one big question – conceptions of active learning
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One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning. Paul Wright Faculty of Technology, Southampton Solent University, SOUTHAMPTON, UK. [email protected]. Wendelin Romer Centre for Active Learning, University of Gloucestershire, CHELTENHAM, UK [email protected]. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
One BIG question – One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Conceptions of Active
LearningLearning
Paul WrightFaculty of Technology,Southampton Solent
University,SOUTHAMPTON, UK.
Wendelin RomerCentre for Active Learning,
University of Gloucestershire,
CHELTENHAM, UK
Who the hell are we?Who the hell are we?Paul Wendelin
Environmental scientist/marine chemist/geographer
Archaeologist/Anthropologist
Research butterfly Using reflexive methodology for interpreting human remains
Promoting and evaluating Active teaching practicePerceptions of Active Learning
Encouraging inclusivity in university curriculaResearching undergraduate research and perception of Active Learning
Investigating the stuff that defines you as you
Encouraging an understanding of the connection between theory and practice
This afternoon’s taskThis afternoon’s taskInvestigate the following question:
‘What is it to be a teacher?’You can approach this investigation in
any way you wantUse any (or none!) of the resources,
as you feel appropriateWe want a resolution to this
investigation in 45 minutesDon’t reflect on this outcome...... Yet!
How was it for you?How was it for you?We didn’t like smiley faces!
We don’t like the absence of structure in early
experience of self-reflection
We do like it to be honest
We do like it when it says what YOU mean, not
what you think we want to hear
So we decided to take a different tack....
Paul is a twit(terer)....but there is another way
Haiku (we would like you to write up to 3)
Active Learning writing since 1980. Data from Web of Knowledge (2008)
So, is AL the practice of the few, and from a select bunch of curricula?
Initial thoughtsInitial thoughtsWe found three ‘families’ of conceptions
The Impact of ALThe Impact of AL For students,:
◦ IMPROVING (in terms of learning)
◦ DISCRIMINATING (identifies who is motivated, prepared, and differentiates between ‘surface’ and ‘deep’ learning)
◦ EMPOWERING (taking ownership)
◦ FUN.
For teachers:◦ STIMULATING (requires some thought and a scholarly
approach to content and process)
◦ FUN (interactive and lively)
◦ REWARDING.
Downsides included:◦ Sustaining AL throughout 26 weeks
◦ Needing new strategies for coping with unmotivated, unprepared or struggling students
◦ Time pressures.
Testing the modelsTesting the modelsRespondant Response A Response B Response C
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INTERNAL
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HOLISTIC
Testing the modelsTesting the modelsRespondant Response A Response B Response C
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Some initial conclusionsSome initial conclusions• Most respondents identified conceptions that suggest
that they believe student activity promotes learning.
• Ongoing debate about what this passive/active dimension looks like in class. Different teachers view student activity differently.
• People perceive Active Learning (as the pedagogy) as ‘learning by doing’
• There is a dissonance between people’s ideas/concepts, and the experiences they describe of AL in practice
• This could result from uncertainty about what the pedagogy is, how to apply ‘it’, or being less confident about applying ‘it’
“I think that one of the key ideas in active learning for me is to get the students to understand WHY they are learning something – what the reason is for doing it. In this sense I wonder if the standard presentation at the front of the class by a lecturer can be active learning as well, as long as the students understand why they need this information”
InterviewsInterviewsWe are presently at different
places with this part of the Project.We share five aspects in the
perception of AL◦Conceptualisation◦Values◦Academic Freedom◦Process◦Support and Resources
ConceptualisationConceptualisationActive Learning as a pedagogy is
about ‘learning by doing’
There is a difference between AL as a pedagogy and what ‘learning actively’ is
The way in which it was conceptualised informed its value
ValueValueHow respondents valued ‘doing’
related to their engagement with the pedagogy
These values were positive, negative, ambivalent or ‘open’
These were related to their own experiences of learning, teaching, the pedagogy, and personal preferences
Academic FreedomAcademic FreedomUse of ‘two definitions’ (the respondent’s and
the ‘University’s’)
Threat to teaching quality (also related to value of ‘learning by doing’)
Perception of loss of academic freedom and recognition of their expertise through ‘direction’
Neutral perspective through respondents already feeling ‘comfortable’ in their own practice
“Sometimes it’s just kind of perversity, I think. Thinking this is flavour of the month. I will resist it. If you are told by the Vice Chancellor, or some folks, that this is what the university is all about, and you think ‘Well, I think we do that in our own way, anyway’, so there is a kind of perverseness about it, a kind of resistance to being co-opted. Do you know what I mean?...........it is perverse because you know in your heart of hearts that is well intentioned, and a good thing”
ProcessProcessValuing and engagement varied
depending on whether it was considered as a wholesale approach, or an element within a strategy of pedagogic approaches
Strong positive response around using practical/experience/activity in the curriculum where relevant and subject applicable, but not necessarily associated with AL as a pedagogy
Support and ResourcesSupport and ResourcesThe possibilities of using AL were
viewed as being constrained by resources◦Time to do prepare and do◦Support for development◦Doing AL in big classes as
problematic◦Concern over how AL could be used
in certain subject areas, that are less ‘practical’
Active Learning writing since 1980. Data from Web of Knowledge (2008)
So, is AL the practice of the few, and from a select bunch of curricula?
Return to the textReturn to the text
To listen and yet it is easy to forget
To see/perceive and yet it is easy to remember/record
To be/act as and yet it is easy to understand
New insights?New insights?Not just ‘doing’, but ‘being’
Sense of ‘embodiment’, and ‘thinking as’
No sense of first two lines being used negatively
The final character contains the ‘heart radical’ – mind and heart
Thoughts so farThoughts so farWe can identify a range of
conceptions that teachers hold, concerning AL
By and large, an individual views AL as a complex mix of the physical and cognitive
It is not just ‘learning by doing’, and, in fact, it NEVER was!
The need to introduce practice that promotes self-reflection and internalisation of learning
We (Wendelin and Paul) need to join our work up
AL, Signature Pedagogy, Threshold AL, Signature Pedagogy, Threshold ConceptsConceptsSignature pedagogies (Shulman, 2005):
◦ Characteristic forms of teaching and learning that organise ways to prepare future practitioners for their professional work
◦ Possessing a deep structure
◦ “ . . . a set of assumptions about how best to impart a certain body of knowledge and know-how. And it has an implicit structure, a moral dimension, that comprises a set of beliefs about professional attitudes, values, and dispositions”
◦ “disclose important information about the personality of a professional field—its values, knowledge, and manner of thinking, almost, perhaps, its total worldview” (Candol, 2007)
AL, Signature Pedagogy, Threshold AL, Signature Pedagogy, Threshold ConceptsConceptsThreshold Concepts (Meyer & Land, 2003):
◦ Described as a ‘portal’, which opens new ways of seeing one’s subject domain
◦ “Grasping a threshold concept is transformative because it involves an ontological as well as a conceptual shift. We are what we know. New understandings are assimilated into our biography, becoming part of who we are, how we see and how we feel. When academics announce that they are a sociologist, biologist, etc, they are announcing both their expertise and their identity, an identity which marks an arrival from being a student of sociology, biology, etc. to someone who thinks and acts like an ‘ologist’ of one kind or another. Those concerned with linking teaching and research are keen to progress this identity journey among their students.” (Cousin, 2007)
“One's action ought to come out of an achieved stillness: not to be a mere
rushing on..”D. H. Lawrence