UNIT 5- LANGUAGE ACROSS THE CURRICULUM-Developing Proficiency in Written Comprehension and Production - Part 4-BEd notes
Prepared by
Sabarish P
Contents
Study skills -Writing-process, phases, types- note making, note taking, summarizing- Transactional and reflexive skills
Study skills
Study skills are learning strategies that help students organize, process, and use information effectively.
Study skills are important not just for academic learning, but also for everyday life as they can help individuals be organized and successful lifelong learners and manage their jobs, households, and finances.
Mastering the skills for studying and learning increases self-efficacy of students and empowers them to change their approach and try different strategies if one fails.
Study skills are processes of metacognition, which is self-awarenesss of one’s thinking and learning.
Learners who are able to step back and monitor their thinking and learning are able to use strategies for finding out or figuring out what they need to do.
Research shows that students who are strategic learners:
know there are multiple ways to do things,
have increased self-esteem,
become more responsible,
improve completion and accuracy of their work,
are more engaged in learning,
improve performance.
Each of the following categories of study skills can be explicitly taught. Types of Study Skills include:
preparing to learn;
acquiring, processing, and retaining information;
applying what has been learned; and
monitoring and evaluating strategy use and learning
Preparing to Learn
Preparing and planning for learning encompasses both physical (environment, tools) and mental (attitudes, goals, priorities) aspects. Skills that help students prepare to learn include:
Organising one’s work by using agenda books, homework planners, and notebooks.
Managing time by developing schedules, prioritising tasks, and using checklists.
Arranging the physical environment, including finding a place that is free of distractions, and choosing a time of day that works best for the individual.
Acquiring, Processing, and Retaining Information
Effective learners systematically obtain, organise, and retain information, beginning with good library and Internet search skills.
Because individuals have different learning styles, teachers should offer a variety of the following strategies for students to explore and discover which work best for them.
Effective reading is critical to acquiring information.
Effective listening in class is equally important. Good and bad listening habits influence learning.
Taking good notes enables review and retention of material covered in class.
Notetaking tips begin with active listening and the usage of keywords and graphic symbols make notes personally meaningful.
Outlining and summarising help learners see relationships between concepts. Graphic organisers such as concept maps, story maps, and relationship charts are strategies that visual learners might prefer to remember content.
Memory aids such as mnemonics and acronyms can assist verbal learners.
Applying Learning
Students demonstrate and apply what they have learned in writing assignments, oral presentations, and tests.
Successful test-taking requires both content knowledge (understanding of the material being covered) and procedural knowledge (how to take tests).
Learning is also demonstrated through problem solving.
Monitoring and Evaluating
A key metacognitive process is self-monitoring.
While using study strategies, students monitor themselves by periodically asking questions about the ways to learn and solve a problem.
Writing process
Learning to write is like learning to read, as both follow a sequential process. Writing requires and combines more basic skills than any other subject area.
Educators teach writing through a series of steps that build on a child’s learning experiences.
Parents and other caregivers encourage the excitement of writing in their child by being interested and involved with the writing process their child uses in school.
The writing process begins in the early grades by exposing students to a variety of quality books read aloud.
Children see and hear the ways that authors use language to create and tell a story. Children use the books they hear and read as models for their own writing.
Educators often teach writing to the whole class at one time.
As children watch and listen, the teacher models the writing lesson and encourages the children to add their ideas as well.
Sometimes writing instruction may occur in small groups with a teacher or teaching assistant.
Small group instruction helps children who may need extra attention develop strategies needed to become independent writers.
Most teachers in grades as early as kindergarten use a writing process. This process involves several steps to guide children from the beginning of writing to creating a finished piece.
Writing phases
Teachers use the following steps to provide structure and continuity in all forms of writing:
Prewriting - Children brainstorm to generate ideas for writing. They use charts, story webs, and graphic organisers to help develop a word list for writing, decide the type of writing, and audience, and determine the purpose for writing.
Rough Draft - Children put their ideas on paper. At this time, they write without major attention to punctuation, grammar, or neatness. Some teachers may refer to this as a sloppy copy or rough draft. The purpose of the rough draft is for the student to focus on his/her ideas and get them on paper without the distraction or fear of making mistakes in grammar, capitalisation, punctuation, or paragraph structure.
