Co requisite thinking to learn

C0-Requisite: Thinking to Learn

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activating(prefrontal(cortex Hippocampus Incoming(New(Information Conscious( Awareness DAN KESTERSON

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C HAPTER 1

College Readiness Prefrontal(Cortex

College Readiness: “Success” is defined as: • completing entry-level courses at a level of understanding and proficiency •t h a t p r e p a r e s t h e s t u d e n t f o r subsequent courses

activating(prefrontal(cortex

Incoming(New(Information Conscious( Awareness

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C0-Requisite: Thinking with Content

Section 1

Going Deeper in Accelerated Learning

College Readiness

We cannot express our gratitude enough for all the filtering of data that organizations such as Complete College America did to give us a bigger picture about the the state of education and progress for underprepared learners in postsecondary eduction - time is the enemy, success breeds success, acceleration, guided pathways. This has resulted in an avalanche of innovation and renewed thinking and interest in helping the underprepared learner to succeed.

College Readiness: “Success” is defined as: • completing entry-level courses at a level of understanding and proficiency • that prepares the student for subsequent courses.

Co-Requisite and College Readiness

It is now time for educators themselves to take the next and deeper steps for which these new findings have provided the platform for deeper and more meaningful learning.

Co-Requisite instruction is providing support for learners who are not considered prepared for taking entrylevel courses for academic reasons. Learner are taking entry-level courses at receiving support at the same time in their first semester and succeeding at unprecedented levels.

Our understanding of just what it takes to transition` not just to postsecondary but for the functioning of the brain to take advantage of their transitioning is exploding. It is time to begin thinking more deeply about just what it means to get an eduction in terms of learning to think with the content, procedures, and rules the learner will be encountering.

Completing Entry-Level Courses at a Level of Understanding and Proficiency .

This part of the definition of college readiness needs closer scrutiny. Too often co-requisite support is thought of in terms of providing the support for helping ensure that the learner completes the entry-level 2

content course and the support then only results in supporting learning the content and skills embodied in the content course.

As the rest of the definition of college readiness is considered “completing entry-level courses at a level of understanding and proficiency“, clearly indicates that merely completing an entry-level content course is not enough. The learner needs to be able to “complete the entry-level course with understanding and proficiency”.

Completing with Understanding It is assumed that if the learner completes the course that understanding has taken place. Here is where support can break down. When the last part of the definition is taken in to consideration, “that prepares the student for subsequent courses” only learning content is not sufficient.

Students very often understand new concepts, procedures, and rules; however, that understanding has been documented as being short lived unless the learner mentally manipulates what they have learned in ways so that the learning results in being able to think with the conentet being learned. The average college student forgets 80% of what they read within two weeks and they forget 85% of what they learned (understood) over four years of college on the day they graduate. This does not have to be so.

Completing with Proficiency Proficiency often represents the area with the largest gap in entry-level support for college learners who are considered to be not college ready.

What is meant by proficiency? Proficiency is not just learning the content or skills in an entry-level course; it is about learning how to think with the content and skills of the entry-level course. This is not a natural outcome of understanding content. Understanding content is a prerequisite for learning how to think with that content. How the understood content is learned (manipulated in woking memory) underlies learning how to think with content.

Co-requisite entry-level course support is is not about just learning content, but also and just as important, learning how to think with the content of the entry-level course.

Preparing the Learner for Subsequent Courses College Readiness: “Success” is defined as completing entrylevel courses at a level of understanding and proficiency that prepares the student for subsequent courses.

It is important to take the definition of college readiness as a whole, especially completing the entry-level course at a level of proficiency that prepares the student for subsequent courses.

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In order to be prepared for subsequent courses, the learner has to develop a deep foundation of factual knowledge (prior knowledge). This does not mean that they have to have learned a lot of facts and details, procedures or rules, but that those facts and details, procedures and rules are interconnected and organized in ways that facilitate retrieval and application. In order for this to happen, the learner has to have mentally manipulated those facts and details, procedures and rules in the context of a conceptual framework (Bransford, 2001).

