Monica Lininger, PhD, LAT, ATC
Associate Professor, Physical Therapy and Athletic Training
Teaching Academy Member
When we as faculty prepare for our courses, we start with the methods needed to transmit the content to the learner. What do we want the students to know by the end of the course? Whereas for our students, this might be the initial exposure to the content. We need to understand that our typical students have played nearly 10,000 hours of video games before they graduate from undergrad.1,2 According to Malcolm Gladwell, practicing anything for 10,000 hours suggests mastery3. While they may be experts in gaming, how well practiced are they for learning when they enter our classrooms? Are they ready for learning when they enter our classrooms? As educators, we want to take what matters to the students and lead them to what matters to us, but how do we accomplish this?
Jose̒ Bowen, president of Goucher College, will be our guest speaker for NAU Teaching Day on January 9, 2020 (https://tinyurl.com/TeachingDay2020). He has won many teaching awards from Stanford, Georgetown, Miami, and South Methodist University during his career. He will provide a dynamic and practical presentation on methods to decrease this gap between how students start the semester and our expectations, through student engagement and better instructions for both assessments and preclass preparation.
Engagement by the student proceeds learning. Bowen suggests4 that the sweet spot for learning is when the student is in a place of ‘pleasant frustration.’ This is further described as a situation that provides both challenge along with an opportunity for success. As masters of gaming, students are used to facing a challenge but also understand that with enough practice there is an opportunity for success. Do we create these types of situations in our classroom?
Another practice that Dr. Bowen will discuss is how to improve methods used to deliver instructions for assignments. Students will never be able to read our minds so we need to work to think like the students. Instead of telling students to read chapter 7, Bowen recommends5, telling students to find one thing important to them in chapter 7, or be prepared to discuss what was unsettling to them in chapter 7. With today’s students, we need to make instructions that are personal, conditional, and motivating. Our students have become accustomed to customizing many aspects of their lives. While we do not have 10,000 hours of time to practice with our students, by giving them clear instructions and evident goals, we can inspire them to put as much time into their studies as they do their video games.
We hope that you will join us on January 9, as Dr. Bowen presents his expertise with practical methods! Register Here
References
- McGonigal J. Gaming Can Make a Better World. https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world. Accessed November 14, 2019.
- Prensky MR. Teaching Digital Natives: Partnering for Real Learning. Corwin Press; 2010.
- Gladwell M. Outliers: The Story of Success. Reprint edition. New York, NY: Back Bay Books; 2011.
- Bowen JA. Teaching Naked: How Moving Technology Out of Your College Classroom Will Improve Student Learning. 1 edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2012.
- Bowen JA, Watson CE. Teaching Naked Techniques: A Practical Guide to Designing Better Classes. 1 edition. New Jersey: Jossey-Bass; 2017.