Common Readings
In his book,新鲜的蔬菜 What Matters in College荷塘月色朗诵, Alexander Astin (1993) reports the results of a comprehensive, four-year longitudinal study that involved a national sample of approximately 500,000 college students at 1300 institutions. He found that the particular cours which comprid different general education curricula had no significant effect on a wide range of educational outcomes. The only curricular variable that had positive effects on educational outcomes was a “true-core” curriculum, whereby students took exactly the same cours. Thus, what mattered more than the content covered in the general education curriculum was whether or not that content had been commonly experienced by all students. This finding reinforces a comment once made by the philosopher George Santayana, when asked about what “great books” young people should read. He replied: “It doesn’t matter, as long as they read the same ones” (cited in Atlas, 1988).
It could be argued that a common reading may simulate, on a smaller scale, the advantages associated with a true core curriculum by providing a “core” learning experienc
e that is shared by all students. The impact of a common reading experience on student learning may be magnified by multiple conversations students have about the common reading experience, through formal faculty- or staff-led discussions and spontaneous student-student conversations that may “spill over” to informal ttings anywhere on campus. If such conversational synergy occurs, then two key theoretical库里投篮姿势 principles of student retention and learning are likely to be implemented, namely: (a) active involvement (Astin, 1984, 1985), becau the multiple conversations increa the amount of student time and level of student involvement invested in the learning experience, and (b) social integration (Tinto, 1975,1993), becau this common source of conversation promotes student interaction with other members of the college community (e.g., peers, faculty), rving to “connect” students with the institution and strengthen their n of community membership.
Possible empirical support for the propositions is provided by the aforementioned study by Astin (1993), which revealed that the college-experience variable having the most significant impact on students’ educational development was the frequency of stude
nt-student and student-faculty开店干啥 interaction. 庖丁解牛教案Combining this finding with the previously cited finding of positive outcomes associated with a true core curriculum, one could conclude that the educational advantage of a true core curriculum—relative to general education curriculum that consists of electives chon from a wide variety “distribution requirements”—is that the core curriculum is more likely to stimulate multiple, common conversations, which in turn, result in higher levels of active involvement and social integration.
鲈鱼清蒸的做法 This interpretation would be consistent with the epistemological theory of social constructivism, which posits that human thinking is shaped by social interaction and conversation, resulting in individual thought process that reprent internal manifestations of the external dialogues (Vygotsky, 1978). Social interactions among students that revolve around shared intellectual experiences, such as a common curriculum or a common reading, may be particularly powerful or influential dialogues becau they occur among三年级语文下册教学计划 peers who (a) are at “proximal” (nearby) stages of cognitive development (Vygotsky, 1978) and (b) have similar levels of experience with respect to th
e concepts being discusd (Whitman, 1988).
Lastly, I think is it reasonable to contend that the positive impact of shared intellectual conversations centering around a common reading experience are magnified further when the conversations are relevant to a common transitional issues that students are experiencing at the time of the reading (e.g., issues relating to the transition from high school to college, or to the transition from work world to college). Such transitional relevance increas the personal meaning and significance of the common reading for students, becau they experience it at a time when they may be most “ready” or receptive to its message. If this contention is accurate, then an optimal reading would be one that is not only commonly experienced by all students, but also has common relevance for a life transition that all students are currently experiencing.
References:
Astin, A. W. (1993). What matters in college: Four critical years revisited. San
Francisco: Josy-Bass.
Astin, A. W. (1984). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher education.
Journal of College Student Personnel, 25, 297-308.
Astin, A. W. (1985). Achieving educational excellence. San Francisco: Josy-Bass.
Atlas, J. (1988, June 5). “The battle of the books.” New York Times, p. 24.
Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent
rearch. Review of Educational Rearch, 45, 89-125.
Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking the caus and cures of student attrition
(2nd ed.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Internalization of higher cognitive functions. In M. Cole, V.
John-Steiner, & E. Souberman (Eds. & Trans.), Mind in society: The development of
