Finding Solutions

Jim ValkenburgDelta CollegeATP Online Workshop Fall 2008

The “real” issue for Humanities and Social Science students

Getting to the basics Active/Critical

Reading Highlighting and

marginal notes Linking to learn Eliciting responses

Welcome to my nightmare “ET go home…”

Initial contact Why is the student

here? Establishing goals

Creative and Critical Thinking

Creative thinking is defined as the use of divergent thinking, resulting in the generation of original ideas or solutions.

Critical Thinking may be defined as the cognitive process of actively questioning assumptions, and analyzing, synthesizing and/or evaluating data, evidence or points of view to solve a problem.

Creative and critical thinking engage the student

They increase awareness of possibilities

While goals in themselves…

Check the book for use

Highlighting and Marginal Notes

Why highlight?

The benefits of marginal notes

Did the student take notes

Were the worthwhile?

A basic idea Why take notes? When are there too

many? Too few? Connecting to the

textbook.

Having the stuff is not necessarily learning

Using the stuff is closer to it

Electrical/Chemical Process

At the Synapse

Memory as a molecule

Hemispheric Dominance Right Brain – “Global”

See patterns – the “big picture”

Simultaneous Overview

Synthetic

Visual-Spatial

Intuitive

Timeless

Motion/Music

Left Brain – “Analytic”-Detail Oriented-Step-by-Step/ Sequential Processing-Verbal/Symbolic-Computational-Rational-Time-Centered-Language

Front

Sensory means used to learn new information

Four Primary types Visual Auditory Kinesthetic Tactile

Kinesthetic and tactile styles are also called haptic styles

Primary Visual Processing

Primary Auditory Processing

Primary Auditory Processing

Primary Haptic Processing

(Front)

Primary Processing Areas

Learning by seeing Read to learn Recognize

relationships of objects in space

Can visualize information (words, charts and graphs or both)

Learn by hearing Auditory memory

Tape lectures Low auditory

preferences indicate use of other strengths Learning visual

cues or hands-on techniques

Mind-Body Connection

Learn by doing Flash Cards (self-

made) Must be physically

engaged Frequently move

around while learning

Mind-Body Connection

Learn by touch Using the hands

Focus Comfort in the way

one learns Focus

Linking styles for more depth

Focus Accessing

Information Put it in Get it out

The more ways information is put in – the more ways to get it out

Think about how one might access information via computer

Now forget it!

The Brain “thinks” omnidimensionally

Connections – Linking Styles (Changing Formats)Audio

Visual

Tactile/Kinesthetic

Visual and Auditory Visual and Haptic

Auditory and Haptic

Haptic and any other style

Open ended questions

The value of silence Rewarding

responses Getting more out of

the student

As you can see, I believe that most of the issues about tutoring the Humanities and Social Sciences revolve around basic learning strategies.

Once the student begins to use good learning strategies, s/he should be better able to process the information.