Ashley E. Mason
Abstract
A semester long book club was created to provide greater support for students’ learning and students’ interest in lifelong learning.The book club provided time for faculty to discuss areas of need and strengths within the curriculum and gave space for each faculty member to reflect on their perceived teaching/learning experiences with adult learners.
To provide greater support for our students’ learning and build students’ capacity and interest in lifelong professional learning, I founded a department book club. The intent was to provide our department with a similar learning foundation to support our students and to find tips for students that would help them understand their own learning process.
During the Occupational Therapy department’s faculty meeting, I facilitated a discussion, where we collectively listed what we believed were challenges to students’ learning and how the issues might be overcome. Faculty stated interest in: providing scaffolding to students for how to learn; gaining information to support lifelong learning; lifelong learning as connected to professional behaviors and identity; using growth mindset to support learning; using pre/post assessments to discover whether strategies support students’ learning.
Book Club
Thirteen faculty members joined the book club to read and discuss Teaching Students How to Learn (McGuire, 2015a) and the student version, Teach Yourself How to Learn (McGuire, 2015b). The members were full-time faculty, all of whom are engaged in teaching, research, and service.
The agenda and structure for the book club provided opportunities for faculty to read chapters of the books and discuss them in-person, in small groups; and asynchronously through Padlet prompts. Faculty members were to read three-four chapters every two weeks.
Throughout the spring semester, we met on the second Tuesday of each month for our in-person sessions and on the fourth Tuesday of the month for our asynchronous sessions. We divided into small groups of four-five people. Each group recruited a volunteer scribe, who recorded discussion points from the small group’s discussion and posted them for individuals not able to attend.
In-person sessions. Most of the synchronous book club meetings were scheduled during the department’s usual faculty meeting times, with time blocked for our book club discussion. We reserved between 25-35 minutes for book club. (This was typically 12:20-12:55 PM). When we planned for more time, we gathered as a larger group and discussed the highlights from each smaller group discussion. Approximately nine-thirteen club members participated in each in-person discussion.
The protocol we used for our in-person sessions, Save the Last Word for Me adapted from National School Reform Faculty (2015), allowed everyone equal talking and listening time.
Save the Last Word For Me
Presenter One: Read aloud the passage in our monthly reading that you found to be the most significant – do not comment on it.
Group Members: One at a time respond to the passage saying what it makes you think about – what did you hear from your colleague. (Each person gets one minute.)
Presenter One : State why you chose that passage and respond to – or build on what you heard from colleagues. (one minute)
Group Members: Continue with this format until all members of the group have had a chance to be the presenter.
Adapted from National School Reform Network (2015). Save the Last Word for Me.
Asynchronous online sessions. With approximately ten people participating in our monthly asynchronous discussions, we used Padlet Teams for our discussion board and Flipgrid to allow audio postings. (Note: Flipgrid is now Flip.)
Asynchronous Instructions: Example
Answer the Flipgrid post embedded in the monthly tab on Teams by 11:59 pm on Tuesday.
Respond to two posts by the following Sunday by 11:59 pm. Review and reflect on your responses.
Discussion Themes
We discussed information from the books, which also led to reflections from our own observations and experiences. Our main areas of discussion were learning process supports, metacognitive learning, motivating growth mindset, and addressing diverse student needs.
Learning process supports. We discussed that our students are most successful when they are in an active learning environment (e.g., assisting clients in a supportive setting). We concluded students are motivated because they are practicing real world skills. Also, congruent with the books’ emphasis on metacognitive strategies, in a clinical setting students are required to reflect on previous course experiences and learn concepts from previous courses, in order to be prepared.
Metacognitive learning. McGuire (2015a) suggests students should not only think about how they think, but also consider how they retain the knowledge they’ve learned. We discussed how thinking how we think and learn best, as educators and being reflective with our instruction can also help our students’ ability to learn. In following McGuire’s lead, we also discussed using Bloom’s Taxonomy to help teach students concepts and hierarchy of learning.
