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Teach Your Son To Think Like An Expert

Written by Jeff Ludovici
Thursday, 25 February 2010 20:35
In a recent post, How To Think Like An Expert, I discussed some characteristics of how experts think when they solve problems, which was geared for adults. So, how could this be applied to helping boys and young men with their academic work? One of the most important skills students need, like experts, is the ability to conceptualize different scenarios or problems. When we encounter a new set of information or “problem,” being able to get a mental picture of what that would “look” like is critical so we can break it down, understand its parts, or synthesize the parts in to an understandable whole. Getting an accurate image of how things fit together is, essentially, conceptualizing how the whole comes together and how the parts are related to each other. Not only is it a way of understanding the information (versus just memorizing), it helps us to remember in a way that can be later applied. How might this fit a student’s academic work? There are limitless ways, but think about this basic example just to get a feel for conceptualization: Imagine your student has to understand, let’s say, a series of battles about the civil war, including names, dates, places, etc. A logical way to organize this (conceptualize it) is with a timeline. Once the basics of the dates and names of the battles are mapped on to it, you can add further information, and create what I think of as an annotated timeline. Being able to transform a jumbled, unorganized mass of information in to a logical and graphical model will help enhance both his understanding and remembering. Conceptualizing asks the question “so, what would that look like?” Other ways to conceptualize are to have him create graphs, charts, tables, or other graphical ways to logically organize the information. A simple way to remember associated information is to use a grid to group things together by association, and not by category. Grouping together a name, date, and key facts that are all related to each other helps them to hang together in memory, instead of doing a list of, say names separately, which pulls apart the meaningful grouping. Bear in mind he must do all of this himself to benefit most. One study showed that student-created study materials are remembered better than those just given to them, such as study sheets. You’ll both see the results almost immediately if he works to create his own logically organized study sheets using the methods above. The bottom line on teaching your son how to think smarter is to have him transform vague scenarios in to well-defined attainable parts, and create organized frameworks that build his knowledge. As he works with the parts and “solves” them to their necessary end, like many experts, he’s transforming the vague in to the concrete and building organized memories that will help him at test time. Jeffrey Ludovici, M.A., operates Student Strategy 101®, a college planning and support program based in Pittsburgh, Pa. For more information, please visit him at studentstrategy101.com or at his College Strategy Blog. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites Write comment (0 Comments)
Last Updated on Wednesday, 10 March 2010 03:18

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College Guidance And Preparedness Are Keys For Boys' College Success

Written by Jeff Ludovici
Monday, 22 February 2010 23:32
Do students feel that they need guidance for college and careers? Yes, they do, and a number of studies show a consensus by students on this issue. For example, a 2007 study by the University of Texas held that 89% of students felt that education planning was important, and 61% said that it was very important. In a 2009 study sponsored by the Gates Foundation, 71% of graduates and 68% of those who did not finish college said that having good guidance about colleges, majors, and careers was a key issue. Yet in the same study, a majority of these same students ranked their high school guidance counselors “fair to poor” on the criteria of helping them to explore careers, deciding on the right school, and in helping with the application process. In fact, only 13% of students rated their high school counselors as “excellent” on these issues. The report asserts a concerning fact: Many young Americans, especially those that don’t graduate, barely go through any college selection process at all. On the issue of college preparedness, the students in the Gates-sponsored study also highlighted the importance of academic skills needed to succeed. Of the students surveyed, 79% of graduates and 73% of those who did not graduate said that learning good academic skills was very important prior to college. Yet what would some factors be that would signify a student who was under-prepared for college? The National Survey on Student Engagement, 2009, shed some light on this issue. In a look at more than 10,000 students, they found some basic facts about those that might not be ready for the rigors of higher education. Out of those they considered to be under-prepared for college, 65% were first generation students, but 46% of those not ready for college had college educated parents, which is typically a correlate of higher education success. Under-prepared students were less engaged in academics, and were significantly less satisfied with their college than highly prepared students, which then makes them less likely to return the following year. The report added that first-generation and under-prepared students might have had limited relevant experiences to support their transition to college, and may need more explicit directions about what they must do to succeed. Since college graduation rates are lowest for young men in the U.S., boys who are planning on attending college may need extra help around the issues of college & career planning, as well as active transitional supports. Because the statistics show such a poor outlook, appropriate planning and support may ultimately make the difference between a boy’s college success and failure. Jeffrey Ludovici, M.A., is operates Student Strategy 101®, a college planning and support program based in Pittsburgh, Pa. For more information, please visit him at studentstrategy101.com or at his College Strategy Blog. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites Write comment (0 Comments)
Last Updated on Monday, 10 May 2010 15:06

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Why Starting At A Community College May Be Bad For Young Men