Section 2 The Brain and Thinking with Content Co-requisite entry-level course support is is not about just learning content, but also and just as important, learning how to think with the content of the entry-level course.

It is About Learning How To Think with the Content The focus at this point becomes on what it takes on the part of the learner to develop the mental processes for learning how to learn that results in learning how to think with the content of the entrylevel courses they will be taking.

The following information applies to all learning situations and all levels of learning, especially reading, math, writing, academic success and all entry-level courses.

What Should Be Happening in the Brain?

Working Memory Working memory can be thought of as all that is in conscious memory at any given moment. It is made up of all the processes going on that enables the learner to hold incoming information (content) in awareness.

However, working memory is limited. Working memory can only hold about four unrelated items in awareness for about 10 to 15 seconds before those items are begin being forgotten. What is remembered is forgotten sooner unless the learner develops mental process for manipulating the information while it is in working memory. Those core mental processes that have to be learned underly not only manipulating the new information but also in ensuring so that it is not

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easily forgotten, but also so that the content can be easily retrieved when the learner needs it.

Routing Information Incoming information (content) comes to the hippocampus in the brain by way of electrical signal. In the process of construct meaning, that information radiates out to find other parts of the brain to try and find related information (prior knowledge) and if it finds that related knowledge, new dendrites (physical structures) grow and leaning has occurred, regardless how shallow. This lays the foundation for understanding - a prerequisite for learning how to think with content.

and creative thinking. One does not just jump to critical thinking from having learned a lot of content.

There are evolutionary new physical structures in the brain waiting to be developed. The key physical structure is the prefrontal cortex - the “seat of executive functioning�. Again, being able to plan, make decisions, solve problems, apply the content being learned to new situations means the the learner has developed the mental process for underlying critical and creative thinking.

Prefrontal(Cortex

activating(prefrontal(cortex

In the pursuit of learning how to think with content, this alone (understanding is not sufficient). This information is easily forgotten if it is not strengthened by re-exposure. yet, even re-exposure alone will not develop the connections in the brain necessary for learning how to think with content.

Hippocampus Incoming(New(Information Conscious( Awareness

Working(Memory v

4(unrelated(items( 10(to(15(seconds

Learning to think with the content means that the learner can think and reason with the content. They can plan, make decisions, solve problems, apply the content being learned to new situations - they have developed the mental process for underlying critical 5

Quick History A quick history of the development the brain prior to entering postsecondary education. The learner is born with a prefrontal cortex. The learner uses very little of of their prefrontal cortex for higher level functioning until they are around 18 years old because they are still thinking with the emotional part of the brain. Between the ages of 10 ad 18, the brain starts to prune (reabsorb) fifty percent of the connections that are not being used that it had made previously. This makes the brain more efficient and more able to develop the connections with new incoming information coming through the hippocampus.

are developed to help make the process more automatic. However, it is reflection that activates the prefrontal cortex and the “seat of executive functions�.

Why is Reflection Important?

Why is this so very important; reflection is the mental process that should be the backbone and core of every strategy for learning because the central executive is the most important part of the working memory and it is in complete control of the actions of the other components of the brain. Reflection underlies all higher level functions because it activates the prefrontal cortex.

One way to think about helping learners learn to think with content is to think about that process as helping the learner to develop the the functioning of their prefrontal cortex.

Key to Developing the Prefrontal Cortex for Thinking with Content Key to activating the prefrontal cortex is the mental process of reflecting. When the learner reflects (thinks about their thinking), this activates the prefrontal cortex. NO this does not happen automatically, it has to be learned. With enough practice, neural structures 6

Section 3 Reflection What is Reflection and What Forms Does it Take?

Reflection occurs when the learner learner stops, steps back in their mind that thinks about what they are learning and their thinking. This activates the prefrontal cortex and begins the process of building the the hardware and processes for future higher level functioning (“executive functions”).

It is learning to reflect consistently that enables the learner to make the shift that underlies critical and creative thinking. Content does not become truly powerfully or useful to the learner until the learner learns how to think with the content and learning to reflect consistently underlies that deeper functioning.

