Post Type: New Post
Institution Type: Private Four-Year Institution
Does your institutions’ combined racial and/or ethnic minority population exceed 50% of total enrollment?: No
Name of Institution: Barton College
Size of Institution (undergraduates): Between 1000 – 2999
Name: Angie Walston
Status – What is your primary role?: Learning Center Professional
Setting of Institution: Urban
Campus make-up: Primarily Residential
Share your story : I first met Leonard at a meeting of the NC Independent Colleges and Universities. His presentation at the meeting led our first-year seminar faculty to participate in the LearnWell webinars and invited Leonard to campus for two faculty workshops. Following the webinars and initial workshop, six first-year seminar instructors implemented the LearnWell Projects’ model during four sessions of our half-semester course. We found that students easily identified with the differences between high school and college learning and could immediately put the textbook mapping strategy into practice. Preliminary data also showed that participating students improved in all areas measured by a pre/post administration of the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI). One student commented that “this study of learning has helped me to be aware of how I should be preparing for class and how I should study.”
Future Plans/Expectations: Students advocated for teaching the LearnWell model in the first semester of college. Their feedback along with the model’s initial success has led us to continue teaching it in our fall first year seminar courses. The information shared by Leonard in his second on-campus workshop will help us improve our teaching methods as we more closely assess the impact of teaching metacognitive learning strategies to our first-year students.
