How to make learning come alive

 

 

In my experience, it is helpful to address the following issues when creating learning experiences in any environment, whether in the classroom or in an online course.  If your son or daughter is in public or private school, use these principles when helping them with their homework, and to compliment what they are doing in class.  If your son or daughter is in home school, utilize these principles in developing their curriculum, or to supplement the curriculum you purchased. 

 

  1. Relevancy (applicability) of the topic for the student:  I believe it’s important to show the student how what they are learning can help them to pursue their own interests and dreams.  I assign a short-answer essay question I call “Critical Thinking Question #1: Why study history?” for my history students at the beginning of my history courses.  I have listed 7 ways that studying history can benefit a non-historian in his or her life and career.  Another essay I assign is called “Critical Thinking Question #3: Lessons in history.”  The first lesson in my online course, School Success 101, addresses this issue.  I have enumerated many ways in which each subject in school can help a student in their life after school—especially their career dreams.  Tap into their dreams and you tap into a powerful reservoir of motivation for success. 
  2. Explore the methods of professionals in the field of knowledge represented by the school subject you want the student to succeed in.  Examples:  Science – teach them the scientific method, and allow them to run or observe experiments; History – teach them the historic method, and allow them to work with historic documents or artifacts (real or facsimiles). 
  3. Use different modalities for different learning styles.  Some learn best by reading, some by seeing pictures, some by hearing, and others by touching (“hands on”)—or a combination of these (the more senses engaged the better).  Also, some are OK sitting still for several hours, and some need to move around while learning (lots of boys, and some girls). 
  4. Consider different thinking styles of the students.  There are quantitative thinkers (who think best using numbers), and qualitative/conceptual thinkers (who think best with ideas).  I sometimes allow students to approach history from the quantitative angle, looking at economics or advances in mathematics, science, engineering, and technology.  Other times we look from the conceptual angle, studying developments in art, music, literature, philosophy, politics, comparative religion, etc. 
  5. Address the unique interests of the student(s).  This is related to #4, above.  I sometimes allow students to choose their own topic in history to explore, based on their unique interests.  My Critical Thinking Question # 3 allows them to choose from among a menu of short-answer essay questions which cater to many different interests and thinking styles.  They approach history on their own terms.
  6. Use exercises and activities that make the subject “real” for them.  I like to use movie clips, art, music, and literature recitations in face-to-face courses, to paint a vivid picture of the past (or, in other words, to transport the class to another time and place).  In online courses I assign essays on movies or historic fiction and non-fiction to accomplish the same thing.  I also want to engage the students’ empathy—for them to see that people in the past were very much like us, with the same concerns, problems, etc. 
  7. Link lessons in one subject with those in another subject.  Create and/or use integrated unit studies.  Choose a topic and integrate their lessons in math, science, language arts, social studies, etc.  For example, we chose the topic, “flight,” for our 7th graders when I taught on a team in a middle school back in the early 1990s.  We looked at the historic development of manned flight in social studies.  They studied aerodynamics in science and math.  They read stories about flight in language arts, and so forth. 
  8. Give students choices.  This gives them more “ownership” of their learning.  My wife and I often feel moved to compassion when we consider that our 8 and 6 year old have so much of their lives dictated to them.  We love to be able to give them freedom to choose, as often as possible.  We all love freedom, adults and children alike.
  9. Deal with any of the many different impediments to learning, including a mere lack of learning skills.  See my checklist on impediments (which I’ve posted on the homepage, under “Free information and activities”) from my School Success 101 program for ideas.  Learning can’t take place very well when there’s a speed bump or obstacle in the way.  I start every course by teaching some basic skills.  Any learning disabilities, processing disorders, or personal concerns also need to be factored in and addressed.  It’s hard to learn when you are hungry, tired, worried, confused, unable to think clearly, etc.  I let students talk about problems after class if they want to.  I often pray for them if they’ll allow me to.  Even if you don’t have the answers to their problems, it helps a student if they know that you someone is aware and that they care. 
  10. Use every academic subject as an opportunity to teach truth and critical thinking, and to open the student’s mind to this incredible universe we find ourselves in.  I try to challenge classes to think deeply about things—not just to accept things as they are given them by our culture.  We have, for example, deified science, medicine, psychology, psychiatry, etc.  These things are marvelous, but we must put them in perspective.  Scientists, doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists must interpret scientific data based on their philosophical presuppositions.  There are, for example, at least 3 or 4 schools of thought (dynamic theory, cognitive theory, behavioral theory, and integrationist theory) among psychiatrists, based on their anthropology, or model of Man.  They must choose their interpretation based on assumptions that are not fully provable by the scientific method itself.  I may post more on this topic on my site in the future, when I am able. 
  11. Be open to non-traditional approaches for assessing learning, based on the student’s learning style, and on what is truly important and applicable.  I personally have a desire to discontinue the use of so-called objective tests for assessing important learning in history.  Names and dates (facts) are not important in and of themselves.  It’s the ability to analyze developments and apply learning that’s important.  I prefer to use essays, open-book tests, and other assignments which challenge the student to think critically by synthesizing, analyzing, and using other higher-order thinking abilities.  I want them to draw important lessons, which they can apply in life, from my courses.  In history, something which functions both as a great learning experience and a good assessment of learning is to tell the student to create an annotated timeline and map of important developments in history.  Students who did well with this kind of assignment in past classes scored better on an objective test too.  Finally, be willing to read test questions aloud and allow the student to dictate his or her answers if the student is more of an auditory learner (one who learns better by hearing versus reading). 

 

See the activities I’ve posted on the homepage, under “Free information and activities,” for exercises in each subject which embody many of these principles.