one big question – conceptions of active learning

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One BIG question – One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Conceptions of Active Learning Learning Paul Wright Faculty of Technology, Southampton Solent University, SOUTHAMPTON, UK. [email protected]. uk Wendelin Romer Centre for Active Learning, University of Gloucestershire, CHELTENHAM, UK [email protected]

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One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning. Paul Wright Faculty of Technology, Southampton Solent University, SOUTHAMPTON, UK. [email protected]. Wendelin Romer Centre for Active Learning, University of Gloucestershire, CHELTENHAM, UK [email protected]. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

One BIG question – One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Conceptions of Active

LearningLearning

Paul WrightFaculty of Technology,Southampton Solent

University,SOUTHAMPTON, UK.

[email protected]

Wendelin RomerCentre for Active Learning,

University of Gloucestershire,

CHELTENHAM, UK

[email protected]

Page 2: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

Who the hell are we?Who the hell are we?Paul Wendelin

Environmental scientist/marine chemist/geographer

Archaeologist/Anthropologist

Research butterfly Using reflexive methodology for interpreting human remains

Promoting and evaluating Active teaching practicePerceptions of Active Learning

Encouraging inclusivity in university curriculaResearching undergraduate research and perception of Active Learning

Investigating the stuff that defines you as you

Encouraging an understanding of the connection between theory and practice

Page 3: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

This afternoon’s taskThis afternoon’s taskInvestigate the following question:

‘What is it to be a teacher?’You can approach this investigation in

any way you wantUse any (or none!) of the resources,

as you feel appropriateWe want a resolution to this

investigation in 45 minutesDon’t reflect on this outcome...... Yet!

Page 4: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

How was it for you?How was it for you?We didn’t like smiley faces!

We don’t like the absence of structure in early

experience of self-reflection

We do like it to be honest

We do like it when it says what YOU mean, not

what you think we want to hear

So we decided to take a different tack....

Paul is a twit(terer)....but there is another way

Haiku (we would like you to write up to 3)

Page 5: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

Active Learning writing since 1980. Data from Web of Knowledge (2008)

So, is AL the practice of the few, and from a select bunch of curricula?

Page 6: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

Initial thoughtsInitial thoughtsWe found three ‘families’ of conceptions

Page 7: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

The Impact of ALThe Impact of AL For students,:

◦ IMPROVING (in terms of learning)

◦ DISCRIMINATING (identifies who is motivated, prepared, and differentiates between ‘surface’ and ‘deep’ learning)

◦ EMPOWERING (taking ownership)

◦ FUN.

For teachers:◦ STIMULATING (requires some thought and a scholarly

approach to content and process)

◦ FUN (interactive and lively)

◦ REWARDING.

Downsides included:◦ Sustaining AL throughout 26 weeks

◦ Needing new strategies for coping with unmotivated, unprepared or struggling students

◦ Time pressures.

Page 8: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

Testing the modelsTesting the modelsRespondant Response A Response B Response C

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INTERNAL

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HOLISTIC

Page 9: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

Testing the modelsTesting the modelsRespondant Response A Response B Response C

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Page 10: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

Some initial conclusionsSome initial conclusions• Most respondents identified conceptions that suggest

that they believe student activity promotes learning.

• Ongoing debate about what this passive/active dimension looks like in class. Different teachers view student activity differently.

• People perceive Active Learning (as the pedagogy) as ‘learning by doing’

• There is a dissonance between people’s ideas/concepts, and the experiences they describe of AL in practice

• This could result from uncertainty about what the pedagogy is, how to apply ‘it’, or being less confident about applying ‘it’

Page 11: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

“I think that one of the key ideas in active learning for me is to get the students to understand WHY they are learning something – what the reason is for doing it. In this sense I wonder if the standard presentation at the front of the class by a lecturer can be active learning as well, as long as the students understand why they need this information”

Page 12: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

InterviewsInterviewsWe are presently at different

places with this part of the Project.We share five aspects in the

perception of AL◦Conceptualisation◦Values◦Academic Freedom◦Process◦Support and Resources

Page 13: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

ConceptualisationConceptualisationActive Learning as a pedagogy is

about ‘learning by doing’

