Please reflect on how faculty might respond

to these situations

Many students complain that we talk too fast for

them to take good notes

Many students complain that they do not know how

to study for our tests or say the tests are impossible
or not fair

We feel we have a huge amount of material to

cover in our courses

We want our students to read literature in our field,

so we give them specific articles to read and test
them on the material without discussing it in class

This is their course: Getting

students to take greater
responsibility for their learning
Phyllis Blumberg, Ph.D.
p.blumbe@usp.edu

Outcomes of this session

Participants will be able to:
Assess the long term impact of who takes
responsibility for learning
Discuss alternative ways to foster students
to assume responsibility for learning
Begin planning for changes in your
courses

What are the consequences in terms of

student and faculty behaviors of these
facts?

College students are more diverse than

they were previously
Many college students are unprepared in
terms of background and study skills
Many college students are nontraditional, older or part-time
Many college students hold additional
responsibilities such as 20-40 hours of
employment or dependent care
Many college students have less
motivation to work hard

Consequences of current
student characteristics

Fewer students may be autonomous,

responsible learners
Faculty adapt their teaching to fit
requests/ needs of students
What do faculty do to respond?

When faculty assume more responsibility for

the students learning

They direct how students learn

They determine what students will learn
Faculty become the sole judges of how
well students have learned

When faculty assume more responsibility for

the students learning

Students remain passive

Students lack confidence in their
abilities to learn on their own
Students do not become lifelong,
self-directed learners

Does this sound familiar?

Consider the four situations you reflected on

initially in terms of who takes responsibility
for learning
How do the data on the previous slides
effect you, your students, and how you
teach?
What have you done to assume
responsibility for your students learning?
How would you like to help your students
take more responsibility for learning?

How much do you trust your students

to take responsibility for their own
learning?

Not at all
Somewhat
Mostly
Completely
Hopefully the rest of this workshop will
help you find ways to increase your trust
in students in this regard by
engendering skills so they can take this
responsibility

What should faculty do to assist

students?

Most instructors do not use strategies

to help our students take responsibility
for their own learning
See the next slide for USciences data
This workshop will offer some
strategies
These strategies are part of an
approach to teaching called
learning/learner centered teaching

Use of strategies to help students take

responsibility for learning

We will discuss the philosophical

overview and 6 ways faculty can
assist students to take responsibility
for learning (refer to blue sheet)
1.
2.
3.

Taking responsibility for Learning

Developing skills for further learning
Developing self-directed, lifelong
learning skills

6 ways faculty can increase student

taking responsibility for learning
(continued)
4. Developing their ability to assess

their
own learning
5.
Developing proficiency at selfassessment of their strengths and
weaknesses
This is not the same as self-grading
6. Developing proficiency in
information literacy skills

Peer teaching activity (12 minutes)

Divide into groups of 5.

Each person is responsible to teach others
in groups about 1 skill (components
numbered 2-6 on your handout)
2 minute self-study with a focus on the
example given
Take turns teaching each other with each person
taking about 2 minutes to describe the skill
I will be happy to answer questions, clarify ideas,
etc.

Choose a skill or component you might

want to assist students to develop

From among those you just discussed,

select a skill/component you want to
focus on
Choose on the basis of what these
students need the most, or would help
students learn better
I have questions to help you you
teach this specific skills- 10 minute
individual exercise

2 part small group activity (20

minutes)

Groups will be working on the same

skill
Part 1- consider possible changes

Consider which changes you might make

Agree upon 1-2 possible changes

Part 2- planning for transformation

Discuss the answers to the questions on the

planning for transformation form for the
selected component

Complete the planning for

transformation form (green sheet) as a
group or individually

Use the form as a stimulus to plan

how you can assist your students to
take responsibility for their learning
on this component
Pay special attention to the following
tactical questions

Answer tactical planning questions

What do you need to do, decide prior

to making changes?
Identify obstacles or challenges that
need to be overcome
Identify strategies for overcoming
obstacles
Identify necessary resources
How can you get students to accept
this change?

Any questions or feedback?

Reports from the groups