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Helping Students
Use StudyWhiz
The Seven StudyWhiz MindFrames are: (1)
Previewing, (2)
Naming, (3)
Connecting, (4)
Recapping, (5)
Constructing, (6)
Self-Testing, and (7)
Reflecting. The
StudyWhiz System guides each student through
each of these
Seven StudyWhiz MindFrames. Each MindFrame
is a stage of learning, a specific way in which
the
mind frames new material as it learns. The
Seven
StudyWhiz MindFrames work powerfully to help
students reduce gaps in knowledge, focus
attention, enhance
memory, and create different ways to make sense
of schoolwork. StudyWhiz helps students highlight
the connectedness and relevance of ideas. Using
StudyWhiz, students can build both confidence
and ability. StudyWhiz is designed to be
used without
specialized training.
Adults who wish to help students use StudyWhiz
can maximize the impact of it by…
- Encouraging
the use of all the Seven StudyWhiz MindFrames,
- Emphasizing that persistence and effort when combined
with the use of the Seven StudyWhiz MindFrames
will result in improved learning capacity and
more time to do other things, and
- Using each of the completed Seven StudyWhiz MindFrames
as concrete evidence of progress.
The
central message of StudyWhiz is that students
who practice being more thoughtful about
their school work not only will become more
efficient
learners but also will build their capacity
to learn more difficult ideas in the future.
Teachers can use the Seven MindFrames of
StudyWhiz as a guide for actively teaching
learn-to-learn
skills. They also can use them to personalize
student engagement through a specific unit
of study. Using
StudyWhiz, teachers can enrich classroom-learning experiences, structure group work,
provide
evidence of student thinking for discussion,
and support
evidence of incremental student progress.
StudyWhiz can be used in classrooms, homes,
libraries, study centers, learning labs,
tutoring centers,
and dormitories.
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How Learning Is Enhanced
By Using StudyWhiz
The use of StudyWhiz:
- Maximizes student engagement
- Facilitates classroom
interactions
- Requires
students to “dig
deeper”
- Accommodates a wide range of
student performance levels
- Creates tangible
learning products
- Fosters on-going student
reflection
- Encourages
student-to-student collaboration
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How Schools Have Used StudyWhiz
Schools Have Used StudyWhiz:
- To
support text in regular classes
- To support text in 4X4 Block Schedule Programs
- As a textbook for 9th Grade Study Skills
Courses
- As a textbook in Vocational Education Programs
- As a textbook for after-school tutorial programs
- To support text for Title I Programs
- As a textbook for summer school courses
- As a textbook for special education classes
- As a teacher's guide in professional development
programs
- As text for Parent Education Programs
- As text for Home Schooling
- As text for Big Brother Programs
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Advantages of Using StudyWhiz
It maximizes the time and energy spent
studying by teaching effective learning strategies.
It teaches students metacognition by making them
aware of how their brains learn best and by making
their thinking visible.
It utilizes subject-matter unifiers such
as the “web” and
the “mindscape” to give students
the big picture of the content they are studying.
It works on whatever level students are, from Special
Education to Honors, because it personalizes learning.
It provides a framework for students to begin learning
to organize, evaluate, summarize and apply content.
It promotes self-confidence by allowing students
to impose their own learning style preferences
while learning.
It is interactive and fun. Students do something
with the material they are learning.
- It
encourages students to be purposeful (each
MindFrame builds upon the previous one
and gets linked to
create powerful learning).
- It
encourages brainstorming and the generation
of ideas.
- It
gives students the opportunity to see what
they are thinking.
- It
contains multiple applications for classroom
performance tasks.
- It
can be used with any subject and any textbook.
- It
can be used as a final project for grading
an entire unit.
- It
can be used in middle school, high school
and beyond.
- It
is learner-friendly and teacher-friendly.
- It
provides teachers with evidence of student
success.
- It
can be used by teachers without extensive
training.
- It
has overhead transparencies for teachers
to use.
