Teaching and Learning in the College Classroom
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 314 999 HE 023 165 AUTHOR McKeachie, Wilbert J.; Ard Others TITLE Teaching and Learning in the College Classroom. A Review of the Research Literature (1986) and November 1987 Supplement. INSTITUTION National Center for Research to Improve Postseconotoxy Teaching and Learning, Ann Arbor, MI. SPONS AGENCY Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC. PUB DATE 87 GRANT OERI-86-0010 NOTE 124p. AVAILABLE FROMProgram on Curriculum, NCRIPTAL, 2400 School of Education Building, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MD 48109-1259 ($10.00). PUB TYPE Information. Analyses (070) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC05 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS College Faculty; *College Instruction; College Students; Course Organization; *Educational Planning; Higher Education; Instructional Development; *Learning Processes; Literature Reviews; Program Content; *Student Characteristics; Student Development; *Student Motivation; Teaching Methods ABSTRACT A review of the research literature on teaching and learning in the co:!lege classroom is presented. An introduction notes the role of research in identifying new goals for higher education and offers a conceptual framework based on a student mediata_ln model and a focus on the process-product relationships between faculty teacher behavior and student outcomes. Individual sections then review the research in terms of: (1) student entry characteristics (intelligence, motivation and personality, and cognitive styles); (2) student cognition (knowledge structure, learning strategies, and thinking and problem solving);(3) student motivation (description of the expectancy path, description of the task-value path, antecedents of motivational constructs, interventions for motivation, and assessment); (4) instructional method (peer learning and teaching, the case method, lecture, class size, independent study, researchon leaning from reading, programmed instruction and Keller's Personalized System of Instruction, testing, and teaching methods); (5) academic tasks and activities;(6) attribute-treatment interactions; and (7) what effective teachers do. Tables and figures are included. Contains approximately 500 references. (SM) Ye.., *Y.*** * k lir*IP****** *Pc* *3%* tc *****x It** ***lit**Ikt****** *******X******* **ft it * it * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * *********************************************************************** V "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS SEENGRANTED BY NCRIPTAL TO THE EDUCATIONALRESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ER/C)" U.& DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Ott Ice at Educatory' Reaftercn *no improvement EDUCATIONAL RE SOURCES INFORMATION CENTER /ERIC) ItThis document nos been feb,ObbCeb reCerVbb from me person or organization mg:meting it 0 Minor changes have been made to improve roproduttron otratety Points of we* or oi-rniona Stated tif this docu- ment dO not :womanly teorceent offfcef or iliatittf Teaching and Learning in the College Classroom A Review of the Research Literature Papers in this series available from NCRIPTAL Approaches to Research on the Improvement of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning: A Working Paper Patricia J. Green and Joan S. Stark Focusing on Student Academic Outcomes: A Working Paper Joanne M. Alexander and Joan S. Stark Postsecamdary Teaching and Learning Issues in Search of Researchers: A Working Paper CarolD.Vogel and Joan S. Stark Psychological Models of the Impact of College on Students Harold A Kan Desiesing the Learning Plan: A Review of Research and Theory Related to College Curricula JoanS. Stark and Malcolm A Lowther, with assistance in= Sally Smith Faculty as a Key Resource: A Review of the Research Literature Robert T. Blackburn, Janet H Lawrence, Steven Ross, Virginia Polk Okoloko, Jeffery P. Bieber, Rosalie Melland, and Ttrry Street The Organizational Contest for Teaching and Learning: A Review of the Research Literature Marvin W. Peterson, Kim S. Cameron, Lisa A. Mets, Philip Jones. and Deborah Ettington Electronic Information: Literacy Skills for a Computer Age Jerome Johnston Design in Contest A Conceptual Framework for the Study of Computer Software in Higher Education Robert Kozma and Robert Bangert- Drowns Teaching and Learning in the College Classroom A Review of the Research Literature Wilbert J. McKeachle Paul R. Pintrich Yi-Guang Lin David A. F. Smith Grant Number OERI-86-0010 Joan S. Stark, Director Wilbert J. McKeachle, Associate Director Suite 2400 School of Education Building The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1259 (313) 936-2748 © 1986 by the Regents of The University of Michigan The project presented, or reported