This Nutshell continues from v14, n2 & n3 with the conceptual theme of change through time, as applied to teaching and learning at the college level.

Duration

Hurricane Ivan devastated Grenada, not simply because it was a major storm, but because it stalled on the island instead of passing through quickly. The incredible destruction resulted from power applied over long duration. Duration falls particularly within the topic of “time management” often addressed in helpful references for both students and professors. Part of becoming a successful professional lies in accurately estimating the duration of time needed to accomplish a task. New students and new professors most often experience surprise at the duration needed to learn and to teach well. Duration is also a concern of scheduling. Short class periods designed for lectures are not the best fit for active methods that often produce better learning (Millis and Cottell, 1998, pp. 29-31).

Research in education shows that duration, or “time on task” is critical to better cognitive learning (Weimer, 2002, p. 31). Every major research study on development of high-level thinking shows that it can’t come through the exposure provided by a single sixteen-week course, and there are no shortcuts to deep learning. Producing transitions from low- to high-level thinking may take two or more years in a sequence of classes designed deliberately to produce it (Pavelich and Moore, 1996). Further, when the required experience isn’t provided over sufficient duration, people don’t develop sophisticated abilities to use evidence well for decisions. When such occurs, the transition from Perry Stage 4 to 5 is punctuated—a celebratory “Aha moment!” Duration thus lies at the juncture of the conflict between educating students for deep learning versus pressures to process students by merely getting them through requirements and programs. Pressures come from one side by students whose busy lives don’t permit easy allocation of sufficient time for deep learning and from another by legislators, who are impatient to move graduates from college to the work force as quickly as possible. Development of “wisdom” or “emotional intelligence,” meaningful qualities similar to those described for the highest Perry stages, seem to require even longer duration than one can expect to spend in college. Purposeful personal development over longer time melds cognitive development with affective awareness and maturity—a melding valuable to the individual who has achieved it.

Frequency

California and Japan have long employed exceptional earthquake building codes, but the Midwestern region around Missouri, until recently, did not. Both regions have strong earthquakes, but different frequencies of events between regions accounts for the regional difference in response to the problem. The former areas have frequent small, perceptible tremors. Although not damaging, they keep citizens aware of the potential for catastrophic events. The latter region also has catastrophic earthquakes (the last major ones taking place around 1811 and 1812), but the tremors in the intervening time are deep, perceptible only to sensitive instruments, and provide no frequent reminders of the real danger. Planning a good educational experience also involves attention to frequency of events. If a teacher says: “I already told students that. It’s up to them to get it,” the teacher should remember that even a catastrophic earthquake quickly passes from the minds of a population if there are not frequent reminders.

Cognitive psychologists have long known that repetition increases long-term retention of material. If a teacher knows that particular knowledge or skills are important, he/she should design course experiences that make use of that knowledge or skill with frequency that is proportional to importance. Justification to use frequent quizzes rather than infrequent exams includes a reminder to maintain pace that prevents binge cramming. “Mastery learning,” characterized by repetition, testing and retesting, brings excellent results. In faculty development, frequent one-page newsletters produce better response than do infrequent long (8 to 16 pages) ones.

Rate

Rate differences in geology are illustrated by the contrast between soil creeping down a grassy meadow at the rate of a few cm/decade and a rock avalanche moving at over 300 km/hr. Implications for land use are vastly different at these extremes. Rate has its educational equivalent in pacing—the amount of material covered over a given time. Pacing is a statistically significant aspect of instruction (Erdle and Murray, 1986). Pacing considerations in course planning should aim to optimize a challenge by matching it to the amount that the students of the institution can realistically learn through a class session, a course, or a program. More coverage seldom translates into more learning. Careful course design for pacing can lead sincere students across the proverbial meadow with learning intact. Becoming fascinated by content coverage is likely to bury understanding in the proverbial avalanche of information, and this leave only a few scarred survivors.

