Today I am going to show you how to earn better grades through active learning.
Many students, after getting an essay back from the professor,
do very little to learn from their mistakes.
Let me show you how to use an active learning technique, which will help you improve your
writing and your grades.
Hi, this is Professor Beau Baez.
Inward, outward, upward.
I’ll explain what that means in a minute.
Now, there are two ways of learning: passive and active.
As you can probably tell, passive learning is not very effective,
yet it is something you use all the time.
Passive learning techniques involve lectures, reading, and even the Socratic method,
at least when you’re not being called on.
Norbert, Carter, and Varela explain: “Although the traditional lecture method
is still predominant, some studies have shown that students fail to retain as much material
after the class has been completed in comparison to classes taught in an active environment.
Another drawback to this method appears to be a lack of student attention,
which many educators have observed in their own classes.”
Unfortunately, most students never review a past exam, or if they do, they look through
it quickly, looking for some note the professor might have jotted down.
Shortly after I started teaching I began noticing that bright students weren’t improving their
writing very quickly.
When I talked to more senior professors, I discovered they weren’t doing anything to
help students improve their writing.
But it wasn’t just my law school, it was the same way at most law schools.
Many professors believe that some students just have the gift and others don’t.
I didn’t believe that then, and I certainly don’t believe that now.
What I’ve discovered in my journey to becoming a master teacher
is that you need to be more active in your learning.
Ho, Unchurch, and Gilles explain: “Active learning … involves students taking
an active, more self-directed role in the learning process….
Why is active learning more effective?
Research shows that learning is promoted when students are actively processing information.
This is important for not only short term memory, but essential for long term memory,
and especially retrieval and use of information from long term memory.”
And for essay exams, that means figuring out what you did right and wrong.
I used to have long meetings with students, where I would tell them,
line by line, what went wrong.
But that didn’t work because that was passive learning.
Here is an active learning approach that works.
Once you get your essay back, examine it, and
figure out what you did right and what you did wrong.
This is called reflection.
Next, rewrite the essay under timed conditions.
Then compare your new answer with the old answer.
Stop, reflect, and determine how your new answer is better.
It is through this active learning method that you will improve your writing and
earn higher grades.
Often though, students don’t see the value of going through this exercise because they
think it’s a waste of time.
After all, they reason, they know the right answer
so what use is it to go through and write a new essay.
Let’s compare that thought with going to the gym.
You see the machines, you know how they work, and then you leave the gym.
After all, you already know how to lift weights and how to walk, so why get on the treadmill?
Why lift weights?
Because you have to exercise your muscles.
It’s not any different with writing.
Until you exercise your muscles, you won’t see any meaningful improvement.
Okay, so earlier I mentioned inward, outward, and upward.
Inward: you first have to win the battle within.
Outward: you make changes based on what you're learning.
Upward: these changes will propel you to success.
Don’t forget to watch another video as you learn how
to become a better student and a better lawyer.