EDO-CS-91-10 Nov 1991
How College Learning Specialists Can Help College
Students
Prepared by: Norman A. Stahl; And Others
ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication
Digest #67
The learning specialist should view his/her mission as one of
assisting students to become successful, independent learners. One key
to moving beyond the "basic skills" approach to college reading
instruction lies in adopting an academic orientation of the instructor
as "learning specialist" rather than as a "remedial/developmental"
reading specialist. With the former, the instructor operates from a
philosophical perspective stressing strategic approaches to
reading-to-learn as driven by the cognitive sciences and recent
research in reading pedagogy. The more traditional skills approach
reflects a deficit model (and hence stigma) drawn from the
diagnostic-compensatory movement. In this case, the instructor looks
upon his/her mission as teaching students specific skills that have
not been mastered. This digest discusses some of the ways instructors
can help students become learners.
IMPLEMENT A COURSE SIMULATION MODEL
In a developmental studies program where students are not enrolled
concurrently in a credit-bearing, content-area course, consider
teaching strategies through a simulation model (Nist & Kirby, 1986).
The goal of such a model is to replicate the tasks and texts of a
typical lower-division course that most students are required to take
after completion of the developmental education requirement. Then
throughout the simulation experience, students read and study as the
learning specialist teaches the domain-specific study strategies.
Students can also receive practice in taking notes with appropriate
videotaped lectures or guest lectures from professors who regularly
teach the target course. During the lecture presentations the learning
specialists should model good notetaking strategies on an overhead
projector. The end point of the simulation experience is the passing
of an exam like that encountered in the regular course. When students
exit the simulation course, they take with them a physical product
(marked text and class notes), a cognitive product (greater prior
knowledge and experience), and domain specific and general study
strategies.
UTILIZE UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANTS
These assistants should be successful students who possess an
academic worldliness, a repertoire of efficient and effective learning
strategies, and a desire to pass this "insider knowledge" to another
student. These T.A.'s (or even peer tutors) can work with triads,
small groups, or with individual students needing intensive assistance
or other forms of mentoring. Variations of the mentorship plan can be
adapted from the Language Study model (Sartain et al, 1982), the
Learning Counseling model (Garfield & McHugh, 1978) or the
Supplemental Instruction model (Martin, 1980).
USE HIGH UTILITY STRATEGIES FOR IMMEDIATE
ACCEPTANCE
Experienced college learning specialists realize that many
students enter required reading courses with a negative attitude about
having been assigned to a "remedial" class. Consequently, rather than
starting the semester with processes that may take several weeks or
all term for students to reap the benefits, begin by teaching a high
utility strategy that promotes immediate transfer to other course
work. Instruction on how to take notes (Stahl et al, 1991) from
lectures or to use a structured study strategy (Stahl & Henk, 1985)
from assigned readings provides such an avenue to immediate use.
PROMOTE PLANNING
Most developmental studies students must learn to (a) establish
goals, allocate resources (i.e., select strategies, allot time), and
make a plan of action that incorporates the appropriate strategies
over time; (b) have a repertoire of strategies for the numerous tasks
and texts encountered in postsecondary learning, since there is no
best method to study; (c) select the most appropriate strategies based
on the characteristics of text, and personal learning preferences; (d)
activate and monitor a plan of action and make appropriate changes,
when necessary; and (e) evaluate their plan's success or failure to be
prepared for future situations.
RECONCEPTUALIZE VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
Students entering the milieu of postsecondary education need to
understand from the onset that the fundamental avenue for academic
success is the ability to expand their vocabulary quickly (Stahl et
al, 1987). Hence, college learning specialists must provide
experiences that immerse students in (1) the "language of the academy"
(e.g., terms such as bursar, financial aid); (2) the "language of the
educated" or the advanced general vocabulary used by scholars as they
communicate; and (3) the specialized "languages of the disciplines" or
those unique technical terms which permit scholars within a field to
communicate effectively and efficiently.
TRAIN STUDENTS TO UTILIZE STRATEGIES
One of the primary goals of the college learning specialist is to
lead students to become self-motivated and self-directed users and
later designers of efficient and effective strategies and tactics of
learning. In meeting these goals, consider using a four-step training
procedure (Stahl et al, in-press) that incudes components of modeling,
practicing, evaluating and reinforcing. In the initial modeling the
instructor demonstrates the use of a strategy such as a notetaking
system during an academic event in a content field class or during the
simulation of an academic event in a developmental studies class.
During the session/s, the instructor employs think-alouds and
self-report strategies to explain his/her rationale for undertaking
various tactics as part of implementing an overall notetaking
strategy.
