2011-2012+Meeting+Summaries

Following each gathering of the teaching larger classes (and first year students) community of practice, highlights of each discussion are summarized. If you have additions or amendments to the summary of each meeting, feel free to edit.
 * Teaching Larger Classes (and first year students) 2011-2012 Meeting Summaries**


 * Winter 2012 - January 21 | February 17 | March 23 | April 13**
 * Fall 2011 - October 11 | November 1 | November 22**

The second meeting of the winter 2012 term began with a conversation of how the **timing of Reading Week** (e.g., week 7 versus week 6) and even Monday holidays can potentially impact when midterms are set and the syncing of course sections within a week. The idea of a fall reading week (which went before Senate in October 2012 but did not get put forward for a vote) was likewise viewed as being disruptive to course offerings for the reasons mentioned above.
 * February 17**

Next, we discussed **classroom management strategies** following an interest expressed by a faculty member from the January 21st meeting. Several strategies were shared:
 * //using one's physical presence to dissuade disruptive behaviour//(e.g., TAs/professor walking up and down aisles to make eye contact and create connections). Jason Neelis of Religion and Culture shared that he asks his TAs to "walk the aisles" of his classroom with the goal of dissuading disruptive behaviour. Those students who are found to be disruptive (e.g., talking; using mobile devices for non-classroom/educational purposes) are given slips of paper to record their name on. The penalty for disruptive behaviour is equal to loosing credit for the class the student attended. Jason additionally noted that he clearly outlines his expectations for student conduct in his syllabus as well as the consequences. By taking action in writing and in the classroom, he aims to avoid "normalizing" disruptive classroom behaviour.
 * //pausing during lecture (i.e., stop talking) until the talking stops.// Stephen MacNeil uses this strategy in his evening class, additionally adding the comment "Let me know when you are ready? We have until 10 p.m." This approach he finds has the desired impact as his students do not want to stay any later than necessary
 * //building a culture and presence in the classroom communicating that disrruptive/disrespectful behaviour (student to student/student to professor/professor to student) is not acceptable//
 * with good humour, the idea of //"voting students off the island"// was suggested as a more extreme strategy
 * //building rapport with students and employing a sense of humour and fairness// in communicating and socializing students to what is acceptable behaviour. This could be done collectively at the start of term by engaging students in an activity that asks them to brainstorm and vote on conduct norms and expectations for the students and the teacher, thereby providing a code of conduct to revisit throughout term as needed.
 * //communicating to students that even in large classes that they are not truly anonymous// (even in the back row) to the professor and the rest of the class. In other words, they cannot hide.

More to come.....

The first meeting of the Winter 2012 term welcomed some new and many returning faces. After a round of introductions, Jeanette McDonald shared two resources she brought with her: (1) a posting from the //Tomorrow’s Professor// list on helping students read difficult texts and (2) a handout from a //Faculty Focus// posting outlining the process one professor uses to help her students do a closer reading of course texts versus reading to get through the material. Links to each item can be found below. After a quick review of these handouts, the members of the group were invited to bring forward issues, challenges, concerns, etc. on which they would like feedback or a topic they would like to explore with the group.
 * January 21**
 * TP Msg. #1145 Helping Difficult Students Read Difficult Texts - []
 * Reading Guide: []

Stephen MacNeil from Chemistry opened the conversation by asking the group how they choreograph a three-hour lecture. Stephen shared that he had surveyed his students about having a break or not. Most said “not”, yet he observes what happens to his students’ energy level and attentiveness after the two-hour mark in his three-hour night class even with his interactive, activity-based lesson approach (e.g., mini-lecture, problem-solving – linked to pre-class OWL online homework activities). Various suggestions were made.
 * Teaching in Three Hour Blocks**
 * changing pace or type of activity in the class to refresh student focus and attention
 * specifically chunking sections of the lesson and sign-posting to students how the class will be broken down
 * a mini-tutorial in the middle hour of the class (with video)
 * not having a break and ending the class sooner
 * incorporating student stretch breaks with countdown timer (30-60 seconds)
 * strategizing how to make the most of physical space of classroom with given number of students to break lecture up (e.g., diads and triads for seat-work; larger groups in smaller classes for group activities, etc.)
 * Margaret Leask commented on the Brantford student population, noting that the common core for all Brantford students facilitates greater community between students which led to the suggestion of finding ways to create community early within the classroom
 * Jeanette McDonald suggesting incorporating shorter, more frequent breaks (e.g., 5 minutes) throughout the lesson for students to stretch, text, etc. Based on what other faculty are known to do, use of a web counter and music was suggested to give breaks a different feel and to signpost to students when the break is over (i.e., music turns off/counter reaches 5 minute mark and rings – try: [])

