Focusing on Affective Dimensions to Enhance Learning

Marcia Gentry, Ph.D. Professor of Education

Purdue University mgentry@purdue.edu

Promoting Real Student Performance

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Why Educate Children?

What is the mission? Life long learners Maximized potential Decision-Makers Students who can think and act Motivated, productive individuals

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What is Achievement?

How can Achievement be Measured How can Achievement be Enhanced How can Achievement be

Communicated

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On Measuring Achievement

“Not everything that counts can

be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.”

(Albert Einstein)

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On Measuring Achievement

“It is what students do with what they

learn when they can do what they want to do that is the real measure of educational achievement.” (Eisner, 2001)

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What do Tests Tell Us

How has testing affected Teaching Learning Environment Curriculum Affect

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What do Tests Tell Us

If you had to choose between students’ love of learning and the mastery of any collection of cognitive standards, which would you choose?

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On Measuring Affect

Regularly assess educationally significant student affect (Popham, 2001)

Students’ attitudes toward learning Their interest in a subject Their confidence in being able to use

school taught skills

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On Measuring Affect

“Educationally significant student affect evidence can illuminate teachers’ instructional decisions and can even cast light on the effectiveness of teachers’ instructional activities.” (Popham, 2001)

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On Measuring Affect

“If teachers teach children to master a certain subject matter in a manner that leads those youngsters to hate the material they’ve mastered, it might have been better to have never tackled the subject in the first place.” (Popham, 2001)

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Our Work

My Class Activities (2001). [MCA] Gentry & Gable Creative Learning Press Grades 3-8 Challenge, Choice, Interest, Enjoyment Research, Reflection, Refinement, School

Improvement

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Our Work

Student Perceptions of Classroom Quality (in process). [SPOCQ] Gentry & Owen Grades 7-12 Appeal, Challenge, Choice, Meaningfulness,

Self Efficacy Research, Reflection, Refinement, School

Improvement

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What We’ve Learned

Can Measure Student Attitudes Students’ Perceptions are Different than

their Teachers’ Perceptions The older students perceive less of the

constructs than the younger students Often, little is different for g/t kids Student perceptions can provide valuable

insights into classrooms thereby …

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How important are …

Appeal (interest + enjoyment) Challenge Choice Meaningfulness Self Efficacy Are they related to Motivation?

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Motivation

People will be most creative when they feel motivated primarily by the interest, enjoyment, satisfaction and challenge of the work itself--not by external pressures (Amabile & Hennessey 1992, p.55).

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What Follows: Teacher Friendly, Student Based

Turning the learning and responsibility to the students can be an effective means of differentiation requiring less work than teacher directed differentiation strategies

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What Follows: Teacher Friendly, Student Based

Open-ended, less work Enjoyable, unpredictable Ambiguous Encourages work ethic and genuine

interest, commitment, and creativity Provides individualized rigor, depth and

complexity

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What Follows: Teacher Friendly, Student Based

Menu of strategies Not a mandate Teachers need same consideration as do

students when it comes to differentiation: consideration of individual differences & opportunity to refine & develop strengths

ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL! Take away some ideas and see ...

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Appeal (interest + enjoyment)

Enjoyment: Creating a learning environment that is pleasant, safe, encouraging of smiles, & satisfying

Interest: Reflecting preferences for topics & activities, positively engaging

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Appeal (interest + enjoyment)

“Learning is more effective when students enjoy what they are doing, and, therefore, learning experiences should be constructed and assessed with as much concern for enjoyment as for other goals” (Renzulli, 1994, p. 204)

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Appeal (interest + enjoyment)

“There can be no mental development without interest.” (Whitehead, 1929).

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Appeal (interest + enjoyment)

As you attempt to differentiate … think in terms of students and learning (instead of curriculum) Ask “so what” and “who cares”

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Appeal (interest + enjoyment)

Offer the opportunity to do fewer but more difficult problems

Share yourself Encourage the same from your students Ask the students what will work Laugh Care Appreciate creativity and humor

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Appeal (interest + enjoyment)

Assess student interests Incorporate student interests Develop new interests Be interesting in your teaching Share your interests Choose controversy

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Challenge

Challenge: varies based on individual, rigor, depth, complexity, engages the student for optimal learning Content Process Product Audience

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Challenge

“Only when challenges and skills were felt to be high and working in tandem did all the varied components of well-being - cognitive, emotional, and motivational - come together for the students. Concentration was far above its normal classroom level, and self-esteem, potency, and involvement also reached their highest levels.” (Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde, & Whalen,1993, p. 186).