There is a difference between AL as a pedagogy and what ‘learning actively’ is

The way in which it was conceptualised informed its value

Page 14: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

ValueValueHow respondents valued ‘doing’

related to their engagement with the pedagogy

These values were positive, negative, ambivalent or ‘open’

These were related to their own experiences of learning, teaching, the pedagogy, and personal preferences

Page 15: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

Academic FreedomAcademic FreedomUse of ‘two definitions’ (the respondent’s and

the ‘University’s’)

Threat to teaching quality (also related to value of ‘learning by doing’)

Perception of loss of academic freedom and recognition of their expertise through ‘direction’

Neutral perspective through respondents already feeling ‘comfortable’ in their own practice

Page 16: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

“Sometimes it’s just kind of perversity, I think. Thinking this is flavour of the month. I will resist it. If you are told by the Vice Chancellor, or some folks, that this is what the university is all about, and you think ‘Well, I think we do that in our own way, anyway’, so there is a kind of perverseness about it, a kind of resistance to being co-opted. Do you know what I mean?...........it is perverse because you know in your heart of hearts that is well intentioned, and a good thing”

Page 17: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

ProcessProcessValuing and engagement varied

depending on whether it was considered as a wholesale approach, or an element within a strategy of pedagogic approaches

Strong positive response around using practical/experience/activity in the curriculum where relevant and subject applicable, but not necessarily associated with AL as a pedagogy

Page 18: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

Support and ResourcesSupport and ResourcesThe possibilities of using AL were

viewed as being constrained by resources◦Time to do prepare and do◦Support for development◦Doing AL in big classes as

problematic◦Concern over how AL could be used

in certain subject areas, that are less ‘practical’

Page 19: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

Active Learning writing since 1980. Data from Web of Knowledge (2008)

So, is AL the practice of the few, and from a select bunch of curricula?

Page 20: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

Return to the textReturn to the text

To listen and yet it is easy to forget

To see/perceive and yet it is easy to remember/record

To be/act as and yet it is easy to understand

Page 21: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

New insights?New insights?Not just ‘doing’, but ‘being’

Sense of ‘embodiment’, and ‘thinking as’

No sense of first two lines being used negatively

The final character contains the ‘heart radical’ – mind and heart

Page 22: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

Thoughts so farThoughts so farWe can identify a range of

conceptions that teachers hold, concerning AL

By and large, an individual views AL as a complex mix of the physical and cognitive

It is not just ‘learning by doing’, and, in fact, it NEVER was!

The need to introduce practice that promotes self-reflection and internalisation of learning

We (Wendelin and Paul) need to join our work up

Page 23: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

AL, Signature Pedagogy, Threshold AL, Signature Pedagogy, Threshold ConceptsConceptsSignature pedagogies (Shulman, 2005):

◦ Characteristic forms of teaching and learning that organise ways to prepare future practitioners for their professional work

◦ Possessing a deep structure

◦ “ . . . a set of assumptions about how best to impart a certain body of knowledge and know-how. And it has an implicit structure, a moral dimension, that comprises a set of beliefs about professional attitudes, values, and dispositions”

◦ “disclose important information about the personality of a professional field—its values, knowledge, and manner of thinking, almost, perhaps, its total worldview” (Candol, 2007)

Page 24: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

AL, Signature Pedagogy, Threshold AL, Signature Pedagogy, Threshold ConceptsConceptsThreshold Concepts (Meyer & Land, 2003):

◦ Described as a ‘portal’, which opens new ways of seeing one’s subject domain

◦ “Grasping a threshold concept is transformative because it involves an ontological as well as a conceptual shift. We are what we know. New understandings are assimilated into our biography, becoming part of who we are, how we see and how we feel. When academics announce that they are a sociologist, biologist, etc, they are announcing both their expertise and their identity, an identity which marks an arrival from being a student of sociology, biology, etc. to someone who thinks and acts like an ‘ologist’ of one kind or another. Those concerned with linking teaching and research are keen to progress this identity journey among their students.” (Cousin, 2007)

Page 25: One BIG question – Conceptions of Active Learning

“One's action ought to come out of an achieved stillness: not to be a mere

rushing on..”D. H. Lawrence