What Every Teacher Needs to Know About

Student Motivation and Engagement

 

As human beings, most of us tend to avoid things that are difficult.  For example, I was recently visiting a school where kids were running the mile as part of their physical education class.

 

The teacher I visited with mentioned something interesting.  He does not tell his students in advance when they will run the mile.  He has to ‘spring’ it on them—surprise them.  Otherwise, kids don’t show up that day for school.  Or…they mysteriously forget their gym clothes…or perhaps develop mysterious symptoms just before physical education begins.  Why is that?  It’s because most human beings hate to run the mile.  And if left to our devices…we will avoid it—and anything else difficult like it—as if it were the plague.

 

Much of what we know about human motivation and engagement in difficult tasks can be summed up in something called Expectancy Value Theory.  This construct suggests that whether or not you or I choose to initiate, persist in, and complete a task—like running the mile—is based on (1) expectancy, or our belief that we will be successful at… and (2) value, or our belief that running the mile is actually worth our time.

 

In other words, pretend that you are in the seventh grade, and the teacher announces that everyone will be running the mile during class this next Thursday.  If you are a kid who feels like you stink at running the mile, you are a bit more likely to be ‘mysteriously ill’ the day it is scheduled to be run…or to find some other way out if it.  Or…you might even show up the day of the mile, but will probably not run the entire way…because you think it is just too hard.   

 

A similar phenomenon exists if you just don’t see the point in running the mile.  For example, I had a student who was an accomplished high school wrestler and had incredible endurance, but…was walking the mile during P.E.  When I asked him about it, he said, ‘What’s the point!?!  I already ran 5 miles this morning before school.  I will have to run again tonight at practice.’  His lack of motivation wasn’t due to a lack of anticipated success.  Running the mile in P.E. just wasn’t something he perceived as worth his time. 

 

It is the same in the classroom.  I admit that it is really heart-warming to visit with so many schools and hear how they are working to make learning more rigorous and relevant.  But an understanding of expectancy-value theory provides to points of insight.  First…while rigor is important, we will undoubtedly lose students if our class becomes too difficult.  Second…teachers should take every opportunity to design relevant learning experiences and articulate that relevance to their students.   Kids want to connect with their learning, but it takes an effective teacher to help them to do so.

 

The truth is that, while they are actually two distinct elements of student learning, the terms motivation and engagement are often used interchangeably to describe students’ energy and drive to learn, work effectively, and achieve their potential at school and the behaviors that follow from this energy and drive.  While the term student engagement is often defined in various ways, Chapman’s (2003) definition is widely accepted and applied—student’s cognitive investment in, active participation in, and emotional commitment to learning. In contrast, Maehr and Meyer (1997) define motivation as a construct used to explain initiation, direction, intensity, persistence, and quality of behavior, especially in goal-directed behavior.  In other words, why it is that we are doing what it is that we are doing.  Simply put, motivation is an essential part of engagement, just as engagement is an essential part of learning and achievement…

 

I recently had the chance to work with a number of amazing educators whose job it is to help engage students in learning tasks…and extremely difficult ones at that—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics classes where kids do everything from build water purification systems to design, construct, and drive robots that compete against other robots from around the world.    They are all engineering teachers or are teachers that build extremely challenging engineering and design elements into core content classes…

 

 

References

 

Andersen, L., & Ward, T. (2013). Expectancy‐value models for the STEM persistence plans of ninth‐grade, high‐ability Students: A comparison between black, hispanic, and white students. Science Education.

 

Bernard, S. (Dec. 2010). Science Shows Making Lessons Relevant Really Matters." Edutopia. Accessed 15 May 2014.

 

Brophy, J. (2004). Motivating students to learn (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

 

Chapman, E. (2003). Assessing Student Engagement Rates. ERIC Digest.

 

Claxton, G. (2007). Expanding young people’s capacity to learn. British Journal of Educational Studies. 55(2), 1-20.

 

Gee, J. P. (2007). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy.: Revised and Updated Edition. Macmillan.

 

Gilbert, J. (2007). Catching the Knowledge Wave: Redefining knowledge for the post-industrial age. Education Canada, 47(3), 4-8. Canadian Education Association. www.cea-ace.ca

 

Harris, L. R. (2008). A Phenomenographic Investigation of Teacher Conceptions of Student Engagement in Learning. The Australian Educational Researcher, 5(1), 57-79.

 

Irvin, J. L., Meltzer, J., & Dukes, M. S. (2007). Taking action on adolescent literacy: An implementation guide for school leaders. ASCD.

 

Kamil, M. L. (2003). Adolescents and literacy: Reading for the 21st century. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.

 

Martin, A. J. (2008). Enhancing student motivation and engagement: The effects of a multidimensional intervention. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 33(2), 239-269.

 

Maehr, M. L., & Meyer, H. A. (1997). Understanding motivation and schooling: Where we've been, where we are, and where we need to go. Educational Psychology Review, 9(4), 371-409.

 

Marzano, R. J. (2007). The art and science of teaching: A comprehensive framework for effective instruction. ASCD.

 

Parsons, P. & Taylor, L. (2011). Student engagement: What do we know and what should we do? [White paper]. Retrieved from
http://education.alberta.ca/media/6459431/student_engagement_literature_review_2011.pdf

 

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–6.

 

Prensky, M. (2005). Engage me or enrage me. EDUCASE Review, 40(5), 61–64.

 

Prensky, M. (2012). From digital natives to digital wisdom: hopeful essays for 21st century learning. Corwin Press.

 

Rideout, V. and Hammel, E. (2006), The Media Family, Kaiser Family Foundation, Menlo Park, CA.

Sagor, R. (2010). The action research guidebook: A four-stage process for educators and school teams. SAGE.

 

Sweeny, S. M. (2010). Writing for the instant messaging and text messaging generation: Using new literacies to support writing instruction. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(2), 121-130.

 

Veen, W. and Vrakking, B. (2006), Homo Zappiens: Growing up in a Digital Age, Continuum, London.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. Readings on the development of children, 34-41.

Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (2000). Expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 68–81. doi:10.1006/ceps.1999.1015

Willis, J. (2006). Research-based strategies to ignite student learning: Insights from a neurologist and classroom teacher (pp. 1-31). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

 

Over the past decade it seems that I have had the same literacy conversation dozens of times with parents.  Around the time a student hits his or her teenage years, it seems that their parents grow increasingly concerned that their child just doesn’t seem to be reading on their own any more.  Now, to be clear, these are often kids in homes where reading is modeled and encouraged.  But, for a variety of reasons, it seems that young people seem to fall increasingly out of love with leisurely literacy activities.

Research tells us that reader motivation and engagement both result from an interplay between intrinsic and extrinsic factors (Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997).  There is an intrinsic motivation that refers to a willingness to read because that activity is satisfying or rewarding in it’s own right (Shieffele, et al., 2012).   For example, a person can be motivated to read because of an interest in the topic of the text or because the reading activity itself provides a positive experience, such as being absorbed in a story (Shiefele, 2009).  But there is also an extrinsic reading motivation that comes into play. By extrinsic motivation, we mean the  external outcomes that are associated with the reading topic or reading activity.  For example, students might consider possible praise from a teacher, good grades or outperforming their peers (Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997). 

Helping young people to become literate now implies a need for educators who seek strategically to improve their students’ reading motivation by focusing on both the intrinsic and extrinsic elements of reading.  A number of teachers I have worked with lately are seeking to do this by providing students with positive reading experiences and by making the tangible benefits of reading explicit to students.  But there remains the question—Just how do we improve and assess students’ engagement in the literacy activities we design for them?

I was recently attending and presenting at a conference that focused on student engagement in literacy.  At the conference, I was able to sit down and visit with Dr. Linda Rice, a professor and researcher from the University of Ohio. Dr. Rice has authored a number of books and articles on student engagement in literacy.  She has also been a classroom teacher for years. I started off by asking her how she felt we can assess teens engagement in literacy activities.  She stressed a sort of strategic multiplicity when it comes to how we engage students and how we assess them…

References

 

Nilsen, A. P. (2013). Literature for today's young adults. Boston: Pearson.

 

Schiefele, U. (2009). Situational and individual interest. In K.R. Wentzel & A. Wigfield (Eds.), Handbook of motivation at school (pp. 197–222). New York: Routledge.

 

Schiefele, U., Schaffner, E., Möller, J., Wigfield, A., Nolen, S., & Baker, L. (2012). Dimensions of Reading Motivation and Their Relation to Reading Behavior and Competence. Reading Research Quarterly, 47(4), 427-463.

 

Wigfield, A., & Guthrie, J.T. (1997). Relations of children’s motivation for reading to the amount and breadth of their reading. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(3), 420–432.

 

Recently, much attention has been turned to the importance of listening and speaking.  Across the United States, for instance, new curricular standards encourage regular classroom practice in speaking and listening from the time kids enter kindergarten…until they complete high school (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010).  In this podcast, we visit with researchers, educators, and students about ways to improve the listening and speaking activities taking place in our schools.

Strategy 1—Listening and Speaking Games

One way to engage students in listening and speaking is through games.  In my own classroom, I occasionally play a version of the board game ‘Moods’ with students.  In Moods, players take turns reading phrases from cards in the “mood” that they have secretly rolled. Mood examples include “dazed,” “zany,” “sneaky,” and “romantic.” The object is for players to vote on which mood is being demonstrated by the reader using their 4 individual voting chips.   Such games provide engaging opportunities for students to experiment with language and listening.

Another teacher I visited with often plays a mystery game with his students in order to encourage listening and thoughtful formulation of questions.  He gives students a mystery to solve, and only allows them to ask ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions in order to collect evidence.  If students accidentally repeat a question already asked, they get ‘buzzed’ out of the game.

In another classroom, I watched a teacher pass out ‘talk-bags’ to her students.  The contents of each bag were unique and contained 5 inexpensive objects such as a pencil, bracelet, notepad or piece of candy.  Students start off by individually evaluating the contents of their own bag on 5-point scale.  They then float around the classroom and seek to persuade other students to trade some of their items.  After 15 minutes, students re-evaluate the original contents of their bag, and discuss in groups what prompted a change in their perspective.

Whether teachers are playing off-the-shelf board games or some other game they have designed themself, it is important for educators to regularly blur the lines between effective communication and play as they seek to encourage classroom listening and speaking.

Strategy 2—Individual  Listening and Speaking Practice

A variety of activities can be used to encourage individual listening and speaking practice.  One engaging activity I saw used recently was called ‘Own It,” in which students select a piece of text, a handful of terms or some other content important to learning goals, and then seek to demonstrate that they ‘own it’ by creating a dramatic reading, a paper-slide presentation or some other unique, aural presentation.  The only two rules for the presentation were (1) accurate portrayal of the content and (2) a focus on audience engagement.  Offering students choice and control motivates students to develop speaking abilities as they organize, refine, and present their ideas.  Students also develop listening abilities as they get the chance to review and evaluate the finished presentations of their peers.

Many educators seek to encourage individual listening and speaking practice by allowing students to create presentations of existing projects or topics, rather than reinventing the wheel. For example, if a student already seems invested in an art, technology or language arts assignment, teachers can provide suggestions for ‘morphing’ it, or formatting the project into a formal presentation suited to a specific audience (Wallace, Stariha, & Walberg, 2004).

Real-world audiences also foster student effort in listening and speaking activities.  I recently worked with some educators who are using a scenario of an impending alien invasion to help students research various countries around the world.  Each student draws the name of a country at random, investigates its geography, customs, culture, etc. and then works to construct a six-minute argument for the alien invaders as to why their county should be spared.  On ‘Judgment Day,’ each student presents their argument to a panel of aliens.  These ‘aliens’ are actually community members in spacey costumes and masks.  According to their teachers, kids seem to work hard knowing that the fate of millions depends on a single six-minute presentation.

