Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

Promoting Learner AutonomyKenisha Garnett and Ivan Moore

The role of a Centre for Excellence in developing a scholarship of teaching based on pedagogical

research around learner autonomy

What do we know about teaching, learning and scholarship and how they are connected?

• What ideas and concepts come to mind when you think about the word ‘scholarship’?

• Definition of scholarship

...the body of knowledge accrued by study or research in a certain field

• Distinctions between the knowledge base of the scholar and the knowledge base of the scholarly teacher (Rice 1992; Paulsen 2001)

• Scholarly teaching aims to make transparent the process of enabling student learning (Prosser, Trigwell and Benjamin 1998)

• Questions related to the larger learning experiences of students are important in scholarship (Kreber 2005)

Scholarly teaching and learning

Teaching, learning and scholarship

• Scholarship of teaching includes ongoing learning about teaching and the demonstration of teaching knowledge (Kreber and Cranton 2000)

• Improvements in teaching and learning depend upon the development of scholarship, which necessitates reflection, inquiry, evaluating, documenting and communicating good practice (Healey 2000)

A model of the scholarship of teaching

Why do I teach this way?

Teaching

Learning

How can I foster student learning?

What actions do I take in teaching?

Adapted from Trigwell and Shale 2004; Kreber and Cranton 2000

Teaching scholarship and learner development

• We surmise that the scholarship of teaching includes a combination of factors:

– identifying the characteristics of excellent and scholarly teaching

– communicating and discussing the successes and challenges of teaching and learning

– evaluating the effects and impacts of teaching practice on learner development

– reflecting on the outcomes to improve future practice

Teaching scholarship and learner development

• The CPLA CETL promotes and innovates learning and teaching practice across the institution through a scholarly approach to learner autonomy

• CPLA learner autonomy agenda aims to enable students to construct their own knowledge in partnership with tutors and other students

Centre for Promoting Learner Autonomy

• What do we mean by Learner Autonomy?

• An autonomous learner takes responsibility for his/her own learning. They can identify:

– their learning goals (what they need to learn)

– their learning processes (how they will learn it)

– how they will evaluate and use their learning

Relative dependence

Independence or autonomyInter-dependence

Transforming teaching practice

Enabling environment

Openness and flexibility

Trigger

ReadinessA student-centred approach to teaching and learning (staff readiness)

Changing perceptions around learner autonomy (reflective practice)

An enabling environment that fosters learner autonomy (trigger for staff engagement)

Fostering a scholarship of teaching

Small Scale Projects

Faculty Development Initiatives

Competitive bidding1 yearinnovative

Entitlement funding2.5 years strategic

How we supported scholarship

• Workshops and at-elbow support• Literature • staff and student conceptions • project planning, action learning • evaluation*

• Dissemination• seminars, symposiums, case studies • conferences / publications

*....the impacts of innovations in teaching and learning practice are continuously evaluated, communicated and shared within the learning community (Moore, Elfving-Hwang and Garnett 2009)

Emerging learning communities…

• Fostered through cross-institutional project schemes (ad-hoc)• CPLA provides leadership and focus (energises communities)

• Factors that encourage communities of practice– non-hierarchical

• informal– group (community) interests are closely aligned with personal

interests (pre-existing work)– shared domain of interest (learner autonomy) is clearly

defined and shared between participants

Why are our learning communities important?

• members learn fast and learn complex concepts

• 'working as a community of practice increases the level of knowledge of the participants and the quality of their working practice' (concurring with Cremer and Valkenburg 2008 on communities of practice)

The learning communities and their 'scholarly activities'

• Staff communities– engage with principles for active, student centred teaching

and learning (discipline specific)– boundaries of interest define domain (some overlap)

• Student communities– social and dialogic learning specific to subject– collaborative and interdisciplinary learning

• Staff-student communities– staff-student projects (enquiry or research led)– collaborative and interdisciplinary learning

How have we connected teaching, learning and scholarship?

An enabling environment to foster learner autonomy

Changing perceptions around learner autonomy

A student-centred approach to teaching and learning

Fostered learning communities

Sharing and dissemination

Why do I teach this way?

How can I foster student learning?

What actions do I take in teaching?

Key messages from staff

Create the right environment and both staff and students can become more autonomous…

Regular meetings (or workshops) helped to keep us focused… we knew a case study was needed and on that basis we had to do some evaluation…

Great insights on how students learn…I am surprised we were blind to these aspects before…

We were worried about getting buy-in at the beginning but then we started to talk about the project, talk to the students and develop our ideas…it quickly got exciting; made me want to follow up in greater depth…

Concerns for development

• Scholarly teaching practice– How do we turn our scholarly approach into common

practice?– How do we use 'grass-root' experiences of scholarship

to effect institutional change?

• Learning (scholarly) communities:– How can we encourage greater numbers in scholarly

communities?– How do we break down hierarchies and maintain

informality whilst also providing leadership and focus?

Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

Promoting Learner Autonomy

For information www.shu.ac.uk/cetl/cpla/cplahome.html

(Contact me - k.garnett@shu.ac.uk)

The role of a Centre for Excellence in developing a scholarship of teaching based on pedagogical

research around learner autonomy