Doing the Right Thing Right:
Reconfiguring Learning
Communities at the
University of Alabama at
Birmingham
Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly
1
Introduction

Purpose of Session:

To describe an ongoing three-stage best
practices learning community initiative at
UAB
Lila Graves and Peggy
Our Goals
Statistically significant gains in retention
Statistically significant gains on critical
thinking assignments.
Lila Graves and Peggy
The Three Stages
Learning Community I (Conditional
Admits/2 Courses)
 Learning Community II (Regular Admits/3
Courses)
 Learning Community III (Conditional and
Regular Admits/3 Courses

Lila Graves and Peggy
Best
Practices
Components

Close Interaction with Advisors

Emphasis on Critical Thinking
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Assessment Data

Advising Component Very Effective
(Subjective Student/Faculty Evaluations)

Critical Thinking Component Less
Effective (Objective Pre-test/
Post-test measurements)
Lila Graves and Peggy
Closing In
On the Problem

Critical Reading Skills a Weakness in All
Three Learning Community Assessment
Results
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Significance?
Learning Communities Work at UAB and
Nationwide
 Learning Communities Enhance Academic
Performance
 Learning Community Gains Could Possibly
Be Enhanced by Targeting Critical Reading
Skills.

Lila Graves and Peggy
Next Steps
Interdisciplinary Instruction and Exercises
Using a Variety of Best-Practices
Approaches
Bloom/Chaffee
ACT EPAS Pathway Skills
SQ3R/Jason
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Reading Models
Chaffee
ACT
SQ3R
JASON
Lila Graves and Peggy Jolly
Chaffee
Critical Thinking

Fact

Interpretation

Analysis
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Chaffee’s Definitions



Fact
Declarative Statement
Falsifiable
Interpretation
Relationships of Facts
(temporal, causal, process)
Analysis
Conclusions about Facts
Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying Chaffee Model
Identifying Facts

According to Chaffee, critical thinkers

A. Support point of view with evidence and
reason
B. Rely on past experience to understand current
events
C. Trust their instincts to know what is true
D. Follow their friends’ and family’s judgment
about what is true



Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying Chaffee Model
Identifying Facts

In Hawai’ian ceremonies, who was subject to be
the target of cannibalism?

A. Priests of the heiau
B. Chiefs captured in war
C. Ku, the God of war
D. Kanoloa who was cast into the underworld



Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying Chaffee Model
Interpretation




Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy of Intellectual
Development suggests that
A. Fact recognition is more complex than analysis
B. Interpretation is less complex than fact
recognition
C. Analysis is more complex than either fact
recognition or interpretation
D. Fact recognition, interpretation, and analysis
are equally difficult
Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying Chaffee Model
Interpretation
Which of the Hawai’ian Gods most closely
parallels Lucifer, the fallen angel in
Christian mythology?
 A.
Ku
 B.
Kane
 C.
Lono
 D.
Kanaloa

Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying Chaffee Model
Analysis




Which statement is most likely?
A. The UFO model discovered in the Walters’
house is evidence of their lying.
B. The UFO model discovered in the Walters’
house is irrelevant in deciding whether are
lying.
C. The UFO model discovered in the Walters’
house is evidence that they are telling the
truth.
Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying Chaffee Model
Analysis

In Hawai’ian myth, men and women were
banished from Mokapu because
A. Kanaloa seduced Ke-aka-huli-lani
 B. Ku accepted human sacrifices
 C. Lono was honored at celebrations
 D. Kane had an affair with Ku’s wife

Lila Graves and Peggy
ACT Pathway Skills
From 16-19 to 20-23




Draw simple conclusions using details that support
the main points of more challenging passages
Locate important details in uncomplicated
passages
Order simple sequences of events in
uncomplicated literary narratives
Identify comparative relationships between ideas
and people in uncomplicated passages
Lila Graves and Peggy
ACT Pathway Skills
From 16-19 to 20-23, cont.

Identify clearly stated cause-effect
relationships in uncomplicated passages

Use context clues to define some words and
interpret some figurative language in
uncomplicated passages
Lila Graves and Peggy
Application of ACT Pathway
Skills
Identifying Facts
Text: The Spirit Catches You, and You Fall
Down
 According to legend, the Hmong live on
high ground due to
A. Tribal preference
B. Conflict over territory
C. Decrees of the gods
D. Natural disaster
Lila Graves and Peggy
Application of ACT Pathway
Skills
Identifying
Facts,
Con’t,
Text:
The Spirit Catches
You, and
You Fall Down
The main source of income in pre-war Laos was
A. Industry
B. Tourism
C. Exports
D. Farming
Lila Graves and Peggy
Application of ACT Pathway
Skills:
Initiatives/Correlations
Item 1=simple conclusions
 Item 2=simple details
 Item 3=sequences
 Item 4=comparison & contrast
 Item 5=causal relationships
 Item 6=meanings of words.

