Innovation in Teaching –Challenges and Opportunities

R. Paul SinghDistinguished Professor Emeritus,

University of California, Davis

"GCHERA World Agriculture Prize 2015, Laureate Lecture, Nanjing Agricultural University, 20 September 2015"

GCHERA World Agriculture Prize 2015, Laureate Lecture,

Nanjing Agricultural University, 20 September 2015

Change is tough to manage

But even harder when you don’t see it coming!

How to mindfully manage change in a shifting terrain

Classroom

Laurentius de Voltolina- 14th century

Educating the Food Engineer for

2030

Technology in Education

Generation Cohorts

Generation Year of Birth

Great Generation 1901-1924

Silent Generation 1925-1944

Baby Boomers 1945-1964

Generation X 1965-1977

Millennials (Generation Y) 1978-1996

Generation Z (?) 1996- present

1983First Millennials entering Kindergarten

First Millennials entering Kindergarten

http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1983/1101830103_400.jpg

Changes in Workforce

Command and Control Collaborative leadershipTraditional Workforce 21st century Workforce

Lynch A. (2014)

Changes in Workforce

Command and ControlInfluence through organization

Collaborative leadershipInfluence through networks

Traditional Workforce 21st century Workforce

Lynch A. (2014)

Changes in Workforce

Command and ControlInfluence through organizationTop down information

Collaborative leadershipInfluence through networksAccess to information at every level

Traditional Workforce 21st century Workforce

Lynch A. (2014)

Changes in Workforce

Command and ControlInfluence through organizationTop down information

Managers as experts

Collaborative leadershipInfluence through networksAccess to information at every levelKnowledge workers as experts

Traditional Workforce 21st century Workforce

Lynch A. (2014)

Millennials’ Expectations

• Transactional relationship with higher education, a necessary consumer good

• Expect professors to be accessible and approachable

• Change jobs frequently• Instant access to vast amount of information• Personalized and beautiful content - produce

and share

US Chamber of Commerce 2012

Educational Content - Expectations

• Highly engaging delivery of content– 65% like engaging content– 47% like interactive games

Fenich, G.G. et al. (2012)

In 2030, today’s toddler will be an undergraduate student in College

In 2030, today’s toddler will be an undergraduate student in College

Technology in Education

Enhance Learning in Classroom

Improve Access to Education

Examples

Technology in Education

Enhance Learning in Classroom

Improve Access to Education

Multiple intelligences among learners

Howard Gardner, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University

http://s.huffpost.com/contributors/howard-gardner/headshot.jpg

Linguisticlectures, notes,

books

Logical-mathematical

reasoning, conceptual thinkers, models,

calculations

Visual-spatialgraphics, photos,

video

Bodily-kinesthetic

models, laboratories

Interpersonalclass discussion,

office hours

Musicalsounds, turning

lessons into lyrics

Intrapersonalindependent study

• Instructor • Student

• Poor grades in examinations• Inability to perform well in the follow

up classes• Lack of motivation

Pipe??

Food Processing Equipment

Online animations available at : http://rpaulsingh.com/animations/animations_master.html

Gold Standard of Student EngagementHands-on Lab Experience

Internet-Assisted “Hands-on”Experiments

• Goal: Use the Internet to create real experiments that are conducted by a user to obtain real-time data.

• USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant 1999-2001

• Undergraduate Instruction Improvement Funds• UC-Mexus Funds

Rover on Mars

Internet-assisted Experiments

• Internet-assisted experiments conducted by – UC-Davis students in Winter 2000 and Winter

2001– Students from two universities from Mexico

and one from Argentina– Instructors from New Zealand, Korea, France,

and Japan

Virtual Laboratory• Conduct virtual experiments to augment

hands on laboratory experience• Use simulations from research• Simple and easy to use, and design for

teaching with pedagogical objectives.

Food Sterilization -- Canning

Virtual Experiment on Food Canning

Online virtual experiments available at : http://rpaulsingh.com/learning/virtual/virtual.html

Lectures are cost-effective but pedagogically unsound.

“A great way to teach but a terrible way to learn”

The Future of College,The Atlantic Magazine, September 2014

Bloom’s Taxonomy –Levels of intellectual behavior in learning

Hierarchy of learning begins with factual knowledge.

ComprehensionFactual Knowledge

ApplicationAnalysis

SynthesisEvaluation

• Instructors should inspire students to think!• Students learn how to put the pieces together

in a different manner• Problem solving, Creative solutions

Online Course on Food Freezing

• 2001• Ten modules with text, animations, process

calculations, quizzes.

Hybrid Course on Food Freezing

• Students required to view a module prior to attending class.

• A ten-minute quiz at the beginning of each class period.

• Benefit: Engaging discussion, active involvement of students.

• An undergraduate hybrid course taught at UC Davis since 2002

• “Flipped Classroom”

FST 151 Food Freezing

Video Games – Immersive Learning

• A state of the art video game incorporating food science, microbiology, chemistry and “fun.”

• “Beer Island” --- Selecting raw materials for a brewery and plant tour. (USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant)

• Sardine Factory “Revenge of the Sardines”(ISEKI, EU Project)

Technology in Education

Enhance Learning in Classroom

Improve Access to Education

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC)

• Began in Spring 2012• EdX (Harvard and MIT) , Coursera (Stanford)• “Circuits and Electronics”. 150,000 students

worldwide signed up, and 7000 students passed it

• Course taught with same level of staffing as would be for 100-200 students at MIT

Video Tutorials in Food Science/Engineering

(For a Flipped Classroom)

www.rpaulsingh.com

Video Tutorials available at: http://rpaulsingh.com/learning/videos/video_top.html

Google Analytics:Video Tutorial Views

Google Analytics:Video Tutorial Views

9,428 hrs1 year 27 days

Google Analytics:Video Tutorial Views

Google Analytics:Video Tutorial Views

Role of Instructor?

• Online experiences are useful supplements to in-class experiences.

• Yes! As an instructor you need to be there in the classroom.

• Inspiration and wisdom that only mentors can deliver.

• Learning could be interactive and project based, including students learning from each other, and instructors providing mentoring and guidance

Opportunities for Instructors

• Develop Web-based material to teach skills that focus on:– Finding information– Evaluating information: Making critical

judgements about its value, reliability, and validity

– Creating and distributing information and knowledge via the many communication forms--text, video, graphics, conversation

Challenge for Administration

• Evaluate and reward faculty for creativity and scholarship in teaching and distance learning.

• Use the Internet as a resource in sharing development of teaching materials.

• Cyberschools for training the educators.

Classroom?

Educating the Food Engineer

for2030

www.rpaulsingh.com

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