Reflecting that also underlies metacognition and metacognitive strategies has to be learned. Learning strategies are important, but the failure that keeps being repeated is the failure to build strong processes for reflecting and thus we keep substituting strategies for thinking. John Bransford put it bluntly, “Don’t substitute strategies for thinking.” Thinking underlies

strategies and strategies alone are just not deep enough.

Examples of Reflecting Again, reflecting in learning is stopping and stepping back mentally and thinking about what is being learned The learner has to learn how to stop, step back and have an internal dialogue with themselves about the content - not just stopping and rehearsing or memorizing. Although rehearsing and memorizing can strengthen neural pathways and physical structures of in the (dendrites, synapses, etc), those physical changes are not necessarily the building of those neural pathways and physical structures that route the new information through the prefrontal cortex and thus the time and space necessary for deeper new learning is lost to lower functioning areas of the brain.

When the learner has an internal dialogue (discussion) with them selves, or with others, or writes about what they are learning, new connections are being made through the prefrontal cortex and the prefrontal cortex controls the actions of other parts of the brain devoted to cognitive functioning. This results in interconnected neural pathways being developed that facilitates future thinking and application of that being learned. This is not small event. It is the difference in developing an 7

adaptive learner who is more likely to be able to apply what they are learning in new situations and a procedural learner who can get better and faster with what they are doing but when a problem occurs is less able to engage in deep problem solving or critical thinking.

The very process of writing about what one is thinking (writing to learn) can be an example of engaging in reflection if the learner is not just regurgitating what they memorized and the more they organize and clarify what they write the more and deeper connections they make with their prior knowledge resulting in larger and larger interconnected neural networks. That learner is developing huge advantages for their future learning or related content as they have much deeper neural networks of prior knowledge in the construction of meaning. Remember that new learning requires that the brain must find prior related knowledge to connect new information to or learning does not occur. The advantage goes to the reflector and the difference between the learner who has not learned to reflect automatically is that by comparison they are virtually standing still.

Section 4 Back to Working Memory Working memory is where reflection occurs in the awareness of the learner and working memory is very limited (4 unrelated items for 10 to 15 seconds).

It, of course, is not enough just to reflect; the learner has to learn how to take control of the learning process to maximize learning how to think with the content they are learning. There are two very important processes that the learner needs to take advantage of if they want to overcome the limitations of their limited working memories. These two process together can increase the speed of transmission and processing of the information through the neural networks they are creating and also overcome the limitations of working memory. Instead of being limited to merely bringing four unrelated items at a time to working memory to manipulate in critical thinking and problem solving, the learner can have nearly infinite related information in working memory and studies indicate that the speed of transmission can reach 3,000 time faster.

Retrieval of vital information rapidly is crucial for deep learning and thinking. Underprepared learners consistently have not developed these processes on conjunction with reflecting.

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The Processes What are these two processes? One we are very familiar with and the other is gaining ground with neuroscientists. The first is organizing knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application. The second is a process of myelination in which the learner can increase the fatty insulation on the axons of brain neurons throughout the neural pathways in neural networks of related information.

The faster the and easier the learner can retrieve information they have learned and organized the more time and space working memory has to manipulate that information and it is the manipulation of information that is the foundation of thinking with the content being learned. Again, the goal is not just learning content, but learning how to think with content.

Organizing Ideas There are many mental tools for organizing content and visual organizers such as mind mapping are among the most studied and meaningful organizing tools when reflection, re-exposure, and elaboration are built into the processing. Elaboration is any mental attempt to connect new information to prior knowledge (construction of meaning). For example,

reflection questions about what the leaner is learning during reflection asks questions such as, “What do I already know about this?”; “How can I use this information?”; “Where do I think this is going (prediction)?” Questioning during reflection automatically causes the brain to search out prior knowledge of related information, thus deepening the connections in different areas of the brain that the prefrontal cortes controls.

Note, we are not talking about merely learning content, procedures or rules, but rather building the foundation for deeper thinking within the discipline of that content, but also increasing the potential for transfer across disciplines.The research on learning transfer is dismal; it just doesn’t happen much, but we can start to build brains that can. After all, the goal of education is transfer learning. If that is not occurring, then what?

