JOIN US ON MARCH 7
Shifting the Teaching Paradigm is the title of the upcoming workshop to be held on March 7 in the Dumas Room of the Magnolia Building. Dr. Jim Johnston will be facilitating the sessions which begin at 12:25 and run through 3:30 pm. This interactive workshop is being sponsored by the Teaching+Learning Center (T+LC) and Cengage Learning's TeamUp. In response to several inquiries, I wanted to offer some suggestions. If you are interested in altering your approach to teaching in search of improving learning in your classes, this workshop is for you. BRCC's traditional student is a millennial who is typically under-prepared for the rigors and expectations of college. This presents special challenges for us but also opens up opportunities for rapid change and results that we can see almost immediately. But what does it take to inspire that change in their brains? That is what we hope to discover and discuss at this workshop. So register now and bring your ideas and concerns as we return from the Mardi Gras break.
INQUIRY-GUIDED TEACHING PRODUCES RESULTS
The importance of the student/teacher relationship has been acknowledged for centuries. Greek philosopher, Plato suggested that the relationship between teacher and student is essential to teaching and must be firmly established before learning can occur (Hoffman, 2014). We know from more recent research that the paradigm has changed and rather than regarding the teacher as someone who does something to someone, as in pouring knowledge into an empty vessel, the teacher is someone who does something with someone, as in equal participation in the acquisition of knowledge (McEwan, 2011). Virginia Lee, is her book Teaching and Learning Through Inquiry (LB1027.44.T43), tell us that inquiry-guided learning in terms of what happens in the classroom (or online) refers to a range of interventions or strategies used to promote learning through students active, and increasingly independent, investigation of questions, problems and issues, often for which there is no single answer. A range of teaching strategies is consistent with inquiry-guided learning including interactive lecture, discussion, problem-based learning, case studies, simulations, and independent study. In fact, she notes the only strategy not consistent with inquiry-guides learning is the traditional (and outdated) straight lecture.
TEXTBOOK READING MADE SIMPLE
Are you having trouble getting your students to read the textbook prior to your teaching the material? Here is something I have tried that has shown good results in both participation in class and is reflected in the assessment I used to measure learning. Give them a few short answer-type questions that helps to guide them through the reading material when you make the assignment. For instance, on a chapter about critical thinking I provided the following questions. 1)What are the three aspects of critical thinking? 2)Why should some assumptions be carefully examined? 3)Why is it important to examine evidence of an argument? 4)Why is it important to recognize bias? In class, we talked about each of these question but in different forms because I was using the repetition method for learning. For example, I had my students evaluate opinion pieces from major media outlets looking for bias and logic fallacies. They responded well to the reading and in-class assignments because I stressed the importance of critical thinking as a life skill and I used a topic from the opinion pieces (raising the minimum wage) that they could personally relate to. When I gave them the chapter test to measure the teaching and learning that had occurred, I used those same questions (some were worded slightly different). My assessment results from the chapter test showed marked improvement from the previous test. Let me know if you try this method or if you use a similar strategy in your classes.
Showing posts with label learning paradigm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label learning paradigm. Show all posts
Thursday, November 8, 2012
EXPANDING YOUR TEACHING TOOLKIT
Active learning provides opportunities for students to talk and listen, read, write and reflect, all of which require students to apply what they are learning. Register now for the next faculty development seminar entitled Active Learning Methods Revealed to be held on November 19, at 2:00PM. Drs. Marcella Hackney and Margaret McMichael, Biology Department faculty, will present using classroom experience and information they gathered from an intensive workshop they attended this past summer. The seminar will be interactive and will be held in 311 Magnolia, also known as the Teaching+Learning Center.
STUDENT LEARNING DRIVEN BY EXCELLENT TEACHING
For anyone who has spent time with me, you have heard me say that everything I do is focused on improving student learning. It is our core mission and everything we do as an institution should be focused on that area. Of course, that begins in the classes that we teach. The interaction between the teacher and student is paramount to improving our retention, completion and transfer rates. Just as important is having students retain what they are learning in our classes. Nothing is more frustrating to a good teacher than having students who have completed prerequisite or lower-level courses but appear not to have learned anything. I have written about that previously on the blog and what James Lang refers to as "Coverage Theory." Getting through the material in the allotted time is not the same as having your students learn. The partnership between a teacher and student is crucial and both sides must take responsibility and remain committed for the process to be successful. It is what Barr and Tagg (1995) call The Learning Paradigm. We are designing a website for the Teaching+Learning Center. In the absence of that information, let me share some of the ways I can partner with you to help you continue to develop as a teacher. The classroom observation is a good start. I am also able to complete a focus group evaluation for you. You can also do your own assessment and I can share some methods with you. It all starts with contacting me at pourciaut@mybrcc.edu or calling me at 216.8534.
DEAR DIARY
Using the word diary may conjure up all sorts of memories for you. The diary in a general sense can be a useful thing. Even more effective is for you to begin to keep a journal. You can update it on a daily or weekly basis. The more effort you put into it, the more effective it becomes for you as a tool for critical self-reflection. A journal allows you to remember when you had a really good day in class. It also allows you to document when things go really wrong. It provides you with hard data that you can use to continue to improve your teaching. As many of you teach five, six or seven classes, it is impossible to remember what occurred in each class from semester to semester. A journal provides you documentation so that when you begin to update or alter your course in any way, you can scan the entries looking for clues that can be very useful. As we look to the Spring 2013 Semester, I am gathering names of folks who would like to participate in a journal community. Send me an email (pourciaut@mybrcc.edu) if you are interested and look for email in your mailbox on this opportunity.
