":96,"position":0},"title":"Notes on “Abolitionist Teaching and the Future of Our Schools”","author":"siams","date":"29 June 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uJZ3RPJ2rNc Accessed on June 29, 2020 Bettina Love, Gholdy Muhammed Dena Simmons Brian Jones. Bettina Love described arriving at college and being pushed onto a \"jock track\". She transferred universities, but that was a turning point in her life. Gholdy Muhammad recalls reading a hadid about ways to respond to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Learning and teaching"","block_context":{"text":"Learning and teaching","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/category\/learning-and-teaching\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/uJZ3RPJ2rNc\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":210,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/2019\/08\/10\/notes-on-particle-filters-for-high-dimensional-geoscience-applications-a-review-van-leeuwen-et-al-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":96,"position":1},"title":"Notes on “Particle filters for high dimensional geoscience applications: a review”. van Leeuwen et al 2019","author":"siams","date":"10 August 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Notes on Peter Jan van Leeuwen,\u00a0Hans R. 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Introduction: \"the linear data assimilation problem\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Research paper"","block_context":{"text":"Research paper","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/category\/research-paper\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":226,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/2020\/06\/05\/notes-on-worldmath-curriculum-fighting-eurocentrism-in-mathematics\/","url_meta":{"origin":96,"position":2},"title":"Notes on: “Worldmath Curriculum: Fighting Eurocentrism in Mathematics”","author":"siams","date":"5 June 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"SE Anderson, 1990: \"Worldmath Curriculum: Fighting Eurocentrism in Mathematics\". \u00a0The Journal of Negro Education Section one: \"A few grim statistics\" The manuscript starts with \"A few grim statistics\", looking forward to 2000 and to 2010 and providing numbers about low numbers of Black, Latino, and Native American scholars receiving PhDs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Learning and teaching"","block_context":{"text":"Learning and teaching","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/category\/learning-and-teaching\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":160,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/2019\/07\/10\/bonem-et-al-2019-learning-environment-and-student-outcomes\/","url_meta":{"origin":96,"position":3},"title":"Reading “Learning environment and student outcomes”","author":"siams","date":"10 July 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I am reading\u00a0\"What you do is less important than how you do it: the effects of learning environment on student outcomes\", Bonem, Fedesco, and Zissimopoulos 2019 (Learning Environment Research). 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