Strategy 3—Pairing, Sharing, and Beyond

Students also need to be granted regular opportunities to listen and to speak with their classmates in pairs and in small groups.  ‘Pairing and sharing’ is a good start, but the novelty of such an activity quickly wears off with students. Thus, there is a need for teachers to regularly update pair-and-share activities by requiring students to examine perspectives beyond their own and by using listening and speaking structures.

For example, a couple weeks ago, I watched students having fun with an activity called ‘Listen…But Don’t Repeat.’ In the activity, the teacher pairs up students and assigns a chooses a topic.  The first person (student A) has one minute to try to explain everything they know about the assigned topic while their partner (student B) listens in silence.  After one minute, the other student has the chance to speak on the same topic, but cannot repeat anything already said by their partner.  Such an activity could easily be done in trios, quartets, and even in slightly larger groups.  While regular pairing and sharing fosters student conversation, it imperative that teachers occasionally vary the format and parameters of such activities to help ensure that students remain engaged in regular listening and speaking.

Strategy 4—Whole Group Listening and Speaking

Speaking with (or in front of) a large group can be an intimidating experience for most students.  In addition, whole group discussions often prove time consuming.  Yet, there is an increased need for structured, whole group discussions that are designed to change the way our learners read, think, discuss, write, and act (Copeland, 2005).  In addition, formal discussions help students learn valuable lessons in preparation and in ‘thinking more while saying less.’

Regular use of whole group discussion such as Socratic seminar and Circles of Knowledge provides students with opportunities to build their thinking and communication skills. Such activities help learners to think more deeply about texts, to support claims with supporting evidence, and to develop and share new insights and perspectives on a topic.  In addition, research posits that a significant correlation exists between student achievement and the extent to which classroom discussion recruits and highlights student ideas and voices (Nystrand et al., 2003).

While the format of whole group discussion often varies from classroom to classroom, success depends on an educator’s ability to (1) spark student interest with an open-ended, relevant question, (2) provide students time to formulate their own thoughts, (3) ‘kindle’ student participation by first allowing students to share/compare responses in smaller groups, and (4) allow students time pause, summarize, and reflect on the responses of others (Pickering, Dewing, & Perini, 2012).

When it comes to listening and speaking outside of the classroom, today’s young people appear adept at sharing and critiquing each other’s ideas and opinions.  The key, however, is for educators to regularly select and implement activities that move students from informal conversations with their peers to more formal presentations and patterns of discourse with a variety of selected audiences.

It takes time—and practice—for students to develop 21^st Century communication. Doing so also requires more classrooms and teachers that work actively to foster, value, and encourage student listening, speaking, and thinking.

 

Not too long ago I was at school, and came around the corner to find several students crowded around one kid’s cell phone screen.  They were laughing…so naturally…I assumed the worst—that they were sharing something salacious and titillating.  I yelled, “Freeze!  No one move a muscle!” I confiscated the phone with the students looking at me in confusion.    I soon discovered why.

 

I looked at the screen expecting something profane or pornographic.  But what I found surprised me…and got me thinking.  It turned out that these students were actually looking at a free app that one of them had downloaded called K-D Calc.  It’s designed to provide feedback on how well you play Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo, or any other multiplayer series game.  It provides stats that help you track your progress and see where you can improve with a simple ratio calculator that allows you to quickly see your win-loss ratio, detailed historical statistics, and links to a number of YouTube channel resources to help improve your game.

 

This is the world that students and their teachers live in—a world permeated by feedback.  We always seem to know exactly how we are doing.  The treadmill at the gym, for example, tells us our current pace, how many calories we have burned, and how much further we have to run to meet our workout goal. We get regular updates on our data and Internet usage throughout the month.  The GPS on our phone or built in to our car tells us where we are, where we are headed, and delivers timely step-by-step instructions.  Should we happen to take a wrong turn, a GPS immediately makes a quick adjustment, and delivers modified directions to get us back on track.

 

But in schools, there is much room for improvement in the ways in which we seek to provide students with meaningful feedback.  In the early grades, teacher feedback seems to serve as verification that someone cares enough about our work to read and think about it.  But feedback should be much more than that.  It should match specific descriptions and suggestions.  It should be just-in-time and just-for-me information delivered to students when and where it will do the most good (Brookhart, 2008).

 

Dr. Judy Willis is a neurologist turned classroom teacher.  She now works with Edutopia and lectures around the country to promote the incorporation of neuroscience in classroom learning.  She has spoken often about the feedback and scaffolding that are needed to support students' in difficult learning tasks, and posits that we might look towards video games as models for our classrooms.  After all, gamers are making errors 80% of the time.  But, games give hints, cues, and other feedback so players' brains have enough expectation of reward to persevere.  Why couldn’t a classroom feedback model follow suit.  Games provide timely, corrective, and progress-acknowledging feedback that allows the students to correct mistakes, build understanding progressively, and recognize their incremental progress.

 

Dr. Willis insists that good games give players opportunities for experiencing intrinsic reward at frequent intervals when they apply the effort and practice the specific skills they need to get to the next level. Games do not require mastery of all tasks and the completion of the whole game.  Instead, the player gains points or tokens for small incremental progress and ultimately the powerful feedback of the success of progressing to the next level (Willis, 2011).

 

John Hattie publishes very large books that put together several people’s research from around the world. A substantial amount of what he has aggregated focuses on improving the use of feedback in schools.  Hattie (2009) states that educators need to keep three questions in mind when it comes to their students:  “Where are they going?” “How are they going?” and “Where to next?” (p. 37).

 

In other words, the feedback we provide to students needs to go beyond the normal grades, punitive action, and occasional rewards that we usually offer in the classroom.  Instead, educators should take a lesson or two from steady, flowing feedback embedded in the apps and games that our students use so habitually.

