Blog Prompt for My Freshman Year

After completing My Freshman Year, write a 900-1200 word reflection on what you have read. Remember that we are only reading to page 156. The Preface and Afterword are not assigned.

You may follow whatever format you wish, and you don't need to include links to related resources. I just ask that you spend some time addressing the following three questions in your entry:

• What was the most surprising aspect of the book, and why did it surprise you?
• In light of the challenges faced by undergraduate students highlighted in the book, what advice would you give new college instructors?
• Has this book changed your perspective on undergraduate students? If no, why not? If so, how so?

As we discussed in class, we will be posting ONE blog entry on the book, and reading 4 other students' entries prior to class on Thursday, November 19. Please note (either mentally or on scratch paper) similarities and differences between your response to the book and others' responses. We will be discussing these points of agreement and disagreement in class on November 19.

To give the members of your group sufficient time to read 4 other entries, please post by 5 p.m. on Monday, November 16.

Here are the groups:

Group 1
Larry
Kevin
Jared
Dennis
Julie

Group 2
Jeremy
Alicia
Lexi
Chris
Ben

Group 3
Vikki
Rachel
Jennifer
Amber
Kate

Group 4
Danielle
Heather
Andrea
Richard
Lindsay

Get It Wrong Before You Google

A new study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition suggests that we learn better when we get things wrong before getting them right:

People remember things better, longer, if they are given very challenging tests on the material, tests at which they are bound to fail. In a series of experiments, they showed that if students make an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve information before receiving an answer, they remember the information better than in a control condition in which they simply study the information. Trying and failing to retrieve the answer is actually helpful to learning.

You can read more about the study here.