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VOLUME X, NUMBER 22

= INNO VATION ABSTRACTS

PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL hse Osetia ORO ger 4 NiO. meade) ahs MO del eee DC tor Ue etl)

WITH SUPPORT FROM THE W. K

ELLOGG FOUNDATION AND THE SID W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION

 

Instructor-Created Barriers to Student Learning

An innovative technique for improving the quality of
teaching is to examine the belief systems we hold about
teaching. By exploring the perceptions we have of
ourselves, students and the teaching process, we can
uncover personally-held belief systems that, when
carried out, act as barriers to student learning.

| became aware of the effects of belief systems while
talking to a fellow instructor about how each of us
motivates students to come to class and to be prepared.
I described how class participation is a component of
the final grade in all of my classes and how I collect
homework on a random basis, and then my peer said
that she motivated students by giving pop quizzes. My
immediate gut reaction (although I kept it inside) to her
approach was, “That's a terrible and unfair thing to do
to your students. I never give pop quizzes!” The
obvious question I asked myself later was why I had
such a strong aversion to pop quizzes. There certainly
is nothing immoral or illegal about them. Then I
realized that I had never used pop quizzes because I
hated them as a student. I realized that my belief
system limited me to only those teaching methods |
enjoyed as a student. Now I use pop quizzes and find
them effective tools for motivating and assessing
students.

Based on this experience, I have discovered that as
instructors we hold many belief systems that act as
barricrs to student learning. When these limiting
perceptions are realigned to support student learning,
we develop insight into our teaching and into an ability
to influence positively the learning process. Included
here are several “learning barrier” belief systems, each
accompanicd by an alternative “learning support” belief
and a brief discussion.

1. Learning Barrier—“It would be a violation of stu-
dents’ personal space for me to suggest where they
should sit in the classroom.”

Learning Support—“The seating arrangement is an

important and powerful avenue I can use to encour-

age a positive classroom experience.”

Discussion—Instructors do not need to accept the

seating arrangement students inadvertently create

when they walk in on the first day of class. After
taking into consideration the needs of individuals

and providing a clear explanation where necessary,
instructors can design the seating arrangement to
support student interaction, group work, student
perception of the instructor as peer, and many other
learning objectives and needs.

. Learning Barrier—“This is my class.”

Learning Support—“This is our class. Both the
students and I together are responsible for the
quality of this class.”

Discussion—It is easy for instructors to perceive a
class as entirely their own creation. Often the
instructor decides what is discussed, when it is
discussed, how it is discussed, and how performance
is evaluated. In contrast, involving students uses the
energy and imagination of everyone involved for
creating a positive learning experience. Students, for
example, can select learning strategies, present
course materials, answer the questions of other
students, and help decide what should be tested and
how it should be tested.

. Learning Barrier—“I can criticize the book, the

material that is being covered, and the classroom,
and by so doing establish rapport with my students
and enhance student learning.”

Learning Support—“I need to express and thereby
encourage within students a positive relationship to
the course, the text and the classroom.”
Discussion—Instructors frequently, for example,
criticize the text in hopes of “getting in better” with

students. The ultimate result of this approach,

though, is to increase students’ resistance to the text
and to undermine their faith in the instructor for
having selected it. By maintaining an honest and
positive attitude toward all facets of the course, the
instructor actively encourages student learning.

. Learning Barrier—“Students either have the disci-

pline to come to class on time, to do their homework,
to participate in class, or they don’t. They are adults
and it is not my responsibility to motivate them.”
Learning Support—‘Part of my responsibility as an
instructor is to motivate students to come to class on
time, to do their homework, and to participate in
class.”

Discussion—Many times instructors get lost in the

 

 

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