I thought that you both did a fantastic job of explaining the history of KWL and how it can be applied to the online environment. One question that I have is with KWL, do you see more participation but the students not necessarily understanding or doing better on the actual assignments for that week? Do you have any suggestions for how to make that something I can do in my classroom? I am not sure that I have seen that the KWL has necessarily made more of an impact on the students learning and doing better on the assignments, but I have had a lot more participation. Please let me know your thoughts in this area. Take care and God Bless. Matt Hampton
Thanks for your feedback and viewing our presentation. Thomas and I have found increase in participation which sometimes does not necessary seem to equate to better assignment grades. However, I have found it to be an effective sort of remediation, particularly for writing. I tend to gear my KWLs towards the writing portion of the class since the discussion questions tend to focus on the content. I have been able to be preventative in this regard. For example, a student may post to the K (What I Know) citing his or her knowledge of the thesis statement. The student's knowledge could be correct, partially correct, or incorrect. This allows for re-direction to other posts, resources, or immediate feedback for those who have not mastered what a thesis statement is. The instructor can also expand on the topic for those who have not fully got the hang of it yet with further discussion and questioning. It also allows for the instructor to be able validate the correct student responses which can reinforce the subject matter. This is where I have seen the most success with it to this point.
I like how the presentation went over the history and origin of KWLs. Administering KWLs in the online classroom needs a very strategic approach. Posting items and videos with which student are familiar can motivate them to reply and add a certain level of comfort to the discussion. KWLs are a good way to get students to lead the class discussion. I always like to encourage students to respond to each other's KWL posts as well. I think they like conversing with each other. Excellent work, gentlemen!
Good work on this presentation. I really like the KWL concept as a CAT. I used this a lot in both my teaching and professional development workshops. I think that just the fact that students participate more in this gives instructors an extra line of communication to check our students understanding. The best part of this is that they can be aded to any course and in any week very easily. it is one of the most versatile CATs that I have used.
Thanks so much for viewing and commenting on our presentation! As instructors I think that it is very important that we encourage and lead the students to the KWLs for them to be effective. I like how you mentioned posting links to extra things like videos as this helps differentiate instruction and provide tools for the visual learners as well. Thanks Kristen!
Thanks for reviewing and commenting on our presentation! I agree the KWLs do promote the increased communication which does offer that important extra line of communication. I absolutely enjoy the versatility that comes with KWLs as well. KWLs allow instructors to constantly make adjustments to make them more effective. Thanks for your comments Rick!
Thank your for the comments Rick. I agree, the increase in participation is valuable. I was able to do an informal study comparing the same class with no CATs and one with CATs. The data was impressive. I was able to see a 45% increase in participation overall. It is also interesting to note that the greatest increase in participation was during the modules coving more difficult concepts.
A thought emerged earlier in the discussion concerning the relationship (or lack thereof) between increased discussion participation and increased grades... I often wonder if grades really measure all the things we care about. In other words, perhaps grades don't increase, but knowledge, skills or abilities that are not directly linked to grades are impacted. Any thoughts on this?
Thanks for the insight Jean. I have wondered the same thoughts regarding grades in my time in the elementary classroom as well as higher education. There was a time when I hoped everyone in my class would get an A and quickly found it that was not an acceptable expectation. There are some students who will know the topic well enough to complete an assignment or pass a test with a high grade, but fail to retain the information. I have other students who are earn average scores on the summative assessment of each week, but I can see them building their skills and they get retain and increase their understanding each week. I prefer to have those students retain the information and forever have an understanding of the objectives. That is where I see success. That journey begins in the participation. I firmly believe the more students participate the more they will understand and retain.
9 Comments
Hi Tom and John,
I thought that you both did a fantastic job of explaining the history of KWL and how it can be applied to the online environment. One question that I have is with KWL, do you see more participation but the students not necessarily understanding or doing better on the actual assignments for that week? Do you have any suggestions for how to make that something I can do in my classroom? I am not sure that I have seen that the KWL has necessarily made more of an impact on the students learning and doing better on the assignments, but I have had a lot more participation. Please let me know your thoughts in this area. Take care and God Bless. Matt Hampton
Hello Matt,
Thanks for your feedback and viewing our presentation. Thomas and I have found increase in participation which sometimes does not necessary seem to equate to better assignment grades. However, I have found it to be an effective sort of remediation, particularly for writing. I tend to gear my KWLs towards the writing portion of the class since the discussion questions tend to focus on the content. I have been able to be preventative in this regard. For example, a student may post to the K (What I Know) citing his or her knowledge of the thesis statement. The student's knowledge could be correct, partially correct, or incorrect. This allows for re-direction to other posts, resources, or immediate feedback for those who have not mastered what a thesis statement is. The instructor can also expand on the topic for those who have not fully got the hang of it yet with further discussion and questioning. It also allows for the instructor to be able validate the correct student responses which can reinforce the subject matter. This is where I have seen the most success with it to this point.
Thanks for questions! Have a great week!
-John
I like how the presentation went over the history and origin of KWLs. Administering KWLs in the online classroom needs a very strategic approach. Posting items and videos with which student are familiar can motivate them to reply and add a certain level of comfort to the discussion. KWLs are a good way to get students to lead the class discussion. I always like to encourage students to respond to each other's KWL posts as well. I think they like conversing with each other. Excellent work, gentlemen!
John and Tom,
Good work on this presentation. I really like the KWL concept as a CAT. I used this a lot in both my teaching and professional development workshops. I think that just the fact that students participate more in this gives instructors an extra line of communication to check our students understanding. The best part of this is that they can be aded to any course and in any week very easily. it is one of the most versatile CATs that I have used.
Hello Kristen,
Thanks so much for viewing and commenting on our presentation! As instructors I think that it is very important that we encourage and lead the students to the KWLs for them to be effective. I like how you mentioned posting links to extra things like videos as this helps differentiate instruction and provide tools for the visual learners as well. Thanks Kristen!
-John
Hello Rick,
Thanks for reviewing and commenting on our presentation! I agree the KWLs do promote the increased communication which does offer that important extra line of communication. I absolutely enjoy the versatility that comes with KWLs as well. KWLs allow instructors to constantly make adjustments to make them more effective. Thanks for your comments Rick!
-John
Thank your for the comments Rick. I agree, the increase in participation is valuable. I was able to do an informal study comparing the same class with no CATs and one with CATs. The data was impressive. I was able to see a 45% increase in participation overall. It is also interesting to note that the greatest increase in participation was during the modules coving more difficult concepts.
Tom
A thought emerged earlier in the discussion concerning the relationship (or lack thereof) between increased discussion participation and increased grades... I often wonder if grades really measure all the things we care about. In other words, perhaps grades don't increase, but knowledge, skills or abilities that are not directly linked to grades are impacted. Any thoughts on this?
Thanks for the insight Jean. I have wondered the same thoughts regarding grades in my time in the elementary classroom as well as higher education. There was a time when I hoped everyone in my class would get an A and quickly found it that was not an acceptable expectation. There are some students who will know the topic well enough to complete an assignment or pass a test with a high grade, but fail to retain the information. I have other students who are earn average scores on the summative assessment of each week, but I can see them building their skills and they get retain and increase their understanding each week. I prefer to have those students retain the information and forever have an understanding of the objectives. That is where I see success. That journey begins in the participation. I firmly believe the more students participate the more they will understand and retain.