Student Ownership Of Learning Research Articles

Mathematical understanding and ownership in learning: affordances of and student views on templates for proof-writing

For students taking higher level mathematics courses, the transition from computational to proof-based courses such as analysis and algebra not only introduces a new format of writing and communication, but also a new level of abstraction. This study examines the affordances of one particular tool to aid students in this transition: a proof template. We highlight four cases based on interviews conducted at two universities, both from transition-to-proof classes in which templates were explicitly used and not. Results indicate that when introduced to this tool, students viewed these templates favourably. Two detailed cases provide evidence that templates can contribute to deep understanding and student ownership of learning by deconstructing the template structures for themselves. In settings where explicit templates were not introduced, two cases address possible concerns with templates as well as demonstrate that students may be intuiting this structure. Our work provides evidence for the benefits of templates as a learning aid to struggling and strong students alike that does not reduce creativity in proving, along with students’ appreciation of templates for structure and as guidelines to make sense of the increased abstraction required for proof-writing.

Using Design-Based Research to Layer Career-Like Experiences onto Software Development Courses

Using Design-Based Research to Layer Career-Like Experiences onto Software Development Courses

In-class activities as formative assessments in immunology: student buy-in and utilization

Abstract Immunology is a difficult discipline to teach due to complex concepts, cellular interactions, jargon, and requirement of prerequisite knowledge across biology. Formative assessment (FA) techniques have been shown to improve student learning through increased engagement with material, instructor feedback, revision of understanding and student ownership of learning; yet implementation of these student-centered learning strategies can prove challenging. An in-class activity (ICA) worksheet FA was used in two semesters of an upper level Immunology course and a survey was used to measure student perception, buy-in and utilization of the FA. The ICA was administered each week and covered a key concept of the material presented. ICA worksheets examined the biochemical signaling pathways of T cell receptor signaling using an on line video by HHMI; HLA codominance and polygeny with flow cytometry data and Mendelian inheritance pedigrees; and CD4 T cell subset generation with an on-line modeling program developed by Cell Collective (www.cellcollective.org). Overall, student perceptions about ICA were favorable with a high level of “buy-in” across multiple categories/themes. In addition, ICA for immunology had a higher level of utilization (especially for later use) compared with other Biology courses using FAs. Within the immunology course, students viewed the ICA more favorable for later use and discussion compared to a pre-class FA, just in time teaching (JiTT). In contrast, students perceived the JiTT FA as providing more helpful feedback to correct misunderstandings. Utilizing student survey responses for both ICA and JiTT FAs will help improve in-class discussion, instructor feedback, and learning outcomes in immunology.

Redesigning an Introductory Programming Course to Facilitate Effective Student Learning: A Case Study

Redesigning an Introductory Programming Course to Facilitate Effective Student Learning: A Case Study

Instructional change following formative instructional practices professional development

ABSTRACTSignificant funds have been allocated in the United States at the federal, state, and local levels to provide teacher professional development aimed at bringing about instructional change and resulting in improved student achievement. One important indicator for quality and effectiveness in professional development is change in teaching practice. This study was designed to observe instructional change among 45 classroom teachers across three data points: at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of a two-year statewide professional development initiative focused on incorporating formative instructional practices into daily classroom work. Repeated measure analysis results indicated significant changes in providing effective feedback and encouraging student ownership of learning. Change patterns in the classrooms included in this study informed future professional development focus, design, and delivery. Researchers found that implementing a comprehensive teacher professional development initiative to improve instructional quality is promising yet challenging because of differing local implementation plans, organizational structures, priorities, and resources.

The grading gradient: Teacher motivations for varied redo and retake policies

Standards-based grading has emerged as a leading progressive mode of classroom assessment. Although standards-based grading has several core components, there is appreciable anecdotal evidence that one component is being frequently implemented in the absence of the others. Namely, by allowing students to redo and revise work without regard to deadlines, some teachers are assessing what students know at the end of the course rather than at pre-specified intervals. Here, we surveyed 429 secondary teachers to quantitatively assess their grading practices and evaluate their connection to standards-based grading. Whether teachers allow redo’s/retakes was affected by school policies, teacher content area, and what the teacher’s personal beliefs were about the importance of deadlines and student ownership of learning and accountability. Additionally, our findings suggest that there is a disconnect between best practices in grading and teacher beliefs. Teachers displayed confusion regarding whether or not their schools had implemented standards-based grading policies.

Student Ownership of Learning as a Key Component of College Readiness

This article considers the importance of ownership of learning as a key component of college readiness. The article is organized around two conceptual models. The first is a four-part model of college readiness that includes key cognitive strategies, key content knowledge, key learning skills and techniques, and key transition knowledge and skills. The second is a five-part model of ownership of learning that consists of the following elements: motivation and engagement, goal orientation and self-direction, self-efficacy and self-confidence, metacognition and self-monitoring, and persistence. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of the role and importance of ownership of learning and makes the case that these elements can and should be taught to all students, and particularly in settings where an achievement gap exists.

Talking Physics during Small-Group Work with Context-Rich Problems - Analysed from an Ownership Perspective

This study provides analyses of the conversations when university students work in small groups solving context-rich physics problems. We constructed context-rich, open-ended physics problems related to everyday life situations that lack some information required to solve and complete the tasks. The students’ ownership of learning, their actions of choice and control, was analyzed in two dimensions: group and individual. Conversation analyses and flowcharts of the conversation were constructed from the complete transcripts of three groups. The theoretical framework for student ownership of learning demonstrated that it was possible to show that even if students have group ownership of the task, the individual student ownership of learning is not self-evident. The study also demonstrates the methodological power and value of the flowchart to identify conversation patterns in the groups that were effective in the search for exploratory talks and individual questions. We discuss implications for teacher development to enhance group work.

Five Features of Effective Core Courses

Extensive assessment of innovative core courses pointed to five features of the courses that led to students being actively engaged in learning. Faculty teaching the courses created an environment to foster collaborative learning, facilitated student ownership of learning, structured their courses to connect academic ideas with other disciplines and with the real world, evaluated student learning through active experiences, and designed and implemented learning objectives for students to share the experience of the discipline.

Using Standards in Simultaneous Renewal

Committed to the progressive tradition with its emphasis on learner-centered curriculum and learner-grounded assessment, faculty in the teacher education programs of the University of North Dakota and its affiliated Lake Agassiz Elementary School articulated program goals and implemented processes of portfolio assessment and group demonstrations of learning. These practices are evolving into assessment systems which are useful in drawing together appreciative audiences for student work, benchmarking student progress, and evaluating and reframing programs and the standards that inform them. The development of assessment processes which place primary value on student reflection has promoted student ownership of learning. The simultaneous development of parallel processes in a teacher education program and its professional development school has the potential to renew a powerful aspect of teaching practice.