Question: James (1899) devoted an entire chapter to the concept of memory. It has been proven that cramming is not effective, yet so many students are continuing to do cram for exams. How can educators include proper study skills teaching into the school’s curriculum? Throughout my schooling, I was never taught how to study for an exam. This may be why so many students do cram, since they may not understand that constant exposure over time is much more effective.
Passage: James (1899) explained in his lecture that, “You now see why cramming must be so poor a mode of a study. Cramming seeks to stamp things in by intense application immediately before the ordeal. But a thing thus learned can form but few associations. On the other hand, the same thing recurring on different days, in different contexts, read, recited on, referred to again and again, related to other things and reviewed, gets well wrought into pupils habits of continuous applications” (p. 64).
After reading James (1899) and his view on cramming, I could not help but think of my brother. My brother is in medical school, and also has a very high IQ. During his undergraduate career, he was able to not go to class and to cram for an exam the night before an exam. Unfortunately, this study method was very reinforcing to him since he continued to get all A’s as a biotechnology major. Once my brother entered into medical school, he tried to utilize this same study habit to learn his material. He would pull all-nighters before an exam, in order to cram all of the material in. He quickly found out that a lot of this information was not transferred into his long term memory storage. He also discovered that the teachers assumed that the information that was previously tested on was in the students’ knowledge base. They would build on previous knowledge, and expect that the students were familiar with the material instead of reviewing it. Just like the other students, my brother had to start finding ways to react to the material he was expected to know. He explained to me that working in the hospital now helps him better remember information, since he is actually using the information instead of simply trying to cram it in the night before a test. The information now has meaning, he reads about the information in a textbook, and in addition he uses the information while he is working at the hospital.
Outside connection: This quote by James (1899) reminded me of why cramming is so ineffective. While reading this passage, I continued to question why so many students continue to cram for exams. This made me think back on which classes I crammed for, and which classes I did not cram for during high school. The class that I did not cram for was math, since our teacher continually gave pop quizzes. These quizzes could be on anything that we learned during the school year. Since she often used cumulative exams, I wonder why cumulative exams are not utilized more often in the schools. With exams covering only a few weeks of content, cramming for tests can be reinforcing since it is very likely that a person is able to perform well. On the other hand, it is very difficult to cram for a cumulative exam, which could further promote other study skills other than cramming.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
R2
R2
Question: James (1899) suggests that our thoughts are also another example of habits that we routinely have. Many children/adolescents have thought for so long so many negative thoughts about school, so how do we as educators change those thoughts that have become so routine for those students, especially when the students do not have a desire to change?
Passage: James (1899) stated that, “But our thinking and feeling processes are also largely subject to the law of habit, and one result of this is a phenomenon which you all know under the name of the association of ideas” (pg. 40).
When James (1899) speaks about habits that a person aspires to gain, it reminds me of my journey to being a runner that began three years ago. At first, I was so hesitant to run since I had such a negative view of running from my high school basketball days. It was an association with punishment, and something that I never could imagine enjoying. I however knew that in order to lose weight and to feel better about myself, I needed to start running. The first two days I ran, I hated it. The next few days I did not run, since I continued to have such a hate for this activity. I realized these negative thoughts were preventing me from enjoying this activity. I actually physically enjoyed the feeling of running, but I still had these negative attitudes toward it. Like many life changes I had made, I needed to change the way that I viewed running. To try and do this, I would self-monitor how I felt after my runs, in addition to self monitoring my mileage. In addition to this, I also did a lot of self talk during my runs. I told myself things like, “Fatigue is mental” and that my body could go beyond what I thought it could. After the first week, I still did not enjoy running. By reading over my self-monitored notes, I observed that I actually felt really good after running. Although I still hated the feelings of nervousness before the run, the feelings of accomplishment and relief I felt afterward were actually quite amazing. After about 3 weeks of running, I broke the habit of the negative thoughts I had toward running. Although it was a struggle at first, I am so glad that I did. By thinking about the way that I feel after running, I have completely changed my view of running. It is now something that I have not gone more than 4 days without doing in the past three years.
James (1899) speaks about how thoughts become a habit, which emphasized to me the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is founded by the belief that we can ultimately change our behaviors, by first changing our cognitions (Shinn, Walker, & Stoner, 2002). The weight-loss camp I worked at incorporated this therapy technique as their intervention. So many of the children/adolescents I worked with had such a skewed idea of unhealthy food and that it made them happy. They had so many false beliefs that became a habit to them. The goal of our camp was to change these thoughts that become a habit, by replacing them with different ones. Like any habit, it is tough to break, but if you stick with it your thoughts are able to change.
