Promoting analytical thinking: Techniques for student success in an HSI environment
Wednesday
11:30am-1:30pm
UMC Aspen Rooms
Poster Presentation Part of
Teaching for Diversity and Recruitment Strategies
Author
Bree McClenning-Gonzalez, Texas A & M University-Kingsville
Imagine trying to teach science in an environment where education takes a backseat to all other aspects of a student's life. Family and social activities tend to take priority over obtaining an education for the majority of students at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, which is located 40 miles from the Gulf Coast in South Texas. There are 7,730 students enrolled at this Hispanic serving institution, with greater than 60% of the student population being Hispanic. Most incoming students are underprepared for college, especially in the areas of science and mathematics, with an average SAT score of 1330 and ACT score of 19.4, below the 2013 national averages of 1498 and 20.9, respectively. Challenges faced by many faculty include: engaging student curiosity, motivating self-study, and fostering critical thinking and analytical skills.
Independent of and in addition to institutional objectives, my personal course goals are to help students build lifelong learning skills, engage students during lecture, and help students develop critical thinking skills. Methods to adopt these goals include: incorporating demonstrations, hands-on activities, in-class discussions, emphasizing the relationship between course material and daily life, and mini-lessons given by students. Each semester offers new challenges because each class has a different character, though some techniques are universal for most courses. Classroom enhancements that work particularly well are using students to demonstrate lava viscosity relative to silica content, modeling rock deformation using Play-doh and Silly Putty, and allowing students to design and present mini-lessons on course topics. These techniques work to enhance student learning as demonstrated anecdotally through students explaining the world around them to their family and friends, students recommending courses to their friends, and positive feedback from students. Future plans include developing more demonstrations, assigning students in all courses to present mini-lessons, and decreasing the amount of PowerPoint used.
Independent of and in addition to institutional objectives, my personal course goals are to help students build lifelong learning skills, engage students during lecture, and help students develop critical thinking skills. Methods to adopt these goals include: incorporating demonstrations, hands-on activities, in-class discussions, emphasizing the relationship between course material and daily life, and mini-lessons given by students. Each semester offers new challenges because each class has a different character, though some techniques are universal for most courses. Classroom enhancements that work particularly well are using students to demonstrate lava viscosity relative to silica content, modeling rock deformation using Play-doh and Silly Putty, and allowing students to design and present mini-lessons on course topics. These techniques work to enhance student learning as demonstrated anecdotally through students explaining the world around them to their family and friends, students recommending courses to their friends, and positive feedback from students. Future plans include developing more demonstrations, assigning students in all courses to present mini-lessons, and decreasing the amount of PowerPoint used.