 

As a kid, I remember one of my teachers in high school, Mr. Jefferies, who always went to great lengths to grade our essays the same night that we handed them in.  He said that he wanted to be able to discuss our performance with us…before the relevance of the assignment ‘leaked out of our brains.  Other researchers agree with him on the sense of urgency with which educators should seek to communicate with their students.  They insist that in or for feedback to be effective, it must first be timely.  By timely, we mean that learning is enhanced based on when feedback is given and how often it is used.  According to Gee (2007), human beings learn best when feedback and information are given ‘just in time’ (when they put it to use) and ‘on demand’ (when they feel they need it).  Like other researchers, Gee acknowledges that the powerful in feedback built into video games.  In a game, a person makes predictions, choices, and takes action while simultaneously receiving a steady flow of feedback that proves helpful for future decision-making.   Like games, teachers can explore ways to provide students feedback when they need it, and…to give them feedback designed to increase their chance of success.

 

As educators strive to improve their feedback practices, they can better address those three crucial questions for their practice and students… “Where are they going?” “How are they going?” and “Where to next?” (p. 37).   The real key, however, is not seeing feedback as something that we provide to students…but rather as a dynamic and timely way of improving their learning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

 

Brookhart, S. M. (2008). How to give effective feedback to your students. Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

 

Dean, C. B., & Marzano, R. J. (2012). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, Va: ASCD.

 

Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. London: Routledge.

 

Willis, j. (2011, April 14).  A Neruologist Makes the Case for the Video Game Model as a Learning Tool.  Edutopia.   http://www.edutopia.org/blog/video-games-learning-student-engagement-judy-willis

Human beings are wired for two things—learning and playing.  No one is likely argue with the first claim…that we are wired for learning.  Babies who are only a couple months old, for example, naturally begin to babble and imitate sounds.  After a few more months, they learn to support their entire weight on their legs.  By the time they are two-years-old, they can walk up and down stairs while just a bit of support and even start formulating two-to-four word sentences.  This natural acquisition of new skills and abilities transpires for nearly every human being and is evidence that we are wired…for learning.

 

But are we also wired for playing? Recently I had the opportunity to visit with Dr. Barbara Voorhies, an archeologist who studies ancient civilizations on the coast of Chipas, Mexico. She has a PhD from Yale, and is currently a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California in Santa Barbara.  Back in late 80’s, one of her projects at an ancient fishing village involved the excavation of enormous mounds of shells that had gone largely undisturbed for thousands of years.  The real, discovery, however, wasn’t in the shell mound…but underneath it: an odd, round shape pressed into the mud by an ancient fisherman.

 

Though her discovery was decades ago, it wasn’t until just recently that she was able to put all the pieces together.  Based on other people’s research and a number of similar discoveries around the world, Dr. Voorhies figured out that below this massive pile of shells was an ancient  ‘chase’ game played with primitive dice—much like Candyland or Chutes and Ladders. It’s one of many games played by ancient man that has been discovered all over the world.  Some of the games are alleged to be the predecessors of ‘mobile gaming’: a mat with the game painted on it so that could be rolled up, transported, and played anywhere.

 

Humans have played games for thousands of years.  And why wouldn’t we?  Games offer rapt and rapid learning—a chance to learn deeply and quickly. My family recently had a few days off of school due to snow, so in addition to sledding and snowball fights, we dusted off the old Monopoly board.  As my kids played I made little notes from time to time about the formal and informal learning that that seemed to be taking place.  Any one who has played a bit of Monopoly tends to develop a strategy that seems to combine risk assessment, diversification, and timing. There is also a great deal of mental math, negotiation, and trading that comes into play.  But as I watched three of my sons play, I noticed another skill being the developed—the ability to adapt and evolve.

 

Games like Monopoly have their own rules, but it is not uncommon for people play by ‘house rules,’ or their own modified version of the game.  At our house, as the game drug on, my sons made their own adjustments and modifications.  For example, it didn’t take them long to learn that being the banker was a lot of work, so they decided that everyone would take a turn running the money for ten minutes and then collect an extra 200 dollars at the end of their shift.  At one point, the youngest brother started to lose the game—and as a result—also started to lose interest.   To ensure that he kept playing, the other two brothers afforded him control over the selection of music that played in the background on Pandora.  My favorite part of watching them play, though,  was when one of the brothers successfully bartered for control of Boardwalk using a combination of his own previously acquired properties and two chocolate chip cookies that were fresh out of the oven.

 

These kids calculated, schemed, and compromised.  They experimented with strategies and even developed a bit of financial diction.  That is the real power of games.  Games do what teachers often struggle to do—they blur the lines between learning and playing.

 

 References

Voorhies, B. (2013). The Deep Prehistory of Indian Gaming: Possible Late Archaic Period Game Boards at the Tlacuachero Shellmound, Chiapas, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity, 24(1), 98-115.

A couple of weeks ago, when the whether turned ridiculously cold, I was on my way home from visiting with some teachers in a nearby city when I got a little lost.  My GPS went a bit screwy and started to send me in circles.  After going by the same gas station three times, I attempted to navigate as my forefathers had done—I stopped and asked directions. 

 

A helpful, older gentleman got me recalibrated, and pointed me in the right direction.  The route he suggested took me in front of a newly remodeled high school with a handful of sports practice fields on one side.  Though it was only 2 in the afternoon and barely twenty degrees outside, there were kids everywhere.  My first thought was that the school must have been having some sort of artic fire drill.  That’s when I heard a muffled explosion and a loud cheer from the kids on the field.

 

It turned out that these students were participating in their very own version of Pumkin Chunkin’—a competition where builders construct trebuchets, catapults, and air cannons to see who can launch pumpkins, gourds, and a variety of other edibles the furthest distance through the air.  The event was put on by a handful of science teachers and community members in order to build interest in physics, engineering, and problem solving—all of which are being emphasized in emerging curricular standards across the nation.

 

As I visited with the students, they kept talking about their teacher, Doctor Sylvester, and the learning activities that went on in his classes. They said that he was always demonstrating something potentially perilous to students and insisting that they would all ‘be safe as long as no one made any sudden movements.’  Even more interesting was how often it sounded like students got to be involved in these types of activities.  Pumpkin Chunkin’ seemed to be just one of a long list of activities used to get students excited and engaged in problem-solving.

