Students' learning needs

Students' learning needs 

A primary need of any student in any context and any background is to gain knowledge and skills. UWC students have their own culture, unique needs, and insecurities. Coming from a disadvantaged background, deeply traumatized by generations of inequality, they are always ready to fight for their rights and fairness, even in cases where collaboration would work better.

Students who come from less socio-economic advantaged environments, and from schooling systems that do not encourage independent and integrated thinking, are sometimes referred to as "underprepared" students (Darden-Woody and Bryant-Shanklin, 2018). They are often lacking generic study skills. As a result, many students, especially in large undergraduate classes, adopt the surface approach to learning (e.g., Biggs, 1999; Biggs and Tang, 2011). Therefore, apart from creating a positive teaching and learning environment, many needs have to be addressed, and many concepts of the learning process that students have to be introduced to if we want them to be successfully integrated into professional life, according to the UWC Graduate Attributes (GAs). Therefore, I am using my course materials to make space in trying to support and address inclusiveness through the diverse ways of teaching and learning, which displays sensitivity to the history and background of the students.

Here are some of the weaknesses of my students and the ways that I am trying to overcome them in an attempt to support the teaching and learning process:

• Few students enjoy problem-based learning and the active learning process that is essential in Geology. I am trying to overcome this barrier by presenting students with more problem-based tasks that require active participation. I demonstrate why they need this knowledge by giving them hand samples to describe, taking them to the field, and letting them use the compasses on campus (Fig. 10), organizing mine excursions and core shed visits, etc. Without problem-based learning, students are in danger of acquiring an attitude of a surface approach to learning, as opposed to a deep approach that enhances higher cognitive levels (e.g., Biggs, 1999) and ultimately creates well-rounded graduates, according to the UWC GAs such as first tier “Scholarship” and the second-tier “Inquiry-focused and knowledgeable.” Active learning also increases motivation and self-efficacy (e.g., James et al., 2021).

• Students do not have an attitude of taking notes – another essential skill for a geologist, especially during fieldwork. The ability to summarize and encompass the ideas on paper also aligns with the UWC GAs, second-tier “Skilled communicators.” I am providing students with learning support materials that were taken from the Cornell College website and explaining how to make lecture notes effectively. I also emphasize the importance of making notes during each lecture and each practical session, as well as in the field. I also assess the student’s lecture notes at least once during the semester (using a rubric for their evaluation) and their field notes twice during the field trip (in the middle of the field trip and at the end, together with the field report). Every notebook is returned with detailed feedback, which outlines the strong and weak points of the notes and advice on how to improve. The constructive feedback agrees with the UWC assessment policy 2021 (Section 4.16 “Constructive feedback”). I have also designed a flowchart for field notes.

• Students do not understand the importance of building the next module on a foundation of the previous modules. Unfortunately, students tend to forget everything they have learned previously before they progress to the next level of study, which is, in part, supported by the structure of the curriculum at the department. But I am in a privileged position here because I am teaching students for three consecutive years, and I am able to make a connection between the subjects taught (i.e., Structural Geology, Geotectonics, Advanced Structural Geology) and emphasize how important it is to re-cap the last year/semester material in order to move on with the more sophisticated concepts. This approach, also known as scaffolding, teaches students to construct their own independent ways to gain knowledge. Today, scaffolding frameworks can be enhanced by using technology (e.g., Janson et al., 2020)

• Students do not take seriously class rules and activities – such as attendance, deadlines, exams, etc. I try to implement reasonable deadlines and encourage students to keep to them. For example, second-year students always have one week to complete their assignment. As soon as they submit, they receive the next assignment with a deadline in one week. I also emphasize the importance of showing up on time (whether it’s a lecture, a meeting, or a field trip). Selecting a class representative who can additionally support students and direct students’ concerns, explain the rules of the module in advance, and communicate with other lecturers helps a lot.

• Students do not have good communication etiquette. To address this, a new departmental Communication Policy was recently introduced by the HOD. I also remind students how to write e-mails: address the person properly, mention your module number, try to explain your problem clearly and in one email, write emails during office hours, etc. Developing good and respectful communication is the critical GA of UWC, included in tier two “Ethically, Environmentally and Socially Aware and Responsive” and “Skilled Communicators.”

• Big problem for the students is that my undergraduate modules (APG234 and APG322) are taught during the first and third terms, accordingly, which are at the beginning of semesters one and two, respectively. As a result, many students are not registered by the start of the semester and are still waiting for approval from the Faculty when the classes begin. Sometimes students are registered as late as week 3 or 4 of the 6-week long term. These students are missing out on the essential lectures and practicals and cannot catch up on their own. Due to large classes (up to 150 students), I am unable to help the students who fell behind. I am solving this problem by adding students manually in iKamva and instructing them to attend the lectures and practical sessions even before they are officially registered. However, I can only do that if students reach out to me first and indicate the problem, and they should be already on campus to start attending face-to-face activities. It is detrimental to the teaching and learning process to register students so late – the registration deadlines should be set way before the onset of the semester.

• Students have difficulty with thinking in 3D; this is critical for all my modules as they deal with the behavior of materials in three dimensions and need to always remember about it. It is also a GA of UWC, second-tier “Critically and relevantly literate.” To address this need, I am providing students with a lot of illustrative material in lectures, explaining how to draw cross-sections from the geological maps (Fig. 11), making them use free smartphone apps with 3D models (see section “Infusion of technologies into teaching and learning”). I also integrate many schematic animations into my lecture slides (Fig. 12).

• Students experience difficulty with independent work and self-directed learning, for example, learning concepts that were not taught in contact sessions, finding out the meaning of an unfamiliar word, doing additional reading, etc. These skills are essential for everyone in the modern, rapidly changing world and are also included in the list of UWC GAs, such as second-tier “Inquiry-focused and knowledgeable.” To overcome this difficulty, I am helping students to identify additional reading materials and encourage them to study the subject deeper and beyond what is presented in lectures. I offer students alternatives for textbooks, the latter can be quite expensive. Recently, I liaised with the librarians at the Desmond Tutu Book Leasing Scheme on campus and found out what books they have and negotiated leasing conditions.

• Students have difficulty applying the theoretical knowledge in practice (UWC GAs first-tier “Scholarship” and second-tier “Critically and relevantly literate”) and making integrated conclusions based on observations using the theory. Being able to integrate knowledge and observations is high-order thinking and is a sophisticated skill and is, perhaps, the most difficult for students to develop. To facilitate it, I provide students with problem-based exercises and assign them to write mini-projects during the semester. The culmination of knowledge-skills-observations integration occurs during the Honors field trip, where the students not only must produce observations but also take and process field measurements, read literature and write a field report describing the geological history of the region based on their own data and on literature. These exercises are aimed at creating graduates that are “inquiry-focused and knowledgeable” (UWC GA second-tier) and are an example of research-based learning (e.g., Hassan, 2013; Susiani et al., 2018) that is aimed at the development of critical thinking.

Another opportunity for senior students to develop this skill is a supervised research project (APG709) with the writing of a mini-thesis and oral defense at the end of the year (another example of research-based learning). Currently, I am meeting with my student every week for at least one hour to address any questions, outline the future work and give feedback on the completed work in an attempt to guide the student through the research and writing process.

The student needs are also assessed by volunteer anonymous questionnaires via iKamva or Google forms or in handwriting if we are in the field. Students can express their concerns and comment on the course and the teaching style of the lecturers.