Student Choice and Motivation: The Power of a Resource Repository Tool Kit
Susan Divita, University of Charleston, Assistant Professor and Program Director of Education
THIS TOOLKIT WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO
Organize a course using the repository process; discuss its accessibility and flexibility; highlight the quality of student work, motivation, and growth during the course and the findings of a student survey related to course construction and effectiveness.
KEY OBJECTIVES
- Introduce the concept and potential organization of an online resource repository.
- Demonstrate the format of the course using the repository.
- Explain student survey feedback related to the use of a resource repository.
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HOW TO IMPLEMENT THIS TOOLKIT
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DESCRIPTION
The first semester I taught EDUC 372 Fundamentals of Reading Instruction, the topic of the power of student choice and motivation came up often as we discussed and studied how to teach students to read. During one of our discussions, it occurred to me that while I was teaching about and encouraging student choice when teaching, I was not practicing what I was preaching. I mentioned this to the students and asked, "What would this class be like if you had a choice about what you were reading, just like we want our new readers to have?” Each agreed it would be awesome although very different from what we typically think of when it comes to a college course.
From that experience, I began to redesign the focus of the course from textbook centered to student-centered by creating (with the help of librarian Rebecca Newman and Read Aloud WV Director Dawn Miller) an online (free) resource repository. The repository is a link students access through our LMS eLearn. Some of the resources are e-books and some are physical copies available to be checked out from the library. There are also related podcasts and videos linked. Additionally, we can add to this repository as we go. So as students or I discover a resource we feel might be helpful we have the option to add it to the repository.
Our class week is structured as such:
- On Mondays, I introduce our topic by assessing and activating prior knowledge and providing background. Following the meeting, students work on their research assignment using resources in the repository as support.
- On Wednesdays, students informally present information from the essays they have written related to the topic of the week. They include connections they make between the topic, the research they find, and experiences they have had or observed in their field placement.
- On Fridays, we attempt to synthesize and evaluate the information gathered by sorting and categorizing our findings based on themes established on Monday or created during our discussions on Wednesday.
From the very first week, I was thrilled at the interaction not only between students during discussions but between the students and the resources. An unforeseen (although in hindsight obvious) bonus was that each student brought not only their perspective but the various perspectives of a variety of researchers allowing us to not be dependent on one textbook author's perspective. I saw motivation and enthusiasm increase immediately and the richness of our discussions, while positive the year prior, bloomed beyond my expectations. At midterm, I shared a short survey with the students to get their feedback about the repository approach which revealed students who were more motivated because they had a choice in what they read.
REFLECTION
As mentioned above, I began using the online resource repository due to the idea of choice being discussed often in my reading instruction course; specifically, how much it impacts reading learning, and motivation. Because I had a supportive and enthusiastic librarian and collaborator regarding resource collection and repository creation, I faced no obstacles other than some course reorganization. The implementation was very successful, and I hope to not only continue to use the repository but also expand the resources based on my own learning and that of the students in the course.
CONNECTED RESOURCES TO EXPLORE
Presentation link: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFhl14WWPQ/mqtJgjSKofXO7cgtJYH5Mg/view?utm_content=DAFhl14WWPQ&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink
