Blooms Taxonomy
Hi everyone,
It seems to me that this section of the training does a good job of reminding us that there are basic needs that all people need to have met before they are at a place where they can experience learning. Whatever we can do to help our students be comfortable and prepared will make our jobs that much easier.
This seems to go back to our model role from the previous section. The more we can model what we expect from the students, the more they will know what we expect.
What are some things we can do as instructors to model appropriate/successful student behavior?
The career of a student as they progress through the college experience is essentially similar to the progress made within a single course, in that the student begins by learning the essentials, in concepts, practices and vocabulary, and by repetition, experiment, encouragement and challenges, becomes competent in her abilities. The instructor should bear this in mind and note when the student has made a visible sign of progress. Much progress can be made by the act of showing up on time with materials and prepared to learn. The instructor should also show and and be prepared to teach.
When introducing new terminology if we can connect the new vocabulary to previous knowledge then half of our work is done.
Open ended questioning and senerio type questioning can open up an entirely new line of disscussion. Most of the time another student in the room has an opinion that may be far different that the answer that the instructor was expecting to hear.
We as instructors have to remember that we need to use basic techniques in teaching and using key words that the students will easily identify with for easier comprehension.
Bloom's Taxonomy helps us to get students to think at higher levels of learning. In order for students to critically think at higher levels, it is important to provide students with the lower levels of learning at first, such as rote memorization. Once they master this level, we can challenge them to learn at higher levels in which they can discern, differentiate, compare and contrast, judge, etc. In order for students to truly master information, they must progress up the ladder of Bloom's taxonomy. It is important that instructors provide these expectations gradually, as a student progresses through a program, so a not to overwhelm the student and have them give up. If instructors keep "raising the bar" gradually, students tend to "rise to the occasion."
