Learning Fluency for Academic Success

If you are here it is because you recognize that the stakes in education have never been higher for students, but the sad reality is that many are not prepared or equipped to succeed in the classroom. Observation, interviews, and research demonstrate that certain students have an advantage over others because of their mastery of a set of skills referred to hereafter as learning fluency. Five categories of learning fluency have been identified and developed through an extensive review of research and literature on student success in high school, college, and continuing education environments like a church or a business.

5 Categories of Learning Fluency

Information
Technology
Intrapersonal
Interpersonal
Academic

For a full synthesis of the literature on the importance of these elements in a digital learning environment, please click here. You can also view the pilot research study that explores whether training in these skills can reduce the achievement gap. Initial results seem to indicate that training might be especially helpful for lower-performing students.

Isn’t It the Teacher’s Job?

Teachers are often expected to support a diverse range of student learning needs through techniques of instructional design (Smith & Ragan, 1999). Even great teachers struggle to implement a training plan that can reach every learner, but training in learning fluency has the potential to reduce student dependence on the teacher for their success. Furthermore, if students are given the tools they need, any experience (including those outside of the classroom can become a learning opportunity (Dewey, 1997).

If schools offer training in learning fluency, it is usually focused on the first two elements (Candy, 2002). This is a problem because these skills are so vital to student success that some researchers suggest they should be treated as a distinct discipline or subject for students to master (Mokhtar, Foo, & Majid, 2007; Virkus, 2003 as cited in Jenson, 2015).

What do the Students Say?

Informal survey research methods have identified that students within the target range of 15-30 years old have high hopes for their academic performance, but vary greatly in their ability to succeed. Students surveyed answered 22 questions covering a range of factors about their attitudes toward education, their learning habits, and their mastery of the 5 learning fluencies. Statistical analysis revealed that students were confident in their ability to learn when asked about this directly, but when confronted with the factors of learning that literature has identified as crucial to their success, students are less ready to admit their mastery. There is a gap between their perception and actual ability, which this course is designed to address.

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continue scrolling to learn more about how this course could transform the experience of learning for your student, school, or professional organization.

What is Part of The Course?

The specific learning goal for the class is for students to create a personalized strategy for mastering one relevant aspect of learning fluency. A secondary learning goal is that students are equipped with the knowledge and resources needed to continue developing learning fluency on their own.

See details on facilitation, assessment, and evaluation below.