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Challenge

Remember that students can produce knowledge

Provide depth and complexity based on student questions and interests Take the time Jump in over your head

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Challenge

Whenever possible provide open-ended assignments

Be ambiguous Use challenge problems

Daily, weekly, monthly on tests and assignments

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Challenge

Begin at the back of the book Start with a big problem that they

don’t have all the skills to solve Ensure access to advanced content

for all students

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Choice

Choice: Empowering students to direct and make important decisions about their learning

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Choice

“A measure of choice is arguably the ingredient most crucial to the realization of intrinsic rewards in the classroom.” (Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde, & Whalen,1993, p. 186).

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Choice

Offer choice concerning products and/or presentation style

Provide choices Who (alone, together, audience) What (content, outcome, expression) How (methods, materials) When (due dates, order)

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Choice

“Choice should be taken seriously. The more latitude you give students, the more they will learn how to choose wisely the problems and projects they want to pursue, an essential element of creativity.” (Sternberg, 1996)

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Meaningfulness

Meaningfulness: Having relevance to students’ lives, connected, worth caring about

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Meaningfulness

Consider and have students consider a sense of audience Who cares Who might care How might we have a greater impact

Connect to the real world, deliberately and often

Develop a climate that celebrates and uses individual strengths and differences

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Meaningfulness

Provide opportunities for deep involvement

Model caring Make connections, consider community

involvement, service learning, mentorships, apprenticeships

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Meaningfulness

“The whole process of education should thus be conceived as the process of learning to think through the solutions of real problems.” (Dewey, 1916)

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Self Efficacy

“If you have a better idea see me…” Explicitly discuss process to encourage

metacognition Model, provide models Offer appropriate differentiated

challenges based on individual needs Throw away the rubric and provide

minimum requirements instead

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Eisner, 2001 on rubrics

“…students want to know just what they have to do to earn a particular grade…but such planning has very little to do with intellectual life, where risk-taking, exploration, uncertainty and speculation are what it’s about. A narrow means/end orientation … can undermine the development of intellectual dispositions.”

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Eisner, 2001 on rubrics

“As we focus on standards, rubrics and measurement, the deeper problems of schooling go unattended” conversation teacher isolation message concerning what is important to students

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Is it working?

By putting the students in charge of their learning you encourage creativity, autonomy, buy-in,

interest, quality, strengths, development of talent …

Mission approached

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When, if not now?

“What we need in America is for students to get more deeply interested in things, more involved in them, more engaged in wanting to know; to have projects that they can get excited about and work on for long periods of time, to be stimulated to find things out on their own.” (Gardner, as quoted by Brandt, 1993).

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Research Based Check-List for Ensuring Challenge

New concepts Advanced content Product/service Authentic methods Advanced vocabulary Authentic tools Advanced resources

Creative thinking Historical perspective Presentations Performances Respond to interests Student directed

learning and choice

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Research Based Strategies: GTC in the Regular Classroom

Advanced thinking Curricular extensions Open-ended ?’s Enrichment Curriculum compacting Assignment adjustment

Emphasis on problem solving

Choices, choices Critical thinking Creative thinking Acceleration Independent study

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Research Based Strategies: GTC in the regular classroom

Spending time with GTC students

Mentorships Apprenticeships Credit for meeting

standards Encouraging high

level outcomes

Affective development

Self-evaluation Providing time to

become involved in long-term study in an area of passion

Community service

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Final Considerations

Your own strengths + those of your students = optimal and meaningful learning possibilities

To grow, try new things, model risk taking … see what works

Push to make a difference for individual students

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Final Considerations

“Enthusiasm is the match that

lights the candle of achievement.” --William Arthur Ward