The reason that I asked the question above was because in my personal case and the case about cognitive behavioral therapy, those people wanted to change. How do you change the habit of thoughts, when there is a resistance to do so?
References
James, W. (1899). Talks to teachers on psychology: And to Students on some of life’s
ideals. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.
Shinn, M. A., Walker, H. A., Stoner, G. (2002). Interventions for academic and
behavior problems II: Preventive and remedial approaches. Bethesda, MA:
National Association of School Psychologists.
Question: James (1899) suggests that our thoughts are also another example of habits that we routinely have. Many children/adolescents have thought for so long so many negative thoughts about school, so how do we as educators change those thoughts that have become so routine for those students, especially when the students do not have a desire to change?
Passage: James (1899) stated that, “But our thinking and feeling processes are also largely subject to the law of habit, and one result of this is a phenomenon which you all know under the name of the association of ideas” (pg. 40).
When James (1899) speaks about habits that a person aspires to gain, it reminds me of my journey to being a runner that began three years ago. At first, I was so hesitant to run since I had such a negative view of running from my high school basketball days. It was an association with punishment, and something that I never could imagine enjoying. I however knew that in order to lose weight and to feel better about myself, I needed to start running. The first two days I ran, I hated it. The next few days I did not run, since I continued to have such a hate for this activity. I realized these negative thoughts were preventing me from enjoying this activity. I actually physically enjoyed the feeling of running, but I still had these negative attitudes toward it. Like many life changes I had made, I needed to change the way that I viewed running. To try and do this, I would self-monitor how I felt after my runs, in addition to self monitoring my mileage. In addition to this, I also did a lot of self talk during my runs. I told myself things like, “Fatigue is mental” and that my body could go beyond what I thought it could. After the first week, I still did not enjoy running. By reading over my self-monitored notes, I observed that I actually felt really good after running. Although I still hated the feelings of nervousness before the run, the feelings of accomplishment and relief I felt afterward were actually quite amazing. After about 3 weeks of running, I broke the habit of the negative thoughts I had toward running. Although it was a struggle at first, I am so glad that I did. By thinking about the way that I feel after running, I have completely changed my view of running. It is now something that I have not gone more than 4 days without doing in the past three years.
James (1899) speaks about how thoughts become a habit, which emphasized to me the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is founded by the belief that we can ultimately change our behaviors, by first changing our cognitions (Shinn, Walker, & Stoner, 2002). The weight-loss camp I worked at incorporated this therapy technique as their intervention. So many of the children/adolescents I worked with had such a skewed idea of unhealthy food and that it made them happy. They had so many false beliefs that became a habit to them. The goal of our camp was to change these thoughts that become a habit, by replacing them with different ones. Like any habit, it is tough to break, but if you stick with it your thoughts are able to change.
The reason that I asked the question above was because in my personal case and the case about cognitive behavioral therapy, those people wanted to change. How do you change the habit of thoughts, when there is a resistance to do so?
References
James, W. (1899). Talks to teachers on psychology: And to Students on some of life’s
ideals. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.
Shinn, M. A., Walker, H. A., Stoner, G. (2002). Interventions for academic and
behavior problems II: Preventive and remedial approaches. Bethesda, MA:
National Association of School Psychologists.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
R1
Question: James (1899) suggests that, “children admire a teacher who has skill”. He also suggests that a teacher “must express their interest “. How are students supposed to learn, when the teacher does not express that interest in their lectures?
Passage: James (1899) stated that, “Children admire a teacher who has skill. What he does seems easy, and they wish to emulate it. It is useless for a dull and devitalized teacher to exhort her pupils to wake up and take an interest. She must first take one herself; then her example is effective as no exhortation can possibly be” (p. 26).
When I first entered the program of school psychology I was startled by the realization that our roles in the school are primarily geared toward assessment. Once it was time to start mastering the assessment process, I had a difficult time learning and caring about the process. The manner in which the lesson was taught to us was not effective to me, because the teacher simply lectured on the background of the assessment tool and read straight from the assessment manual. Not once was there any relation to when he used it as a school psychologist, or his satisfaction or interest with the tool. I found myself questioning if I even wanted to continue in the field of school psychology, because all semester I could not take the interest in the different assessment tools that were being lectured to us. Just like James (1899) says, “it is useless for a dull and devitalized teacher to exhort her pupils to wake up and take an interest” (p. 26). Similar to this quote, I never found the interest in the assessment tool during that semester.
