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11/13/2008

Psychology prof leads funded effort to enhance learning

BY FRANZ BROTZEN
Rice News staff

Jessica Logan, assistant professor of psychology, is leading an ambitious, multidisciplinary project designed to enhance learning and teaching in college classrooms, using Rice University as a model for universities nationwide.
 

	JESSICA LOGAN

Funded by a $150,000 grant from the Teagle Foundation, Logan hopes to improve learning by "translating cognitive research into effective teaching methods for the college classroom." Logan will collaborate with Richard Grandy, the Carolyn and Fred McManis Professor of Philosophy; Janice Bordeaux, associate dean of engineering and adjunct assistant professor of psychology; and the University of Texas Medical School's David Marshak, professor in neurobiology and neuroanatomy.
 
The project has "university-wide implications," Logan said. “The whole goal is to take what we know from cognitive psychology and neuroscience and apply it to real-world learning," she said. The three-year grant, Rice's first from the Teagle Foundation, envisions a three-step process. First, a team of researchers, faculty and students will identify empirical findings from cognitive research that can be applied to college-level instruction. Promising teaching methods will be developed and then introduced in Rice and UT Medical School classes and their impact on teaching and learning will be assessed.
 
"Students are exposed to a ton of information. They always want to know how to get more out of class -- how to study more effectively, good strategies to doing better in class," Logan explained. "We don't train students in how to learn; we assume they are figuring it out just fine on their own." The Teagle grant allows her team to ask: “What can teachers do to address potential shortcomings and create a better learning experience?” Rice’s environment is unique, and its students are especially demanding, Logan said. They expect an interactive format in which they can challenge ideas rather than just sitting back and absorbing the course material. That’s why student input will be an integral part of the team’s efforts to develop ideas for classroom implementation.

As an example of ideas being considered, Logan cited "spaced retrieval practice," in which students are asked to retrieve information more frequently at relatively short intervals. Although students often cram for exams in a short period before the test, it's been demonstrated in many cases "from bumble bees to stroke patients," she said, that "you retain information better in the long-term if you distribute your study and practice over time.” The practical upshot, according to Logan, is that students learn better when they are questioned regularly throughout the semester, rather than cramming large amounts of information for one or two exams. Thus, Logan and her colleagues are considering studying the impact of more frequent testing in different kinds of courses. "Tests shouldn't just be grading tools,” Logan maintained. "They can be one of the most effective ways to teach."
 
A consortium of 16 students, professors and administrators will put suggested changes into practice. Logan expects they will evolve different strategies for different disciplines. "For instance," she said, "you might do something in a philosophy class that wouldn't be appropriate for the type of learning expected in an engineering class." In the end, they will assess how students perform with the new course structure and involve educators and students in evaluating the value of different methods.
 
The Teagle Foundation "provides leadership for liberal education, marshaling the intellectual and financial resources necessary to ensure that today's students have access to challenging, wide-ranging and enriching college educations." For more on the Teagle Foundation, go to http://www.teaglefoundation.org/home.htm. If you are interested in joining the consortium effort at Rice University, contact Jessica Logan at Jessica.logan@rice.edu.