After each session is completed, the instructor shares with the
students retrospective reports of the perceived successes or failures
as well as the rationale for any fix-up tactics employed. As the
modeling procedure continues across the training period, under the
observation and guidance of the instructor, the students employ the
strategy. Opportunities are provided for peer-modeling and group
reflection activities as the students master the strategy.
Long-term, monitored practice is undertaken throughout the
remainder of the term as students use (or adapt) the learned strategy
in a selected course. In order to build confidence with the technique
and to promote transfer to new situations, care must be taken to have
students practice in a course that specifically lends itself to the
strategy. Later the students may branch out to other courses as the
strategy becomes second nature to them. As in a simulation model, the
instructor must provide appropriate practice materials representative
of the content from a range of lower division courses.
Throughout the practice period, each of the students undergoes
regular evaluation of her/his strategy usage. For instance, with the
Notetaking Observation Training and Evaluation Scales (Stahl, et al,
1991) the learner uses an ordered set of objective, scaled criterion
behaviors associated with effective notetaking for evaluation and
monitoring progress towards becoming an efficient notetaker. Then
based on the aforementioned criteria, the instructor or another class
member reviews the student's notes and provides feedback on a weekly
basis. Like procedures have been described by Simpson (1986).
Reinforcement of positive behaviors is received through the ongoing
cooperative review sessions and the charting of points across the
term.
USE WRITING TO DEVELOP READING COMPREHENSION AND
CRITICAL THINKING
A number of tested strategies have been used as an integral step
in processes designed to elicit students' prior knowledge, improve
reading comprehension, and to teach independent study strategies. Many
learning specialists, however, overlook the value of writing to help
teach reading (Hayes, et al, 1991)--either as a step in a strategy or
by itself.
Either way, writing aids help students in becoming co-creators of
the texts they read, in creating their own articulated understanding
of content material, and in providing a means of monitoring and
revising that understanding. For instance, to elicit background
knowledge before a new reading assignment, the learning specialist can
ask students to freewrite on the general subject of the assignment, to
write down all the questions the reading passage's title brings to
mind, or to skim first and last paragraphs and main headings in the
passage and then freewrite on what they predict the passage will say
or even on questions about or objections to what they think will
appear in the passage.
The learning specialist can also ask that as students read, they
pause for three minutes before going on to the next section to
summarize what they have just read. In addition, it's always a good
idea to have students reflect on the entire passage during a 10-to
15-minute freewriting response. Such writing not only engages students
in the reading material, it also gives them an opportunity to monitor
their understanding and to contribute more knowledgeably to class
discussions. In a sense, writing about reading material turns the
reading process inside out, exposing readers to the inescapable
constructivist activity of creating meaning in and from words.
REFERENCES
Garfield, Learita and E. A. McHugh (1978). "Learning Counseling: A
Higher Education Student Support Service." Journal of Higher
Education, 49 (4). EJ 183 667
Hayes, Christopher G. et al. (1991). "Language Meaning and
Knowledge: Empowering Developmental Students to Participate in the
Academy," Reading Research and Instruction, 30(3), 89-100.
Martin, D. C. (1980). "Learning Centers in Professional Schools."
In K. V. Lauridsen (Ed.), New Directions for College Learning
Assistance: Examining the Scope of Learning Centers. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Nist, Sherrie L. and Kate Kirby (1986). "Teaching Comprehension
and Study Strategies through Modeling and Thinking Aloud." Reading
Research and Instruction, 25(4), 254-64. EJ 341 076
Sartain, Harry W. et al. (1982). Teaching Techniques for the
Language of the Disciplines. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh
and the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education.
Simpson, Michele L. (1986). "PORPE: A Writing Strategy for
Studying and Learning in the Content Areas." Journal of Reading,
29(5), 407-14. EJ 329 407
Stahl, Norman A. et al. (1987). "Developing College Vocabulary: A
Content Analysis of Instructional Materials." Reading Research and
Instruction, 26(3), 203-21. EJ 353 737
Stahl, Norman A. and W. A. Henk (1985). "Teaching Students to Use
Textbook-Study Systems." Reading Horizons, 25(3), 153-61. EJ 315 181
Stahl, Norman A. et al. (1991). "Enhancing Students Notetaking
through Training and Evaluation." Journal of Reading, 34(8), 614-22.
Digest#67 is EDO-CS-91-10 and was published in November 1991 by the ERIC
Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication, 2805 E 10th Street, Bloomington, IN
47408-2698, Telephone (812) 855-5847 or (800) 759-4723. ERIC Digests are in the public
domain and may be freely reproduced. Additional copies may be ordered by contacting the ERIC
Document Reproduction Service at (800) 443-3742.
This project has been funded at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of
Education under contract number RI88062001. The content of this publication does not
necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of
trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