 

The more I heard students talk, the more this teacher sounded like some sort of mad-scientist.  Every year Doctor Sylvester also rigs up an elaborate, musically-synchronized Christmas lights show up at his house.  People drive for miles from nearby towns and cities just to line up for a chance to park in his driveway and experience the seasonal spectacle. He also runs the music at school dances…which he enhanced with a laser-light show and a fog machine. 

 

It also turns out that the ‘Doctor’ in Doctor Sylvester’s name isn’t just an honorary title.  After working for a few years in the Computer Science field, he decided he wanted to be a teacher instead, so…he went out and got a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction.  His dissertation?  You guessed it—Problem-based Learning.

 

            This type of learning insists that all of education should involve either problem solving or preparation for problem solving (Delisle, 2004).  Instead of memorizing information, PBL presents students with a situation that leads to a problem and provides opportunities for students to assume the role of scientist, project manager or engineer. 

 

            Problem-based Learning originated in the medical field as a means for improving practitioners’ critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.  Barrows and Tamblyn (1996) summarized the process as follows:

 

1.                      The problem is encountered first in the learning sequence, before any preparation or study has occurred. 

 

2.                      The problem situation is presented to the student in the same way it would present itself in reality.

 

3.                      The student works with the problem in a manner that permits his ability to reason and apply knowledge to be challenged and evaluated, appropriate to his level of learning.

 

4.                      Needed areas of learning are identified in the process of work with the problem and used as a guide to individualized study.

 

5.                      The skills and knowledge acquired by this study are applied back to the problem, to evaluate the effectiveness of learning and to reinforce learning.

 

6.                      The learning that has occurred in work with the problem and in an individualized study is summarized and integrated into the student’s existing knowledge and skills (Barrows and Tamblyn 1980, pp. 191-192).

 

 

 

If Problem-based Learning is good enough for a life-saving profession like medicine, certainly it’s good enough for a life-changing one like education.  And it is not just science that should being infusing student learning with PBL. Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, and just about any other course can employ active learning strategies where students talk to each other, not through the teacher.  The result—teachers rely less on the text and more on learning…learning that fosters student independence and creativity (Delisle, 2004).   

 

 

 

A while ago, one of my sons came home with a box full of old rocketry supplies.  He said that his science teacher was going to throw it all out…since most of the equipment had been damaged by a plumbing leak in the storage area.  He sorted and sifted out the stuff that still looked useable, then loaded up a youtube video on how to hook up and launch a rocket.  We walked over to the school parking lot, and in less than an hour, he was ready to blow things sky-high.  At least he thought he was. 

 

 

 

            The rocket wouldn’t ignite.  But instead of getting frustrated, like many of us would, he started to troubleshoot.  He checked the batteries on the igniter.  He switched out the rocket engine.  He started checking each of the wires, connections, and contact points. After each adjustment, he would try it again.  Eventually, it worked.  The rocket blew hundreds of feet in the air, and floated awkwardly down to parking lot, probably due to the slightly molded, warped parachute hidden inside the body tube. 

 

 

 

He did this again, and again until he grew bored.  He finally asked if I could take him back home.  I assumed that he was done with rocketry for the day, and was surprised when he came back from his room with the ammunition from his BB gun.  When I asked him what he was up to, he explained that he was going to use the steel balls to make the rocket heavier and heavier to see how much thrust the engine actually has.  I wasn’t sure if I should be terrified or intrigued.   I went with the latter, and helped supervise his project.  Eventually, after four incremental adjustments to the weight of the rocket tube, the engine failed to lift the rocket.  But to my son, it wasn’t a failure—it was a success.

 

 

 

This is what a child’s brain does when teachers (and parents) have the courage to get out of the way…when we are willing to facilitate learning, rather than driving it.  We need more problem—and problem solving in schools.  The question isn’t IF we should be using PBL in schools.  The real question is why aren’t we using it more?

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

 

 

Barrows, H. S., & Tamblyn, R. M. (1996). Problem-based learning: An approach to Medical Education. New York, NY: Springer.

 

 

 

Delisle, R., & Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. (2004). How to use problem-based learning in the classroom. Moorabbin, Vic: Hawker Brownlow Education.  

 

What can a professional jazz drummer and my dad's garage band possibly teach us about collaboration and leadership?

As a teenager, I was in a band. Well...technically, I was in the band. Anyone who has survived high school can tell you that there is a huge difference. Guys in a band get gigs, friends, and dates. Guys in the band--they get punched.

A couple of years ago, I was visiting my parents back west. As I was thumbing through one of my dad's old yearbooks I stumbled upon an old photo of him--or at least some younger, long-haired version of him--up on a stage. Hundreds of people seemed to be thronging around him and screaming. My dad appeared to be singing into a microphone, playing a keyboard, and had on an outfit that I have since tried very hard to forget. It turned out that my dad...was in a band.

I felt deceived. I had no idea that my 'old man' had ever been that cool. When I asked him about it, he just laughed it off; he insisted that neither he nor his buddies really knew how to play very well. But for some reason, people kept hiring them to play at parties and at dances.

At one point, they even saved up enough money to buy a used Ford Econo-Van. Using some cardboard cutouts and three cans of spray paint, they stenciled in the name of the band--The Exchequers--on the side. On weekends, they would 'tour' the surrounding states and play at dance halls and bars. I couldn't believe it. My conservative father--retired military chaplain and state delegate for the Republican Party--had been both a musician and a con man. It was almost too cool to be true.

For months afterwards, every time I spoke with my father, a single question nagged at me: just how did my father and his buddies pass themselves off as a band, despite--as they said--their "obvious lack of musical talent." One day, he finally shared with me the recipe for turning a garage band into something more...something that people were willing to pay and cheer for. Since that day, as I have presented around the country on educational leadership, organizational learning, and collaboration, I have repeatedly shared a number of these suggestive principles with educators. Below are three that seem particularly relevant in light of growing interest in teacher leadership and collaboration.

