Heather Johnston’s Reviews > The College Fear Factor: How Students and Professors Misunderstand One Another > Status Update

K-12 about memorization not problem solving. Without understanding argument literacy a “persuasive research paper” makes no sense. Application of concepts to scenarios makes no sense.

Biggest stumbling block to success is students don’t understand or practice: argument literacy (take position and support with persuasive reasoning), can’t discover or invent problems, don’t know the language.

Success resulted from the students’ perceptions of the instructors’ attitude and classroom environment.

Students needed a lot of positive comments to recognize this. Students need to perceive the environment as encouraging.

Successful approach includes: 1) expecting students to accomplish work that they found challenging; 2) inviting them to participate actively as “college” students in the classroom; 3) addressing students’ anxiety with step-by-step, transparently clear directions; and 4) offering constant encouragement.

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Teachers with higher success rates “filled the role of authoritative expert in their classrooms, and engaged in strategies that aimed to alleviate students’ anxieties and provided students with constant encouragement.”

Students’ firmly held expectations regarding instruction undermined the instructors efforts to achieve their pedagogical goals. Non-traditional pedagogy led to overt resistance and prevented them from benefiting from the approaches.

Chapter 4 - How is that helping us? Student want facts for the test, not examples and application. Outside ideas are irrelevant and distracting.

“Most students seem resigned to undergoing a dreadful experience in order to earn the desired credential.”

“Fear of failure—rather than actual failure or evidence of unsuitability—prevents full commitment and engagement.