Welcome to the Campbell - Rhodes Learning Method Website
While the website is under construction, here are a few documents and references that will help you understand the method.
First an Overview:
Campbell-Rhodes Learning Method
Background
During his college training, Dr. Rhodes often had classes with required textbooks of several hundred pages, and one time, nearly 2000 pages. Finding it nearly impossible to read that much material for all his classes, he quickly learned to skim the material, trying to find the important things that were needed for papers and tests.
Process of the Campbell-Rhodes
Learning Method
Step one is to digitize the textbook for the class. So long as the student has purchased the textbook, there is no copyright issue in doing this for his/her personal use. The student can then digitize any supplemental materials in the same manner. If the instructor/professor is willing, the instructor's lecture notes and any PowerPoints can also be digitized. Without instructor involvement, the student can digitize his/her own lecture notes. All this is then put into a folder on a computer.
Step two is then to use an indexing program to make the
material searchable. There are several indexing programs available, from free
to very expensive. The free ones do okay, the more expensive make searches much
easier. Some of the indexing programs allow searches by single words or groups
of words, similar to Google, Bing and Yahoo. In fact the process is similar to
using those commercial programs on the internet, except that the search is
being done only from the materials in the folder, foc
Step three is to add other articles to the folder and re-index before searching. Using some key words and phrases from the instructions for the class, the student can do a Google, Bing or Yahoo search and see what is found. Doing a search in this way usually provides thousands, even millions of hits, most of which are useless in any academic setting. The student is looking for credible documents from credible sources, preferable peer-reviewed articles. There are other libraries of digital material available through journal websites, university websites and various libraries. For example, Top Gun Scholar.com has over 40,000 public domain books on its website already indexed and ready to search. When such articles, even books, are found, rather than reading and trying to remember them, the student copies them to his folder to index. Even with the textbook, supplementary material, class notes and several additional articles, once indexed, the number of hits a student is likely to get for a word or word group, is much smaller (usually in the range of 5-20), all pertinent and useful. The indexing software that Don Campbell used also provided citations for the hits in APA format, which was quite useful in writing papers.
When a class is completed, the folder is set aside, but not deleted, and a new folder for the next class is started in the same manner. Since previous class folders have already been indexed, they are immediately ready for a search, if the student finds something in the new class that was covered in a previous class. Also, the relevant documents can be copied an put into the new folder.
Generally what has been found is that those who use the Campbell-Rhodes Learning Model more completely learn better, perform better in classes, and get higher grades than those who do not use the Model. Those who use part of the Model, do better than those who do not use it, but not as well as those who use the Model more thoroughly.
The C-R Learning Model has been primarily developed for and used with college and university students, but it is believed that high school students could similarly improve their learning and improve their grades.
Here is Education and Square Tires:
EDUCATION AND SQUARE TIRES
WILLIAM S. SVOBODA
I recently read an article in an obscure education journal which I
have evidently misplaced. Consequently, I need to apologize that I will not
have any scholarly footnotes and you will be unable to verify if I have
recalled the story correctly. The author of the article, who obviously also
must go nameless, described a tire manufacturing company that was having
problems. He then related suggestions that were undertaken to solve the
company's problems and noted the outcomes of those attempts.
It thought it was an interesting description of a real life
economic problem and attempts to solve it. However, I was puzzled by the ending
which did not seem to "add up." I have the suspicion that the author
may have sneaked in some subtle meaning which I missed - like maybe a moral to
the story or something. It also does not make sense that an article about a
tire company would be in an education journal even if it is an obscure one. I
would like to relate this story in the hope that readers who get some kind of
meaning, if any, from it will inform me of their insights. The following is the
story as best as I can remember it.
It seems that there was this tire company that was having problems
satisfying its customers. Consumers of the company's square tires were not
especially specific about their unhappiness. Consumer dissatisfaction was
endemic at a low level but would break into epidemic proportions periodically.
Whenever criticism reached its peak, the company would try to respond in the
best interests of its clients.
After the latest crescendo of criticism brought about by a report
of influential consumers, the company compiled a list of suggestions from
consumers, government officials, labor leaders, company personnel and many
others who contributed their enthusiastic and informed expertise to solving the
problems of the Square Wheel and tire Company. It was obvious from the
beginning that the means of production needed refinement.
The following recommendations for increasing productivity were
suggested. As I remember, they were not in any order of priority.
-
Increase
the pay of the workers so that more efficient workers will be attracted to the
Square Wheel and Tire Company in the future.
-
Institute
merit pay so that those who produce more and better square tires will be
rewarded proportionately.
-
Get back
to the basics of tire manufacturing by decreasing the amount of modern
synthetics and increasing the amount of natural rubber that is used in the
square tires.
-
Write
letters to the editor and call in to radio talk shows deploring the quality of
the prospective buyers who are so lazy, ill mannered, undisciplined and
immature that they will not purchase the square tires.
-
Write
articles in the Square Tire Manufacturer's Journal attacking new fads which
have let consumers astray. Point out that the Circular Tire Association's
propaganda which encourages product utility, relevance to consumer needs and
other "practical" considerations is undermining consumer's confidence
in the classic qualities of the product and derides the industry as a whole.
-
Encourage
more prayer in the Square Wheel and Tire Company plants.
-
Make
entry into the Square Tire Union's training programs more difficult as a way to
increase the quality of employees and eventually increase the productivity of
square tires.
-
Increase
the length of the workday so that more square tires can be produced.
-
Test the
tires more frequently to insure that high standards of composition, quality and
perfect squareness are met.
-
Introduce
more technology into the plant - especially computers - to increase
productivity of the square tires.
-
Ask for
financial aid from all levels of government and private foundations to research
and implement the suggestions above as well as others which are designed for
producing and marketing square tires more efficiently,.
The ending of the article, the part that puzzles me, was just three
sentences.
"The suggestions were implemented."
"The suggestions were successful."
"The company was still experiencing major difficulties."