The 7 principles

1. Students’ prior knowledge can help or hinder learning.

2. How students organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know.

3. Students’ motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn.

4. To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned.

5. Goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances the quality of students’ learning.

6. Students’ current level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and intellectual climate of the course to impact learning.

7. To become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning.

Purpose

The Center for Teaching and Faculty Excellence at George Mason University is sponsoring an interdisciplinary reading group during the spring semester of 2013, and the book selected is How Learning Works. 7 Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching, by Ambrose, Bridges and Lovet.

In this blog, I will keep track of my reading by commenting on those ideas that interest me the most. Beginning, January 29, 2013, a group of faculty and staff will be meeting every three weeks to discuss the book.

I hope keeping a reading log will help me participate actively in the discussions.

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