A Successful Workshop by Saundra McGuire, Ph.D.

Friday, September 15th Saundra McGuire, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Academic Success (CAS) at Louisiana State University gave a workshop on getting students to focus on learning instead of grades and teaching them HOW to learn! The event was sponsored by a National Science Foundation STEP Grant awarded jointly to UNO and MCC and by the UNO Center for Faculty Development.

The workshop talked about how today’s students come to college with widely varying academic skills, interests, and motivation levels. Faculty often lament that students are focused on achieving high grades, but do not want to spend time learning. Most students think that memorizing information before an examination is tantamount to learning the material, and spend considerably less time studying than is commensurate with their grade expectations. This interactive workshop introduced participants to cognitive science findings that could be used to improve teaching and learning. This workshop also provided a variety of strategies to help all students experience meaningful, transferable learning.

If you were unable to attend the event but would like more information on the topics discussed please see her presentation slides.

Back