Cengage Learning Webinar, College Success, Creating Doers & Finishers: Cultivating Task Planning...
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Transcript of Cengage Learning Webinar, College Success, Creating Doers & Finishers: Cultivating Task Planning...
Creating Doers & Finishers: Cultivating Task Planning Skills
Within Your Students
Gary J. Williams, Ed.D.
Crafton Hills College
Yucaipa, CA
How would you prioritize the following?
• You have a 10-page research paper due next week for which you have scant notes.
• There are 3 messages from your mother that states “Call Me Back Immediately!”
• You haven’t studied for your History Mid-term tomorrow.
• Your girl/boy friend won’t return your calls or text messages.
• One of your study group partners sent an email expressing frustration that you didn’t show for
today’s review session.
• The rash you noticed in that part of your back you cannot reach is getting redder and more
uncomfortable.
• Your car didn’t start yesterday and you need to get to campus.
• Your friends are inviting you to a party tonight.
• You haven’t eaten anything all day.
• You’ve had 4 hours sleep in the last 72 hours.
Today’s Agenda:
• Explore: What planning challenges do students present?
• The consequences of poor planning
• Goals of Teaching Task Planning
• Introducing Planning Concepts
• Examples of activities
Task Planning:
• Defined: Task-orientation with precision.
• The ability to break larger expectations into specific tasks to be completed, usually under deadline.
• The ability to set goals, and formulate steps to completion
• The ability to follow instructions, execute a sequence of steps, e.g. Lab or Clinical procedures
• “Staying on Task” “Task-master”
• Being a Finisher = Success
Task Planning
Why do so many students struggle with Task Planning?
Task Planning
• Some Reasons for Task Planning Struggles:
Procrastination
Low Motivation
Unclear goals/purpose/direction
In need of Organization Skills
Living in “the Great Void” …
Task Planning
• Consequences of Poor Planning:
Decreased effectiveness
Lower grades
Lower completion/persistence
Lower self-efficacy/self-confidence
Feeling of victimization
Diminished chances of success
Goals for Task Planning
• Encourage students to take an active role in mapping their future aspirations.
• Develop passion within students to forge their own path.
• Empower students to take purposeful actions.
• Distinguish between actions that are important and urgent.
• Recognize the presence of ‘time traps’
• Persist in the face of obstacles.
• Behavioral Change: Adopt new tools and strategies for self-management.
Task Planning
• How do we teach effective task planning?
Integrated Classroom Activities
Case-studies, Class dialogues
Modeling Effective planning, emphasizing deadlines, scheduling tasks & intermediate steps.
Out-of-class projects & activities.
Task Planning Concepts:
Activities that Introduce Task Planning Concepts …
Case Study: “The Procrastinators” (On Course, Skip Downing)
The Procrastination Game
Prioritizing events: Urgency vs. Importance
What causes us to perform some tasks automatically, and others take effort
80-20 Rule: 80% of your results comes from 20% of your effort.
In-Class Debate: Paper vs. Electronic Which kind of planner is best?
Effective Collaboration: How planning can make a group project a rewarding experience.
Case Study: “The Procrastinators”
The Procrastination Game:
Source: http://media.elsweb.org/node/1868
The Time Matrix for College Students
Adapted from Steven Covey: The 7 Habits of Highly-Effective People
32-Day Project
The 32-day S.M.A.R.T. Goal Project...
Students undertake a self-improvement project that they develop from beginning-to-end
Skills Involved: Self-improvement Goal-setting Planning of tasks/steps Tracking progress Follow-through Motivation Using resources effectively.
Self-exploration & discovery ... what works/doesn’t work.
32-Day Project
Using To-Do Lists
Modeling Task Planning
Structure your course around planning.
Syllabus, Assignment Lists
Require students to carry a planner and write in them.
Write upcoming deadlines on the board.
build in structure consistently.
Stress “Chunking” -- dividing up tasks, information in pieces easy to understand/organize & manipulate.
Effective Task Planning
• Discuss Prioritizing consistently.
• Practice effective task planning as a class: Devote class time to discussion/planning of upcoming
assignments.
• Set Intermediate deadlines for projects. Topic Proposals, Initial Outline/Draft, Final Draft
Reward the completion of intermediate tasks.
• Grading rubric that includes criteria for planning steps.
Task Planning
What are some of your strategies for encouraging students to employ effective task planning practices?
Questions?
Gary J. Williams, Ed.D.
Professor/Instructional Assessment Specialist
Crafton Hills College, Yucaipa, CA
(909) 389-3567