Course Description

Study Strategies for School Success is designed to teach teachers research based learning strategies.  Participants will gain understanding of widely tested educational theories regarding the relationship between teaching efficient strategies and its impact upon student learning and achievement.  

The importance of this course is underscored by the results of extensive research done over the past thirty years, changing the “art” of teaching into the science of teaching.  (Marzano 2001)  The results of research empirically document that students who effectively utilize learning strategies in the classroom are better able to learn and retain information.  As students develop learning efficiency, they will also develop a better attitude toward school and a greater belief in their ability to succeed.  Though teachers must teach the academic information required by the school curriculum, they are also acutely aware of a need to teach strategies for long-term learning.

Objectives

• ·        Acquire information related to the most current educational research regarding study strategies and their effects on student performance.

• Incorporate into the school and home settings a variety of efficient organizational and time management strategies.
• Access and use research-based strategies to enhance student understanding and use of textbooks generalized across content areas.
• Acquire methods for explicit instruction of summarizing and note taking for proficient analysis and synthesis.
• Understand the process involved in forgetting and remembering and teach specific recall strategies with students’ individual learning styles in mind.
• Review research and practices in order to apply specific instructional strategies to content areas of the curriculum.
• Increase performance and lessen levels of test anxiety by teaching students strategies that are applicable to objective and subjective tests.
• Provide instructional strategies that enable students to use homework as reinforcement for content skills.
• Teach effective communication skills and utilize cooperative learning instruction to enrich the teaching and learning process.
• Address issues and concerns related to the implementation of strategies within the educational setting.

Curriculum Design

Participants in this course will learn to easily incorporate effective methodologies directly into elementary, middle and high school curricula utilizing practical strategies and student-friendly activities. 

Time Requirements

Study Strategies is a 13 week 3 credit graduate level or sixty hour professional development course taught online. Modules 1 through 9 will be completed one per week. Module 10 will be completed over a two-week period so students will have time to revise and complete the final integration project.

Hardware & Computer Skills Requirements

Students may use either a Macintosh computer or a PC with Windows 95 or higher. Students should possess basic word processing skills and have internet access with an active e-mail account. Students also are expected to have a basic knowledge of how to use a Web browser, such as Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer or America Online's (AOL) browser. To download a browser at no cost, visit one of the following Web sites – Netscape.com; Microsoft.com and AOL.com.

Course Materials

The required textbook for this course is Classroom Instruction that Works: Research – Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement by Robert J. Marzano, Debra J. Pickering and Jane E. Pollock, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Alexandria, Virginia, 2001.  Supplemental materials come from Study Strategies for Early School Success and Study Strategies Made Easy, both by Leslie Davis, M.Ed., Sandi Sirotowitz, M.Ed. and Harvey Parker, Ph.D. as well as other readings.

Session Outline

Module One

Introduction and Overview of the most current educational research regarding study strategies and their effects on student performance.

Contents:

1.      Course requirements, goals and expectations

2.      Historical overview of learning theories

3.      Definition of study strategies

4.      Theoretical research of study strategies  

Module Two

Strategies for efficient organization and time management.  

Contents:

1.      The rationale for and benefits of student self-appraisals

2.      Methods for efficient time management

3.      Design a framework for long-term projects and research

4.      Classroom Organization for Teachers  

Module Three

Strategies to facilitate understanding of content textbooks.  

Contents:

1.      Prerequisites for content reading

2.      Research and theories for advance organizers

3.      Best research-based strategies to promote comprehension of textbooks and supplemental materials  

Module Four

Methods designed for explicit instruction of summarizing and note-taking for proficient analysis and synthesis.  

Contents:

1.      Research results for the efficacy of summarizing and note-taking

2.      Activities for variety of summarizing techniques

3.      Introduction of note-taking strategies

4.      Practical applications for a variety of note-taking styles  

Module Five

Strategies to enhance recall of information based upon preferred learning styles.  

Contents:

1.      Definition of learning modalities

2.      Current research of learning styles

3.      Exploration of memory devices

4.      Practical application of strategies to enhance learning

5.      Group project  

Module Six

Incorporating instructional strategies into content teaching.  

Contents:

1.      Research and theory on the value and practice of vocabulary instruction across the curriculum.

2.      Instructional issues in the classroom

3.      Practical methods of incorporating study strategies into content classes  

Module Seven

Test-taking strategies to enhance performance and lessen test anxiety.  

Contents:

1.      Group project presentations

2.      Test-taking strategies

·        Objective

·        Essay

·        Standardized test issues

3.      Test related stress management  

Module Eight

Homework strategies for reinforcement of content skills.  

Contents:

1.      Continuation of project presentations

2.      Research and theory as to the benefits and pitfalls of homework

3.      Analyzing classroom practices that best utilize homework to increase student learning  

Module Nine

Effective communication skills and cooperative learning instruction.  

Contents:

1.      A profile of effective communication skills

2.      Methods to encourage and enhance effective communication skills in students and teachers

3.      Paradigm for cooperative learning instruction  

Module Ten

Issues and concerns within the educational setting.  

Contents:

1.      Issues and concerns

2.      Identification of resources

3.      Course Evaluations

4.      Final Exam

Grading

Student Requirements

	1.	Participation: Actively Participate in all Forum activities
	2.	Reading Assignments: Complete all reading assignments and submit a review of each.
	3.	Based on the research studies from course readings, design a lesson plan that incorporates the study strategies into a content class.
	4.	Do a case study of one student based upon the lesson plan.

Student Academic Integrity
Participants guarantee that all academic class work is original. Any academic dishonesty or plagiarism (to take ideas, writings, etc. from another and offer them as one's own), is a violation of student academic behavior standards as outlined by our partnering colleges and universities and is subject to academic disciplinary action.

Register
To register to take TEI's Study Strategies for School Success online graduate course, go to the Course Registration page.