1.    Are your students at the associates or baccalaureate level?

Associates Level

2.    Do you use different teaching strategies for associate level students than for baccalaureate level students? Why or why not?

If I was teaching on two levels, I think I would teach the BTech level differently since the students would have more exposure to draw on for discussion. I think I would try to push their thinking more with assignments, trying to explore their creativity in approaching solutions.

3.    What is metacognition and what concept from the chapter resonates with you and why? (identify the page number)

Metacognition is “thinking about thinking”. What resonated with me was the discussion on page 26, how ‘it is not what we say to our students, but it’s about what they hear’. I do find myself sharing examples of how I see things and what helps me understand, but I see the importance of asking them more about their connections to the material to better gauge their understanding and see what is “the most efficient path for them”.

4.    What are other factors that might influence student learning?

Other factors that may influence student learning is their desire/motivation to learn the material. If a student feels that a course/topic is not relevant to their career path, they may view it as a class that they just need to pass and never use again. In teaching fluids, I try to draw some motivation by highlighting how fluids ties into the five major civil topics (for the PE). For example, we discuss how a structural engineer may be concerned with water inside a tank being designed or a construction manager may be concerned with water on site after a storm.

5.    How can metacognition help us towards our goal of increasing retention 5-10% starting in the fall?

Metacognition can help retention by boosting confidence of students. An example in the book noted how a student may withdraw and stop attending classes if they do not feel they do not understand the material (and maybe feel helpless to change). Also, having students realize they can achieve a higher level of understanding may inspire them to reach for higher goals (perhaps going on to obtain a BTech instead of stopping at the Associates degree).

I agree, that using examples on class will help students to understand and practice the subject. However, I love to prove and explain where these formulas or equations came from. Then using these formulas will be easy because my students and myself agreed on all the terms of the formulas. Also, I agree that practice is very important

My basic training in the field I teach could be considered “old school”, I learned almost everything I know through mentorship, impossible assignments while I was a student with ridiculous timeframes and of course try and error, a lot of errors.

Confronted with the idea of being up to date, I had to learn fairly recently, everything I teach today and in the process, I learned how to learn from tools that basically were enhancing my basic knowledge, tools that allowed me to overreach in a matter of speaking, to explore areas that otherwise would have been not impossible to obtain, but hard enough not to be taken into consideration.

Soon enough I was overwhelmed with technology and its fast-track pacing, the faster you are the more you do, the less attention you pay to details. I felt that the spiral of the learning process had to be controlled, and set to a productive but meaningful pace.

Core values like, what I call professional honesty, common sense, and commitment were the pivot points that guide me to find a transition from the knowing how to do it to know how to show it.

I try to apply the sequence of my learning process and those core values to my students own learning process with the clear understanding that they will create their own set of priorities and the pacing that comes with it.

In my experience, knowing what I know just creates a clear boundary of those things I don’t know. Pushing that boundary constantly in class often creates an empathy with the students that I think don’t make them feel overwhelmed or threatened by the professor “extensive knowledge”, but on the contrary, we are pushing together the outcomes of the learning challenge. I try very hard to make the student not to feel alone but to be part of a group that is trying to figure out something.

Yes, there are many challenges because not everybody is the same therefore the learning process takes sometimes more time than expected and this creates a real problem.

I have to say that this approach is not always successful but it does seem to work on the majority of my students, but I am always open to discover new ways to send a message as a teacher that a student on the other side of the table can clearly get and do something with it.

1. Are your students at the associates or baccalaureate level?

My students are at the BTech level.

2. Do you use different teaching strategies for associate level students than for baccalaureate level students? Why or why not?

I only teach at the BTech.

3. What is metacognition and what concept from the chapter resonates with you and why? (identify the page number)

Metacognition is being aware and understanding one’s thought process. I enjoyed the author bringing up metacognition and how it is a key ingredient in students’ success. In page 16-17 it introduced what metacognition is and how it is beneficial for students. I like this because it is important that students are aware of what they are learning and thinking since most of the time it is really easy for them to get distracted and not follow the material that they are taught.

