Next, faculty need to pre-assess their students’ knowledge of the concept to determine where to begin instruction along their roadmap. That process leads to learning.Īs professors, what do we need to know to help us determine the “just right” size of chunk to deliver to students? Then, what strategies can engage students in the content in an effort to help them retain the information?įirst, faculty need to have a strong command of their content and create a roadmap for how elements of the content can be delivered in a sequential manner that lead students to acquire the overall concept. However, chunks that are “just right” hold the promise of students acquiring, engaging, and then storing that information into memory. Chunks that are too small, lead to disinterest for students. Chunks that are too large overwhelm students and they aren’t able to retain the information. Faculty who embrace a flipped classroom design will often deliver a chunk of information prior to class through a digital medium, such as a screencast or short video. This content may be delivered by a lecture, reading a section of a text, observing a demonstration or watching a video. In other words, as we consider the content that we want to cover in a class, it is critical that we divide that content into chunks of information that students can receive and then engage with. Neuroscience research and what we know about how students construct new knowledge tell us that students need to acquire new content in digestible chunks. Believe or not, this notion of “just right” is meaningful to college professors as they prepare content for their classes. When Goldilocks visits the three bears’ house, she tastes the porridge they left out in the kitchen papa’s porridge is too hot, mama’s is too cold, but baby bear’s porridge is “just right” for her.
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