Peer Editing - Classmates share their rough drafts and make suggestions to each other for improvement. They help each other understand the story by asking who, what, when, where, why, and how questions. They look for better words to express ideas and discuss among themselves how to make the writing clearer.
Revising - The children use the suggestions from classmates to make additions or clarify details. Children try to improve their writing on their own. The teacher steps in at this stage and gives feedback.
Editing - Children work with the teacher and/or peers to correct all mistakes in grammar and spelling.
Final Draft - Children produce a copy of their writing with all corrections made from the editing stage and then discuss this final draft with the teacher. The teacher offers the last suggestions for improvement at this point.
Publishing - Children publish their writing by making a copy in their neatest handwriting or using a word processor. Students may share their pieces with the class during story time, make a class book or a personal portfolio, or send their work to local newspapers or children’s magazines for publication!
Writing types
Writing style is how the writer chooses to express himself or herself through writing.
There are five main types of writing: expository, descriptive, narrative, persuasive and creative.
Expository writing is where the author intends to inform, explain, describe or define the subject. This is the most common type of writing found in text books and online.
Descriptive writing uses a lot of great visual words to visualise the person, place or thing that is being written about. The writing can be poetic at times, and explain things in great detail. Metaphors, similes and symbols are often used in descriptive writing.
Narrative writing is very common in novels, poetry and biographies. The authors write as if they were the characters and tell life stories and involve plots and storylines.
Persuasive writing takes on the opinion of the writer or issue the writer is writing for. This is considered biased material and is most often found in advertising.
Creative writing is often thought provoking, entertaining and more interesting to read than other types of writing. Short stories, poetry, novels and plays often fall into the creative writing category. It doesn't necessarily need to follow any line of facts, just as long as it's interesting to read.
Note making, Note taking
Note-making is the process of compiling the notes that a student has taken from multiple sources, lectures, readings, etc. in an organised way.
There are different ways to organise the material. The way it is done partly depends on the course being undertaken. It may also depend on the purpose. Some ways to organise the material:
topics or broad topic areas (e.g., trans-Tasman relationships)
chronological sequence (e.g. historical material)
sort of material (e.g. primary, secondary material)
distinct sub parts (e.g. parts of the body in anatomy)
Good notes are essential for effective learning and the development of understanding. Note making and note taking helps a student to:
concentrate;
remember important information;
process information;
clarify learning material;
stay awake;
keep the brain active through multi-tasking (listening, watching, writing, paraphrasing);
have material to discuss with other students;
gather material for assignments;
prepare for examinations and other tests;
Taking notes is only the first stage in the note-making process and it often involves writing down information from different sources such as lectures, labs and text book – other people’s knowledge.
In contrast, note-making involves a process of personal understanding. When a student makes his/her notes he/she is learning about the topic and much more likely to remember it.
Note-making is much more efficient and effective in terms of learning than trying to sort out lecture notes and read text books in great haste before an important test or exam.
Note-making provides students with a well-prepared personal resource of information.
Summarising
Summarising is using specific words to shorten a piece of text so that it includes only the essential information.
Summaries have far fewer words than the original, but they still provide a clear indication of the main points made by the author.
Summarising can be achieved by:
Reading the source until a full understanding of the writer's message is achieved.
Putting the source aside and writing the message in different words, with utmost care given to preserve the meaning of the original and to avoid using words and phrases that are similar to the original.
Transactional skills
The six main kinds of transactional skills are : Lecture, Group Work, Brain Storming, Panel Discussion, Experiential Learning and Teleconferencing.
Lecture
A lecture is the most familiar and popular form of classroom transaction at higher levels of education/training.
A lecture method is popular due to a few advantages like :
It does not require extensive human resources. One lecturer can lecture to a large group. On the other hand, group work requires a large number of trainers/resource persons.
Provided there is adequate accommodation, it is administratively easy to arrange a lecture.
A lecture is economical in terms of material, space, man-power and time.
Adults do not necessarily appreciate a lesson approach, especially if the style adopted is based on school practice. A lecture method is therefore a safe method.
The lecture mode, however, has certain disadvantages :
There is little scope for getting feedback
Sustaining audience attention is difficult and requires a high degree of skill.
A lecture, that is basically “A straight talk or exposition, possibly using visual or other aids, but without group participation other than through questions at the conclusion” can however be made more interactive and interesting.