Myelination Every time the learner re-exposes themselves to new information, a new layer of fat called myelin wraps around the neurons in that pathway of the new information and each time this occurs, transmission get faster. However, to maximize this process of deeper learning and retrieval potential, if the learner incorporates reflection and elaboration within the re9

exposure, then vast new, deeper, faster functioning neural networks are created.

A hard lesson to learn for developmental educators and content instructors to learn is that coverage is a goal, but not a useful one if deep learning is not occurring. and learning to provide the space and time for deep learning to occur in all instruction and learning is time well spent. As Gardiner pointed out, “Coverage is the enemy of learning.” Support for content courses, again, must go beyond the idea of completing entry-level courses and dig deeper to completing entry-level courses with understanding and proficiency that prepares the learner for subsequent courses.

In a later section, the topic of collaboration between support and entry-level course instructors, with the goal of entry-level instructors becoming partners in reinforcing the support for making the mental processes being learned in support more timely and relevant, will be discussed in more detail.

Section 5 Understanding in the Context of Conceptual Framework.

Two of the three learner needs identified for developing competence in an area of inquiry by John Bransford and colleagues in “How People Learn” (2000) have been discussed. A third learner need and one that cannot be underestimated is the goal essential for developing an adaptive learner “Understanding facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework.” Stop, step back in your mind and reflect on the following key finding: Critical and Creative Thinking in the Content Areas

“Contrary to popular belief, learning basic facts is NOT a prerequisite for creative thinking and problem-solving – it’s the other way around. Once the learner grasps the big concepts around a subject, good thinking will lead the learner to the important facts.” (John Bransford)

Support and entry-level course instructors must ensure that the learner has a “big picture” about the content they are about to learn or learning will be shallow even if all the previous process are utilized. The instructor 10

has to help the learner learn how to develop a conceptual framework work for the facts, details, skills, procedures, rules, etc. that the learn is about to learn.

Handing the learner a handout with the conceptual framework or a guide to the course topics is not sufficient for developing competence with the content of the course or reading selection. The learner has to be taught the conceptual framework and it has to be overlearned if the learner is to use the conceptual framework during reflection while learning. Think of it as building a “big picture� conceptual framework for hanging new facts and ideas. Without the big concepts around a subject (organized) and understood, the learner has no place for the information to connect to in building a neural network with which to work in trying to meaningfully reflect. many textbook are conceptual loaded and provide too little prior knowledge for constructing meaningful meaning. The following is a conceptual framework for a world history course:

Where&do&the&facts&and&ideas&fit&within&this&conceptual&framework?

Human& Creativity Affects

Through& Patterns& of

Supporting& Conditions

Expressions&of& Creativity

The learner has to have at least a grasp about the bigger concepts around this history textbook or the learner never even begins to develop the kind of reflective organization needed to build a neural network for deep thinking about and with the content of the course. The facts, details events, etc. and larger concepts are not organized in the writing in the textbook, but are rather scattered throughout the textbook and not sufficiently labeled.

The learner can pass the course and fail the goal of education - learners who can think with the content in ways that will transfer to new situations and across disciplines. The same is true in math, writing, reading, and all entry-level courses.

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The Neolithic Revolution in the New World (REFLECT – Is there any prior knowledge in this sentence?; What do I think this is talking about?; Were do I think this is going?; Does the point of the sentence relate to the overarching conceptual framework? Change) The most noteworthy first steps toward agriculture took place in central and southern Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru. (REFLECT – Is there any prior knowledge in this sentence?; What do I think this is talking about?; Were do I think this is going?; Does the point of the sentence relate to the overarching conceptual framework? How does it relate to the title above.)