Lila Graves and Peggy
SQ3R
Survey
 Question
 Read
 Recite
 Review

Lila Graves and Peggy
SQ3R: Survey

Survey the chapter before you read

Read the chapter title, introduction, all
section headings and subheadings, and
chapter summary

Look at all illustrations, charts, maps, etc.
and read captions
Lila Graves and Peggy
As you survey, create Questions

Turn the title, headings, and subheadings
into questions

Read any questions that are included with
the sections or end of the chapter

Ask yourself, “What do I already know
about this topic?”
Lila Graves and Peggy
As you Read







Look for the answers to the title, headings, and
subheadings questions
Note underlined, boldfaced, or italicized words
Reread difficult sections
Reread the captions of illustrations and relate to
associated text material
Reduce reading speed to prevent skipping text
Look up the definitions of words
Read and study one section at a time
Lila Graves and Peggy
Recite after reading each section





Summarize in your own words what you have read
Highlight or underline important information
Take notes from the text
Try to understand the information in a topic before
proceeding to the next
Following a recitation of each section, briefly
review your recitation notes from all previous
sections
Lila Graves and Peggy
Review materials several times
each week





Review all questions to see if you remember the
answers
Reread sections for which you have difficulty
answering questions
Review all highlighted text and margin notes
Review all illustrations
Develop flashcards or mnemonic devices to help
remember specific information
Lila Graves and Peggy
JASON
R
?
V
I
*

Reminds me of…
Question
Visual Image
Inference
Importance
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R
Making Connections:
Reminds me of…
T-S
T-T
T-M
T-W
Text-to-Self
Text-to-Text
Text-to-Media
Text-to-Word
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? Question
A
D
I

Question Answered in Text
Answered by further Discussion
Answer guessed from Text
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? Question, con’t.
BK Answered from Background
Knowledge
 R Question Requires Further Research
 ?? Conclusion

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V
Visual Image
D
 IM
O

Drawing or Representing
Imaging or Imagining
Organizing Information
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I Inference
G Informed Guess
 P Prediction (Hypothesis or Conjecture)
 T Theme

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* Importance
F
N
M
 **

Familiar Topic
New Topic
All Part of Main Idea
Really Important
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Results

Summary Putting Main Points Together

Synthesis Main Points plus Point of View
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Reading Protocol
SQ3R
JASON

Model each strategy as a classroom exercise

Group students to complete each model on new
material

Assign individuals to complete strategies on new
material
Lila Graves and Peggy
SQ3R Application:
Survey

Text: Chapter 1, “Thinking,” Chaffee, 1-35

Survey the chapter title and introduction on page
Read all section headings, subheadings, and
summary
Look at illustrations, charts, maps, captions, etc.


Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying SQ3R:
Question
Question your findings: turn the title,
headings, and subheadings into questions.
For example, you might ask
What is the definition of thinking?
 What is an examined life?
 What is a goal?

Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying SQ3R:
Question, con’t.

Read the Questions for Analysis on pages 14 and
35. What sorts of information is the author asking
you to answer?

Does he ask for facts from the readings, for
relationships between individuals, for conclusions
based on the information he provides, or for a
combination of all of these things?
Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying SQ3R:
Question, con’t.





Finally, ask yourself what you already know about
the topics that will be discussed in this chapter.
What do you need to learn more about?
Are there terms the author uses that you need to
check the meaning of?
Does this subject interest you?
How does this topic relate to your own
experiences?
Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying SQ3R:
Read
Read the material in the text in short segments,
looking for answers to the questions that you asked
in the previous exercise.
 As you read, note any text that is presented in text,
font, or color changes, a visual clue that the author
considers that material especially important.
 Read slowly, and reread any section that confuses
you. Look up the definitions of any word you do
not understand.
Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying SQ3R:
Recite
Recite, or summarize each section you read in your
own words and then write this information in a
separate piece of paper.
 Highlight the most important ideas or terms in
each section.
 Continue this process as you read additional
sections of the text, ending each summary with a
note of how the information relates to the previous
section you read.
Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying SQ3R:
Review
Review your questions and answers several times
each week, reading any section that you do not
understand.
 Also review your highlighted texts, margin and
summary notes.
 This activity is an excellent study guide and will
reinforce the information in the text and help you
remember it as it moves from short-term to longterm memory.
Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying JASON:
Making Connections
How does the text relate to you?
 Does the material remind you of other texts
you have read?
 Has the topic appeared in different types of
media?
 How does the information relate to issues in
the larger world?

Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying JASON:
Questioning






Are questions answered in the text?
Can answers be guessed from clues provided in
the text?
Do concepts need further discussion for answers?
Can existing background knowledge provide
answers?
Do answers require research?
What conclusions can be drawn?
Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying JASON:
Visualizing

Study the drawings included.

What sorts of images would you provide to
explain text?

Draw a chart or graph of the information’s
organization.
Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying JASON:
Inferring
Make an informed guess, inference, about
the material’s meaning.
 How would you interpret the facts?
 What sorts of speculation does the material
lead to?
 What predictions do the facts lead to?
 Identify the theme of the material.

Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying JASON:
Determining Importance
Is the topic familiar or obscure?
 Are new topics presented in a clearly
understandable way?
 How do details support the author’s main
idea?
 What visual changes indicate the relative
importance of each piece of information?

Lila Graves and Peggy
Applying JASON:
Comprehending Information

Summarize the concepts included in the
material.

Synthesize this information within a larger
body of knowledge about the topic.
Lila Graves and Peggy