Cranfield UniversityPGCLTAHE

Enquiry-based, experiential, situated learning

October 2010

George RobertsOxford Brookes University

Aims, purpose of the dayTo provide

Rich content and support to Module 2 of the curriculum, particularly focusing on situated teaching practices and skills; this session complements other practice-based workshops on

Course, Module and Session Design, Assessment, Open and Distance Learning, eLearning, and also supports ILOs 2, 3, 4 & 5.

Brief information about enquiry-based, experiential, situated learning and teaching practices and a guide to subsequent pursuit of subjects of interest, with a preliminary reading list

An opportunity to practice, hands-on with enquiry-based techniques for professional/academic/scholarly/others communities of practice/inquiry/assessment

Consideration of the similarities and differences in scholarship between research (scholarship of discovery) and enquiry based learning

ILOs• Identify a range of practices which might, broadly be included

under a rubric• enquiry-based, experiential, situated learning

• Relate that range of practices to underlying social, institutional, pedagogical, technical, political, philosophical, historical events and notions

• Identify criteria by which practices might be valued for the purpose of academic award, validation, QA, certification, licence to practise, professional incorporation

• express value judgements

• Identify techniques associated with valued practices, and using knowledge of techniques and your current discipline/training programme show how you might incorporate enquiry-based, experiential learning into your practice, or show that it is already there.

• Conversely, you might argue against the implicit proposition that offered techniques meet the value criteria, in general, in which case expect to offer other approaches that might meet similar or restated value criteria

• Explain, wider risks and benefits as might apply to enquiry-based, experiential educational developments

• assessment. governance, ethics, autonomy, resourcing, stakeholders

Programme0930 Introductions

0945 Presentation: reflective learning

1030 Coffee

1045 Open Space

1115 World Café

1230 Lunch

1330 Develop curricular case study/ies

1430 Governance, assessment, authenticity, ethics

1500 Conclusions, questions, policy direction

1530 Depart

Wider aims: good practiceencourage student-tutor contact

encourage student-student co-operation

encourage active learning

give prompt feedback

emphasise time on task

have and communicate high expectations

respect diverse talents and ways of learning

(Chickering & Ehrman, 1987)

independent of the mode of engagement

Constructive alignmentDescription

Curriculum

Objectives

Activities

Assessment

Criteria

1. What are “desired” objectives?

2. What teaching methods require students to behave in ways that are likely to achieve those objectives?

3. What assessment tasks will tell us if the actual results match those that are intended or desired?

This is the essence of ‘constructive alignment’

(Biggs, 1999)

Reflective Learningthree key themes underlying and

unifying this workshop:

1. Enquiry-based learning (Berthiaume 2009, p.268)

2. Experiential learning (Fry et al. 2009, pp.15, 450)

3. Situated learning (Lave & Wenger 1990)

Reflective practicequalitative, practitioner-centred,

evaluative and self-evaluative perspective of educational pragmatism, founded in an idealist, enlightenment, social utilitarianism

approaches are predominantly social: taking place in groups.

practices reflect a broad series of qualitative turns in the social sciences

Range of practicesRange of practices

Action learningAction researchProject-based learningProblem-based learningDevelopmental work research (DWR)Peer and self-organised learningCommunity learning, learning

organisations, communities of practicePersonal and community development

learning (PCDL)

Value criteria

Professional valuesBoyer’s four scholarshipsHEA professional standards,

value statementsInstrumental, other-directed

valuesQAA Level descriptors

Scholarship of teachingBoyer’s model of 4 scholarships (Nibert

n.d.; Boyer 1997)

Discovery

Teaching Integration

Application

HEA ValuesRespect for individual learners

Commitment to incorporating the process and outcomes of relevant research, scholarship and/or professional practice

Commitment to development of learning communities

Commitment to encouraging participation in higher education, acknowledging diversity and promoting equality of opportunity

Commitment to continuing professional development and evaluation of practice

Instrumental, other-directedCompassion

Determination

Professionalism

Resourcefulness

Respect

Solidarity

QCF Level descriptorsLevel 7 (paraphrase)

Ability to reformulate and use relevant methodologies and approaches to address problematic situations that involve many interacting factors

Taking responsibility for planning and developing courses of action underpinning substantial change

Critically analyse, interpret and evaluate complex information, concepts and theories as they apply to current developments that affect the areas of work or study.

Practiceenquiry-based techniques for

professional/academic/scholarly

communities of practice/inquiry/assessment

TechniquesWorld café: “the World Café is an innovative yet

simple methodology for hosting conversations about questions that matter.” (TWC n.d.; Vogt et al. 2003). World Café is an emergent practice which shares underlying principles with

Open Space Technology: “a way to lead any kind of organization, in everyday practice and ongoing change” (Herman 1998),

the Bar Camp movement: “an ad-hoc unconference born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment“ (Many 2010), and unconferencing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconference)

Open SpaceAffective recall

Interview in pairs:1. Recall a time/place/context in your life when things

were going well for you

2. Describe to your partner how that felt to you

Identifying the questions and contexts that matter: “Brain storm”, group clustering

Questions for EBL approach to learning 3 plus/minus 1Contexts for EBL approach to learning 3 plus/minus 1

Evaluation criteriaProfessional values

World CafeTaking 3 Questions and 3 Contexts

Identify 3 Table HostsOne host for each Question

Form 3 Context (topic) groups

Each topic group visits each question for 15 minutes

Hosts report back

Derive professional values, assessment criteria

Design exerciseCurricular case studies

Each context group must develop a case study (real or hypothetical) of a curriculum that uses EBL techniques Broad curricular aimsProgramme ILOsRationale for EBLEBL technique(s) usedRough weight of EBL over the course

Assessment for EBL “Assessment is at the heart of

the student experience”(Brown, S & Knight, P., 1994)

“From our students’ point of view, assessment always defines the actual curriculum”

(Ramsden, P.,1992)

“Assessment defines what students regard as important, how they spend their time and how they come to see themselves as students and then as graduates.........If you want to change student learning then change the methods of assessment”

(Brown, G et al, 1997)

“The assessment tasks need to be ‘authentic’ to the objectives”

(Biggs 1999, p 161)

Diagnostic

Formative

Summative

Valid

Reliable

Authentic

Wider risks and benefitsQuestions

Governance, partnerships, communitystakeholders

EthicsAutonomyResourcing

Learning designScale (but see new QCF)

Course (c. 600 hrs +)Module (c. 50-200 hrs)Session (c. 1- 5 hrs)

AudienceRecipientReferee

Deductive/inductive

Content/communication

Lecture BasedLarge group

SeminarSmall group

ExperientialAL, PBL, WBL

Open, distance

Peer & group

Teaching team

PolicyThe big picture

Changing?GlobalisationLiberalisationParticipation Innovation

Three levels of analysis, e.g.InstitutionalNationalGlobal

Covert curriculum

Questions

Wrap-upQuestions?

Academics anonymous

Thank youGeorge Roberts

Senior Lecturer, Educational DevelopmentOCSLD

Wheatley CampusOxford Brookes University

Oxford, OX33 1HX

groberts@brookes.ac.ukhttp://www.google.com/profiles/georgebroberts

Learning theoryCycles

KolbLaurillard

HierarchiesBloom’s TaxonomySalmon’s ladderMaxims of stanceQAA level descriptors

Reflection… in action… on action

Conversational model

Borrowed from http://www.elicit.scotcit.ac.uk/modules/intro/unit3.htm

Levels of learning: Bloom

knowledge

comprehension

application

analysis

synthesis

evaluation

ATHERTON J S (2005) Learning and Teaching: Bloom's taxonomy [On-line] UK: Available: http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/bloomtax.htm

Sequence & Stance

Sequence Where are you in the course? Is it

the first week or the 8th week? Have groups been used in other

settings? Do people know one another yet?

What is the interactional function of groupwork (as opposed to the instrumental or regulatory or heuristic functions?)

Maxims of stance (Scollon 1998) Channel Relationship Topic

e-Tivity Sequence

(Salmon)