Tag: learning
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Ranking students, or developing understanding?
We have a collection of courses at my institution that have become known as “killer courses”. These are the courses with a history of poor student performance in terms of throughput and retention, and which we’re trying to provide extra support for. Two of these killer courses are outside courses (i.e. outside of our department)…
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Making mistakes can be a Good Thing
One of the changes we made in our curriculum this year has been to work on creating spaces where students are willing to “have a go” at figuring out a clinical problem that we give them. We realised that students were reluctant to try because they were worried about failing the challenge. They didn’t want…
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Workplace-based assessment
Yesterday I attended a workshop / seminar on workplace-based assessment given by John Norcini, president of FAIMER and creator of the mini-CEX. Here are the notes I took. Methods Summative (“acquired learning” that’s dominated assessment) and formative (feedback that helps to learn, assessment for learning) The methods below into the workplace, require observation and feedback…
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From “designing teaching” to “evaluating learning”
Later this month we’ll be implementing a blended approach to teaching and learning in one module in our physiotherapy department. This was to form the main part of my research project, looking at the use of technology enhanced teaching and learning in clinical education. The idea was that I’d look at the process of developing…
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Teaching and learning workshop at Mont Fleur
applied physiotherapy, assessment, clinical education, concept mapping, conceptual relationships, content, curriculum development, evaluation, feedback, graduate attibutes, healthcare education, intended learning outcomes, learning, learning outcomes, module development, mont fleur, organising knowledge, peer evaluation, phd, physiotherapy, research, rubrics, scientific method, self-assessment, solo taxonomy, stellenbosch, structured observation of learning outcomes, teaching, teaching activity, teaching and learning, workshopA few weeks ago I spent 3 days at Mont Fleur near Stellenbosch, on a teaching and learning retreat. Next year we’re going to be restructuring 2 of our modules as part of a curriculum review, and I’ll be studying the process as part of my PhD. That part of the project will also form…
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TEDxStellenbosch: designing spaces
A few months ago I attended TEDxStellenbosch at Spier wine farm near Stellenbosch. It was one of the better TEDx events I’ve been to during past few years and I enjoyed it immensely. During the day I re-tweeted comments from other participants, mainly as a record of speakers and the comments that resonated with me.…
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CHEC course: teaching and learning (day 3)
Yesterday’s CHEC session was presented by Jeff Jawitz from UCT, who looked at tools for addressing diversity in the South African university classroom. I’ve seen Jeff present before at conferences and he’s got a really relaxed way of introducing and working with often highly controversial topics, like race and gender. I was especially excited to…
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Peer review of teaching activities
Last year at our planning meeting we decided to integrate peer review of teaching activities during 2011 as part of our departmental plan to engage with a scholarship of teaching and learning. A few of us developed a peer review form based on a few examples we found online and then submitted the form to…
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SAFRI 2011 (session 2) – day 2
“Teach” a group of colleagues about “Assessment”. Here are some notes I took in preparation for a 5 minute teaching session What is assessment? “Defines for students what is important, what counts, how they will spend their times and how they will see themselves as learners. If you want to change student learning, then change…
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Workshop on Intended Learning Outcomes
I’ve already mentioned that my institution has increased the emphasis on the scholarship of teaching and learning over the past few years, by placing it on an equal footing with research. This has forced all academics to reconsider their roles within the university, which many have resisted. Luckily (for me) I work in a department…
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Teaching a practical Movement Science class
This is the first year that I’ve taught Movement Science (i.e. analysis of movement), which was daunting at first as I wasn’t familiar with it. In addition, the module content was almost entirely in hardcopy, so I’ve been typing away like crazy to get it all into a digital format. The practical component of the module…
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CHAT workshop for Emerging ICT in HE research
activity systems, activity theory, Change laboratory, chat, cognitive change, cultural historical activity theory, external activity systems, General, genetic law, Implement, Internalisation, joanne hardman, learning, leontiev, Lev Vygotsky, model, research, Russia, Stalin, teacher, teaching, vygotskyLast week I attended a short workshop on Cultural Historical Activity Theory (given by Joanne Hardman) as part of an NRF-funded research project on the use of emerging ICTs in Higher Education. Here are my notes from the session (this was all very new to me and I probably got a few things wrong. Feel…
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Students’ languages and their associations
Our Directorate of Teaching and Learning has organised a series of seminars over the next few months, with invited speakers from a variety of institutions across the country. They’ll be presenting on a range of topics, including academic literacy, integrating technology into teaching, working with large classes, teaching practices, and educational theory. I’ll also be…
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The child is made of one hundred – a poem by Loris Malaguzzi
This is a poem I came across by the founder of the Reggio Emilia approach to education, Loris Malaguzzi. The child is made of one hundred.The child has a hundred languagesa hundred handsa hundred thoughtsa hundred ways of thinkingof playing, of speaking.A hundred, always a hundredways of listeningof marvelingof lovinga hundred joys for singingand understandinga…
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What is Connectivism?
It is the idea that… Knowledge is networked and distributed The experience of learning is one of forming your own neural, conceptual and external networks Learning occurs in complex, chaotic and shifting spaces And that it is increasingly aided by technology Siemens (2008), via Connectivism – Personal Learning Networks for 21st Century Teachers
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Bloom’s new taxonomy
The title of this post is taken from a section of David Warlick’s “Exploring the Future of Schooling in Windsor” post, in which he includes a table of Blooms new taxonomy, which I’ve reproduced below. Blooms New Taxonomy Creating assemble, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, write. Evaluating appraise, argue, defend, judge, select, support, value, evaluate…
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Assessment in an outcomes based curriculum
I attended a seminar / short course on campus yesterday, presented by Prof. Chrissie Boughey from Rhodes University. She spoke about the role of assessment in curriculum development and the link between teaching and assessing. Here are the notes I took. Assessment is the most important factor in improving learning because we get back what…