Written by Jeff Ludovici
Monday, 22 February 2010 23:08
Many of the young men that I’ve worked with began their post-high school education at a community college, or a commensurate technical school, and ultimately did poorly there. Typically, these were bright young men who might have been average students, both in terms of high school grades and SAT scores, but their academic interest had not solidified because they didn’t find their “passion” yet. Their parents felt that the “safe play” was to start at a lower-level school, since they felt that higher education success was a financial gamble for their son. Why might this be a wrong move? Out of the many correlates and factors for college success, student engagement is one of them. The concept of engagement in academic terms includes the ideas of a student being involved in his or her education, being challenged at the right level, and feeling that what they are doing is meaningful. Engagement, among other things, is the subject of the National Survey on Student Engagement, which is conducted every year at more than 1,300 participating 4-year colleges. An equivalent version was done by the University of Texas at Austin in 2007 for community colleges, which covered more than 500 schools and 310,000 students. What this latter survey found was that community colleges have a very low level of student engagement, and reported that some community college students begin slipping through the cracks from almost their first day. For boys, especially those with yet-to-burgeon academic interests, a high level of engagement will help them the most. Another reason to give second thought to community colleges for bright students was described by a former president of Princeton in his 2009 book “Crossing The Finish Line,” which was an analysis of 200,000 college freshmen dating back to 1999. Part of this analysis found that bright students who attend a community college are actually 36% less likely to ever complete a bachelor’s degree when compared to equally bright students who started at a traditional four-year college. Also, for above-average students, they do better at schools that are more challenging, rather than “easy” schools. When planning for college, parents and students need to take a knowledge-driven approach that includes student engagement, graduation rates, retention rates, and many other factors to ensure that young men are not among the 2/3 of students that take more than four years to graduate, or among the nearly half of American students who do not finish at all. Jeffrey Ludovici, M.A., is operates Student Strategy 101®, a college planning and support program based in Pittsburgh, Pa. For more information, please visit him at studentstrategy101.com or at his College Strategy Blog. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites Write comment (0 Comments)
Last Updated on Tuesday, 08 June 2010 04:40

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Boys Are Less Likely To Graduate From College, More Likely To Take Longer

Written by Jeff Ludovici
Monday, 22 February 2010 22:51
Young men in the United States are less likely than young women to complete a college degree, according to the U.S. Department of Education. In it’s most recent annual report, the Condition of Education, 2009, the department highlighted graduation rates for young men and women after four, five, and six years of attendance. Here are the hard numbers: On average, only 36% of American college students completed a bachelor’s degree within four years, with 58% taking six years to finish the four-year credential. That is, if they’re not among the estimated 42% or more students that drop or fail out. Boys fare the worst in college: Only about 31% of young men in across the U.S. finish college in four years, with 54% taking six years to complete a four-year degree. Male students at private, non-profit colleges have the highest graduation rates, with 46% finishing on time and 62% earning a degree after six years. Young men at state colleges take the longest, with only 24% finishing after four years and 52% taking six years to earn a bachelor‘s degree. However, graduation rates for both genders of American students are low, especially in comparison to other countries. The U.S. currently ranks 15th out of 29 developed nations in college graduation rates, so college concerns exist for both genders. While girls do have overall higher graduation rates than boys, only 40% on average finish in four years and 60% take six years to earn a bachelor’s degree. Young women at public colleges had the lowest graduation rates at 34% after 4 years and 58% within six years. Girls at private, non-profit colleges had the highest U.S. graduation rates measured: 54% graduate within 4 years and 67% finishing after six years. Jeffrey Ludovici, M.A., is operates Student Strategy 101®, a college planning and support program based in Pittsburgh, Pa. For more information, please visit him at studentstrategy101.com or at his College Strategy Blog. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites Write comment (0 Comments)
Last Updated on Monday, 14 June 2010 02:01

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Integrating technology with children's literacy

Written by Lori Calabrese

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 17:43

BigUniverse.com is an award-winning web community devoted to reading, creating and sharing children's picture books online.The literacy website for K-8 students instills a love for reading, writing, and learning. What can you do at BigUniverse.com? You can...

Read and reference beautiful fiction and nonfiction picture books online from today's best publishers.
Find hundreds of books using the browse and search features. Find books by grade, reading level, interest age, category, and/or language.
Take online quizzes, get instant scores and view assessment reports by classroom or students.
Automatically maintain a reading log.

Anil Hemrajani is responsible for the overall vision, strategy, and operation of Big Universe.com. Anil has always been fascinated with children's book illustrations and cartoons. In addition, having traveled the world, he strongly believes that we live on a very small planet in a big universe, and that while people look and act differently, we all have the same basic needs and are all indeed world citizens of our planet. It is this combination of professional skills, the love of children's books, global experiences and personal beliefs that led him to launch BigUniverse.com!

I had the opportunity to ask Anil about the creation of BigUniverse.com and its features...

How and when was BigUniverse.com founded?
Big Universe was founded in 2006 by myself (Anil Hemrajani). The idea was born out of the desire to improve our world via the next generation -- our children -- by educating them.

What is the goal of BigUniverse.com?
Delivery anytime, anywhere engaging education. The engaging part if important since there are too many distractions that take up children's time these days (e.g. TV, video games).

Members and non-members can preview fiction and non-fiction picture books online. Does BigUniverse maintain contracts with these publishers and are you continually trying to grow your publishers' list?
Yes, Big Universe maintains contracts with publishers and we definitely are trying to grow our publisher's list.

How many titles does Big Universe offer and do you update those books regularly?
We currently have about 500 titles from various publishers and another 500+ titles written by our members. We add new books as often as we sign up new publishers and/or receive new titles from our existing publishers.

How do members create their own books and how much computer skill is necessary?
Members create books directly on our website using our Big Universe Author tool. Very little computer skills are required since we see kids as young as 5 years old all the way to grandparents creating books on our site. Also, we have had almost 10,000 (ten thousand) books created on our site in the past 1.5 years, so it goes to show that creating books is relatively easy.

In addition to offering books online, how does BigUniverse.com engage its readers and promote children's literacy?
We have a "SHARE" section on our site that provides safe and kid-friendly social networking features. Some of the features include the ability to create and share virtual bookshelves, recommendation lists, published books, and more. We find that this engages kids and adults alike. Apart from this, we regularly send out newsletters to thousands of subscribers and also have thousands of fans and followers on Facebook and Twitter.

What else can we expect from BigUniverse.com?
In the near future, we'll be launching the ability for people to order hard copies of their created books. We'll likely begin with soft cover bound versions and later introduce hard cover books. Apart from that, we will continue to add new titles in English and other languages and keep enhancing our software with new features on a regular basis.

Please visit BigUniverse.com to learn more.