1) Diverse Skill Sets, Aligned to a Common Vision, Make Powerful Teams.
The way my dad tells it, The Exchequers were a hit largely because they shared a vision for creating music they were passionate about and each person in the band had something unique to offer to that shared vision. Danny could play a handful of chords on the rhythm guitar. Dean could do the same on the bass. Mike wasn't an experienced drummer, but he could keep a steady beat and wasn't afraid to improvise a solo every now and then. My dad couldn't read music, but he could sing a bit...and with patience, could figure out most songs on a keyboard by listening to them over and over on his turntable. What mattered is that they could commit to and share a "groove," the steady beat that opens the doors for creativity, innovation, and the human expression audiences want to experience.

Individually, none of them were worth listening to. But as an aggregate, they had something to offer that their audiences clearly loved. The same principle holds true in education. No individual teacher, no mater how talented, can help students reach their full potential. To do so requires strategic collaboration in teams--teams whose collective capacity and performance are dependent on what each individual brings to the table (Senge et al., 2012).

An effective team of educators is likely to have one exceptional teacher in the use of instructional technology, another in problem-based learning, a third in assessment, and so on. Such diversity in knowledge and skills results in teams that are more creative, innovative, and effective (Guzzo & Dickson, 1996; Levi, 2013). Imagine what a team of diverse talents could do when each member of the team works to develop personal mastery. The greater the level of mastery, the more every musician or teacher brings to the team, and ultimately, to their audience and students.

2) Trust and Rely Upon Others.
Successful musical groups are comprised of individuals who have learned, over time, to confidently rely upon each other. Conductor Charles Hazlewood, known around the world for invigorating classical pieces (and audiences) with modern flare, emphasizes the need for common goals and an unshakeable bond of trust. Such trust is the result of repeated opportunities to work with others in refining coordination, and consequently, anticipation of and reliance upon each other (De La Torre-Ruiz & Aragón-Correa, 2012).

In schools, teachers are often assigned to teams based on grade level, content area or some other perceived commonality. True teams, however, are developed--not designated (Bachmann & Zaheer, 2008). They happen much like music is made--more like an egg hatching or water boiling. You don't know exactly when the great moments will come, but you create an environment where they can happen.

Educators must therefore be provided with time and tools for regular, purposeful collaboration. As they collectively identify and confront challenges, holding nothing back and supporting each other as they take careful risks, each individual talent is unleashed and expertise becomes more apparent to the other team members--resulting in a more effective team and individual performance (Baumann & Bonner, 2004).

3) Maintain a Distinction Between Mistakes and Failure.
The only thing cooler than being in a band...is being the drummer in a band. Over the phone one day, Dad spoke of the awe that he and the other band members shared towards their drummer, Mike. They wondered what many of us have wondered--just what is it that allows an individual to be so uninhibited? How does a person get up on stage, pound away on so many different surfaces, and drive an entire performance without making mistakes?

A few years ago, I have had the opportunity to work with an educator who is also a professional jazz drummer. One night after my family and I watched him perform in concert, my seven-year-old son ran up to him and asked what I had always wanted to ask--"How do ya' do all that without messin' up?" The drummer just laughed, but went on to explain that drummers make mistakes all the time. He confided in us that, just half an hour earlier, he had performed several bars of music with just one hand because he had inadvertently dropped a drumstick. Then he said, "Mistakes are part of music, but it's how we react to those that make the difference." Think of that: mistakes are part of the music. In other words, without mistakes, there is no music. Just try listening to this robot play John Coltrane's solo on Giant Steps and you'll see what I mean. Accuracy is not necessarily music. Music, and education, is performed by humans, and therefore is prone to mistakes. Careful mistakes that are made when someone is "going for it" because they care are a lot different than careless mistakes made by a renegade who hasn't taken the time to develop any personal mastery.

Educators would be wise to adapt a similar mentality and to work to maintain a clear distinction between mistakes and failure. Error is an integral part of learning (Roediger & Finn, 2009). It is also a fundamental component of success in schools. Education is being asked to try out a number of new techniques, tools, and approaches. As a result, we are also making some new mistakes. The key is to make sure that we are learning from--and through--mistakes as we work to transform education.

Recently I put my father's "garage band advice" to the test in a presentation to an auditorium full of educators. I wanted to see if four seemingly average people including myself really could make some music worth listening to. So...I pulled three people from the crowd up on stage who had no musical experience and assigned each of them an "instrument" to play. A middle-aged science teacher blew a kazoo, a building principal with a comb-over played a cowbell, and a first year elementary teacher banged away on a coffee pot. In tribute to my father, I tried to play a bit of piano and did my best to sing along.

Up on stage, our makeshift 'band' fumbled our way through some of The Exchequers old dance songs like Wild Thing, Louie Louie, and Satisfaction. We didn't sound great, but after a couple of minutes, we weren't bad. We tried out new roles, we learned from our mistakes, and for a few moments, we felt like a band. The crowd even joined in on the chorus.

A vast majority of recent policy and press has focused on the need to raise expectations and performance in education (Obama, 2014). Whether our "performance" is up on stage with makeshift band or inside a school with developing teachers, the same principles hold true. Improving education requires regular opportunities for collaboration and trust building. It also requires schools to capitalize on the diverse skill sets.

Too often, educators look outside of their collective talent for someone or something to solve problems for them: If I implement this new software, this new program, this other district's way of doing things, it will make everything work better for us. Like musicians who never perform a song the same way each time, educators in different schools, districts, or regions, can't expect that what worked for someone else or some other school can be copied and pasted onto their situation to achieve the same results.

And like musicians who are influenced by the way they feel at the moment, the mood of the audience, the sound of the room, what they had for breakfast that morning, etc., educators have an infinite number of variables that are unique to their situation: student and parent dynamics, culture considerations, the collective mix of teachers' personalities, etc. The band on the stage and the educators at a site are the most intimately connected to the challenges at hand, and therefore the most able to find solutions to their own problems.