References Cited, Nutshell Notes v14 n2, n3 & n4

Bruno, J. E., 1996, Time perceptions and time allocation preferences among adolescent boys and girls: Journal of Adolescence, v. 31 n, 121, http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2248/is_n121_v31/ai_18253677
Conner, M. L., 2004, Learn More Now: 10 Simple Steps to Learning Better, Smarter, and Faster: Hoboken, NJ, Wiley.
Duffy, D. K., and Jones, J. W., 1995, Teaching Within the Rhythms of the Semester: San Francisco, Jossey Bass Higher and Adult Education Series.
Erdle, S., and Murray, H. G., 1986, Interfaculty differences in classroom teaching behaviors and their relationship to student instructional ratings: Research in Higher Education, v. 24, n. 2, pp. 115-127.
Feldman, K. A., 1998, Identifying exemplary teachers and teaching: evidence from student ratings: in Teaching and Learning in the College Classroom 2nd ed., K. A. Feldman and M. B. Paulsen, eds., Needham Heights, MA, Simon & Schuster, pp. 391-414.
Goody, J., 1968, Time: Social organization: in D.L.Sills, ed., International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, New York: Macmillan, v.16, pp. 30-42.
Gould, S. J. 1987, Time’s Arrow, Time’s Cycle: Myth and Metaphor in the Discovery of Geological Time: Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.
Hurst, H. E., 1951, Long-term storage capacity of reservoirs: Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, v. 116, pp. 770-808.
Inhelder, B., and Piaget, J., 1958, The Growth of Logical Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence: An essay on the Construction of Formal Operational Structures: New York, Basic Books, Translated by A. Parsons and S. Milgram, 356 p.
King, P. M., and Kitchener, K, S., 1994, Developing Reflective Judgment: San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
Leamnson, R., 2000, Learning as biological brain change. Change, v. 32, n. 6, pp. 34-40.
Leamnson, R., 2002, It’s never too late: Developing cognitive skills for lifelong learning: Interactive Learning Environments, v. 10, n. 2 pp. 93-103.
Levine, R., 1997, A Geography of Time: Perseus Book.
Lyell, C.,1829, Letter (to R. Murchison): as cited by S. J. Gould, 1984, in Catastrophes and Earth History: W. A. Berggren and J. A. Van Couvering, eds., Princeton University Press, p. 12.
Lyell, C., 1842, Principles of Geology (6th ed. ): Boston, MA, Hiliard, Gray & Co. (3 volumes), pp. 324-326.
McGlynn, A. P., 2001, Successful Beginnings for College Teaching: Engaging Your Students from the First Day: Madison, WI, Atwood.
Mandelbrot, B. B., 1983, The Fractal Geometry of Nature: New York, W. H. Freeman and Company, pp. 251-253.
Millis, B. J., and Cottell, 1998, Cooperative Learning for Higher Education Faculty: Oryx Press, 282 p.
Nuhfer, E. B., 2004, Geoscience education for Realtors, appraisers, home inspectors, and homeowners: Journal Geoscience Education, invited paper, special urban geology theme issue, v. 52, n. 5, pp. 453-461.
Nuhfer, E. B., 2005, The need for conceptual approaches to understanding change through time: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 37, n. 7, p. 148.
Pavelich, M. J., and Moore, W. S., 1996, Measuring the effect of experiential education using the Perry model: Journal of Engineering Education, October, pp. 287-292.
Perry, W. G. Jr., 1999, Forms of Ethical and Intellectual Development in the College Years: A Scheme: San Francisco, Jossey-Bass (a reprint of the original 1968 work with some updates).
Sylwester, Robert, 2002, Present at the maturation of the adult brain: a summary by the author that appeared at http://www.brainconnection.com/sylwester/. Available from the Robert Sylwester at bobsyl@uoregon.edu.
Weimer. M., 2002, Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice: San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
Wirth, K. R., Perkins, D., and Nuhfer, E. B., 2005, Knowledge surveys: An ideal tool for assessing learning and for evaluating instructional practices and curricula: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 37, No. 7, p. 119.
Wolpert L., 1992, The Unnatural Nature of Science: Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.

Nutshell Notes v14n2 through v14n4 derive from two of about twenty articles by Dr. Edward Nuhfer in National Teaching and Learning Forum provided under the theme “Educating in Fractal Patterns.” National Teaching and Learning Forum and its searchable archives are available to all ISU employees and students from any on-campus computer at http://www.ntlf.com/. Nuhfer is a professor of geoscience and directs the Center for Teaching and Learning. at Idaho State University. A synopsis of fractal concepts appears in To Improve the Academy, 2007, in press.

 

SEEKING TUTORS for 2006-2007!

Faculty, we are always looking for good tutors. In the past, we have sought out tutors when students requested them. To be more proactive, we would like to collect a list of names for contact as potential tutors. Tutors for the Center for Teaching and Learning (CeTL) must have a “B” or better in the course they tutor and undergo a few hours of training. Before good students get away, please contact a couple who would be good potential tutors and ask their permission to send their names along with the name and number of their course to CeTL via email to lecosuza@isu.edu. As student requests begin in fall, we will contact potential tutors from your lists.

BOOT CAMP for PROFS 2006!

Registration is open with spaces now held for ISU faculty, but not for much longer. See http://www.isu.edu/ctl/nutshells/old_nutshells/6_606.htm for details. Contact nuhfed@isu.edu if interested.

 

New Faculty Orientation Scheduled August 15 & 16, 2006!

More detail to follow. If you have new faculty in your units, please avoid causing conflicts for them by scheduling meetings, etc. on these dates.