Stephen’s use of the OWL homework program ([]), which students are required to buy/use for 10% of their grade, led to a discussion of how certain departments and individual faculty have handled (are handling) the ancillary fee issue that required programs and course instructors to revisit the grading and assessment of students where online tools are used that students have to purchase.
 * Ancillary Fees**
 * Stephen shared that he gave students the option of weighting their final exam an extra 10% if they did not want to purchase the homework program. Out of his 250 plus students only one student took this option. Stephen emphasized the importance of the program to his students, sharing past performance data of students for the OWL program versus the final exam (better on homework program versus final exam)
 * Ken Maly noted he likewise presented a sound rationale to his 300 plus chemistry students for taking advantage of the resources he provided, noting he and only had five students who opted out and went for a more heavily weighted final exam
 * In other departments like Physics and Computer Science, a department-wide decision was made to handle such matters
 * Other still decided how to address the matter at a course level, sometimes working with publishers to make online tools available for free or a longer duration to be compliant with Ministry requirements
 * **OCAV** is in the process of working with Association of Canadian Publishers and MTCU to advocate to make changes that are in keeping with technology enhancements/integration; it is hoped that come Spring 2012 the efforts of OCAV will result in changes to Ministry requirements

From ancillary fees we moved to textbooks and student reading, referring to the handouts provided. Individual group members shared how their individual disciplines viewed textbooks and how individual instructors positioned required textbooks in their course. We also touched on textbook design.
 * Reading**
 * Rick Henderson from Physics and Computer Science noted how textbooks are becoming more magazine-like with pictures, activities, sidebars, etc. He is considering moving to a text that is more engaging for the student noting that texts in his field are more text based
 * There was discussion following Rick’s comment as to whether students found the breaking-up of material in textbooks distracting, thereby making it harder to follow a line of discussion through to the end
 * MaryLou Byrne from Geography and Environmental Studies, who has authored and edited textbooks for her discipline, noted that between the first, second and third editions of a textbook she has worked on that finding the right balance of text to pictures, activities, sidebar notes, pull-out boxes etc. changed between issues with the third issue striking a better balance
 * Extending our conversation about textbook resources and design to his website, Terry Sturtevant emphasized the importance of consistency and structure in how he designs his websites across all his lab and course sections, providing consistency for his students. He also noted that even though he provides extra resources and supports, not all students necessarily take advantage of them – others agreed on this matter
 * Interestingly, some group members from math and science noted how they positioned their textbooks in class as resources for their students, with Shane Bauman from Math, suggesting to his students that they experiment with what works best for them when it comes to the textbook, i.e., reading ahead or after class to get the most out of them in relation to course content
 * Margaret Leask from Religion and Culture painted a very different picture, noting how she positions the course readings as being central to the course, providing weekly questions for students to contemplate before and during the readings. She further noted her role in relation to the readings and her lecture material – that being to synthesize and expand on the course material, not cover it for the students – her students having asked her this directly
 * Jason Neelis from Religion and Culture likewise noted the importance of course readings in his course/discipline, designing reading assignments to help students with the readings, connecting the readings to questions and discussion in his lectures. He also pointed to the “Making Sense” series of guides (by discipline) to help students with reading and writing
 * Stephen MacNeil from Chemistry noted that the readings in his course are aligned with the OWL homework activities so students can move back and forth between the readings and the homework assignments as needed; his course takes a mastery approach to learning
 * **Overall,** our discussions highlighted the importance of positioning the **ROLE** of course readings in the course, and **HOW** students should use texts to maximize their learning and their classroom experience, recognizing that the approach and kind of skills students need vary by discipline. There was also agreement that individual faculty members, when clarifying and situating course readings, should let students know that readings and texts play different roles in different courses/disciplines and as such, students should check with their professors for each course

