Successful Learning, Engaged Students: It's No Longer a Textbook Case

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., April 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Switching from rigid, linear textbooks  to technology such as iPads alone won't boost student performance - so a  team of researchers has turned the classroom upside down, allowing  students to tailor each course to their own learning style.

This project, supported by extensive research and emerging technology,  puts the power of learning into the hands of students, and snatches  traditional textbooks right out of their backpacks.

"Students don't read textbooks - study after study has shown that," said  Dan Johnson, a senior lecturer at Wake Forest University. "And even if a  student completes a reading assignment, the text doesn't promote deep  understanding and long-term retention. It facilitates memorization. So  why are we still using them?"

This new way of teaching works for a variety of different learning  styles. It also better engages students who have learning difficulties  such as dyslexia or other processing disorders, who have long struggled  with the traditional lecture-and-reading assignment model. Under this  new structure, students can access dozens of pieces of information, from  text to videos to quizzes to interviews with experts. That supplemental  information ensures better understanding and engagement.

The research team, which includes Johnson, associate professor Jed  Macosko, and assistant professor Kristin Redington Bennett, has received  a $249,348 grant from Next Generation Learning Challenges, a program run  by Educause and financed largely by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  Working in close collaboration with their strategic technology partner  Odigia, the team will spend the next several months building out the  system it has designed, and the next two years testing it further in the  classroom.

This is a digital tool - but don't call it an e-textbook. The team has  created an ever-evolving learning space customizable for a variety of  students. Information is organized into interconnected nodes that  contain all of the baseline information a textbook would include, plus  supplemental material and self-assessments to enhance the learning  experience.

"Take the example of how mitosis works," Johnson said. "It's a  fundamental piece of knowledge for anyone taking Intro to Biology, but  the average student walks out of college still not understanding it  because all they're expected to do is read about it then take a test."

Under this new system, students have access to 40-50 "learning nodes"  that let them explore mitosis from different directions. Each node  includes additional materials that deepen learning.

• Basic text is reinforced with multimedia: a video showing how the  cells split; an interview with a molecular biologist who talks about how  mitosis goes astray in cancer; images of the cells.
• Embedded quizzes assess comprehension of the topic and a student's  ability to use that knowledge. The system monitors students' scores as  well as overall interaction with the content, so the teacher can monitor  progress and suggest help when needed.
• Students can ask for help by posting questions to peers or to the  teacher. Again, the teacher could review answers given by peers to  ensure accuracy.
• Students and teachers can write new nodes. In 2010, 19 students in one  of Macosko's freshman seminar courses used the system - and wrote 130  new nodes in one semester.

Macosko said that autonomy kept his students excited about the subject  and engaged in learning - a key to success, according to the watershed  education study, "How People Learn." The research says that, to teach  students how to understand concepts, courses must accommodate myriad  learning styles, should be interactive and should build on previous  knowledge, not on arbitrary chapter structures in books.

"Think of a textbook - it's too long, has lots of text, and gives few  opportunities to check your thinking," Macosko said. "When you read a  textbook, you don't often ask the question, 'Why should I know this?'  It's our very nature to learn by questioning."

Initial testing will involve students taking college biology for  non-majors. In the fall, students will use the tool at Wake Forest, a  private four-year university; Salem College, a women's college;  Winston-Salem State University, a historically black state university;  and Guilford Technical and Community College, an open-admission two-year  community college.

For links to supporting research, go to http://go.wfu.edu/t44

SOURCE Wake Forest University