Summarizing for LearningKristina PerezNovember 13, 2012

Summarizing for Learning

Who? Three sections of high school algebra II students.

What? The goal of the action research is to improve students’ ability to summarize material from their notes.

• The primacy-recency effect says that we remember best what we experience first in a lesson and we remember second best what we experience last.

Summarization in Any Subject, Wormeli R., 2005

Why is teaching our students to summarize important?

ImpetusWhat Influences Students’ Need for Remediation in College? Evidence from California, Howell J. From: The Journal of Higher Education , Volume 82, Number 3, May/June 2011 pp. 292-318 | 10.1353/jhe.2011.0014

• Only 23% of the students who take the EAP in English and 58% of the math participants are deemed "ready for college”.1

• Marzano, Pickering and Pollack found an achievement gain of 34% from summarizing and note-taking instruction, only identifying similarities and differences showed a larger positive impact.2

1) http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/ps/eapindex.asp 2011 results2) Classroom Instruction That Works, Marzano, Pickering, Pollock

Marzano, Pickering and Pollack

Summary Frames:• The Narrative Frame• The Topic-Restriction-Illustration Frame• The Definition Frame• The Argumentation Frame• The Problem Solution Frame• The Conversation Frame

Rule-Based Strategy•Delete trivial and redundant material

•Substitute superordinate terms for lists (e.g., “flowers” for “daisies, tulips and roses”

• Select a topic sentence or invent one, if it is missing.

Rules-Based Summarizing AcronymSummarizing for Learning1) Delete trivial and redundant

information.2) Answer the essential question in your

topic sentence.3) Re-phrase- in your own words.4) Big picture- Describe how this fits into

the rest of the class, i.e. how it is connected, similar or different to everything else you have learned.

Rules-Based Summarizing Rubric  2 points 1 point 0 pointsDelete trivial and redundant information 

There is little to no repetition or trivial information.

There is some repetition or trivial information.

No trivial and redundant information has been deleted.

Answer the Essential Question in your topic sentences 

The essential question is answered in the topic sentence of the summary. All key ideas are included in the summary.

Part of the essential question is answered.Most of the key ideas are included in the summary.

The essential question has not been answered.

Re-phrase in your own words 

This summary utilizes academic vocabulary but has been re-phrased by the author.

The summary does not utilize academic vocabulary or has not been re-phrased by the author.

The summary does not utilize academic vocabulary and has not been re-phrased by the author.

Big Picture: Explain how this fits in with the math you already know

This summary explains how this concept relates to prior knowledge.

This summary attempts to relate the current concept to prior knowledge somewhat unsuccessfully.

This summary does not attempt to relate the current concept to prior knowledge.

Marzano, Pickering and Pollack

• Verbatim note-taking is least effective. Trying to record all of what is heard or read uses too much memory to leave room for synthesizing.

• Notes should be considered a work in progress.

Teachers should encourage students to continually add to the notes and revise them as their understanding of content deepens and sharpens.

Marzano, Pickering and Pollack

• Notes should be used as study guides for tests.

If students have systematically elaborated on their notes, they can provide a powerful form of review.

• Less is NOT more.There is a strong correlation between the amount of information taken in notes and students’ achievement on examinations.

Title of Notes

Summary

NameDatePeriod #

Essential Question: (You can create this from the Objective.)

Include the Essence:Learning GoalsOutline VocabularyCuesQuestions

Include the details, definitions, illustrations, notes, examples

Include only the most important information, answer the essential question.

Learning How to Learn: Cornell Notes as an Example

Donohoo J. 2010

• Explicitly teach format

• Regularly allow students time to reflect on their notes in class.

• Gradual Release of responsibility including think-aloud

• Sentence frames for students who are struggling

Summarization in Any Subject Wormeli R., 2005

• Leaving the summarization for the end of a period does not result in as much mastery as smaller summaries throughout class.

• You must be willing to stop your lesson early and summarize, even if you haven’t taught your final point.

Action

• Give a pre-instruction survey and assessment.

• Develop a rules-based summary system and create a classroom poster.

• Make a poster of Cornell Notes format for reference.

• Explicitly teach the Cornell Notes format.

Action

• Think-aloud during notes to highlight key information.

• Discuss rubric requirements before students complete the final summary.

• Provide sentence frames to help students find the essential information.

• Grade summaries using rubric.

Data

Pre-Assessment Survey Scale 0-44 Best/Most often

To what extent is note-taking helpful?

How often do you take notes?

How often do you look at your notes to help with your homework?

How often do you look at your notes to study for a test?

Format

Essential Question

Summary

Period 2Mean

3.43 3.39 2.65 2.7 3.3 2.83 2.57

Period 2 Mode

4 4 3 4 4 3 2

Period 4Mean

2.86 3.23 2 1.5 3.5 2.77 2.09

Period 4 Mode

3 3 2 2 4 4 1

Period 5Mean

2.72 3.5 2.5 1.94 3.17 3.11 2.94

Period 5 Mode

3 4 2 2 4 3 3

Data

Pre-Assessment Survey Scale 0-44 Best/Most often

Nothing, I don’t take notes

Everything written

Most important things written

Everything said

Most important said

My thoughts

Other

Period 2# out of 19

0 14 15 4 13 3 1

Period 4# out of 26

0 20 22 2 18 13 3

Period 5# out of 19

0 11 14 1 13 6 4

Data

Pre-Assessment Summary

11/7/12 Exit Card

11/9/12Exit Card

Period 2Mean

4.55 4.95 5.14

Period 2 Mode

5 4 8

Period 4Mean

2.98 5.15 6.13

Period 4 Mode

0 7 7

Period 5Mean

1.83 4.87 5.7

Period 5 Mode

0 6 5

Total possible of 8 for each summary

DARB categories

Summary

- Minimum 3 sentences- Answer the essential question: How can I add, subtract, and multiply complex numbers?

I can add complex numbers by ____________________________. I can subtract complex numbers by _________________________________________. I can multiply complex numbers by ________ __________________________________. The process of adding, subtracting, and multiplying complex numbers is similar to ______________________________________________________.

Findings

• Many of my students do not hold on to their notes as long as they should or use them for studying as much as they should.

• Rubrics and sentence frames seem to help students create better summaries.

• Many of my students try to write everything down without gauging which information is most important.

Future Action

• I should develop an enticement for my students to hold on to their notes.

• I need to review the meaning of the term “quadratic”.

• Continue to familiarize my students with the DARB method and rubric.

• Allow students to peer review each others’ summaries.

Future Action

• Administer and analyze the follow-up survey.

• Try Summary Frames.

• I need to continue to help students process information as they are taking notes and interact more with their notes.