From textbooks we moved briefly to talking about student supports and study skills, recognizing the need to help students learning disciplinary skills and knowledge (e.g., reading and writing). This led to some faculty sharing how they incorporate supplemental instruction (SI) into their courses. SI is an optional support faculty can choose to incorporate into their courses via Learning Services (contact: Michael Lisetto-Smith - **Email: ** mlisettosmith@wlu.ca | **Phone: **+1 (519) 884-0710 ext.3640). SI leaders typically hold sessions outside of class time to help students work through course material.
 * Supplemental Instruction - http://www.wlu.ca/page.php?grp_id=1866&p=6024**
 * Margaret Leask shared that she uses SI in her RE103/104 courses, noting that it tends to attract students who are in the upper range and lower range of the course with respect to their overall ability and performance
 * Jeanette McDonald noted that in the online course offerings, the courses which assign a portion of the grade or a bonus to the SI component and build it into the course versus an add-on have the most success
 * Ken Maly shared the outcomes of a US based study specific to SI in Chemistry courses, noting that even accounting for student ability (better/worse students), that students who took part in the SI program did significantly better than those who did not
 * The group also learned that Michael Lisetto Smith sends out a summary of student grade performance to instructors who participate in the program enabling them to assess who participated and how students performed
 * Stephen MacNeil noted that he believes his interactive and structured approach to his course keeps students on task, pacing them on a weekly basis through assignments that he has them complete (9 out of 12 weeks). And while students initially complain about the weekly assignments, by the end of course they express their appreciation for being kept on task

FYI: In the December 2011 issue of the //Teaching Professor// newsletter, there is an article titled "Online Homework Makes a Difference" which outlines the benefits of such programs to instructors and students. Click here to access (you need to be on campus or logged in via the Library site): []

The next TLC meeting is Friday, February 17th (Friday before Reading Week).


 * November 22**

With some new faces and visiting international faculty our gathering began with a round robin of introductions. From there we moved into discussing a **dilemma** expressed by one faculty member on how to best approach the first week (in winter) of his large first year course given that his course runs Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and that with the start of term beginning on a Tuesday and a conference commitment on the Friday, he would have only one 50 minute class to start the term off. Added to this he noted that he wanted to not only build in a welcome and orientation to the course, but some review as well. The group had several suggestions on how he might make the best use of his Wednesday class and start students off on the right foot. These suggestions are outlined below.


 * We talked at length about a pre-lecture quiz on MyLearningSpace to test student knowledge (going in cold), then using the conditional release function in MyLS to provide review materials (e.g., notes, screencast, other) to prepare them to retake the same pre-lecture quiz for grades before the first Monday class in week two. Student results could then be used for follow-up purposes in that Monday class. The quizzes could be used as a diagnostic tool for the students and the faculty member as a means to determine review and support needs, and follow-up.
 * Others pointed to the importance in the first class meeting to not only review and orient the students to the course, but to use the time to, for example, set expectatons, take students through a web tour of the MyLS course website, sell the course, develop learning and studying habits/techniques to be successful in the course, get a sense of student attitudes and concerns about the subject matter (myth busting), and so on.
 * For more information on screencasting, see our November 1st meeting notes below.

From here, the conversation moved to different strategies and approaches to **exam review**. Again the members of the group had several ideas.


 * Tristan Long shared that he had the best results in his larger first year course when he used clickers and posed a limited number of questions (about 15-20 for a 50 minutes class) to students. Once answered, he would show students the distribution of their responses, taking time to explain (drawing on lectures notes and textbooks content) why/how each response was in/correct.
 * Ken Maly provides his studentes with problem sets to work through in advance of his review class, at which he works through select problems known to be challenging before opening the floor up for questions; Ken also noted that he schedules his review class outside of class time, closer to the exam date when students are in the zone of thinking about his exam.
 * Terry Stuartevant noted that he brings to class questions students typically get wrong on his exams and the wrong answers students ususally give in response to these questions. He does some process review in working through the question to help students interpret the question correctly and begin to answer the question. While he does not make the full answer available in class, he will show students sample "good" answers during office hours.
 * Matt Smith in Biology uses a website on which students an post exams questions to which students are invited to respond. To encourage student buy-in, he uses some questions on his midterm and final exams. The site also offers a place for students to correct a question if it is posed wrong.
 * Various online teaching and learning newsletters provide great ideas for exam review (and more). Check out: //The Teaching Professor, Online Classroom, and THE Forum.// Newsletter submissions are authored by faculty and educational developers and include advice, tips, best practices, lessons learned, article reviews and so on. These e-newsletters are available through the [|Library catalogue].

