Institute/Session Summary:

Inherent in the all student success programs of any sort is the premise that we want to show students how to be successful. Just how do we go about this?  What makes up the framework for effective teaching and guiding students toward student success and optimal learning? Educators who have interpreted brain research in light of student learning have discovered that teachers and students should pay close attention to several components that make for optimal learning.  Three of are these, meaning, present circumstances, and past history, provide a framework for constructing our learning objectives, curriculum, classroom activities and assessment.     

The focus of this workshop is on finding ways to connect students to a better understanding what learning is and of how they learn.  The emphasis is not so much on examining brain research as it is taking recent brain research and applying it to practical strategies for learning how to learn. We will examine some things that we can do in presenting materials, designing our courses, and making assignments that enhance learning and some specific things that we can remind our students to do when learning something new and difficult.

The underlying premise of the workshop will be to remind instructors that they have the power to present information in a way that may be more conducive to learning than they or their colleagues may be using, and that they have the potential to empower students. It may be more important to know how to teach students to learn than it is to teach topics we think students need to know.  This workshop should be useful to both experienced and inexperienced instructors in all disciplines.

The learning outcomes for the workshop:

• Participants will develop a simplistic knowledge of whatÕs going on in their brain and that of their students.
• Participants will analyze some practical applications that they can use as instructors and for their students using three memory principles as model.
• Participants will personalize some practical strategies using brain research to plan curriculum, classroom activities, and assessment for topics that are crucial for their students to learn in their courses.

The interactive workshop will use power point to present background information and to engage participants in discussion. Activities will provide participants opportunities to make the general information relevant to courses they teach on their own campuses.  Handouts will include a copy of the power point presentation, an extensive bibliography on brain research and learning, and examples of frameworks for learning by Jenson, Zull, and Hopper.

The presenter has supported the area of student success with well over one hundred state, regional, national, or international presentations, articles and grants. Tennessee CASE Professor of the Year, the presenter has received awards both for outstanding teaching and outstanding use of instructional technology.