Glossary

Belonging Mindset - a sense that a student has earned their place in a classroom 

Bloom’s Taxonomy – a theory originally proposed by psychologist Benjamin Bloom and team in the 1950s that serves as a framework to describe the hierarchical steps of learning

Clustering (or chunking) – a memory learning technique, breaking long lists of items into smaller, categorized groups

Coaching (or scaffolding) - a teaching method to help students learn metacognition. A teacher prompts students to answer questions related to the process of solving a problem in addition to the factual content of the problem. 

Constructivist Theory - students learn best when they have opportunities to build their own knowledge by integrating new skills and concepts into their pre-existing intellectual framework of understanding

Elaboration – a memory learning technique, expanding on an idea to link it to prior knowledge

Encoding – a stage of forming a memory in which information is moved from short-term memory to the more-permanent long-term memory; encoding also refers to the fact that related information is stored together

Foundational knowledge – the combination of lower-order cognitive skills, which are typically thought of as the base of a learning pyramid

Growth-mindset - the belief that a student can continually improve their understanding through hard work and effective learning strategies

Higher-order cognitive skills – types of activities such as being able to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize claims

Imposter syndrome - the feeling that a student does not have the qualifications to be in a class and that they are a fake amongst their more qualified classmates 

Just-in-time Telling – a teaching practice in which students are first presented with a problem, allowed to think on their own with minimal information, and then are provided with the theory required to solve the problem only when the need it

Learning goal- Broad scope of what you hope your students will learn

Learning objective- Specific tasks students should be able to achieve 

Lower-order cognitive skills – types of activities such as being able to define or elaborate upon a term

Metacognition - is the awareness about ones learning. This includes being conscious and intentional with your use of a strategy to solve a problem, being aware of what you know – and maybe more importantly – what you don’t know, and being able to reflect on your performance so you can adjust your strategy in the future

Modeling - a teaching method to help students see a teacher's thought process as he or she solves a problem. Modeling invovles thinking out loud so that students can better understand how to approach a task. Related to teaching metacognition

Recall – the practice of using known information after a period of time has elapsed or using the information in a new environment; a stage of forming a memory; synonym – retrieval

Reflection - a teaching method in which students are allowed quiet time to think. This can invovle journaling, free-writing, or asnwering questions to prompts. Reflection can occur before, during, or after an activity. 

Rehearsal – a memory learning technique, repeating facts over and over again

Reinforcement – a stage of forming a memory, the repeated use of information to establish stronger neural connections between related pieces of information

Remembering – recalling previously learned information, i.e., a ‘regurgitation’ of facts; a tenant of Bloom’s taxonomy

Retrieval – the practice of using known information after a period of time has elapsed or using the information in a new environment; a stage of forming a memory; synonym – recall

Stereotype threat - when a person’s belief in a negative stereotype for a group in which they identify causes them to underperform

Understanding – comprehension of the facts within the larger context of course material and the ability to paraphrase information; a tenant of Bloom’s taxonomy