Motivating Growth Mindset. We discussed the issue of students wanting to ‘ace’ the course and not focus on the learning process. Aligning with McGuire’s (2015a) advice, we posited we can support student learning through being transparent with assignment and course expectations, and create low stakes assignments for practice. With these elements in place, we believe students will see value in the course’s content, feel safe to ‘fail’ in their learning environment, and become confident in knowing they will learn,
Addressing diverse student needs. Reflecting on our personality differences, learning differences, and how our past experiences shape how we provide activities and assignments for students, we concluded that it is important to elicit student engagement and in-class participation through different means, such as polling, using shared documents, Padlets, etc. So all students can successfully engage in higher level, small group work, we discussed educating students about how groups operate, and encouraging students to set expectations and roles for group members.
We noted that while McGuire (2015a, 2015b) provides good evidence for learning strategies, there is little discussion around learning disabilities, equity and access to education.Using our knowledge from previous faculty work, we decided we can better support students to engage and learn by using universal design for learning (UDL) (Cast, 2018).
Outcomes
instructional outcomes. The goals of our book club were to further supports for students’ learning and to encourage a student mindset of lifelong professional learning. We had noticed that many students tend to have fixed mindset with learning, and want to see that perspective change before they become practitioners. As a result of the book club, actions are in place to support our goals.
We are trialing several strategies to support students’ learning: using metacognitive strategies, Bloom’s Taxonomy to teach about learning, transparency in assignments, cultivating a supportive learning environment, and adding Universal Design for Learning concepts, to provide multiple means of engagement with students.
Universal Design for Learning has been a point of discussion for our department because we understand that adult learners digest and use information differently. In providing flexibility in how students can submit assignments (e.g., video with written information, paper format, audio file (with their transcript also submitted) and how students are provided with the same or similar information (e.g., podcasts, guided readings within articles/textbooks through answering questions, videos, etc.) we are giving students more space to learn, understand, and teach or discuss the content in what works best for them.
Specific ideas for providing equity included using crowdsourcing; different platforms such as Padlet for assignments for visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners; and creating worksheets that are readable through read aloud text programs, for people with visual impairments or strengths in auditory learning.
Deeper professional learning. Not only did the book club work towards goals for students, it provided a forum that supported its members’ professional growth. Our book club members were prepared and engaged throughout the sessions. We acquired new knowledge and then were able to use it. With information from McGuire’s books as a springboard, and our reflecting and discussing what approaches fit best in our curriculum, we currently use new concepts (see Instructional outcomes, above).
The book club supported a time, space, and collegial support to critically and creatively consider how we teach and the relationships we have or think we have with our adult learners. We were provided space for members to work independently (i.e., reading and selecting passages for discussion) and collaboratively to discuss how concepts and strategies in the books might support students learning about a growth mindset.
Reflections
Our book club elicited good discussions on how to introduce, support, and lead students to implement metacognitive learning strategies and a better understanding of Bloom’s Taxonomy. The book club was effective because it provided time for faculty to discuss areas of need and strengths within the curriculum and gave space for each faculty member to reflect on their perceived teaching/learning experiences with adult learners. We could determine how to move forward with students and where and how to talk about growth mindset with students. The books were a scaffold to shape thinking and discussion.
Enhancements. For a future book club we could have a yearly follow-up meeting to revisit or reconsider where faculty have used information from the discussions. This can support what has been helpful, what has not been helpful and perhaps where duplication is present and not needed. Additionally, the book club experience could be enhanced by locating brief videos and podcasts that cover similar information, so the format is easier to digest for different learners.
Advice for starting a book club. For starting a faculty book club, first get an idea of the department or broader faculty’s perspective, informally, regarding how the teaching and learning process is going in their courses.Then do the homework on a specific book and present an overview of the book’s content and how it would benefit faculty and their students. Consider how much additional time a book club will take, on top of a full course load, and how much faculty are willing to engage in conversation.
References
CAST (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, version 2.2. Retrieved from
http://udlguidelines.cast.org
McGuire, S. Y. (2015a). Teaching students how to learn. Stylus Publishing.
McGuire, S. Y. (2015b).Teaching yourself how to learn. Stylus Publishing.
National School Reform Faculty (2015). Save the Last Word for Me Text Protocol. Retrieved from
http://www.nsrfharmony.org
.
Ashley E. Mason, PhD, OTR/L is Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York. Dr. Mason can be reached at amason3@ithaca.edu