How to Use this Book (Introduction from the book in pdf format ): click to view
Rationale Behind Foundations of Learning
Welcome to Foundations of Learning (FOL). As with your students, you are coming to the FOL experience with your own unique knowledge, mindset, and expectations. This resources site, if successful, will help you to maximize the benefit of using FOL for both you and your students.
The developers of FOL are believers in the power of Process Education. We believe in the value of empowering each student to become the center, owner, and ultimately master, of his or her educational experience. We also believe that you, as the facilitator of that learning, can have a significant impact on students' development as learners.
In FOL, you will see all the components of Process Education. Within each chapter and activity, learning skills will be identified. Many chapters contain methodologies to help students become better learners. Rubrics will be used for assessment purposes. In fact, there will be many opportunities for reflection and assessment.
As we developed this fourth edition, we realized that some ideas from the previous editions were not as inviting to students because of the way they were being presented. We decided to use storytelling to make some of the concepts more accessible and interesting. With the characters and storylines we created, we tried to include a diversity of viewpoint, background, and ability. Our hope is that they will make learning come to life.
Although we expect that most students using this book are new to college, it is certainly not limited to this population and is definitely not limited to the “traditional” eighteen-year-old. All learners will benefit from engaging with the contents of this book. For example, woven throughout the book are activities designed to help students produce a Life Vision Portfolio (LVP). Through this portfolio, students will clarify their learning goals and document their growth as a learner.
In the next few sections of this introduction, we will discuss the approach of this book in more depth as well as the implications for you as an instructor using this book for your class.
Your Role as a Facilitator of Learning
In developing this book, several assumptions were made. We assume that students are interested in succeeding as learners. People come to college for many reasons, but few, if any, come with the intention to fail. They certainly come with different expectations about the instructors for their courses. We’re confident you have met students who wanted to be told what to do. Their motto is, “the more specific, the better.” Some may assume this attitude comes from laziness, but it could well be that this strategy has led to the most success for them in school.
In this book, from the introduction onward, students are expected to take responsibility for their learning. They are told on page one that they are “the master of (your) learning experience.” So, where does this approach place you as the instructor?
The best description of your role is as a facilitator of learning. By no means are you just an observer, although observation skills are important for a facilitator. Rather, you are actively engaged in guiding students through their transformation as learners. (Helpful resources include: Faculty Guidebook 3.2.1 Overview of Facilitation and 3.2.2 Profile of a Quality Facilitator).
Here are some questions to ponder as you think through your approach to this course:
As a facilitator of learning, what of each student’s work do I need to see and how can I facilitate each student’s self-assessment of their own work?
How am I using collaborative learning as a way to facilitate my students’ learning?
In each class session, how am I putting the student at the center of the learning experience?
Learning Skills
In order to improve as a learner, one must improve one’s learning skills -- the skills that improve and strengthen the ability to learn. In Chapter 1 (page 16), students are tasked with identifying five skills they wish to focus on developing throughout the course. In their final self-assessment at the end of the course, they return to this list and assess their progress. In addition, each activity highlights several skills for development.
Below is the list of skills identified for development through this course. (The complete list of learning skills is available in Appendix B.) Each of these skills is highlighted in at least one activity in the book.
| Cognitive | Social | Affective |
|
Processing Information Collecting Data (from a disorganized source) Observing – seeing details in an environment/object Recording – transcribing key information Organizing Data (for future use) Outlining - identifying primary and subordinate groupings Constructing Understanding Analyzing (characterizing individual parts) Identifying assumptions – examining preconceptions/biases Inquiring – asking key questions Exploring context – seeing the relationship of parts to the environment Reasoning (revealing meaning) Interpreting - adding meaning for better understanding Applying Knowledge Performing with Knowledge (in real context) Clarifying expectations – defining proficiency level Using prior knowledge – integrating unprompted knowledge Transferring – using ideas in a new context Validating Results (for appropriateness) Validating - using alternative methods to test results |
Communicating Receiving a Message Attending – mindful focusing by a listener Checking perceptions – feeding back implied meaning Preparing a Message Defining purpose – specifying outcomes for a message Relating with Others Inviting Interaction Taking an interest in others – enjoying personal differences Being non-judgmental – responding with an assessment mindset Relating for Meaning Collaborating - working together for mutual benefit
|
Being Open to Experience (Receiving) Exploring Self Observing self - noticing one's actions Listening to self - being conscious of one's point of view Exploring Surroundings Being curious – wanting to find out more Engaging in Life (Responding) Addressing Life’s Challenges Persisting – continuing despite difficulties Believing in oneself – developing and maintaining self-esteem Managing Oneself (Organizing) Regulating Self Managing resources – applying assets and means to important goals Prioritizing – addressing what is most important Managing Performance Committing to future - engaging life goals
|
Use of Storytelling
How often have you learned something from a story? Did you find you remembered the concept better because it was related to a story? Storytelling is a powerful tool for learning. Since much of this book concerns learning about learning (a very abstract idea), storytelling helps to make learning concepts more concrete.
In each of the chapters, a character has been highlighted. Several of these characters are introduced in Chapter 1 and revisited as the student progresses through the book. Through our characters, from Abby to Zach, sample responses are modeled. We purposely did not make all of these students “perfect,” and your students may need to be reminded that copying from a character’s response is not acceptable.
Each character also has a web page, which can be found on the resources web site for this book (www.pcrest2.com/fol). On each web page, the character’s learning style is given as well as other characteristics that give more life to the character.
The Life Vision Portfolio (LVP)
Beginning or returning to college is a turning point in one’s life. This move therefore provides an opportunity for reflection and goal-setting. Incorporated in this book are contributions to a Life Vision Portfolio (LVP). In an early activity, students need to identify how they are going to develop and store their LVP. You’ll need to think trough what options to give them for these exercises.
Online Resources
A rich source of online resources is available for each chapter and is available at www.pcrest2.com/fol. As mentioned earlier, for each chapter, this is a web page for the highlighted character for that chapter. All activities are available online and many of the forms from the book are also available there. In addition, there are links to resources related to the chapter contents. Although every effort will be made to keep these resources current, we would appreciate knowing about links that no longer work as well as online resources you’d recommend adding.
Next Steps
The page on this site for each chapter contains notes and information specific to that chapter. The notes include:
Learning objects for the chapter
Process Education concepts that are highlighted, with references to the Faculty Guidebook
Summary of the Assignments for the chapter
Sample answers for some chapter assignments
Notes for each Activity
For the use of the book in general, here are two questions that you will need to address:
What should students complete as an “in-class” activity and what should they complete, on their own, outside of class?