Learning-Centered Syllabi Workshop
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Learning-Centered Syllabi - 0 views
www.celt.iastate.edu/...syllabi.html
Student-Centered Learning-Centered teaching syllabus curriculum Learning Styles
shared by Diane Gusa on 29 Jun 11
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Creating and using a learner-centered syllabus is integral to the process of creating learning communities.
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we focus on the process of learning rather than the content, that the content and the teacher adapt to the students rather than expecting the students to adapt to the content, that responsibility is placed on students to learn rather than on professors to teach.
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A necessary first step in creating a learning-centered syllabus, according to most sources, is to spend some time thinking about the "big questions" related to why, what, who and how we teach.
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thoughtful discussions with ourselves and our colleagues about our teaching philosophy and what it means to be an educated person in our discipline
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students should progress from a primarily instructor-led approach to a primarily student-initiated approach to learning.
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participate in planning the course content and activities; clarify their own goals and objectives for the course; monitor and assess their own progress; and establish criteria for judging their own performance within the goals that they have set for themselves, certification or licensing requirements, time constraints, etc.
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According to Johnson, "course objectives should consist of explicit statements about the ways in which students are expected to change as a result of your teaching and the course activities. These should include changes in thinking skills, feelings, and actions" (p. 3)
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Don't use words that are open to many interpretations and which are difficult to measure. Make sure that all students understand the same interpretation.
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The Cognitive Domain is associated with knowledge and intellectual skills. The Affective Domain is associated with changes in interests, attitudes, values, applications, and adjustments. And the Psychomotor Domain is associated with manipulative and motor skills
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An effective learning-centered syllabus should accomplish certain basic goals (Diamond, p. ix): define students' responsibilities; define instructor's role and responsibility to students; provide a clear statement of intended goals and student outcomes; establish standards and procedures for evaluation; acquaint students with course logistics; establish a pattern of communication between instructor and students; and include difficult-to-obtain materials such as readings, complex charts, and graphs.
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Students need to know why topics are arranged in a given order and the logic of the themes and concepts as they relate to the course structure
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Does the course involve mostly inductive or deductive reasoning? Is it oriented to problem-solving or theory building? Is it mostly analytical or applied? In answering these questions, acknowledge that they reflect predominant modes in most cases rather than either/or dichotomies.
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"Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss your specific needs. Please contact the Disability Resources Office at 515-294-6624 or TTY 515-294-6635 in Room 1076 of the Student Services Building to submit your documentation and coordinate necessary and reasonable accommodation."
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"A learning-centered syllabus requires that you shift from what you, the instructor, are going to cover in your course to a concern for what information and tools you can provide for your students to promote learning and intellectual development" (Diamond, p. xi).
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Critical thinking is a learned skill. The instructor, fellow students, and possibly others are resources. Problems, questions, issues, values, beliefs are the point of entry to a subject and source of motivation for sustained inquiry. Successful courses balance the challenge of critical thinking with the supportive foundation of core principles, theories, etc., tailored to students' developmental needs. Courses are focused on assignments using processes that apply content rather than on lectures and simply acquiring content. Students are required to express ideas in a non-judgmental environment which encourages synthesis and creative applications. Students collaborate to learn and stretch their thinking. Problem-solving exercises nurture students' metacognitive abilities. The development needs of students are acknowledged and used in designing courses. Standards are made explicit and students are helped to learn how to achieve them.
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Education, OpenStudy, Facebook: Start-up Idea - Planning - 0 views
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OpenStudy is a platform for “massively multiplayer study groups”, allowing students from around the world to become study buddies.
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addition to rewarding users with medals and achievements for answering a question quickly or answering more than 10 questions, users can also “fan” people they’d like to follow, giving them another incentive to engage and contribute
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We want OpenStudy profiles to become like LinkedIn for education. We want our students to become heroes to their peers,” a company spokesperson says
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Internet Access for All: A New Program Targets Low-Income Students - 0 views
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Equity Theory - Motivation at a Glance: An ISchool Collaborative - 0 views
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he presence of inequity will motivate Person to achieve equity or reduce inequity, and the strength of motivation to do so will vary directly with the amount of inequity."
