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Description

Objects—carefully curated—help focus discussions and knowledge explorations, and become the basis of student-centered scholarly writing when Object-based learning (OBL) is combined with structured research writing assignments using the Cornell Notes questions in a Google form.

Educators cannot eliminate distractions but can encourage focus and attention (Lang, Distracted, 2020, 1-24). I propose using curated objects to focus student attention: Such object-based learning (OBL) allows students to engage holistically with otherwise abstract facts, figures and frameworks (Chatterjee and Hannan, 2016). Combining OBL with structured active note taking, such as through the Cornell note taking method, “can lead to efficient study practices, better course outcomes, and improved retention of content beyond a course’s conclusion” (Friedman, Notes on Note-Taking, 2014, 3). The result is a scaffolding structure that helps students read scholarly texts and apply their understanding to a concrete object, in support of key course learning objectives.

Publisher Location

Las Vegas (Nev.)

Publication Date

Spring 2022

Publisher

UNLV Office of Faculty Affairs

Language

English

Controlled Subject

Learning and scholarship--Technological innovations

Disciplines

Education | English Language and Literature | Higher Education | History | Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

File Format

pdf

File Size

189 KB

Comments

References

Brown, J.D. (1982). Mind in Matter: An Introduction to Material Culture Theory and Method. Winterthur Portfolio. 17:1, 1-19. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/496065

Chatterjee, H. and L. Hannan (eds.) (2016). Engaging the Senses: Object-Based Learning in Higher Education. London: Routledge.

Friedman, Michael. (2014). Notes on Note-Taking: Review of Research and Insights for Students and Instructors. Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching. Harvard University.

Houy, Y. (2020). Motivating Autonomous Knowledge Exploration. UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo. 100. URL: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/btp_expo/100

Kilker, J. (2022). Guided Research-informed Notetaking, UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo. 157. URL: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/btp_expo/157

Lang, J. (2020). Distracted: Why students can’t focus and what you can do about it. New York: Basic Books.

Miller, M. D. (2014). Minds Online. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Focused and Autonomous Writing Through Objects


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