Creating Doers & Finishers: Cultivating Task Planning Skills

Within Your Students

Gary J. Williams, Ed.D.

Crafton Hills College

Yucaipa, CA

How would you prioritize the following?

• You have a 10-page research paper due next week for which you have scant notes.

• There are 3 messages from your mother that states “Call Me Back Immediately!”

• You haven’t studied for your History Mid-term tomorrow.

• Your girl/boy friend won’t return your calls or text messages.

• One of your study group partners sent an email expressing frustration that you didn’t show for

today’s review session.

• The rash you noticed in that part of your back you cannot reach is getting redder and more

uncomfortable.

• Your car didn’t start yesterday and you need to get to campus.

• Your friends are inviting you to a party tonight.

• You haven’t eaten anything all day.

• You’ve had 4 hours sleep in the last 72 hours.

Today’s Agenda:

• Explore: What planning challenges do students present?

• The consequences of poor planning

• Goals of Teaching Task Planning

• Introducing Planning Concepts

• Examples of activities

Task Planning:

• Defined: Task-orientation with precision.

• The ability to break larger expectations into specific tasks to be completed, usually under deadline.

• The ability to set goals, and formulate steps to completion

• The ability to follow instructions, execute a sequence of steps, e.g. Lab or Clinical procedures

• “Staying on Task” “Task-master”

• Being a Finisher = Success

Task Planning

Why do so many students struggle with Task Planning?

Task Planning

• Some Reasons for Task Planning Struggles:

Procrastination

Low Motivation

Unclear goals/purpose/direction

In need of Organization Skills

Living in “the Great Void” …

Task Planning

• Consequences of Poor Planning:

Decreased effectiveness

Lower grades

Lower completion/persistence

Lower self-efficacy/self-confidence

Feeling of victimization

Diminished chances of success

Goals for Task Planning

• Encourage students to take an active role in mapping their future aspirations.

• Develop passion within students to forge their own path.

• Empower students to take purposeful actions.

• Distinguish between actions that are important and urgent.

• Recognize the presence of ‘time traps’

• Persist in the face of obstacles.

• Behavioral Change: Adopt new tools and strategies for self-management.

Task Planning

• How do we teach effective task planning?

Integrated Classroom Activities

Case-studies, Class dialogues

Modeling Effective planning, emphasizing deadlines, scheduling tasks & intermediate steps.

Out-of-class projects & activities.

Task Planning Concepts:

Activities that Introduce Task Planning Concepts …

Case Study: “The Procrastinators” (On Course, Skip Downing)

The Procrastination Game

Prioritizing events: Urgency vs. Importance

What causes us to perform some tasks automatically, and others take effort

80-20 Rule: 80% of your results comes from 20% of your effort.

In-Class Debate: Paper vs. Electronic Which kind of planner is best?

Effective Collaboration: How planning can make a group project a rewarding experience.

Case Study: “The Procrastinators”

The Procrastination Game:

Source: http://media.elsweb.org/node/1868

The Time Matrix for College Students

Adapted from Steven Covey: The 7 Habits of Highly-Effective People

32-Day Project

The 32-day S.M.A.R.T. Goal Project...

Students undertake a self-improvement project that they develop from beginning-to-end

Skills Involved: Self-improvement Goal-setting Planning of tasks/steps Tracking progress Follow-through Motivation Using resources effectively.

Self-exploration & discovery ... what works/doesn’t work.

32-Day Project

Using To-Do Lists

Modeling Task Planning

Structure your course around planning.

Syllabus, Assignment Lists

Require students to carry a planner and write in them.

Write upcoming deadlines on the board.

build in structure consistently.

Stress “Chunking” -- dividing up tasks, information in pieces easy to understand/organize & manipulate.

Effective Task Planning

• Discuss Prioritizing consistently.

• Practice effective task planning as a class: Devote class time to discussion/planning of upcoming

assignments.

• Set Intermediate deadlines for projects. Topic Proposals, Initial Outline/Draft, Final Draft

Reward the completion of intermediate tasks.

• Grading rubric that includes criteria for planning steps.

Task Planning

What are some of your strategies for encouraging students to employ effective task planning practices?

Questions?

Gary J. Williams, Ed.D.

Professor/Instructional Assessment Specialist

Crafton Hills College, Yucaipa, CA

(909) 389-3567

gwilliams@craftonhills.edu