2 Matching Annotations
  1. Jan 2026
    1. Acquiring knowledge involves active and constructive processing of new information. There are many ways to acquire new knowledge; however, learning strategies that actively engage students and promote student interactions lead to the strongest learning in STEM students (NRC, 2012; Freeman et al., 2014).

      I think "Actively Engage Students" is the key! The more they can be engaged in solving a problem individually or in a group, the more they can learn. Sometimes even a short question with iClicker can lead to an active learning with a better results than just talking and teaching without involving students.

    2. Connect means linking new knowledge with prior knowledge. Imagine a student’s existing knowledge as a set of interconnected nodes in a network. A connect activity intentionally activates some of the nodes (i.e., recalling knowledge) and suggests new connections among nodes or ways that nodes can be organized.

      I totally agree with this and truly believe that I should try to put myself in students shoes and understand what they know from previous courses or topics, and how this new subject is relevant to those, so that they know why they learned those concepts and how they can use them now. It is kind of showing students how you learn from beginner to intermediate and then to advanced topics gradually.