Musicians study the masters and the best recordings, but the band plays the music. The music can't happen if the band waits for something or someone else to create the music for them. They have to act, albeit with uncertainty. They never really know exactly what's going to happen when they start, but when they apply the principles we've been discussing, it works out. That doesn't sound exactly measureable--but like great music, not all great things can be measured or quantified. Otherwise, it's all practice and no art. We need the practice and the art-- but remember that audiences volunteer to experience art. In short, musicians and educators are more successful when they utilize their gifts and talents to learn to solve problems internally. Thus, above all, teachers must be granted the flexibility and freedom to experience and learn from mistakes. Only then will our schools ever really attain and experience success.

--Curtis Chandler

References

Bachmann, R., & Zaheer, A. (2008). Trust in inter-organizational relations. The Oxford Handbook of Inter-Organizational Relations, 533-54.

Baumann, M. R., & Bonner, B. L. (2004). The effects of variability and expectations on utilization of member expertise and group performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 93(2), 89-101.

Bradbury-Huang, H., Lichtenstein, B., Carroll, J. S., & Senge, P. M. (2010). Relational Space: Creating a Context for Innovation in Collaborative Consortia.

De La Torre-Ruiz, J. M., & Aragón-Correa, J. A. (2012). Performance of newcomers in highly interdependent teams: the case of basketball teams. European Sport Management Quarterly, 12(3), 205-226.

Guzzo, R. A., & Dickson, M. W. (1996). Teams in organizations: Recent research on performance and effectiveness. Annual review of psychology, 47(1), 307-338.

Levi, D. (2013). Group dynamics for teams. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.

Obama, B. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary. (2014). Remarks by the president in state of union address, Washington, DC.

Roediger, H. L., & Finn, B. (2009). Getting it wrong: Surprising tips on how to learn. Scientific American.

Senge, P. M., Cambron-McCabe, N., Lucas, T., Smith, B., & Dutton, J. (2012). Schools That Learn (Updated and Revised): A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares About Education. Random House Digital, Inc.

In this episode, we seek to uncover the key to putting the right text in front of the right kid.  Sadly, when I was an elementary and secondary student, it often seemed that the text we read in class was mandated to us because either (1) it was one of my teacher’s favorites or (2) there were several existing copies of it already purchased to check out of the library.  Today, however, teachers are expected to use a variety of texts from a variety of genres as part of their literacy activities (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010). 

This could be good news for students, but it also requires teaches to become ‘hunters and gathers’ of texts that help students meet learning objectives and…that pique students’ interests.   Literacy research has consistently highlighted how student motivation to read is impacted by reader interest or eagerness to read a particular book, article or other form of text (Schiefele, 2009). 

Just think, for a moment, about what you pick up, (or fail to pick up) when an opportunity presents itself. I was recently in a dentist office while my son was getting braces put on his teeth.  It made for a long appointment, so I found myself watching people enter the office, check in at the desk, and then sit down in the waiting room.  About half the people passed the time fiddling away on their phone.  The other half would sit still for a moment, start to fidget, and then eventually migrate over to one of the corner tables where a variety of magazines were laid out.  That day, a textual buffet had been laid out for the patrons that included a wide selection of ESPN, TIME, People, Better Homes and Gardens, and Cooking Light magazines. 

As I watched the people in the waiting room, it seemed as though everyone found at least one magazine worthy of their time.  Some even took two magazines back to their seat.  But one thing that I noticed was that all of them stopped fidgeting, started reading, and began happily passing the time.  A couple of them were so enthralled in their reading that they had to be called two or three times by the receptionist before they realized that it was time for their appointment.  They were busy.  They were engaged.  They were lost in reading.

Teachers could take a lesson or two from these waiting rooms and should keep in mind that learning outcomes are consistently higher when students have some degree of control and choice over their learning (Niemic, Sikorski, & Walberg, 1996).  This includes reading materials.  The internet and its digital appendages have made it much easier to find a variety of texts to use with students.  Search engines and news feeds allow teachers to curate articles, multimedia or a combination of the two for use in the classroom.  These materials can serve as the ‘meat’ of reading tasks or as a springboard for other language, writing, listening or speaking activities.

Some of my students’ favorite literacy activities have involved texts that I just happened to stumble upon via Facebook, Twitter or some similar site.  Therefore it behooves educators to connect with and follow individuals or organizations that regularly share teaching ideas and texts geared to their particular content area.  A science teacher, for example, could find all sorts of articles by following a shortlist of people and handful of organizations such as Science News, Popular Science, NASA, Discover Magazine, Wired, and Popular Mechanics.  In addition, tools such as NewsELA allow you to sort through a variety of classroom friendly texts by topic, and allow you to adjust the readability of the text by altering the Lexile level.

As often as possible, the texts that we use in the classroom should relate either directly or indirectly to the interests of students.  Unfortunately, many teachers seem to know little about the video games, music, movies or other interests of their students, yet…these self-directed activities that they pursue outside of the classroom are likely to provide tremendous insight into topics, themes, and issues that students care about—and more importantly—that they care to read about. 

You and I might have very little interest in Divergent, Duck Dynasty, Minecraft or Maroon 5, but if one of these is important to our students, it is worth our time and attention.   My suggestion: part of a teachers’ daily preparation should involve regular exploration of teen and pre-teen fandom.  The rest of our time should be used to identify means to transform these topics into higher-interest reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities (Alvermann, Huddleston, & Hagood, 2004).   Our students are more likely to engage and persist in learning tasks—even difficult ones—that are tied to their own world. 

I said earlier that ‘everyone’ at the dentist office found something to read, and technically that was correct.  But…there was this one individual who came into the dentist office—a man in cold-weather coveralls.  He appeared to be in his fifties had a gnarled beard, and smelled of antifreeze. He too, entered, checked in at the desk, sat, fidgeted, and then went over to the reading tables like everyone else. He began rooting around in the magazines, as if he were looking for something.  After about a minute or so, he grabbed a copy of TIME magazine, swore loudly, and then grumbled to himself… “Nothin’ good to read.  Not even Hunting—or Field and Stream!”  He sat down, continued to grumble, thumbed through a few pages, then tossed the magazine aside and proceeded to fidget until his name was finally called by the receptionist. 

