What are AP/Gifted Learning Skills, are They Exclusive?

The Seeds of Self-Learning

As educators we instinctively know the basic skills every student needs to thrive in the classroom. We design and implement lessons to enhance these skills, give our students the opportunity to grow and hone these skills. Research and literature, and almost every educator out there, will tell you, that there are certain skills, aptitudes and level of readiness that students and learners need to be successful. But what are these skills?

Experience in the classroom as an educator, has shown me, that these personal approaches and tactics are extremely important. These methods range from effective communication, organization, critical thinking, teamwork and confidence. These strategies are something engrained in every classroom to some degree and are necessary facets, of the foundation of every students’ learning arsenal. Advanced curriculum, gifted, advanced placement, academic and Special Education, alike. These skills are universal.

As educators we understand the need for these skills- they are fundamental to our students’ knowledge acquisition and self-advocacy. So are adaptability, initiative, motivation, curiosity and imagination and even a bit of humor. Even though these attributes are more personal, we can model them and push our students outside the box, nudge them out of their comfort zone, to help them strengthen these traits. When students are surrounded by these strategies, they become more empowered and more equipped to deal with the challenges of learning. This is also why it is so critical as teachers, that we form strong relationships, not only with our students, but with their parents, then together we can reinforce these.

Gardening

I took an on-line professional development class this week, about making connections between junior high gifted education and high school AP education. Trying to find a bridge between the skills needed to pass and excel on the AP College preparatory exams and the junior high advanced curriculum. One of our assignments was to read over part of an AP exam, I chose the AP Biology exam, because I am a life science teacher. After reading the exam questions, we were to determine what skills, we felt were pertinent to mastering the test. Not just the knowledge skills, but also the learning skills.

As I was reading the test, which was challenging indeed, there were short answers, multiple-choice questions and one long essay, where students had to combine their knowledge of human and bee anatomy, plant germination, biomes, cells and climate change. It was an awesome question, which included graphs and charts, students needed to interpret and analyze. It also required students to make connections, predict results, justify conclusions all the while, integrating scientific knowledge and facts.

I read over the essay question several times and dissected its structure and vocabulary. Then I read it again. Then I went through the short answer and multiple-choice questions and broke down what the question was asking and what skills students would need to answer it quickly. It is all about speed on an AP exam. The tests are timed and if a student struggles with the needed skills, they may not finish. They may completely understand the content, but processing the framework of the question, especially on a written assessment, is just as important as the content knowledge required. It was a very enlightening assignment. It really got me thinking about my lessons with my gifted curriculum in 7^th grade. Do I provide enough opportunities for them to acquire and enhance these skills? Also, how do I also integrate them more in my non-gifted curriculum class?

Watering, Fertilizing and Pruning

After analyzing my data, I came up with six learning skills, I felt would be critical to possess, to be able to answer the questions, on the AP exam thoroughly. The first being, interpreting and designing graphs. The essay asked them not only to read and analyze the provided data tables, but to also design one to display their conclusions. Now in a science, math, and social studies class reading, and interpreting graphs and primary sources occurs frequently, at least it should. So, this, I feel confident that I do well. But, I will do it more. More drawing and writing graphs and data tables. More primary sources and peer review articles. This is a must. Not just being able to draw them and understand them but to use them to make connections between concepts and ideas.

Interpretations of graphs and data leads right into the second skill, evidence-based research. If students can’t conduct research, find valid data and discover reliable information, then it is all for naught. We must teach them to be able to distinguish fact from opinion and repeatable and trustworthy evidence, from mistruths and outright lies. We also must provide them the best search engines, periodicals and web sites in which to find scholarly and scientific research. The internet is full of bias and manipulation and we need to provide them ample opportunity to conduct research, compare articles and conclusions and determine for themselves, what is reliable and respected data based on different sources and well-respected research.

Evidence gathering is critical but conducting experimental design projects- observing, asking the right question, developing the procedures and conducting a controlled scientific experiment, is the best way for students to integrate all these skills and build their scientific prowess. Cookie-cutter labs will not do this-labs need to be written and designed with a goal in mind, by students. They need to be able to formulate their own questions and reach their own conclusions- not a specific result. In my classes, we have three six week long experimental design projects per year. This goes hand and hand with the third skill: prediction, reasoning and analyzing information. If they can do this, they can muddle through the mounds of misinformation and find the authenticated and supported evidence they need to interpret their ideas.

The fourth skill, as aforementioned, is experimental design. This embodies both the fifth and sixth skills: understanding correlation vs. causality and argumentation and justification. If students can design a well-thought out experiment, conduct scientifically based research and determine conclusions based on cause and effect not just interconnection – they will be able to successfully justify it. They will be able to use verifiable evidence and write accurate conclusions based on their results. Without a controlled experiment using experimental design, one can’t claim causality. We can say that misbehavior correlates to a low grade on a test- it may appear to be undeniably true- however, without conducting research and measuring different levels of behavior over time, we can’t claim a causality. We can only say that we feel there is a correlation- that the two things have something in common.

Causality versus correlation, in my experience at least, is one of the hardest things for students to grasp. As adults it is conundrum as well. We want to see cause and effect, in everything that happens- it simplifies things, it makes things easier to understand. For instance, with the long-debated topic of sugar causes children to be hyper. If we give our children candy in the evening, we notice they won’t go to sleep. The sugar and hyperactivity research provide a perfect example of why it’s important to unwind the two notions of causality vs correlation. The fact that sugar consumption and hyperactive behavior often occur together, a correlation, does not mean one causes the other. In fact, research supports that is doesn’t. It is important especially when analyzing data that students understand the difference, or they will misinterpret the data, make false claims and formulate incorrect conclusions.

Letting the Flowers Bloom

As educators, we have a pretty good grasp on the skills needed to be successful learners. These learning skills enhance our growth-mindsets and allow us to see the world not as a chaotic place but an environment of observation and discovery. They help us make sense of our surroundings, but more than that, they help us piece together the layers and connections in our landscape and see our place in it as meaningful. There are six skills that go beyond the basic learning skills, that when combined allow us to go one step further. To be able to make deeper connections. When we can successfully interpret graphs and data, we use them effortlessly to support our evidence- based research, we find reliable, valid data to support and argue our ideas and ultimately, we teach ourselves how to think and how to understand the world.

Finally, when we can reason and predict we can find the confidence to explore our world because we know what to look for, we understand that bias and manipulation are all around us – but we possess the skills to weed out the misinformation, to get to the garden: both flourishing with ingenuity and grounded in science. If we teach these skills, students will understand that cause and effect is present all around them, but that correlation is too. Knowing the difference, will bring clarity of thought, determination of purpose and a mindset of investigation rather than acceptance.

These skills of course, are not exclusive to advanced curriculums, but in my resent PD course, they were focused on making sure junior high gifted educators are strengthening these skills in their students, for students to be more successful in high school AP courses. These strategies are integral to the success of students taking AP exams, but they should be identified as essential skills for every student. This is my focus on my gifted courses and my academic students. Every student is going to get ample opportunities to hone and improve these skills. We must teach our students to teach themselves, believe in their ability to learn and grow, ask the right questions and evaluate their answers. These skills are invaluable, essential and only meaningful if we share the strategies and step back and allow students to use them. Step away from pre-planned labs and set answer assessments and activities and let students take the lead. This is when these skills will become integrated into their learning process, not my repetition but by experience.