- It
is research-based.
- It
has cognitive tasks for all of Bloom’s
Taxonomy.
- It
makes kids feel smart.
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StudyWhiz and No Child Left Behind
Standards-based Assessments:
Recent investigations of student performance trends indicate that a significant
proportion of students do less well on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) standards-based
assessments because they lack personal insights into their own learning patterns.
StudyWhiz is designed to help these students learn to learn in ways that are
efficient and purposeful, thereby improving their over-all academic performance.
StudyWhiz and Title I
Title I monies are granted to schools to be used for students who have a history
of low performance. Since poor study skills and habits are associated with low
performance, StudyWhiz is an appropriate tool for Title I programs.
Further Reading If You Are Interested
in Learning to Learn…
- Barth, Roland S. Improving
Schools from Within, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991.
- Barth,
Roland. Learning by Heart. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
2001.
- Bloom, Benjamin S. Taxonomy
of Educational Objectives, New York, NY: Longmans Green,
1969.
- Brandt, Ron. Powerful
Learning. Ron Brandt.
Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 1998.
- Buehl, Doug. Classroom
Strategies for Interactive Learning, Newark, DE: International
Reading
Association, Inc., 2001.
- Burmark, Lynell. Visual
Literacy. Lynell
Burmark. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2002.
- Buzan, Tony and Barry Buzan. The
Mind Map Book, New York: Penguin Books, USA, Inc.,
1996.
- Caine, Renate Nummela and Geoffrey Cain.
Unleashing the Power of Perceptual
Change.
Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 1997.
- Cotton, Kathleen. The
Schooling Practices that Matter Most,
Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2000.
- Cotton, Kathleen. Research
You Can Use to Improve Results, Northwest Regional Educational
Laboratory. 1995.
- Feuerstein, Reuven (Forward). Mediated
Learning In and Out of the Classroom. University
of Witwatersrand. ISBN 157517059-0.
- Friedman, Myles I. Ensuring
Student Success.
Myles I. Friedman. Columbia, SC: The Institute
for Evidence-Based Decision-Making in Education,
2000.
- Fullan, Michael. The
Moral Imperative of School Leadership.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2003.
- Harmin, Merrill. Inspiring
Active Learning,
Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 1994.
- Levine, Mel. Educational
Care. Cambridge,
MA: Educators Publishing Service. 1994.
- Novak, Joseph and D. Bob Gowin. Learning
How to Learn. Joseph Novak and
D. Bob Gowin. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge
University Press, 1985.
- Pauk,
Walter. How to Study in College,
Sixth Edition,
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.,
2000.
- Perkins, David. Smart
Schools. New York: The
Free Press, 1992.
- Pickering, Debra J. and Jane E. Pollock.
Classroom Instruction that Works.
Robert J. Marzano, Debra J. Pickering,
and Jane
E. Pollock,
Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2001.
- Purkey, William Watson et al. Inviting
School Success, Wadsworth Publishing Company,
1996.
- Richard T. White and Richard Gunstone.
Probing Understanding. London: Falmer Press.
Reprinted 1998.
- Robinson, Adam. What
Smart Students Know.
Adam Robinson. New York: Crown Publishers.
1993.
- Rodriquez,
Eleanor Renee and James Bellanca. What
is It About Me You Can’t Teach? Arlington Heights, IL: IRI Skylight Training
and Publishing, Inc., 1996.
- Sousa, David. How the Brain Learns, Reston,
VA: MASSP, 1995.
- Sprenge, Marilyn. Learning
and Memory:
The Brain in Action, Alexandria, VA: ASCD,
1999.
- Tomlinson, Carol Ann. The
Differentiated Classroom: Responding to
the Needs of All
Learners, Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 1999.
- Zemelman,
Steven, Harvey Daniels, and Arthur
Hyde.
Best Practice: New Standards
for Teaching
and Learning in America’s Schools.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, A Division
of Reed Elsevier,
Inc., 1998.
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