We probably all have experience (either or own or hearing from a colleague) with frustration over our students’ seeming inability to apply what they learned in a previous class to our own classes. From a science teacher frustrated because they feel like they have to re-teach their students algebra or calculus skills they should have learned in a prerequisite class, to humanities teachers who feel like every new crop of students seemingly forgot their basic writing skills, to some of my own frustrations, this problem is prevalent.

While the root causes are likely complex and to some degree, individual to each student, I believe a significant contributing factor is that we generally fail to teach students to think about their learning in a holistic manner. We might teach students metacognitive skills (how to think about their own thinking), but we often fail to assist our students in thinking about how their learning in our class leads to their next class and the class after that, or how their learning in our class might connect to their co-curricular experiences (e.g. in the residence halls, student activities, or student services). We might suggest students go to the writing center or the library, but fail to make explicit connections between their learning in our classes and learning in these other educational areas of the institution.

Higher education is filled with “silos” —silos between colleges, between academic and student affairs and, frequently enough, silos between the courses in our own programs. It feels much more comfortable to concern ourselves with what we are doing rather than wading into the murky waters of what else is going on in each of our student’s educational experiences. I believe that the biggest reason for this is likely that when it comes to an educational experience across the university, each student’s experience is essentially a “choose your own adventure” story, and we can’t possibly understand the complexity of hundreds or thousands of students’ individual experiences.

However, there are several strategies that can help us begin to understand—and help us teach our students—that learning is a holistic experience and does not occur discretely in each individual class and experience. As instructors, we certainly cannot assume that students’ learning in one class or experience will automatically transfer to the next class or experience. Here are a few strategies you might consider for helping you and your students think about learning in a more holistic manner:

1. One strategy is to work with the faculty in your program or department to create a curriculum map. A curriculum map takes all of the learning outcomes for your program and maps them onto the courses you are teaching. This strategy is especially helpful to ensure all faculty teaching the courses in your program understand how the knowledge and skills they are teaching lead to what students will be learning in other courses. Additionally, it helps all faculty agree on what will be taught in each program and ensure there are multiple opportunities for students to develop critical skills and abilities.
2. A second strategy is: intentionally build more collaboration into your course. Think about inviting the library, the University Center for Writing-based Learning, or even the Recreational Center into your classroom to help make the connections between learning more explicit to your students. Think about collaborating on a SOTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) project with another area. The Center for Teaching & Learning offers annual funding grants for SOTL projects.
3. Another important strategy is to find ways in your own teaching to force students to think about these connections. You might ask students to visit a student service area and incorporate what they learned into an assignment, or ask students to reflect on how what they are learning in your class relates to concepts they have learned in other courses, or how they imagine it might relate to future courses.
4. Finally, you might consider different ways to meet other faculty and staff across the institution in environments where you can discuss what you are teaching and how well students seem to be learning. The Center for Teaching & Learning offers multiple opportunities to do this through their regular faculty development events.