From here our coversation moved to talking about **students who challenge grades or the marking of an exam question.** Again, the group had various ideas.


 * Margaret Walton-Roberts talked about a form she (or a colleague in her department) uses called a "student challenge form". Students who feel they have a case to argue for unfair marking may complete this form for reassessment.
 * Terry Stuartevant talked about a "doubt mark" that students on exams (e.g., 2-3%) recieve. If however a student felt they had been marked unfairly they could submit a request for reassessment, but in so doing, the lose their "doubt mark". The effect was that fewer students challenged their grades.
 * Charles Morrison has a policy that if a student asks for an exam or assignment question to be reassessed that he reassesses the whole exam/assignment. In so doing, the student risks having their grade go up, down or staying the same.
 * Tristan Long reminded the group about the diagnostic information that comes with Scantron forms such that professors can check to see how well students answer different questions, which may help to identify if a particular question is fair or perhaps a "bad" question. If the latter happens to be true, Tristan gives everyone a mark for that question.
 * Another group member (maybe this was you Tristan) shared that s/he shows students what a 10 out of 10 response to a given question looks like so students know what is expected in their response.

There was also some discussion about **one's choice of assessments** (e.g., multiple choice exams only vs written components too). Aside from the obvious grading management issue, there was agreement that where possible, providing students with opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge in written and multiple choice modes is preferable. It was noted however that higher order questions could be developed for multiple choice test items. For example asking students to analyse and interpret a picture, a graph or case and then answer a series of questions. Fill-in-the blank with visuals was another option discussed. Reference was made to the materials provided by Dr. David DiBatista from Brock University who recently visited. A link to his guidelines for developing multiple choice questions can be found here. This discussion concluded our conversation. The next round of gatherings will take place in January 2012. Watch for a Doodle poll to help us schedule these meetings.

We covered a number of topics for the second meeting of the Teaching Larger Classes (and first year students) CoP.
 * November 1, 2011**


 * Textbook PPT** - the value of using publisher provided textbook PPT slides was discussed. Generally they were thought to be content heavy, but provided a basis for the user to generate their own slides reflective of individual scholarship, interests, teaching styles/approaches, etc. The use of textbook PPT slides generated further discussion on how PPT slides should be designed. There was agreement that design should be directed by intended purpose. For example, are they created with the intention to guide the instructor in lecturing and/or supporting student learning and engagement? Some CoP members said they posted their slides in advance of class, leaving spaces and blanks in the slides for student to write in more detailed notes or to complete an activity/task (e.g., problem sets, case scenarios, reflective question, etc.). This approach, they felt, did not take away from class attendance, as their value on their own would be limited.


 * Student Quizzes** - we also talked about using pre-lecture quizzes as a tool to pace student learning and provide feedback to the professor on how students are doing.
 * Tristan Long from Biology noted that through MyLS he could identify the peak times students completed the exam and hence give him a sense of student preparedness coming into class.
 * Ken Maly from Chemistry noted that he uses pre-lecture quiz (student complete by midnight before lecture) results to guide the review component of his lecture (usally at the start of the class). Once completed, he uses clicker questions to test for student understanding. If it so works, he sometimes uses the review session as a launching point for addressing remaining/future lecture content. Ken also noted that he sometimes provides pre-lecture video clips of course content, allowing him to more effectively use class time to do hands-on learning (and reduce lecture time).
 * The weighting of the pre-lectures quizzes was addressed in light of integrity and incentive concerns (e.g., 5-10%). It was agreed that the stakes (weighting percent) need to be high enough to encourage student participation, but low enough such that student collaboration on quizzes does not unduly influence overall unfairly individual student performance.
 * The importance of explaining the rationale for such quizzes and their timing was also emphasized such that students see value in their completion and how they can contribute to their success.
 * A challenge of pre-lecture quizzes is the potential for lectures to lag behind or move ahead of the quizzes. No clear suggestion was offered as to how to avoid, rather it was accepted that this would/could happen.
 * The group also recognized up-front investment of time in preparing quiz questions, but felt the long-term benefit that with some refining and adding to of questions to the test bank in future iterations was worth the effort.
 * Maximizing use of MyLS quiz features was recommended such as multiple test banks (or question sets) to draw from randomly within one quiz. For example, if there are three sections to a quiz there could be three question sets to draw from. Within these question sets, the number of questions to be pulled could be set to any number, reflecting the weighting of each section of the quiz/test. Various question formats are available including multiple choice, matching, true/false - all of which are computer marked - and paragraph form for manual marking. For more information on how to set-up quizzes and surveys online in MyLS, contact Mary Scott (mscott@wlu.ca) in Educatonal Technologies.

