http://site.ebrary.com/lib/umcolumbia/detail.action?docID=11131946
In Chapter 1, this book brought up a point that I had failed to think about previously. It was that students are unaware of their level of comprehension, and if studies can prove under what circumstances students comprehend information, the results could be used to alter the way teaching in a traditional classroom is done. Some students are unaware of their lack of comprehension in the classroom, while others know when they fail to understand a topic, then proceed to search for more help. The term used in this source to describe this is "metacognition," which means to think about thinking. Being a type A student, if I fail to understand a topic, I usually turn to other sources to deepen my comprehension. What Chapter 1 is suggesting is that some students have trouble realizing their lack of comprehension, therefore falling behind and receiving bad grades on tests. To test metacognition, a new field of study in education is called learning analytics, which is being created to accurately measure student comprehension and what methods of teaching/learning work most effectively. In Chapter 7, the introduction of new technology stole my attention. In Taiwan, a smart-classroom implemented with new technology was studied to see the effects of the Speech Driven Powerpoint (SDP), a powerpoint presentation guided by the students and their topics in question, and the Technology- Enabled Interaction System (TEIS), an electronic way to take attendance by face recognition technologies and give the professor an idea of who's in the class, improving student-teacher interaction. Both studies are used to cut down time used on other class matters besides the lesson. When a professor explains a concept, then opens up the floor for questions, an effective mode of teaching would be to have more visuals for students on the confusing concepts with extra slides. The SDP recognizes key words in the students' questions and automatically flips to corresponding slides, keeping the attention of the students. The TEIS helps professors know students on a first name basis, increasing student-professor interaction. While studies only show slight increases in students perceptions of learning, researchers predict that the effects would be significant in a larger sample size. In Chapter 12, the flipped classroom, or hybrid classroom, is suggested as the future of the classroom, bringing me back to my overall research question. Shifting in to a discussion on the hybrid classroom, the source suggests that in a traditional classroom, students are passive in the classroom and lose information rather quickly. A flipped classroom has the students learn with technology and it's wide base of information at home, and that information is reiterated in a critical way when interacting in the traditional classroom.
I love the way this book gave me a new understanding of the topics outlined above. I had never thought about the way students comprehend information as being a very important, subjective aspect of the classroom. With that information instilled in my mind as I continue to look through the book, when I come upon the views of the hybrid classroom, everything came together in my research. Actually thinking about the way students retain information, how I retain information, I completely agree with this source in its description of the hybrid classroom. If I learn the facts, information that I don't need a professor to necessarily explain to me, alone, being able to look up unclear topics on the internet, I retain information better. Then, when I get to class, I am able to think critically and apply my knowledge.
My previous sources have continued to state the same things: the [benefit] of the traditional classroom is interaction with other students and the professor, the hybrid classroom allows both interaction and the expanded network of information to raise student achievement. This source combines all ideas previously stated, clarifying my understanding of the future of the classroom. The benefits from all modes of learning will, in the future with new technology, come together to form the most beneficial system of higher education. We are living through a small educational reform, bombarded with trying to figure out the rapidly evolving technology of our generation.
I feel satisfied after reading this source. I feel like it effectively wrapped up my thinking process. My overall research question: What mode of learning is most effective? was answered through this source. There isn't a direct answer to the question. As technology continues to evolve, each classroom, whether it be online, hybrid, or traditional, continues to change and take a new form. As of now, the flipped classroom seems to be the most effective according to my sources.
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