Hunter Boylan and Barbara Bonham believe the key to implementing effective developmental education is the integration of courses and support services that are “grounded in what we know about how adults learn and how they develop their cognitive and affective skills and characteristics” (vi). Boylan cites classic research by Bloom who estimates that a quarter of how well students do in college is “related to affective factors [such as] how students feel or what they believe about themselves and learning,” and he cites more recent research by Sedlacek who claims that the weaker the students’ academic skills, the more important addressing their affective needs becomes. Those affective concerns are defined as “factors such as attitude toward learning, motivation, autonomy, willingness to seek and accept help, desire to affiliate with peers or instructors, or willingness to expend effort on academic tasks” (326).
As educators most of us feel comfortable addressing our students’ cognitive needs. We design learning opportunities to help them discover the symbiotic relationships between the reading and writing processes. We look for trends and patterns in their academic work and assist them in developing a toolbox of strategies to identify and correct their common errors or to seek out, organize, memorize, and retrieve important academic information. It’s energizing to look at the course learning outcomes and create engaging lessons that meet them. It’s not so much fun to ask students to participate in these cutting edge activities only to be met with resistance, fear, blank stares, or underwhelming effort. Often our default reaction is to blame ourselves (I’m a terrible teacher) or blame them (Students today are so lazy). These oversimplifications are a disservice to ourselves and our students, as we all know it’s far more complicated than that and affective need is the root of many learning and teaching challenges. When in the classroom, it’s important for us to listen and observe so we can identify non-cognitive concerns or trends that affect our students’ abilities to learn.
But what does affective need look like, and how do we recognize it in our students? Sadly, it is everywhere! We can see it in the student whose hoodie is pulled so tight that no one can see his or her face and in the student who monopolizes class discussion with tangential material. We recognize it in those groups of students who can’t afford their textbooks, who don’t do their homework, or who blame you because they failed their weekly quiz. Affective need can be identified in the students afraid to go in the learning center to sign up for tutoring, in the ones who won’t participate in group work, and in those who say, “That’s not how I like to do it” and then refuse to engage in whatever you have planned for the day. It’s present in the students who won’t turn in a project without running every piece by you or their favorite tutor for approval first as well as in those who refuse to use any punctuation marks because they don’t want to use them the wrong way. Affective need exists in the students who work fifty hours a week while enrolled in fifteen credit hours and in those who have obviously developed the reading and writing skills necessary to pass the course but still fail and repeat it over and over again. Our students’ inability to independently deal with these affective challenges is one of the main reasons they disappear from the College altogether.
Now that we have identified our students’ multiple and diverse affective concerns, what are college instructors supposed to do? Clearly, there are overwhelming societal issues beyond our control at work here, so how can we undo eighteen (or forty!) years’ worth of this kind of conditioning for every student in our individual classrooms? First, let’s remember we can’t solve their problems for them, but we can’t ignore these issues either or expect students to develop healthier habits without direct intervention. Although our hearts often break for our students, it’s imperative we do more than sympathize and accommodate. We must take action to help our students develop the mindsets, skills, and habits of being that will serve them well now and into the future. Indeed, that’s no small task with a one-size-fits-all approach, but there are proven strategies we can employ and actions to avoid.
One thing we can do is be flexible and willing to explore concerns as they occur, especially if we notice a pattern or trend with multiple students. This is where that third domain of learning, metacognition, comes into play. If the majority of the class has become disengaged with an activity or has not completed an assignment, for example, we can stop everything and ask them to write about what they are thinking and feeling at that particular moment. Once students have processed what’s going on, think/pair/share is one strategy that can be effective, and students usually help each other come up with action steps based on their own collective experiences. In most cases, they will refer their peers to appropriate campus and community supports and resources. It’s always best for the advice to come from themselves and their peers rather than from the instructor, so we want to be careful to avoid lecturing, telling them what to do, or making them feel ashamed, different, or disrespected in any way.
Building a community of learners, designing interactive activities such as studio or lab activities that include appropriate and timely affective check-ins, and taking a social constructivist approach are all proven methods of helping students develop self-efficacy and positive personal and academic self-concepts. Journaling, goal-setting, reading case studies and identifying desirable character traits and actions related to the issues at hand are other effective approaches to addressing students’ affective needs. Providing low-stakes opportunities to try and fail, elevating effort while maintaining high standards, and scaffolding instruction that builds on prior knowledge and minimizes frustration and confusion are other methods that will help our students develop and grow.
Implementing this kind developmental approach, employing these and other tenets of good teaching, and mindfully including the three domains of learning in every class will go a long way in helping our students overcome their academic and life challenges so they can embrace the opportunity college offers them to become lifelong learners and members of an informed and educated populace. Working together to help students address their affective concerns is the first step in reaching this ideal and in preparing our students with the skills and mindsets they need to create better lives for themselves and their families.
Reference: Boylan, H., & Bonham, B. (2014). Developmental Education: Readings on Its Past, Present, and Future. Boston: Bedford.
This article was previously published in the Integrated Reading and Writing Certification Program (ICP) at Monroe Community College (MCC) in Rochester, New York and in the College Reading and Learning Association’s Northeast Chapter’s (CRLA-NE) Newsletter.
Terry Shamblin Writes 