Lauren's First Attempt at Paper 3 This is the one to PEER REVIEW
From Mizzou Wiki
Group discussions and student presentations are a way to get students to be more involved in class. In a large lecture class it would take weeks to get all the students to show their presentations. Also in a lecture class it is very difficult to monitor the student's comprehension of the topics being studied and assigned. Something needs to be done about this. Students are not focusing in class and they are not getting the education they are paying for. Maybe new technology in large lecture classrooms is the answer. A document written by Arthur H. Woods and Charles Chiu describes a new type of technology that has seemed to work in the lecture classes at the University of Texas at Austin. This new device is called the Classroom Performance System, CPS for short. At the University of Texas the students are required to buy a wireless response pad. This system allows the teacher to ask a question to the whole class and the student's responses are charted on a histogram and displayed on a large screen in front of the class. Arthur says, "the system was less expensive, easier to install, and more robust than compareable hard-wired response systems." He also states that this system gave teachers a better feel of how the students were comprehending the information. If the majority of the students weren't understanding the material it would show up on the histogram. All the answers would be varied and wouldn't make sense. This form of technology could be a good way for students to become more involved in class discussions, and relate with other students. I am still not convinced that this form of technology would solve the issue of the student focusing in class.
If this system was installed at the University of Missouri in Columbia I think this would be putting a band-aid on the issue at hand--they have actually started installing a program like this here, but i agree--. The issue still lies between the student and the teacher. There is a distinct relationship between students and teachers that creates motivation for both to be interested in the class. This is what is missing. Teachers, the IT department, and the Psychology department need to find what it takes for a student to feel stimulated in class. All the technologies in the world could be provided to a student but the student could still have trouble focusing in class if they are not stimulated. Ideas need to be taken from going back in time to how young students learn. Older students are the same as the younger students only more advanced. The stimulation for younger kids to get them to learn is to take them outside and have them do math problems with M&Ms. So, what is it that older students need? Maybe smaller classrooms are a good idea. Large lecture classes take away individualism. You become a number in a class and you are responsible for everything. There is nothing wrong with responsibility, it is a good thing, but it is way harder to take on those responsibilities when you feel unimportant. The motivation is lost for a student when the student feels like the teacher isn't motivated to teach. All throughout my schooling I can remember all the teachers I liked most. The reasons I liked those teachers more is because they were involved in their subject. They made class fun. My chemistry teacher in my junior year of high school blew things up every week. This kept all the students involved. If a student feels good from their teacher, they are much more likely to enjoy learning and participate in class. There is definately a misunderstanding in what a student needs in order to focus and participate in class. Stress and the constant feeling of needing to think and move quickly to multi-task get in the way big time.
At Piedmont Avenue Elementary in Oakland, California a new lesson is being taught for calming down, focusing, and looking for the answer. The term the students are being taught is "mindfulness". This technique is similar to meditation. It helps to take away stress. The author of this article says, "Mindfulness, while common in hospitals, corporations, professional sports and even prisons, is relatively new in the education of squirming children." Researchers are looking into teaching young kids how to focus on their breath and on a single object so they can clear their minds and be ready to learn. “Parents and teachers tell kids 100 times a day to pay attention,” said Philippe R. Goldin, a researcher. “But we never teach them how.” This is said exactly as I want it said for this paper. Another great saying in this article is, “If we can help children slow down and think,” Dr. Haick said, “they have the answers within themselves.” In the world today people just need to slow down and think. In my math class this summer I have to work so fast that I have no time to fully retain the information I am taking in. One more quote that I cannot leave out is, "Dr. Saltzman, co-director of the mindfulness study at Stanford, said the initial findings showed increased control of attention and “less negative internal chatter — what one girl described as ‘the gossip inside my head: I’m stupid, I’m fat or I’m going to fail math,’ ” Dr. Saltzman said." This shows that if a student can control their attention they will feel so much better about everything they are dealing with that they must pay attention to. The negativity will be much less. If a student is having a hard time in a class they are much more likely to give up and say they are just going to fail the next exam instead of focusing their energy into working harder in a positive way for the class. This mindfulness technique is a very innovative idea that has nothing to do with technology. This idea seems to be working for the young students at Piedmont Avenue Elementary School. I would be very curious to see if these same techniques would work on a college student. College students are those elementary students just about 10 years later. The brain doesn't deteriorate at this age, it grows. By this, you would think these techniques should work for a college student as well. This way is much cheaper too.
Many tests would have to be done and many students would have to be evaluated in order to see which form of learning would better the student’s ability to focus in class. The CPS might work better, or the mindfulness might work better. There is no way to know without doing a lot of testing. And even then, who is to say those results are right? Maybe the CPS could work for some students. Maybe the mindfulness would work for others. It is so hard to please all students at one time. Every body is different. Every learning style is different. A big part for the student is to find what works for them. In my English 1000 class, the girl next to me always comments on how I start writing my papers. She says that I am doing a lot of work that is unnecessary. I start writing out all my thoughts and reading articles and writing down all the important facts and quotes from those articles. She says, "Why don't you just print out the article and highlight?" This is just not what I do. I know that might be faster and easier, but writing everything out the way I do, allows me to become more familiar with what I am writing about. I like the way I do this and I don't think this will ever change. A student has to know things about the way they learn best. In class I do not sit and look at a Facebook page because if I did I would lose all track of what I am learning in class.
--Chelsea K. This is a great addition to your initial paper! you were able to take the idea of simply grabbing the attention of the student and relate it to studies of studies not only in other schools but of all ages. This makes it very relatable and interesting to read. I had no problems focusing on this paper because I felt that the more I read the more I would learn. Although you might want to look into some of the new technology that has been integrated into our classrooms in just the passed year. You will find that Mizzou is following in the footsteps of the University of Texas. I have actually been in one of those classes here and it is a great support to your paper if you find the data on the MU website, its shown that engaging the students does cause a rise in grades and also less of my fellows classmates felt that important information was being passed up.
Besides have good information and an interesting paper, I am happy to say that I found almost no grammar, spelling, or mechanical errors in this paper. Your sentence structure is very well done and makes the point with out running on. There was never a point in this paper that was confusing to me or made me question whether you were on topic or not. You even made the two separate ideas of technology versus mentality flow into your conclusion.
The argument you set up with this section of the paper was extremely well done. You properly set up both arguments by letting the audience learn the ideas behind each point first and finish by comparing them and leaving it with a question. This gives people enough information to actually think for themselves and decide from the information that you presented what they believe to be the better way to focus in a classroom. Finally you ended with a great conclusion, it leaves the audience with questions after restating the information and main point you are trying to get across. All-in-all this is a great paper, and I actually enjoyed reading it.