herein, was performed pursuant to a grant from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement/Department of Education (OERI /ED). However, the opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the OERI/ED and no official endorsement by the OERI/ED should be Inferred. Contents !.Introduction A. New Goals for Higher Education 1 B. Conceptual Framework and Plan of the Review 2 H. Student Entry Characteristics 5 A. Intelligence 5 B. Motivation and Personality 9 C. Cognitive Styles 9 III. Student Cognition 11 A. Knowledge Structure 11 B. Learning Strategies 23 C. Thinking and Problem Solving 33 IV. Student Motivation 43 A. Description of the Expectancy Path 43 B. Description of the Task-Value Path 51 C. Antecedents of Motivational Constructs 55 D. Interventions for Motivation 59 E. Assessment 60 V. Instructional Method 63 A. Peer Learning and Teaching 63 B. The Case Method 68 C. Lecture 69 D. Class Size 70 E. Independent Study 72 F. Research on Learning from Reading 73 G. Programmed Instruction and PSI 74 H. Testing 76 I.Teaching Methods: A Summary 77 VI. Academic Tasks and Activities 79 VII. Attribute-Treatment Interactions 81 VIII. What Do Effective Teachers Do? 83 References 85 Tables 1. Studies of Teaching and Learning 14 2. A Taxonomy of Learning Stneegies 26 3. Studies Investigating Changes in College Students' Critical Thinking (McMillan, 1986) 37 4. Dimensions Upon Which Student-Centered and Instructor-Centered Methods May Differ 66 5. Student-Centered Teaching Effects 69 6. Studies on the Effectiveness Lecture vs. Discussion 71 Figures 1. General Model of College Teaching and Learning 3 2. Components of Motivation 44 vit Teaches and Learning in the College Classroom: A Review of the Research Literature 1 I.Introduction What can college and university teachers learn from the researchon college learning and teaching? Not teaching methods that have previously been unknown. Not the best method of teaching. Not a magic elixir for motivating reluctant students. One should notexpect to find broad generalizations that could not be found in the writing of Comenius. Dewey, WilliamJames, or other thoughtful students of education. Excellent teachers fitno single mold: they appear in all historical periods, in various cultures, and at all levels andareas of higher education. What. then, can research contribute? One possibility is a more precise determination of the limits of generalizations; a second is disproof of faulty maxims; a third is a better understanding of how and why successful teaching strategies work. But research also has implications for teaching in a way that is less obvious; it affects conceptions of the goals of teaching. What we choose as goals depends upon our understanding of learning and of what teaching can produce. Thus a review of research on teaching cannot ignore broader trends in basic research. A. New Goals for Higher Education Advances in tl. eoretical conceptions of cognition and motivation should make a difference in the ways wu think about the objectives of undergraduate instruction. For example, colkge faculty members have traditionally placed heavy emphasis on the goal of ccznmu- nicating knowledge. But we now know that knowledge of facts and principles involves much more than memorization of isolated concepts. definitions. and fact& As Marton and Saljo (1976a). Dahlgren (1984) and other Gothenburg researchers have demonstrated, thereare significant qualitative differences in students' understanding of reading assignments. Today cognitive psychologists emphasize the importance of conceptual structures within which facts and principles are organized.If students are to use their knowledge after completing their course examinations, they need to have elaborated the facts and principles in ways that organize the knowledge meaningfully. Why is meaningful organization so important? Theanswer lies in a superordinate goal: Students should continue to learn and to use their learning inmore effective problem solving for the rest of their lives. When one takes life-long learning and thinkingas a major goal of education. knowledge becomes a means rather than an end, and other formerly implicit goals become more explicit. Surely one of the most iniportrut determinants of continued learning is interest in behavior and experience. A course that dulls the students' curiosity and interest must be a failure no matter how solid the content. Just as we implicitly teach motivation for continued learning, we also implicitly teach certain cognitive skills and strategies.We lecture, give reading assignments, lead discussions, require papers and laboratory projects, canny out fieldwork. and give tests all with the goal of influ student learning. The kinds of assignments. tests, and classroom activties we use imp or explicitly affect the strategies and skills for learning that students