Temperatures in these regions turned warmer after about 4000 BCE. (REFLECT – Is there any prior knowledge in this sentence?; What do I think this is talking about?; Were do I think this is going?; Does the point of the sentence relate to the overarching conceptual framework? How does it relate to the previous sentence(s)) Foragers shortened their annual migrations and extended existing patches of wild beans through purposeful planting. (REFLECT – Is there any prior knowledge in this sentence?; What do I think this is talking about?; Were do I think this is going?; Does the point of the sentence relate to the overarching conceptual framework? How does it relate to the previous sentence(s)) Careful harvesting and replanting led to early domesticated verities of these plants, increasingly bearing larger kernels. (REFLECT – Is there any prior knowledge in this sentence?; What do I think this is talking about?; Were do I think this is going?; Does the point of the sentence relate to the overarching conceptual framework? How does it relate to the previous sentence(s))) to the previous sentence(s)))

Take a look at this excerpt from chapter 5. Where do you think the ideas will fit in the map to the right?

(There are some best fits, but no wrong fits if you can justify the fit.)

The Neolithic Revolution in the New World The most noteworthy first steps toward agriculture took place in central and southern Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru.

Temperatures in these regions turned warmer after about 4000 BCE. Foragers shortened their annual migrations and extended existing patches of wild beans through purposeful planting. Careful harvesting and replanting led to early domesticated verities of these plants, increasingly bearing larger kernels. Beans were domesticated first in Peru, and maze (corn) somewhat later in southern Mexico.

By about 3000 BCE, foragers in these regions had completed their transformation into farmers.

It’s*not*just* about*content,* but*rather* thinking*about* content.

Understand*facts*and*ideas*in*the* context*of*a*conceptual*framework

Affects

Through* Patterns* of

Human Creativity Supporting* Conditions

Expressions* of*Creativity

Developmental learners and even most so-called prepared learners have not developed the mental processes for thinking with the content they are learning and add the fact their brain have just become efficient enough through the previous eight years or so to make meaningful use their prefrontal cortex (“executive functions”) and it becomes apparent that instruction in postsecondary education for the next century needs some transformation.

What Does Deep Learning Look Like” in the Context of a Conceptual Framework?

As the learner is learning the content of the reading selection above, they have to through a lot of practice learn how to reflect - example of reflecting:

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Section 6 Core Reflection Mental Processes for Learning to Develop Competence in an Area of Inquiry • New information must to get into working memory (attention).

• New information must connect to prior knowledge to construct meaning.

• The learner must step back in their mind and reflect on the new information to route the information through the prefrontal cortex.

Examples of reflection are internal dialogue, conversations, writing to learn.

The prefrontal cortex is the seat of executive function such as critical thinking.

Reflection is the common denominator of critical thinking.

• The learner must acquire a conceptual framework for the new information.

• The new information must be understood in the context of the conceptual framework.

• The learner must organize the information if it is to be easily retrieved and applied.

• Unorganized information overloads working memory.

• The learner must repeatedly re-expose themselves with elaboration (internal dialogue, communication, writing to learn, or self-testing over time) to the information or the information is easily forgotten.

Practice retrieving the information is essential.

• The learner must repeatedly expose themselves with elaboration to the information for myelin (layers of fat) to accumulate on the axon of brain cells, which is necessary for dramatically increased speed of transmission and processing.

Increased speed of processing and transmission is necessary for maximum retrieval of information to maximize the processes of manipulation of new information, such as problem solving. All the above is necessary for overriding the limitations of working memory and for developing competence in an area of inquiry

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Section 7 Learning Learning Skills in Isolation If you have to been able to keep up with the research or literature over the past thirty years that clearly illustrates that learning isolated skills or skills in isolated units from relevant and timely content, skip this section. If not, you may not be aware that most reading strategy textbooks and computer programs are sorely out of touch with current research; not that computer programs can not catch up; however, they must become more timely and relevant in helping the learner learn withe the reading and learning materials the learners are actually using in the courses they are taking. while incorporating the learning of mental processes discussed in the previous sections; otherwise , there is not time or space for perquisite support in accelerated learning.

