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Teaching and Learning Theory |
| Introduction Technology Issues and Decisions Phase I: Color Preference Test Phase II: Shades of Difference Phase III: Website Preferences Phase IV: Alternative Presentations of Identical Content
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Boettcher’s examination of what makes the web different for teaching and learning and design guidelines of web-based learning provides thoughtful insight into communication patterns; the amount of faculty time spent teaching online courses; workload in regard to development, design, and delivery; and new tools. She recommends starting with only 10-14 students in fully online class but realizing that as class size increases, so must instructional models. Boettcher, Judith V. ( September/October, 1999). Reevaluating the basics: An interview Judith V. Boettcher about the future of education. The Technology Source. Available: http://ts.mivu.org/default.asp?show=article&id=607. Last accessed: 4/21/03. This article predicts changes that will occur in both teaching and learning as more and more classes are taught online. Changes the author foresees are that courses will become more learner centered and that learners will become more responsible for their own intellectual growth. Assessment will emphasize competency rather than “bell-curve grading.” Browne, M. Neil and Stuart M. Keeley. (2000). Asking the right questions: A guide to critical thinking, 6th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. A popular textbook, this volume emphasizes processes that enable students to make rational choices and apply critical thinking to a range of activities. It looks at how to make systematic evaluation of arguments based on explicit rational criteria rather than being passive absorbers of information. Cain, Richard. (September, 2000). Strategies for helping liberal arts students become more active learners online. Journal of Electronic Publishing Vol. 6 (1). While the typical classroom can accommodate some degree of passive learning, web-based instruction cannot. Web-based instruction requires more of an effort than traditional learning; the lack of face-to-face contact can make it more impersonal; the technical requirements often present difficulties to students. When well done, web-based instruction opens new possibilities for instruction and can lead to new and creative teaching techniques; it also lends itself to highly flexible, student-tailored instruction by offering students a vast body of resources, viewpoints, and experiences. It also promotes collaborative learning and encourages students to be more responsible for their learning. Egan, Kieran. (1997). The educated mind: How cognitive tools shape our understanding. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Egan argues that society has inherited three major educational ideas that are each incompatible with the other two: socialization, Plato’s truth about reality, and Rousseau’s natural guidance. The question thus becomes: is the purpose of education to make good citizens and gain socially relevant skills or is it to master certain bodies of knowledge or is it the fulfillment of each student’s unique potential? These conflicting goals cause clashes at all levels of education. In solution, Egan presents an alternative paradigm that education is learning to use certain intellectual tools which shape how we make sense of the world. The book includes proposals for teaching and curriculum change. Gage, N.L. (1978). The scientific basis of the art of teaching. New York: Teachers College Press. Gage’s volume characterizes the results derived from attempting to apply the scientific method to the study of teaching. He offers two suggestion: 1) teaching is more like the arts than it is the sciences and 2) even if it is an art, researchers are still free to investigate the scientific basis for the art of teaching. Gage worries that unless teaching is provided with a scientific foundations, there will be no guidance for teachers into best methods of teaching. Gardner, Howard. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books. Gardner proposes a paradigm of the human mind in which there are seven relatively autonomous intellectual capacities: linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial--bodily kinesthetic; interpersonal and intrapersonal. Each “individual possesses varying degrees of these intelligences, but the ways the intelligences combine and blend are as varied as the faces and personalities of individuals.” He also argues that there is both a biological and a cultural basis for these intelligences. In accepting Gardner’s theories, teachers need to think that all intelligences are equally important and structure the presentation of materials in a manner which engages most or all of the intelligences. Joyce, Bruce and Marsha Weil. (1999). Models of teaching, 6th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. This textbook covers the rationale and research on the major models of teaching and applies the models by using scenarios and examples of instructional materials. It deals with the major psychological and philosophical approaches to teaching and schooling and takes a reflective teaching/constructivist approach to learning and teaching. Kearsley, Greg. (2000). Online education: Learning and teaching in cyberspace. Florence, KY: Wadsworth. This book provides an overview of learning and teaching in “cyberspace.” Topics covered include research about online education; themes such as connectivity, authenticity and unboundedness that shape online education; its scope; educational issues in the information age; and the design and development of online courses. Issues relating to learning theories, institutional policies, and quality control are also discussed. Examples of activities that foster and facilitate meaningful interaction and participation are included in the volume. Kolb, David. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Textbook that includes foundations of contemporary approaches to experiential learning; the process of experiential learning, including models; structural foundations of the learning process; individuality and learning styles; the structure of knowledge; the experiential learning theory of development; and learning and development in higher education. Love, Patrick G. and Anne Goodsell Love. (1996). Enhancing student learning: Intellectual, Social, and Emotional Integration. Washington, DC: Washington University Press. This report views the intellectual, social, and emotional divides from a broader and more inclusive perspective that recognizes that student learning can and should be integrated in additional ways. McKeachie, Wilbert J. and Graham Gibbs. (2001). Teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers, 11th ed. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. This classic handbook covers current topics in higher education such as cooperative learning, student journals, cognitive learning strategies, and using communication and information technologies effectively. The strategies presented are easily adaptable and supported by research and theory. The book is a step-by-step guide to designing effective courses. Nilson, Linda B. (1998). Teaching at it best: A research-based resource for college Instructors. Bolton, MA: Anker. Described as a toolbox, this book is a concise compilation of teaching techniques, formats, classroom activities, and exercises. It includes syllabus design, strategies for motivating students, resources for active teaching using the discovery method, experiential teaching formats, questioning techniques for discussion and assessment, using technology, and methods of assessment. Tapscott, Don. (1998). Growing up digital: The rise of the net generation. New York; McGraw-Hill. Tapscott offers an overview of what he calls the N-Generation, the generation of children who in the year 2000 will be between the ages of 2 and 22. He feels that this group will force great changes in communication, retailing, advertising, and education and comments that this generation is so technologically proficient that they will “lap” their parents and leave them behind. Tapscott describes the N-Generation as curious, self-reliant, contrarian, smart, focused, highly-adaptable, globally-oriented, high in self esteem, and extremely comfortable with digital tools and feels that this is a generation who “thinks differently” from previous generations. The section on education advocates “project-centered” learning and he criticizes schools for not being open enough to technology.
Project C.O.P.E.: Content,
Organization, Preference, Evaluation
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