4. What are other factors that might influence student learning?

I feel that self motivation is a key factor that influences student learning as well. This is all due to the fact that without motivation and the will to do well in a course, a student will not successfully grasp the material taught and do well in not only the class itself, but real world problems that apply later in the future. Students need to come into class with a clear mind and motivation set with them to want to understand what they are being taught.

5. How can metacognition help us towards our goal of increasing retention 5-10% starting in the fall?

I feel that metacognition can help our students be more focused on their courses and what are asked of them. This could help them be less distracted when they are doing homework, completing a project, and most importantly taking a test.

I have found that the students rely on being spoon fed their materials. At the beginning of the semester I tell them to use my Power Point presentations as a study guide, and to put notes in the margins, since all class materials are not exclusive to the Power Points. I have asked to see their notebooks and only a few had copied notes. Those were the better students. I also give them additional reading from current events in the industry and put them as bonus questions on the Mid Term & Final Exams. 95% of the students get them wrong or don’t answer them at all. When I give it as regular question I get the same results. They need to get motivated for the career in which they have chosen.

I expect the students to become independent thinkers when they can think outside the box. For example, students in my real estate class are asked to prepare a budget of Income and Expenses for a small hotel they will present at the end of the semester. My homework questions are meant to be used for their final presentations. One of my questions was that if it costs $5 to prepare the free breakfast,  could it be used as a source of income. Some answered yes, and recorded the results as income and expense of $5. No thought was given as to how revenue could be derived.

1. What is one teaching strategy you use?

Prior to class, I post the notes on blackboard and encourage the students to peruse with the intent of understanding the specific objectives to be accomplished in each lecture. This helps students to be more engaged during the actual lecture as they are familiar with the information and as such feel more confident to ask questions.

2. What is one learning strategy your students could use to be successful in your course?

Students should ask questions, the answers to which will aid them in understanding the material fully. Also, when given home-work assignments they should complete on their own so both student and instructor can gauge the student’s understanding and ability to apply the information.

Metacognition is something that everyone use it everyday  without even noticing. Reflecting on our own thoughts is how we gain insight into our feelings,needs, and behaviors.Thinking about our own thinking is how we learn, manage, and adapt to new experiences, new challenges, and emotional roller-coasters. The concept resonates with me is on page 19th. I say to my students that is not the grade of your first laboratory report that shows how smart you are. This  grade will help you to find another way of thinking and to get 100 on the next laboratory report.

Some  other factors that might influence student learning are:Individual level of the intellect, health, physical, mental and social factors. Teacher’s personality and environmental factors can influence student learning

In reading CH 3 of Mcguire’s book “Teach Students how to Learn” it made me reflect on what are the expectations in order to improve student performance in class. She mentions that sometimes it is not about working harder but about how we work. She suggest that giving students strategies for thinking about how they are problem solvers and what is the process that get  them there will help them evaluate their level of learning.

What is one teaching strategy you use?

Using examples of when a calculation may be used to understand its role in design/analysis. I support discussions with visual examples (from your tube for example). Also, I discuss what role each variables plays in an equation, how they impact the over all solution to the problem.

What is one learning strategy your students could use to be successful in your course?

Completing the suggested practice problems to try at home so they can assess what concepts they are struggling with.

Due to the fact that I teach upper level classes, I have developed my own tool to teach these classes. for example in my vibration class, I developed my own MATLAB software due to the long complex algebra equations and designing real world problems.I also created the Finite Element Educational Program to improve MECH student performances in Finite Element Class.

It is really important for me to thoroughly teach my students what is involved in the course due to the difficulty. I make myself available whenever needed by students. I keep my students busy with homework and projects so they know what to expect in reality, which is very important because a lot of other  professors tend to not challenge their students for the better. By challenging students, there is more of a successful preparation for when they need to apply what they learn in the real world. I give my students very useful handouts that include questions that will help them along the way.