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR STUDENTS KNOW
Richard Felder and Rebecca Brent offer the following sage advice on the use of assessment in your course. Most institutions use only end-of-course student surveys to evaluate teaching quality. While student opinions are important and should be including in any assessment plan, meaningful evaluation of teaching must rely primarily on assessment of learning outcomes. Current trends in assessment reviewed by Ewell include shifting from standardized tests to performance-based assessments, from teaching-based models to learning-based models of student development, and from assessment as an add-on to more naturalistic approaches embedded in actual instructional delivery. Measures that may be used to obtain an accurate picture of students’ content knowledge and skills include tests, performances and exhibitions, project reports, learning logs and journals, metacognitive reflection, observation checklists, graphic organizers, and interviews, and conferences (Burke). A particularly effective learning assessment vehicle is the portfolio, a set of student products collected over time that provides a picture of the student’s growth and development. Panitz (1996) describes how portfolios can be used to assess an individual’s progress in a course or over an entire curriculum, to demonstrate specific competencies, or to assess the curriculum. Rogers and Williams (1999) describe a procedure to maintain portfolios on the Web. Angelo & Cross (LB2822.75.A54) outline a variety of classroom assessment techniques, all of which generate products suitable for inclusion in student portfolios. The devices they suggest include minute papers, concept maps, audiotaped and videotaped protocols (students reporting on their thinking processes as they solve problems), student-generated test questions, classroom opinion polls, course-related self-confidence surveys, interest/knowledge/skills checklists, and reactions to instruction.
Active learning provides opportunities for students to talk and listen, read, write and reflect, all of which require students to apply what they are learning. Register now for the next faculty development seminar entitled Active Learning Methods Revealed to be held on November 19, at 2:00PM. Drs. Marcella Hackney and Margaret McMichael, Biology Department faculty, will present using classroom experience and information they gathered from an intensive workshop they attended this past summer. The seminar will be interactive and will be held in 311 Magnolia, also known as the Teaching+Learning Center.
STUDENT LEARNING DRIVEN BY EXCELLENT TEACHING
For anyone who has spent time with me, you have heard me say that everything I do is focused on improving student learning. It is our core mission and everything we do as an institution should be focused on that area. Of course, that begins in the classes that we teach. The interaction between the teacher and student is paramount to improving our retention, completion and transfer rates. Just as important is having students retain what they are learning in our classes. Nothing is more frustrating to a good teacher than having students who have completed prerequisite or lower-level courses but appear not to have learned anything. I have written about that previously on the blog and what James Lang refers to as "Coverage Theory." Getting through the material in the allotted time is not the same as having your students learn. The partnership between a teacher and student is crucial and both sides must take responsibility and remain committed for the process to be successful. It is what Barr and Tagg (1995) call The Learning Paradigm. We are designing a website for the Teaching+Learning Center. In the absence of that information, let me share some of the ways I can partner with you to help you continue to develop as a teacher. The classroom observation is a good start. I am also able to complete a focus group evaluation for you. You can also do your own assessment and I can share some methods with you. It all starts with contacting me at pourciaut@mybrcc.edu or calling me at 216.8534.
DEAR DIARY
Using the word diary may conjure up all sorts of memories for you. The diary in a general sense can be a useful thing. Even more effective is for you to begin to keep a journal. You can update it on a daily or weekly basis. The more effort you put into it, the more effective it becomes for you as a tool for critical self-reflection. A journal allows you to remember when you had a really good day in class. It also allows you to document when things go really wrong. It provides you with hard data that you can use to continue to improve your teaching. As many of you teach five, six or seven classes, it is impossible to remember what occurred in each class from semester to semester. A journal provides you documentation so that when you begin to update or alter your course in any way, you can scan the entries looking for clues that can be very useful. As we look to the Spring 2013 Semester, I am gathering names of folks who would like to participate in a journal community. Send me an email (pourciaut@mybrcc.edu) if you are interested and look for email in your mailbox on this opportunity.
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR STUDENTS KNOW
Richard Felder and Rebecca Brent offer the following sage advice on the use of assessment in your course. Most institutions use only end-of-course student surveys to evaluate teaching quality. While student opinions are important and should be including in any assessment plan, meaningful evaluation of teaching must rely primarily on assessment of learning outcomes. Current trends in assessment reviewed by Ewell include shifting from standardized tests to performance-based assessments, from teaching-based models to learning-based models of student development, and from assessment as an add-on to more naturalistic approaches embedded in actual instructional delivery. Measures that may be used to obtain an accurate picture of students’ content knowledge and skills include tests, performances and exhibitions, project reports, learning logs and journals, metacognitive reflection, observation checklists, graphic organizers, and interviews, and conferences (Burke). A particularly effective learning assessment vehicle is the portfolio, a set of student products collected over time that provides a picture of the student’s growth and development. Panitz (1996) describes how portfolios can be used to assess an individual’s progress in a course or over an entire curriculum, to demonstrate specific competencies, or to assess the curriculum. Rogers and Williams (1999) describe a procedure to maintain portfolios on the Web. Angelo & Cross (LB2822.75.A54) outline a variety of classroom assessment techniques, all of which generate products suitable for inclusion in student portfolios. The devices they suggest include minute papers, concept maps, audiotaped and videotaped protocols (students reporting on their thinking processes as they solve problems), student-generated test questions, classroom opinion polls, course-related self-confidence surveys, interest/knowledge/skills checklists, and reactions to instruction.
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