Category Archives: Just about anything else
Flipping the classroom can be one way to handling large classes
Put it simply, it is doing what we do in classroom at home and what we do at home, that is homework, in classroom.
So you can place lecture through youtube videos, you can also post references….students can watch anytime anywhere and learn. And while they meet in classroom, you can discuss and analyze case-studies etc…
Find out more here…
Here is what we listed out….
How do you know what these students know ?
How to engage the large group of students ?
What interests and challenges these students ?
How to hold discussions?
It is the second Faculty Learning Day at UniSIM on Sat 28 th July.
We are having Prof. John Boyer from Virginia Tech ….discussing about Flipping the Syllabus
He teaches class size of 3000 students…..
What can be some issues/ challenges in teaching such a large crowd
As part of the teaching and learning community, you might have pondered about what may be considered as good practices of teaching and learning in higher education. Here is what Chickering and Gamson (1991) have distilled from the past 50 year of literature on teaching and learning. The seven principles of good practice in teaching and learning are
|“1. Encourages Contact Between Students and Faculty (constructive and collaborative)Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of classes is the most important factor in student motivation and involvement. Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on working. Knowing a few faculty members well enhances students’ intellectual commitment and encourages them to think about their own values and future plans.2. Develops Reciprocity and Cooperation Among Students (constructive and collaborative)Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort that a solo race. Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Working with others often increases involvement in learning. Sharing one’s own ideas and responding to others’ reactions sharpens thinking and deepens understanding.
3. Encourages Active Learning (engaged/active learning)
Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just by sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.
4. Gives Prompt Feedback (reflective)
Knowing what you know and don’t know focuses learning. Students need appropriate feedback on performance to benefit from courses. When getting started, students need help in assessing existing knowledge and competence. In classes, students need frequent opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for improvement. At various points during college, and at the end, students need chances to reflect on what they have learned, what they still need to know, and how to assess themselves.
5. Emphasizes Time on Task (self-directed)
Time plus energy equals learning. There is no substitute for time on task. Learning to use one’s time well is critical for students and professionals alike. Students need help in learning effective time management. Allocating realistic amounts of time means effective learning for students and effective teaching for faculty. How an institution defines time expectations for students, faculty, administrators, and other professional staff can establish the basis of high performance for all.
6. Communicates High Expectations (self-directed)
Expect more and you will get more. High expectations are important for everyone — for the poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves, and for the bright and well motivated. Expecting students to perform well becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when teachers and institutions hold high expectations for themselves and make extra efforts.
7. Respects Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning (reflective)
There are many roads to learning. People bring different talents and styles of learning to college. Brilliant students in the seminar room may be all thumbs in the lab or art studio. Students rich in hands-on experience may not do so well with theory. Students need the opportunity to show their talents and learn in ways that work for them. Then they can be pushed to learn in new ways that do not come so easily.”
Reference: Chickering, A.W., and Gamson, Z.F. (1991). Applying the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. New Directions for Teaching and Learning. Number 47, Fall 1991. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc.
The basis of these 7 principles is that learning is constructive, collaborative, self-directed, active/engaged and reflective.
Ok, so we know that these are the good practices. As faculty, how do we incorporate these good practices in our teaching? Joseph R. Codde, Ph.D., Professor and Director – Educational Technology Certificate Program of Michigan State University provides exemplars of strategies he uses in his teaching. Read through for some ideas that you can incorporate as well.
1. GOOD PRACTICE ENCOURAGES STUDENT — FACULTY CONTACT
2. GOOD PRACTICE ENCOURAGES COOPERATION AMONG STUDENTS
3. GOOD PRACTICE COMMUNICATES HIGH EXPECTATIONS
4. GOOD PRACTICE EMPHASIZES TIME ON TASK
5. GOOD PRACTICE ENCOURAGES ACTIVE LEARNING
6. GOOD PRACTICE ENCOURAGES ACTIVE LEARNING
7. GOOD PRACTICE RESPECTS DIVERSE TALENTS AND WAYS OF LEARNING
Reference: Joseph R. Codde, Michigan State University. https://www.msu.edu/user/coddejos/seven.htm
I had first published this article as on an e-Post at SIM univeristy.
Check this out
MARCH 16, 2011
Designing Problems for Problem-based Learning
As the name implies, problems are absolutely essential for problem-based learning (PBL). Problems initiate students’ learning in PBL. In other words, if there are no problems, there will be no problem-based learning.
Although there are plenty of real-life problems around us, identifying the suitable problem to guide and direct students in their learning can be challenging. Often, course developers who are new to PBL find it challenging to go about designing problems.
How do you design a problem for PBL? Do you try and find an interesting article/case study that is relevant to your learning objectives and pose relevant questions? Or do you identify the learning objectives and pose questions on it? Is there a systematic way of designing problems?
This article aims to provide some guidelines on how to go about designing problems for PBL based on our current understanding of problem characteristics.
Recent studies suggest that problems effectiveness could be defined by 11 characteristics. These 11 characteristics are classified into two categories: feature characteristics and function characteristics. Feature characteristics are design elements of the problem. Function characteristics are the desired outcomes of the problem.
In designing problems, the characteristics to be manipulated are the feature characteristics; namely,
- problem clarity,
- problem format,
- problem difficulty level,
- problem familiarity and
- problem relevance.
Other than the feature characteristics, it is important to consider the function characteristics in designing problems. The function characteristics are the extent to which the problem:
- leads to the intended learning issues,
- promotes self-directed learning,
- stimulates critical reasoning,
- stimulates elaboration,
- promotes teamwork, and
- triggers interest.
Ok, so we know what constitutes an effective problem. But how do we incorporate these characteristics into our problem design?
Making it relevant and realistic
In designing problems for problem-based learning, one could start off with analyzing student characteristics and students’ learning needs which will shed light on students’ prior knowledge, which content/context would be familiar to students (this is likely to provide information on problem familiarity, difficulty and relevance), their learning styles (which will provide information for problem format) and comprehension capabilities (which will provide information on problem clarity). Such information needs to be incorporated into the presentation of the problem. This layer of the problem design could be likened to the user-interface of the problem.
Underlying the user-interface is the content. In selecting the content, problem designers would need to identify the learning issues that need to be focused on and tailor it to students’ prior knowledge and learning needs. Hence it becomes essential to first analyze student characteristics and learning needs to develop problems. This content then needs to be framed in a relevant and realistic context that students can relate to and apply in other courses or in other areas of their life. Contextualizing the problem is similar to coming up with a story line.
In addition to the user-interface and the story (content/context), one needs to also focus on what is expected from the students as a result of working on the problem. That is, one needs to keep in mind the message intended by the “story.” If the problem is meant to stimulate critical reasoning, there needs to be activities that are weaved into the problem design which require students to reason critically.
Overall, in designing problems for problem-based learning, function characteristics/learning outcomes (not just content but also what behavioral skills, such as self-directed learning, critical thinking) need to be considered and the issues should be framed in the appropriate context and presented using the optimal feature characteristics/user interface. Essentially, the steps in designing problems are similar to writing a story. Thinking of the message (outcome) as well as story line (content and context) and then the presentation (user interface) would be a logical way to designing problems.
Sockalingam, N., Rotgans, J., & Schmidt, H. G. (2010).Student and Tutor Perceptions on Effective Problems. Higher Education (in press). DOI: 10.1007/s10734-010-9361-3.
Nachamma Sockalingam PhD, Lecturer, Teaching and Learning Centre. SIM University, Singapore.