There were two thoughts that occurred to me that day.  First, as human beings, many of us seem to be fairly apt to read when we have a little time on our hands.  Second, the gentlemen in coveralls reminded me that, when we it comes to reading, we seem know exactly what interests us, and are quickly frustrated out of reading when we can’t get our hands on it.   For him, and for millions of others like him who find themselves some place they don’t want to be…be it a dentist office, a doctor’s office or in a classroom—it isn’t enough to have something to read.  We want a choice of reading material.  Lots of choices.  We want what interests us, and are unlikely to be engaged by anything else.

 

 

References

 

Alvermann, D. C. (2004). What could professional wrestling and school literacy

practices possibly have in common?. Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 47(7), 532-540.

 

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State

School Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards. Washington, DC:

Authors.

 

Niemic, R. P., Sikorski, C., & Walberg, H. J. (1996).Learner-control effects: A review of reviews and a meta-analysis. Journal of Educational and Computing Research, 15(2), 157-174.

 

Schiefele, U. (2009). Situational and individual interest. In K.R. Wentzel & A. Wigfield

(Eds.), Handbook of motivation at school (pp. 197–222). New York: Routledge.

 

No matter how cool the toy, kids would often rather play with the box.  Just why is that?  To me boxes embody the sort of informal learning that we often overlook and undervalue in schools.  It is the kind of self-directed exploration that takes place beyond the confines of classrooms.  Playing with a box, building forts out of couch cushions, enormous construction projects in sandboxes, and the mixing of mud-pies.  You could make the case kids learn…as long as we stay out of the way.   One thing is apparent, though.  Kids are learning at all the time—not just when we tell them to.

As a teacher and as a father, I have watched a number young people fall in…and then out of love with books.  Even in homes where reading is valued, book-time often finds itself in competition with a variety of school activities, videogames, and number of other pastimes. The situation is complicated by the fact that children’s motivation to read seems to decline as they get older (McKenna & Kear, 1990). In an effort to better understand what is it that motivates kids to read—and what teachers can do to increase students’ engagement in challenging literacy tasks—I visited with educators and researchers around the country who work with reluctant readers... 

 

 

Podcast References

 

Birsch, J. (2006). What is multisensory structured language? Perspectives, 32(2), 15-20.

 

Guthrie, J.T., Hoa, L.W., Wigfield, A., Tonks, S.M., Humenick, N.M., & Littles, E. (2007). Reading motivation and reading comprehension growth in the later elementary years. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 32(3), 282–313. doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2006.05.004

Guthrie, J. T., Meter, P., McCann, A. D., Wigfield, A., Bennett, L., Poundstone, C. C., ... & Mitchell, A. M. (1996). Growth of literacy engagement: Changes in motivations and strategies during concept‐oriented reading instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 31(3), 306-332.

 

McKenna, M., & Kear, D. (1990). Measuring attitudes toward reading: A new tool for teachers. The Reading Teacher, 52, 698–706.

 

McKenna, M.C., Conradi, K., Lawrence, C., Jang, B.G., & Meyer, J.P. (2012). Reading attitudes of middle school students: Results of a U.S. survey. Reading Research Quarterly, 47(3), 283–306.

 

Nolen, S. B. (2007). Young children's motivation to read and write: Development in social contexts. Cognition and Instruction, 25(2-3), 219-270.

 

Schiefele, U., & Schaffner, E. (in press). Lesemotivation im Grund schulalter – Ergebnisse einer Interviewstudie [Reading motivation of elementary school students – Results from an interview study]. Psychologie in Erziehung und Unterricht.

 

Schiefele, U., Schaffner, E., Möller, J., & Wigfield, A. (2012). Dimensions of reading motivation and their relation to reading behavior and competence. Reading Research Quarterly, 47(4), 427-463.

Choice, control, ownership of learning, a few games, and a bit of technology can have a powerful impact on mathematics instruction. 

I was walking through an elementary school recently, and I heard this kid in the hall turn to another kid and say, “Math was really fun today. “  He went on to talk about all the things that they ‘got’ to do. That is what he said.  Stuff we “got” to do.  So, I asked around.  I found out who his math teacher was. And I paid her a visit.  I explained that I was interested in what she does in her class.  You know, what is it that makes a kid say, “Hey.  Math is fun.”  She let me snoop around, even watch and visit with her kids.  And what I saw was amazing...

I recently visited a classroom where a teacher was working with students to examine changes that are underway in schools regarding 'how' and 'from whom' we learn.  This educator insisted that students must work to examine the ways in which we communicate, interpret, and form culture. To do so, he worked with a photographer from National Geographic to bring small town history to life.  I was intrigued when, during our conversation, he told me that, “Teachers need to get beyond this idea that we are authoritative sources of knowledge, and instead seek out experts outside the walls of our schools. It was at that point that I took a little digital microphone and asked him to share some of his thoughts on a project that I have since referred to as ‘Big-time Thoughts from Seemingly Small-time Towns.”

Lately, I have been doing much more travelling than I would like to be doing.  This often means car traffic, airport delays, and of course…road food.  But it’s not all bad. You see, I have recently come to the realization just how many American cities have are host to what I call the Fame Phenomenon. 

 

We have all likely heard of the Cooperstown’s Baseball Hall of Fame and Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  But there also exists hundreds of lesser known Halls. Titusville, Florida for instance, hosts the Astronaut Hall of Fame.  Dayton, Ohio houses the National Aviation Hall of Fame.  There is even a Robot Hall of Fame in Pittsburg.   I recently spoke at an induction ceremony for the Teacher Hall of Fame.  There are hundreds of such sites around the country, run by organizations feeling the need to enshrine famous or illustrious individuals. To be deemed worthy of such an honor often requires nomination, a rigorous application and review process, and hopefully….selection by a group of electors.

 

The other day, I visited a classroom teacher who is capitalizing on this American obsession with elitism in the form of a Historical Hall of Fame with his students...