formal teaching & learning: schemas, models and practices

Formal Teaching & Learning: Schemas, models and practices.

School of Physiotherapy’s Celebration of Teaching workshop

Russell ButsonHigher Education Development Centre

June 2016University of Otago

Topics

1. Teaching | Learning Approach - Institution2. Teaching | Learning Approach - Student3. Teaching | Learning Ecosystem4. The Practice of Academic Study5. Student Use of Technology

1. Teaching | Learning Approach

** The Institutional Perspective **

in

out

University

inout

Non-University

People can and do learn outside formal learning institutionsHowever…

- Universities dispense validated qualifications (known) - quality

- Universities offer accelerated learning (assumed) - rate Open resources/books

MOCCsCommunity groups

Black box

Institutional Approach to Teaching – two parts1] Teaching Time / Contact time

2] Independent learning Time / Non-contact timeLectures

LabsTuts

FieldworkRemedial Sessions

Study

20% of time BUT represents 80% of the research on Teaching & Learning

+ high investment in institutional resources

80% of time BUT represents less than 20% of the research on Teaching & Learning

+ very low investment in institutional resources

CONTACT-TIMETEACHING ACTIVITIES

NON-CONTACT-TIMEINDEPENDENT LEARNING

CURRICULUM

TEACHER

ContentInformation

context

delivery

learning

TEACHINGLINE

[optimal state]

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

STUDENTLEARNING

INSTRUCTIONALDESIGN

ObjectivesStructure

ASSESSMENTALIGNMENT WITH

OBJECTIVES

A

B STUDENTTEAC

HING

MET

HOD

Lectures

LabsTuts


Study

From: Butson, R. (2011). Does higher education need deschooling? Industry & Higher Education, 25(3), 153-160. doi: 10.5367/ihe.2011.0042

2. Teaching | Learning Approach

** The Student Perspective **

LabsTuts


Lectures

Study

Students tend to see lectures as the core activity, followed by labs/tuts etc and independent learning (study) as the least important.

This is easy to spot when you look over students weekly schedules.

Typically only contact-time activities are scheduled.

Exam

ple

of a

stud

ent

sche

dule

LabsTuts


Lectures

Study

The assumption that the lecture is the most important learning activity is, in part, based on the conception that higher education is concerned with ‘learning a

topic’ and that this learning is through the consumption of knowledge.Some argue that this

assumption is incorrect

Higher education isn’t about consumption of knowledge but about

acquiring, managing and applying the skills and

attributes involved in the production of knowledge

- analysis - synthesis - application

Content

The transfer ofInformation

Commonly adopted by universities

3. Teaching/Learning EcosystemCan we Can the Lecture

Model TryInform

Typical Learning Schema |Model

Teacher-Centric Student-Centric

ReflectAppraise

PerformanceMeasure

Performance

Process

Russell Butson

Russell Butson

Critical thinkingJudgementdiagnostics

Discipline knowledge

Practice related Procedures??

Tacit knowledge | practice | agreements ProfessionalismProfessional Cultural

Metacognitive Skills

Information

Hard Skills

Soft Skills

Model TryInform

Typical Learning Schema |Model

Teacher-Centric Student-Centric

ReflectAppraise

PerformanceMeasure

Performance

Dimension

s

Process

Students equate success with – attendance

Lecture

AssignmentsProjects

LabTuts

Study

exams

Web

Resources

Social

Inform

InformModel

Try

Measure

????

Measure

Typically Treated as Disconnected

ClinicalPlacements

Model

Environments

Lecture

AssignmentsProjects

LabTuts

Study

exams

Web

Resources

Social

In form

Model

Measure

Try

ClinicalPlacements

Appraise

Its all about the LectureLearning is the result of teaching There is a growing tendency

to focus on the lecture as the primary learning setting.

Lecture

AssignmentsProjects

LabTuts

Study

exams

Web

Resources

Social

InformModel

InformTry

ModelAppraise

TryAppraisePerform

TryAppraise

Alignment | Coupling

Understanding the Teaching/Learning Environment as an Ecosystem.

PerformMeasure

ClinicalPlacements

InformTry

ModelAppraisePerform

4. The Practice ofAcademic Study

Lectures

LabsTuts


Study

In short…

We have found undergraduate students..

Lacked awareness of study methods/practices.

Struggled to know how computers can be used to help augment study practice.

…note-taking: Lecture Notes The one on the left was created in the lecture. Verbal information by the lecturer was added by pen. The sheet on the right represents the rewritten form of the lecture data – linear and similar to a textbook format

What about note-taking: TextbookIn both cases the material is the same as presented in the text book – except it’s presented in a slightly different form as a result of a restructuring practice – administrative rather than analytical.

There is no student voice in these notes – just copied materialNo use of computers (digital) – pen/paper is removing the power of the digital to support/augment the practices of analytics/diagnostics

ROTE

It is interesting to note that the focus was on capturing information.

And…

The documenting of this information replicated the style of a text book – they repackage to the familiar through managerial or administrative skills - no sign of Bloom’s metacognitive skills.

No authorship

“I used to take my own notes, like doing the readings and all that kind of stuff but then I realised that it takes a lot more time and lecturers kind of just examine you on the lecture material anyway so now I just try to memorise the lecture material.”

“Understanding didn’t get me the grades I wanted so now I just put all my effort into memorising instead of actually bothering to learn it properly.”

“When revising I’m just going over things again and again… that’s what gets it into your head.”

“If you know the slides off by-heart you will pretty much do well in exams.”

Comments made by Health Science students (2015) revealing their reliance on memorization through repetition - rote-learning

Students participating in this study…

Relied heavily on memorisation as a study technique.

Were aware of higher order thinking approaches, but felt the ‘facts-centric’ curriculum forced them to adopt the repetition based study techniques.

These students felt the best route to success was to adopt rote-learning.

5. Student Use of Technology

Findings from studies looking at undergraduate

use of computers at Otago

Data is not from student self-reports but from usage logs captured directly from their computers over 3-5

months.

Computer literacy was low concerning academic use:

Browser (av. 70%). …..of this Facebook and YouTube [av.62%] Word [av. 4.7%] Adobe Reader [av. 4.3%].

Worth Noting… Planning apps – outlook | google calendar Word-processing – poor knowledge of

functionality Referencing apps – x endnote, zotera etc Note-taking - Onenote / Evernote Markups on website/PDF – unaware of this

function

Paper still plays a significant role in student study practice – but not in their non-academic life

Computers managed the process of search and print

…the students were computer savvy, but not digital in the academic context

In Conclusion – Potential for Change

• Structure (align-couple) contact teaching time to reflect holistic teaching/learning (eco)system.(maybe even include the non-contact time)

• Explore production-centric activities over consumption of knowledge (rote-learning).

(Consumption of knowledge becomes a by-product of production-centric approaches)

• Explore ways to enhance student ‘study’ practices & technology use.

Thank you