In the learning culture, students must “know how to approach the learning.” This includes always being focused on the “big picture” and knowing what to do before, during, and after class, as illustrated in the Formula for Approaching the Learning. A student visited me on Monday of Week 1 to learn more about my MESA program and possibly apply. It happened that his first class in calculus I had just ended, and he was clearly in the dark with regards to the learning culture.
Rather than discuss my MESA program, with a sense of urgency, I immediately “turned on the lights” for him and explained the Big Picture Approach to Problem Solving and the steps in the Formula for Approaching the Learning, especially RLN (Review of Lecture Notes). The “forgetting curve,” a.k.a. Ebbinghaus curve, reminds us that we lose over 50% recall after learning something new, as is done in class. Therefore it is essential that the RLN step be completed immediately after class while recall is nearly 100% to get the big picture, i.e., concept, steps, and variations, and write it down! This makes RLN the most important step in the formula. Once students do RLN to get the big picture, “homework” becomes the easiest step.
The student understood the strategies and steps in the formula, and I challenged him to do RLN for calculus before we continued our discussion about the MESA Program – he did. With a focus on the big picture, he was able to understand the material covered in class, and he captured the big picture on a separate piece of paper, with highlighted titles for the concept, steps, and variations! He was clearly taking steps to create his own success in calculus, and I challenged him to do BPR (Bullet Point Reading) to prepare for each calculus class, including bringing any big picture questions to class if he is unclear about the concept, steps or variations.
Armed with the “big picture,” the student was excited to begin working on the homework. Ironically, had he not visited me, he was set to begin struggling in calculus – 1) he had no immediate plans to review his lecture notes; 2) he thought he could simply begin working on the homework; 3) he was not familiar with the Big Picture Approach to Problem Solving; and 4) he was not familiar with the strategies and steps in the Formula for Approaching the Learning – overall, the student was in the dark!
I later learned that the student’s RLN work and big picture notes helped him to easily complete the homework. He was also prepared for the 2nd class on Wednesday, and he had great confidence to “crush” the 1st exam on Friday! This is what happens when students are in control of their learning in the light of the learning culture.
Are you intentionally “turning on the lights” for every student you meet? If no, then why not? The learning culture revolution has begun at turning-on-the-lights.com. There is no longer a reason for any student to remain in the dark with regards to the culture for learning which exists in every institution of higher education.