Translating research on learning to the classroom

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(Click on each principle for ideas on how to implement in your discussion section.)

1. Students' prior knowledge can help or hinder learning.

2. How students organize knowledge influences how they learn and how they apply what they know.

3. Student motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn.

4. To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned. 

5. Goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances the quality of students’ learning.

6. Students’ current level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and intellectual climate of the course to impact learning. 

7. To become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning.

Adapted from How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching (2010, Ambrose et al.)