A Journey from Learner to Innovator
Freshmen enter our classrooms expecting us to “tell” them what they need to know to be successful, or they believe we are “no doing our job”. A comment frequently found on Student Evaluations is “We had to teach ourselves”. However, these same students have no issue personally struggling to master musical instruments, video games, and sports. How do we get students to direct that same struggle toward our courses?
Independent learners must take full responsibility for their own learning, both inside and outside the classroom. Some learners develop independence doing their academic careers because of their life circumstances and learning style. Conversely, many students need to learn-to-learn, and it is our responsibility to teach and support them with this objective. The learner’s education journey I designed has learning-to-learn as its the first step. This journey involves the student moving from being independent learners, confident communicators, resourceful producers to dynamic innovators. My presentation addresses the initial step in the journey, how instructors support students while they are learning-to-learn.