Tristan Long expressed interest in the group’s ideas or thoughts on adding a problem-based approach to his Winter course to better engage students versus adapting textbook PPT slides for his own purposes. There was broad support for this idea with the caution of being clear on explaining to students the rationale for this approach. Jeanette McDonald pointed to the //[|Journal on Excellence in College Teaching].// Often this journal has special issues directed at specfic teaching pedagogies/approaches (e.g, case study method). Volume 18, No. 1 (2007) dedicated an issue to helping studentes learn that included research on the benefits and gains on teaching students learning how to learn skills in first and second year. //[|The Teaching Professor]//newsletter is also a source of instructional ideas and reviews on current pedagogical research. Both resources are available online through the Library.


 * October 11, 2011**

For the first meeting of the Teaching Larger Classes (and first year students) CoP, we began with a round of introductions recognizing that we had a number of new(er) members to the group as well as a brief overview of what CoPs are all about.

Charles Morrison began the conversation with a focus on first year students, noting how his experience with students and his reading of the literature to date had reinforced for him that he (and others) need to help students make connections with course material and not assume that they know how to do this within their respective discipline or subject area. Moreover, he emphasized the importance of helping students develop new modes of thinking, learning, etc. With an element of humour, Charles noted that there are only two things different between high school students and first year students, that is, July and August.

Picking up on the differences between high school and university students, Philippa Gates noted a dilemma she is currently dealing with in her large (240 students) first year film studies course, that being, student drift - what her TA characterizes as an unwillingness or lack of motivation to do “hard thinking.” Philippa elaborated, noting further that her students seemed to become easily overwhelmed with the content as more terms and concepts were layered onto the lesson topic. To provide context, she noted that she teaches in two hour blocks where the first hour is lecture based and the second hour is more applied. To this scenario a number of others in the group shared the following strategies, experiences, lessons learned, etc.


 * Eileen Wood suggested moving some of the application elements from the second hour into the first hour, including the media clips Philippa mentioned using


 * Chris Anderson noted the importance of gaining and keeping student attention based on his read of //What’s the use of lectures?// By David Bligh (available in Library), recommending that the mode of delivery etc. be switched up approximately every 15 minutes – something to refresh students and refocus their attention


 * Penelope Ironstone built on Chris’ suggestion with the recommendation of designing contact time with students in 15 minute blocks, changing up the mode of delivery or classroom activities to reflect the full range of student learning styles (i.e., visual, auditory, kinesthetic, etc.)


 * Based on his read of Robert Leamnson’s book, Charles Morrison built on Penelope’s suggestion with the idea of strategically mapping the choice of medium to deliver content and engage students with the type of information being conveyed/studied


 * Terry Sturtevant suggested giving students the list of terms being address in class and in the readings ahead of time such that students had time to orient themselves, attend to the textbook readings, etc.


 * Chris Anderson suggested the incorporation of in-class group work with the help of TAs to monitor group discussion and facilitate student tasks (e.g., break students into groups and have them tease out what they collectively know/don’t know about the terms under study with the goal of sharing their understandings back with the larger group for comparison)


 * Penelope Ironstone noted that there can be resistance to group work across the years and student cohorts – and that part of the challenge is selling the notion of group work to the “smart kids” – pointing out to them that in teaching others they solidify their own knowledge and understanding of the material


 * Eileen Wood added from her experience that you need to train students from day one to expect and practice group work regularly such that by weeks three and four they know to expect it in class. Citing an example from her own class, she outlined how she told students on day one that they will need to bring their textbook to class for group activities and that she would tell them in advance which classes they would need to do this for. To motivate students to do the work she offers bonus marks. For these marks, students for example have to use their text to find specific terms, writing down their understanding of these terms (to be handed in). She also asks students to craft potential exam questions (having modeled what a good/bad exam question might look like and why) based on textbook content. Over the term, the complexity of tasks become more difficult.