Two physical aspect that influence the effectiveness of a lecture are
The lecturer’s voice
Body language
Two physical aspect that influence the effectiveness of a lecture are
The lecturer’s voice
Body language
Small Group Work
Human interaction in a society takes place in several forms. The most common form is interpersonal interaction between two persons.
It is evident that a large number of activities throughout the day require interpersonal interaction, that is, interaction with one or the other person.
A small group is a collection of more than two persons. It is not only interpersonal.
The importance of a small group lies in the fact that experience can be shared and reflected upon.
In educational terms, the process of interaction with others in a small group provides the motivation to learn as it generates ideas and helps in analysing experience.
Therefore, the importance of organising small group activities in a training programme cannot be minimised.
It not only promotes individual identity but also provides scope for expression of inherent talents. Moreover, it develops one’s efficiency in carrying out given assignments effectively.
In organizing small group activity, the size of the group is a crucial factor. The size of the group should be determined on the basis of:
The total number of participants on a training programme.
The type of group activity.
The size of the group can vary between 5-8. If a group is very big. The level of participation can suffer. The smaller the group, the higher the achievement.
The composition of the group need not always be homogeneous, though it can some-times be desirable. The feeling of cohesiveness emerges when all the members of the group work towards achieving a goal-in educational terms, completing a task.
Leaders are normally those who provide direction to others. Leadership in a group is based on the skills of managing a process and not on person.
Leadership role in a small group, however, has six functional dimensions:
Setting up an agenda
Calling a meeting
Initiating discussion or group activity.
Classification of goals
Mediating, maintaining momentum of activity
Evaluating group progress.
There are certain established group norms which, as far as possible must be adhered to.
There must be willingness on the part of all members to participate, be reasonable, be un-aggressive, and be truthful.
Each must allow the other the freedom of thought and the potential of each member must be tapped. There must be mutual respect between members of the group.
The advantages of group work
They provide for trainee cantered learning.
They establish a common experience, shared by all members of the group.
All participants can be actively involved and their attention and motivation are therefore more easily maintained.
Group work enables the practise of complex interpersonal skills.
Group work focuses on the process rather than the product.
The disadvantages of group work
They require careful preparation and planning to be effective. A badly prepared group task has more negative effects than a badly prepared lecture.
Trainees might approach group work as ‘high relief’ from the more formal mode (lecture) of training.
Finding appropriate tasks is quite difficult.
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a kind of group activity that is used to generate a lot of ideas.
Trainees are encouraged at the beginning to think ideas, not matter how silly or far-fetched. Every suggestion is recorded.
Decisions about the practicality or feasibility of the ideas are made later.
Brainstorming are done not only in educational contexts but in other contexts too, as for example in the family context.
The group can be small or large, but not as large as a group that gathers for a public lecture.
Brainstorming involves intentionally separating thinking from evaluation.
The steps of conducting brainstorming in a group are:
Getting ready for the brainstorming
Warm up session
Ideation session
Conducting evaluation session
Highlight before the group the quality of ideas, novelty of ideas and the number of ideas.
Panel discussion
A series of questions on panel discussion as a mode of transaction has been asked and the answers given. Together, they form the content of panel discussion.
There are three sets of participants in a panel disucssion. They are :
The panel members who consist of experts in the field concerned.
The audience of selected students/trainees/participants and teachers. who ask questions of the panellist.
The moderator who initiates the discussion, questions, synthesizes and summarizes the key points.
The word ‘panel’ means a group of experts. The discussion held among these expert members in front of an audience could be called panel discussion.
The panel would change from subject to subject, but there would be an anchor person, who would introduce the panelists, receive questions and distribute them to the panelists upon their specialisation.
The panel for a topic ‘The effect of housework on children’ may include a child specialist, a child psychologist, a teacher, an educational administrator and a journalist.
Experiential Learning
One of the ways in which a transaction in a training context can take place is through experimental learning.
In this mode, the trainees act as learners and do whatever a learner is supposed to do. This experience gives them insights into how learners learn (strategies) and what training/teaching strategies work in class.
Types of experiential learning
There are two main ways in which experiential learning can be set up:
Peer demonstration & observation
Here the trainer divides the class into ‘trainees’ and ‘observers‘. The ‘trainees are put through the ‘class’
The ‘observers’ observe the ‘lesson’ for points of methodology,
At the end of the ‘class’ the group gets together and discusses the experience from the point of view of ‘observers’ and ‘trainees’
The discussion is consolidated
Whole group work
Here the whole group undergoes the ‘experience’ of learning. At the end of the class, the trainer elicits important points through discussion and consolidates them.