Learning Isolated Skills or Units of Isolated Skills A Quick History of Reading Instruction “Many reading instruction programs, among them computer-based reading programs emphasize learning isolated reading skills and then testing for those isolated reading skills and declaring success if the

student can successfully use those isolated reading skills. For example, many computerized reading programs emphasize learning isolated skills such as main idea, supporting detail, patterns of organization, inference, and purpose and tone. These skills are important, but not in isolation but rather as needed within a deeper approach to learning how to think with content. Many studies have found that the teaching of these isolated skills did little to foster transfer of learning. For examples, complex processes appear to be more than the sum of heir parts, and skills do not seem to transfer automatically from one domain to another. Learning seems to take place best in the context of complex experiences and problem solving” (Starko. 2001); “Many critics have observed that instructional approaches to finding the main idea often involved sophisticated conventions that became ends in themselves and were too time consuming” (Carnegie, 2010).; and “For many years, reading comprehension instruction was based on a concept of reading as the application of a set of isolated skills such as finding main ideas, identifying cause and effect relationships, comparing and contrasting, and sequencing.” Durkin found that this type of instruction did little to help students learn how or when to use the

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skills, and these skills were not shown to enable comprehension” (Keys to Literacy).

Why Isolated Skill Instruction is Antiquated?

“Thinking cannot be divorced from content; in fact, thinking is a way of learning content (Raths and others). In every course, and especially in content subjects, students should be taught to think logically, analyze and compare, question and evaluate. Skills taught in isolation do little more than prepare students for tests of isolated skills (Spache and Spache).

Norton Grubbs in From Black Box To Pandora’s Box: Evaluating Remedial/ Developmental Education states it this way, “By far the most common approach to developmental education within community colleges is the approach I have labeled “skills and drills.” This tends to focus on arithmetic procedures, on grammar, punctuation and vocabulary, on math “problems” of the most contrived sort, and passages from texts that have been simplified for low reading levels.

Computer programs in remedial classes invariably involve drills. Following a rigid progression through topics, students move to the next level only when they have passed a short “test” on one subject. Often, students work on these programs in large labs overseen by a “manager” who typically has neither the time nor

the training for instruction: students who get stuck have to go back in the computer program to try to work out the problem. There is no teaching in the conventional sense of the term.

Conventional “skills and drills” approaches violate all the maxims for good teaching in adult education (Grubb and Kalman, 1994).

Traditional Vocabulary Development College reading textbooks often approach vocabulary with discrete exercises for developing, improving, or expanding vocabulary by using discrete skills, such as content clues, word-structure clues, or using an outside authority – dictionary. This isolated approach, used alone, neglects what we know about learning – primarily if we want transfer and ease of learning newer related information, facts, words, and ideas must be understood within the context of a conceptual framework.

What’s Missing from Isolated Skill Instruction?

Conceptual Understanding and Metacognition Metacognition and Internal Dialogue (thinking about thinking; making thinking visible).

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Metacognition must be taught: Metacognition is not an instinctive process; therefore deliberate efforts must be made by teachers and students to call attention to it when it is occurring. Doing so can be difficult because the process often occurs as an internal dialogue, meaning there are no tangible or verbal cues to aid in awareness (Bransford et al., 2000; Wolfe & Brush, 2000). Second, the most successful strategies for teaching metacognition require the complete reorganization of a student’s thinking process, which involves much more than simply pointing out when metacognition is occurring (Perkins & Grotzer, 1997).

Internal Dialogue Must Be Taught: Bransford et al.

(2000), warned that educators often make the misguided assumption that because metacognition takes the form of self-imposed internal conversation that students will develop this internal dialogue on their own. They emphatically state that this is not true.

The point is that the better understood the entire concept of metacognition becomes, the more sophisticated the thinking process becomes. When given metacognitive training, the degree to which transfer occurs in different settings has been shown to increase (Bransford et al. 2000). However, significant discussion and practice with metacognition are required before students are able to sufficiently

comprehend and accommodate the concept. In a highly recommended book by Bain (2004) that discusses the practices of the best college teachers, the concept of metacognition is mentioned and strongly implied throughout. To get students thinking about their thinking is an essential first step to their mental processes of learning and synthesis that are critical harbingers of transfer. (Ramocki, 2007) The conceptual understanding approach does just that - develop metacognition strategies, The focus is not on discrete skills as much as it focuses on more basic questions of what readers mentally and actively do while reading idea of a text - metacognition.

