Right-Brained?
Professors are susceptible to neuromyths — false beliefs about learning that arise from misunderstandings about the brain. So are the instructional designers and professional developers who support their teaching. That’s the main finding of “International Report: Neuromyths and Evidence-Based Practices in Higher Education,” which was released last month by the Online Learning Consortium.
Among the most widely believed neuromyths is that students learn best when they’re taught according to their preferred learning style — visually, for example — according to the report, which is based on survey responses from about a thousand instructors and support professionals. Just over a quarter of professors correctly identified that idea as false, while 46 percent of instructional designers and 35 percent of professional-development administrators did.
There is no evidence, the report says, to support the idea that people learn best when taught in their preferred learning style. In fact, it says, research suggests that “teaching to learning styles may actually hinder learning or affect a student’s self-perception,” because it may lead students to seek only information presented in a particular way. If you’d like to explore that topic further, this article from The Atlantic is a good place to start.
Other examples of pervasive neuromyths include that people can be “left-brained” or “right-brained,” and that we use only 10 percent of our brain. The report includes research-backed explanations about why each of those misunderstandings is incorrect.
Instructors’ susceptibility to neuromyths matters, the report says, because the way instructors teach is rooted in their understanding of how people learn.
The survey also asked respondents about their familiarity with a number of evidence-based teaching practices, like the value of explaining the purpose of an activity and providing meaningful feedback (nearly all respondents got those two particular items right).
The report recommends that:
- Colleges should “assess the awareness of neuromyths, general information about the brain, and evidence-based practices among their instructors, instructional designers, and administrators.”
- Instructors and support-staff members — perhaps aided by teaching centers — should learn more about the brain. (The report includes a resource list.)
- Colleges should ensure that their professional-development materials for instructors are scientifically accurate.
The report also suggests some ideas for future research, such as exploring a link between instructors’ adherence to neuromyths and their instructional practices, and examining whether “commercial products for the brain and learning” encourage the belief in neuromyths.
There’s lots of misinformation about learning floating around. Has learning more about the brain changed your own teaching? Do you share research with your students about how learning works? What kind of reaction have they had? Tell me about it at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com, and your example may appear in a future newsletter.
Making Sense of Midterms
Last week I asked how you help students navigate midterm exams and the implications of getting their first big grade. Here are some of your responses:
- Caitie Leibman, who directs the writing center at Doane University, in Nebraska, begins classes in her English 101 course with a writing prompt. Before students get their midterm grades, she writes, her prompt is: “What do you want out of the rest of the semester?” While some students write about grades, “they also end up taking this opportunity to level with me about how sleep is impacting their semester, what skills they want to give more attention, and what’s working for them so far.”
- Robin Musselman, a psychology professor at Lehigh Carbon Community College, in Pennsylvania, teaches lots of nonmajors in her introductory courses. “I spend a lot of time talking about first exam grades,” she writes. For students who didn’t do well, she emphasizes that a poor grade is a warning to study differently: “More of the same strategies is not going to work!” Musselman also passed along this video from Stephen Chew, a professor at Samford University, which gives students advice on handling a bad grade. It’s part of a series on how to study.
- Zachary Nowak, associate director of the Center for Food & Sustainability Studies at the Umbra Institute, in Italy, took issue with the premise of the question. “I’ve never had a midterm for any class I’ve taught and never will,” Nowak writes. “The idea that a student’s first significant feedback (or at least what they see as significant — i.e. summative — feedback) is something midway through the term is ridiculous to me. I try to have many, low-stakes assignments starting on the first day.”
Adapting Academic Offerings
Campus leaders are often reviewing academic programs these days, with an eye toward culling expensive, unpopular, or obsolete offerings — or maybe transforming them. What should go into that decision-making, and who should be involved? In the past, business and academic mind-sets have clashed, but that may be changing, as more faculty members track enrollments and propose creative new directions. Our latest report, “The Right Mix of Academic Programs,” explores how to evaluate, cut, adapt, and expand programs, as well as optimize course scheduling. Buy a copy in the Chronicle Store.
Quoted:
“I wanted them to feel entitled to question the syllabus, which is this thing students take for granted as neutral even though it’s actually loaded. I wanted them to know that art is nuanced and complex, and in any artist’s life there is going to be something objectionable, but that’s not an excuse to close ourselves off from engaging with the art.”
— Emily Gowen, a literature instructor at Boston University, explaining her course’s inclusion of works by Junot Diaz to The New York Times for a story on teaching the works of authors accused of sexual harassment and assault in the #MeToo age.
If you haven’t yet read the full article — which includes thoughtful perspectives from teachers and professors — you can do so here. Has #MeToo caused you to reconsider your syllabus? How do you discuss decisions with students about whose work to study, and what have those conversations been like? Tell me at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com, and your example may appear in a future newsletter.
Thanks for reading Teaching. If you have suggestions or ideas, please feel free to email us, at dan.berrett@chronicle.com, beckie.supiano@chronicle.com, or beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com.
— Beckie