Consistent with what James (1899) states in the passage quoted above, I ended up expressing an interest in the assessment tool because of a different practitioner who did have an interest in the tool. I shadowed a school psychologist after the semester that I took the assessment class discussed earlier. When she would teach me about a particular assessment tool, she would discuss how she used the particular tool and would express her excitement to me about all of the beneficial outcomes it has, in relation to evaluating a child. After seeing her enthusiastically give the test to many students and being an observer to her particular skill, her passion towards assessment was contagious to me. I could not help but want to jump in and start using this test, just like she did. Everything she taught me I grasped onto and it fostered me to express interest and to explore this test even further outside of practicum experience.
I think this personal experience I had with the practitioner highlights the importance of having a practicum experience before becoming a professional in any career. When relating this experience to research, Le Riche (2006) explained that social work students typically shadow practitioners before they further develop their own professional ideas. Le Riche (2006) emphasized that job shadowing for students is “is a vehicle for perspective transformation, which is an important aspect of professional learning and the development of professional identity” (p. 782). Just as Le Riche (2006) spoke about professional identity, students in the classroom may form their personal identity by emulating the teacher. Teachers must be reminded to have their interest in the particular subject be energetic and visible, for their styles will be imitated and demonstrated in the lives of their students. In addition to this, students may already have previous interests and excitement that they have picked up earlier in their lives through imitation as well. That is why teachers should understand what prior interests that students have picked up, so that they can relate the new material to that prior experience when necessary.
References
James, W. (1899). Talks to teachers on psychology: And to Students on some of life’s
ideals. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.
Le Riche, P. (2006). Practicing observation in shadowing: Curriculum innovation
and learning outcomes in the BA social work. Social Work Education, 25,
771-784. doi: 10.1080/02615470600915829
Question: James (1899) suggests that, “children admire a teacher who has skill”. He also suggests that a teacher “must express their interest “. How are students supposed to learn, when the teacher does not express that interest in their lectures?
Passage: James (1899) stated that, “Children admire a teacher who has skill. What he does seems easy, and they wish to emulate it. It is useless for a dull and devitalized teacher to exhort her pupils to wake up and take an interest. She must first take one herself; then her example is effective as no exhortation can possibly be” (p. 26).
When I first entered the program of school psychology I was startled by the realization that our roles in the school are primarily geared toward assessment. Once it was time to start mastering the assessment process, I had a difficult time learning and caring about the process. The manner in which the lesson was taught to us was not effective to me, because the teacher simply lectured on the background of the assessment tool and read straight from the assessment manual. Not once was there any relation to when he used it as a school psychologist, or his satisfaction or interest with the tool. I found myself questioning if I even wanted to continue in the field of school psychology, because all semester I could not take the interest in the different assessment tools that were being lectured to us. Just like James (1899) says, “it is useless for a dull and devitalized teacher to exhort her pupils to wake up and take an interest” (p. 26). Similar to this quote, I never found the interest in the assessment tool during that semester.
Consistent with what James (1899) states in the passage quoted above, I ended up expressing an interest in the assessment tool because of a different practitioner who did have an interest in the tool. I shadowed a school psychologist after the semester that I took the assessment class discussed earlier. When she would teach me about a particular assessment tool, she would discuss how she used the particular tool and would express her excitement to me about all of the beneficial outcomes it has, in relation to evaluating a child. After seeing her enthusiastically give the test to many students and being an observer to her particular skill, her passion towards assessment was contagious to me. I could not help but want to jump in and start using this test, just like she did. Everything she taught me I grasped onto and it fostered me to express interest and to explore this test even further outside of practicum experience.
I think this personal experience I had with the practitioner highlights the importance of having a practicum experience before becoming a professional in any career. When relating this experience to research, Le Riche (2006) explained that social work students typically shadow practitioners before they further develop their own professional ideas. Le Riche (2006) emphasized that job shadowing for students is “is a vehicle for perspective transformation, which is an important aspect of professional learning and the development of professional identity” (p. 782). Just as Le Riche (2006) spoke about professional identity, students in the classroom may form their personal identity by emulating the teacher. Teachers must be reminded to have their interest in the particular subject be energetic and visible, for their styles will be imitated and demonstrated in the lives of their students. In addition to this, students may already have previous interests and excitement that they have picked up earlier in their lives through imitation as well. That is why teachers should understand what prior interests that students have picked up, so that they can relate the new material to that prior experience when necessary.
References
James, W. (1899). Talks to teachers on psychology: And to Students on some of life’s
ideals. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.
Le Riche, P. (2006). Practicing observation in shadowing: Curriculum innovation
and learning outcomes in the BA social work. Social Work Education, 25,
771-784. doi: 10.1080/02615470600915829
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
