105 Pre-Assessment: "How People Learn"

Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives... most of the things that are interesting, important, and human are the results of creativity... [and] when we are involved in it, we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life. (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention)

This quote came directly from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychologist who coined the term "flow," which he described as the optimal learning state: "...flow--the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it." (Csikszentmihalyi, 1991) When and where in your life have you experienced learning experiences or activities like this, where you were so absorbed in what you were doing, you needed no extrinsic motivation to continue? When do you feel the most alive and interested in what you are doing?

I clearly remember feeling the "flow" and being totally engaged in learning when working on a paper for a history class at Stanford. For this final essay on 19th-century America, we had to choose one topic from Stanford's history and relate it back to the themes of the course. We were allowed to use documents from the Stanford archives as research. Out of all the classes I enjoyed and all the papers that I wrote without a struggle, this was by far the best project. I would spend hours at special collections browsing hand-written notes dating back to the turn of the 20th century. I searched for other sources of information, including the physical artifacts on campus. The paper itself was fun and easy to write--even though I undoubtedly procrastinated until the last minute. I felt passionate about the topic and the history of my alma mater that it wasn't a chore. The words came easily because of everything I had already soaked in throughout the class and my time at Stanford. On a whim, I even submitted the essay to a historical society contest, knowing full well that I wouldn't win, just because I had enjoyed writng it so much and I really took pride in that piece of writing.

I think this assignment engaged me for many reasons. First, it was an open-ended assignment that allowed me to choose from several different topics and viewpoints on the themes of the class. Second, I was able to interact directly with the materials I was researching and writing about, through archival documents as well as the buildings and stories I saw and heard around campus. Third, this essay really connected to my passion for American history on a personal level and my reasons for becoming an American Studies major in the first place-- I love to learn about the personal stories that represent the making of history in our nation's past. It is the combination of this flexibility, direct contact with the subject matter, and pure passion for the subject that allowed me to work relentlessly, motivated by the pure desire to learn and to enjoy the project. There were several other essays in my American Studies courses that sparked similar reactions, but this one in particular stands out. It is one of the few pieces of writing from my college career that I like to go back and read from time to time just to remember how much I enjoyed the assignment and the quality of work that I am capable of.

Of course, reflecting on this essay also makes me think about my students and what I can do for them to encourage the "flow" or the optimal learning state. I want them to be motivated by their sheer enjoyment of a project while putting forth their best effort at the same time. I want my students to produce high-quality results because they were pushing themselves harder with materials they cared about. I don't know exactly how to translate my experiences in college to my classroom, but I do know that the open-ended aspect of this project as well as having the opportunity to interact with history allowed this assignment to be so enjoyable to me. After exhibition night when I was pushing my students to finish their projects just so that they wouldn't embarrass themselves and me during their presentations, I now want to teach a UbD unit that doesn't get to that point. How amazing would it be if my students, without consciously realizing it, could "feel that they are living more fully than during the rest of life."