Activity based learing is also an approach used for providing concrete experiences in learning.
In a role play the theme may be there, but the conversations will have to be evolved by a group of students or actors. Sometimes role play is done without having necessary rehearsals.
The steps of role play are as follows:
Fixing a theme or deciding on a theme which is topical.
Deciding on the type of role play, the type of roles, the number of students required and developing the conversation in a flexible manner.
A small rehearsal, where the conversations are evolved.
Enacting the role play.
Feedback by the teacher or the teacher educator.
Teleconferences
Teleconferences are good if a large number of teachers are to be met in a short time.
Teleconferences have the unique advantage of bringing the best of resources to one forum to make it available to all the concerned people.
Teachers across a particular region can interact with experts and clarify their doubts. Also, it is possible to provide uniform inputs to all teachers at the state level through teleconferences.
Two way audio and video interaction teleconferences are going be very important means of teacher training.
Video conferencing is one of the derivatives of teleconferencing.
Reflexive skills
Reflexive pedagogy means strategically supporting and enabling professional learners with the knowledge and skills to change their thinking and actions in the social context in which they learn and do their work so as to overcome barriers and improve outcomes.
Reflexive pedagogy is a pedagogy that develops learners reflexivity. It does this by teaching learners about practice while being immersed in practice.
Learners learn not just academic knowledge and practical skills, but what practice is, why and how it is what it is, and what questions they need to ask when trying to solve problems by turning them into concepts that can be tested in real-life to see if and how these solutions can improve practice.
The approach is cyclical through several key processes that include: identifying problems, goal-setting, group projects, analysing scientific knowledge, linking it with personal knowledge from prior experience, exploring values, beliefs and assumptions, testing and trying out new thoughts and actions in work, reflecting critically in action and on action, adapting behaviours and strategies to improve practice, etc.
Reflexivity is also a pedagogic approach by which online facilitators demonstrate self-reflexivity.
Online facilitators are not only instructors but also give the gift of pedagogy to a network of learners to cultivate a cross-sector community so that online spaces are open for genuine critical inquiry.
Online facilitators think about their concepts and what they bring to the learning situation, seek to learn from and understand professional learners’ social contexts, and create online spaces for producing practical knowledge that has relevance and application to improving practice for many types of professionals beyond a single programme.
Overall, reflexive pedagogy values the agency of learners and the facilitator in the learning process, as both learn from each other and develop individual and collective reflexivity.
This approach ensures that facilitators support professionals strategically to co-design social collaborative learning processes that co-develop contextually appropriate theories of evidence-based practice, rather than simply take them as givens to be imported from outside and applied.
Compared to older pedagogies such as didactic teaching or group work alone, a reflexive pedagogy is better because it can affect the contextual barriers to changing practice through supporting learners to test and try out new ways of thinking and acting without the effort of building trust.
Thus, reflexive pedagogy can respond more effectively and tactically to the problems of dynamism, and the problems of context, in an uncertain, unstable post-modern age.
Reflexive pedagogy takes a sociological perspective on professional learning.
Practice happens across social contexts. In practice, continuous, iterative, overlapping and recursive cycles of thinking and doing occur. These cycles include formal courses as well as informal learning in the workplace through daily interactions with colleagues, patients, managers and technologies.
All these forms of learning are intermingled. Together, these processes shape the choices and opportunities healthcare professionals have to change their behaviours and thoughts, thereby producing practice.
Practice changes when a new practice is gradually produced by a small group of people who try and change their thinking and actions in the social context that is a barrier to improving practice.
As the new practice is done over and over again until it becomes regular and grooved, it is not considered new anymore and becomes a norm.
But the direction and scope of change depends on who is transacting with who and for what purpose.
These transactions depend on professionals sense of agency and their (power) capitals, which they exchange through strategic interactions to get ahead.
As a result of these continuously turning processes, a sociological perspective proposes that professional learning, when situated in practice, is a combination of formal and informal, social, collaborative, active, reflective, critical and self-determined learning - it is reflexive.
Prepared by
Sabarish P
(MSc Physics, MEd, NET)Contact: pklsabarish@gmail.com
