As a regular feature of the Docket, our faculty newsletter, the Center for Educational Excellence would like to publish teaching tips. In some cases these will be simple reminders from past faculty development seminars or our faculty resources materials. At other times we will publish new ideas from the field, in the context of the relevant principle of Consciousness-based education.

Help for International Students on Papers and Exam Answers

Thinking Patterns

One of the most useful things I have learned in the past year is to recognize varied thinking patterns in international students. For example, according to an article entitled “Cultural Thought Patterns in Intercultural Education” by Robert Kaplan, “Writers from other parts of the world are not so direct [as are US and British writers] and are careful not to sound as though they know all the answers. Some hint at or suggest what they believe. Others present all information as having equal value.” In many cultures being direct is considered inappropriate and rude.

I have learned to express respect for that point of view while gently coaxing students into structuring their written work so an American can follow the logic. My approach is always: “help me understand; maintain the integrity of your culture, but recognize that mine is different, and my logic is more linear.” And then I suggest a model based on Maharishi’s principle “Knowledge is for action; action is for achievement; achievement is for fulfillment.”

I ask; “Why are you making this statement? What actions result from this knowledge? What are the expected achievements of these actions, and how do these achievements fulfill the goals of the individuals involved?”

“Does the knowledge presented in each paragraph logically follow what has already been said? Do you have any material that does not serve that purpose that should be deleted, developed more fully or moved to a different location?”

Integrating SCI and Maharishi Vedic Science

If they are shy about integrating SCI or Maharishi Vedic Science into their work, I encourage them to read the related research papers or other material very carefully then picture themselves in the situation where things are getting better because of the integration of the Consciousness-Based solution. In this way the solutions become more personal, and they find a more definite voice in discussing SCI. Again, I bring in the “Knowledge, action, achievement, fulfillment principle.”

Grammar Points

The most common errors are in verb tenses and missing articles (the, a/an), both of which are not found in many other languages. In many Asian languages, the verb does not change when the timeframe does; timeframes are discerned by surrounding words (today, tomorrow, last January, etc.). But the students learned all the English tenses when they learned English and just need to be prodded, not by editing for them, but by saying, “Please put me in the proper timeframe, using the correct English tense.” For articles, if there are many missing, insert the first one with a short comment (For example:  write “specific thing” when inserting “the”). But after that, just put a carat and a blank for other missing definite articles, and a two- to three-word reason.

Exams

It is best to try to anticipate thinking patterns before the exam if there will be short written answers or essays. Perhaps ask ahead of time: “How many are used to being not so direct when you answer a question? . . . I respect your politeness, but here in the US, it is expected of you to be direct when answering exam questions. You can lose points for indirectness. Then using the “Knowledge, action, achievement, fulfillment” principle, model a sample answer on the board for a question that will not be on the test, having the students suggest sentences that would be part of the answer.

Reference:

Kaplan, Robert. (1966). Cultural thought patterns in intercultural education. Language and Learning. 15, p. 15.

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4.13. Students review their notes for the last five minutes of class. One student can go to the front of the class and summarize the most important points of the lesson, using the board to illustrate.

Note: Educational research supports this recommendation: it shows that students who take notes during a lecture retain no more information than students who merely listen. Students who take a few minutes at the end of class to review their notes, however, retain significantly more.

Ted Panitz, the consultant who taught our Cooperative Learning workshop last August, gives the following suggestions for another approach to this review process: The One-Minute Paper. “The one minute paper is completed by the students at the end of class (and actually takes several minutes). Two questions are asked: 1. What is the most significant thing you learned today? (This question can be generalized as 'What did you learn today' or made case specific by asking 'What did you learn about ______ today?'); 2. What question(s) do you still have? (This question may be left general or directed to a particular part of the class or concept).”

There is an extension of this technique that can be used in the longer Saturday review sessions: “Cross and Angelo suggest students work in pairs and exchange their papers in order to compare and discuss their responses. They might try to answer each other’s questions. This idea can be extended to groups of 3 or 4. Students individually or in groups could suggest questions and then analyze the collective responses and present the results to the class.”

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Assessment as Learning

Maharishi’s fifth fundamental of education — expression — seems to be referred to in the literature on teaching and learning in the idea of "assessment as learning." Assessment as learning is based on the idea that all learning should result in some of kind performance: the students should be able to do something with what they have learned, precisely in the way that Maharishi indicates the purpose of knowledge is action leading to achievement and fulfillment. I thought the following gloss describing the principles of assessment at a small college in western Pennsylvania nicely summarize the value of this kind of expression in our classes.

"Assessment means defining goals for their learning that students can understand; designing performances that provide students with multiple opportunities to achieve these goals; and defining criteria to judge student performance that can be shared with them so that they can meet faculty expectations. It is not enough for a teacher to know excellence when he or she sees it; students need to be empowered both to recognize excellence and consciously aim for it."

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Lecturing Tip

The following is tip #6 of 31 tips by Phil Race; see all 31 tips. Thanks to Ken Daley for this reference. Using the Unified Field chart for the course, or the course time-line is a good way to apply this tip.

6. Help students place the lecture in context. Refer back to previous material (ideally which a short summary of the previous lectures at the beginning) and give them forewarning of how this will relate to material they will cover later.