Cognitive strategies for developing conceptual understanding do not act in isolation.

Reflection is Key “Reflection is a meaning-making process that moves a learner from one experience (in this case reading) into the next with deeper understanding of its relationships with and connections to other experiences and ideas. It is the thread that makes continuity of learning possible� (Carol on Dewey, 2012).

The first thing you should know is that stopping and reflecting as you read is essential for the information 16

you are learning while reading to move to that part of your brain which enables you to meet the overarching goals of this course. That part of the brain is called the prefrontal cortex and it is where you make decisions.

The prefrontal cortex, the part of the frontal lobes lying just behind the forehead, is often referred to as the “CEO of the brain.”

A key finding in the learning and transfer literature is that organizing information into a conceptual framework allows for greater “transfer”; that is, it allows the student to apply what was learned in new situations and to learn related information more quickly. The reader must be able to recognize, and where needed, construct the conceptual framework for the content being learned – cognitive strategies, inquiry, and internal dialogue – Rules of Consolidation.

have to ensure that a foundation of prior knowledge is developed. David Caverly has noted the following: “Large, comprehensive textbooks do not invite reader construction of meaning, honor the knowledge the reader brings to the text, or lend themselves to critical reading. These textbooks usually have most if not all to the following characteristics: high conceptual density; compression of information; a paragraph may represent a volume of research; use of special terminology, often as the object of learning, multiple ways of presenting information through print, including prose, tables and graphs, photos and illustrations, boxed anecdotes, advanced organizers, and summaries; organization that reflects the logic of the discipline represented or patterns that dominate thinking in the field” (Caverly, 2000).

Learning Isolated Reading Skills Does Not Add Up to Being Able to Tackle Entry-Level College Textbooks Textbooks Have Too Many Limitations The limitations of many textbooks is often due to the limited background (prior knowledge) the reader brings to the textbook and the limited space textbooks 17

Section 8 Reinforcing Mental Process Support by the Entry-Level Course Instructors A false dichotomy has developed about developmental education as the result of mandatory placement.

“Developmental education” actually refers to “promoting the cognitive and affective growth of all post secondary learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE). Yes, even post graduate school.

Now that we have a clearer understanding that sequences of prerequisite developmental courses is a dead end and in the light of the successes of accelerated programs, especially co-requisite instruction, it is time for developmental educators and entry-level course instructors to become partners in supporting the mental process that lead to deeper learning and thinking with the content rather than just having the goal of more learners succeeding in entrylevel courses.

Timely and Relevant Support Timely and relevant support can no longer be the sole domain of the developmental educator. Nor can entrylevel instructors claim that content is their only responsibility. Learning is our responsibility across the

board. Even elite colleges are graduating learners who cannot think with the content they are learning (Bok, Harvard).

Make Support and Entry-Level Instruction and Assignments Reinforcers of Thinking with the Content The days of read page 234 to 267 are gone. Entry-level courses are not just about content or colleges would not have General Education goals - foundation skills, critical thinking, etc. Education was never about isolated skills or about content only. It is about thinking that leads to transfer learning.

Instead, try reading pages 234 to 267 and write a summary of the main concepts, how do the facts and ideas relate to the conceptual framework, how might the new information be used in your future, how does what you read relate to the lecture or other instruction.

What examples of mental processes of reflecting, organizing re-exposing, elaboration, etc. did you use and what was supposed to be happening in your brain when you did these mental processes?

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About the Author Dan Kesterson has been teaching developmental learners for 48 years. He retired from the Kentucky and Community College System in 2015. He had spent the last 43 years teaching developmental reading and learning at Jefferson Community and Technical College in Louisville Kentucky and is now working with a project to bring his ideas into an initiative to bring accelerated learning to borderline reading learners in Bullitt County Public Schools, which is headed by the director of the Bullitt County Campus of Jefferson Community College, Donna Miller. tdkest1@yahoo.com 502-550-3743 Working Memory

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