 * Speaking to student resistance to conceptual thinking, Ken Maly noted that he front-loads course content online, using quizzes to pace student learning, to test their knowledge, and flex contact time with students. He uses the quiz data (i.e., how well/poorly students did) to guide his lectures and integrate activities. The quizzes he noted are low stakes meaning they count for a small percentage of the students’ marks, but provide enough incentive to do the work


 * To providing more opportunities for student engagement, Shane Baumantalked about his recent foray into the use of clickers in his math classes and how he says it changed the dynamic (more engaged) of the classroom, allowing him to assess student learning based on their responses to the problem sets provided. He further noted that he doesn’t immediately show the possible answers to the multiple choice questions, wanting the students to think first before giving up the list of options. Finally, he noted that just acknowledging to students which content is going to be more challenging, but at the same time saying to them that he will provide a process to guide them toward success, was appreciated by the students


 * In terms of helping students prepare and learning material, Terry Sturtevant talked about his experimentation with screencasts (voiceover slide shots) for one of his electronics labs whereby he developed a series of 3-5 minute screencasts designed to walk students through the lab experiment. He designed the sreencasts with the intention of providing students options for preparing for the lab and reviewing what’s expected. Apparently their implementation has altered the dynamic of the lab such that he can now survey the group and offer more individualized instruction. Apparently the videos have also been facilitative of students moving right into the videos to start the lab. Having to chunk the material into short segments also forced Terry to rethink how and what he says, and in what order. As a result, he was much more attuned to what he needed to focus on and what extraneous instructions/content could be cut


 * Charles Morrison further suggested that instead of giving all the concepts to students in the lecture portion of the class to move some of the media clips from the second half to the first half of the class, asking students to identify key elements they observed and to come up with examples to illustrate their understanding of concepts identified


 * To this, Eileen Wood cautioned being reasonable about we ask students to do/learn, testing assumptions about what we think they can do/know, and trying things first ourselves before asking the same of our students.


 * To the notion of content coverage, Penelope Ironstone questioned “how do we know when we have the right balance” such that “creative learning” approaches to engaging and helping students learn are not compromised


 * Eileen Wood and others acknowledged that teaching less better is likely to lead to more meaningful and lasting learning then moving through the content for coverage purposes. She also noted that it’s not unreasonable to ask students to learn testable material on their own (lower level more complex learning), the key is linking the material to other course content and assessments


 * Penelope Ironstone also noted that the physical spaces in which we teach can influence what we do, what we ask the students to do, and the kind of dynamic/tone created in the classroom. To this Eileen suggested getting students involved right from the beginning in engagement opportunities. She gave the example of an icebreaker she uses that requires volun-told students to come to the front of the class to act out the workings of a neuron. Students, she admitted, were uncomfortable at first, but overcame this discomfort once they get into it. From there she built in the expectation for doing these kinds of activities in her classroom

As the session came to a close, Eileen **asked for ideas on how to manage exam settings where all the students are in one class** versus multiple classes. Folks suggested the following:
 * Use two different versions with up to four different colours
 * To change question order within versions
 * To ask students to sit in tutorial sections during exam (for so called ease of administration – not the real reason – but keeps students together)
 * Tell students that they can’t sit beside someone with the same coloured exam paper
 * Ken said he holds his exams on Friday evenings when he can book multiple rooms – he puts this into the syllabus with dates so students know when and where the exams will be

With this the session came to a close with a few folks staying to chat


 * More about resources mentioned during the session: **



//Thinking About Teaching and Learning: Developing Habits of Learning with First-Year College and University Students//* (Leamnson, 1999). Recommended by Charles Morrison - This is an excellent book with many "aha" moments for me - Charles (!).



//What's the Use of Lectures// (Bligh, 2000).

Recommended by Chris Anderson

//Decoding the Disciplines: Helping Students Learn Disciplinary Ways of Thinking// (Pace and Middendorf, 2004). It is part of the "New Directions for Teaching and Learning" series by Jossey-Bass, this one volume #98, Summer, 2004. The chapter in question is no. 2, by David Pace himself, and is entitled "Decoding the Reading of History: An Example of the Process." Recommended by Charles Morrison

While the focus is on reading in history, the chapter is really about reading comprehension in general and carries nicely across the disciplines. Six steps are outlined. - What is the bottleneck to learning in this class? - How does an expert do these things? - How can these tasks be explicitly modeled? - How will students practice these skills and get feedback? - What will motivate the students? - How well are students mastering these learning tasks?