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Motivation - Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching and Technology - 0 views
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Setting up rigid and realistic goals based on the learner's competence, therefore, is more effective than setting easy goals.
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Mastery goal: Understanding the class materials is more important than earning a high grade, and that's why I work hard to learn. My performance is better than it was at the beginning of the semester.
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Bandura pointed out that negative messages have an even greater effect on lowering efficacy expectations than do positive messages to increase it.
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Successful experience: It is the teachers' responsibility to help learners achieve academic success by providing challenging, yet attainable tasks . Successful experience is the most important source of fostering self-efficacy.
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Challenge: Design challenging activities which convey the message to the learners that they have competitive skills. It is essential to find a balance between learner competence and the difficulty of the goals. Overly difficult goals are unlikely to increase learner motivation to continue the task if the learners perceive they will never reach the goal. Likewise, goals that are too easily attained do not sufficiently challenge learners to encourage skill development.
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ISTE Standards Essential Conditions - 0 views
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oactive leadership in developing a shared vision for educational technology among all education stakeholders, including teachers and support staff, school and district administrators, teacher educators, students, parents, and the community Empowered Leaders Stakeholders at every level empowered to be leaders in effecting change Implementation Planning A systemic plan aligned with a shared vision for school effectiveness and student learning through the infusion of information and communication technology (ICT) and digital learning resources Consistent and Adequate Funding Ongoing funding to support technology infrastructure, personnel, digital resources, and staff development Equitable Access Robust and reliable access to current and emerging technologies and digital resources, with connectivity for all students, teachers, staff, and school leaders Skilled Personnel Educators, support staff, and other leaders skilled in the selection and effective use of appropriate ICT resources Ongoing Professional Learning Technology-related professional learning plans and opportunities with dedicated time to practice and share ideas Technical Support Consistent and reliable assistance for maintaining, renewing, and using ICT and digital learning resources Curriculum Framework Content standards and related digital curriculum resources that are aligned with and support digital age learning and work Student-Centered Learning Planning, teaching, and assessment centered around the needs and abilities of students Assessment and Evaluation Continuous assessment of teaching, learning, and leadership, and evaluation of the use of ICT and digital resources Engaged Communities Partnerships and collaboration within communities to support and fund the use of ICT and digital learning resources Support Policies Policies, financial plans, accountability measures, and incentive structures to support the use of ICT and other digital resources for learning and in district school operations Supportive External Context Policies and initiatives at the national, regional, and local levels to support schools and teacher preparation programs in the effective implementation of technology for achieving curriculum and learning technology (ICT) standards
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Proactive leadership in developing a shared vision for educational technology among all education stakeholders, including teachers and support staff, school and district administrators, teacher educators, students, parents, and the community
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Achieving meaningful online learning through effective formative assessment - 0 views
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eCoaching Tip 51: A Garden of Three Presences - Social Presence, Teaching Presence and ... - 1 views
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Social presence is the ability to project oneself socially and affectively in a virtual environment. You achieve social presence by being a real -- three-dimensional -- person to your students. Another way of saying this is that you let yourself be known as a person with a life in addition to your role as a teacher/mentor.
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teaching presence is the work of teaching both before and during the course. It includes the designing and developing the course and in directing and supporting the learners during the course delivery. Teaching presence is manifested in the course materials -- in the syllabus, assignments, choice of readings and discussions. Teaching presence is also manifested in everything the faculty member does to guide, support and shape the learners' experiences. Effective teaching presence sets clear expectations and supportive guidance.
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Cognitive Presence is the extent to which a group of learners are able to 'construct meaning through sustained communication.' (Garrison, 2006)
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Faculty sets high expectations for student inquiry and expectations Faculty examine student responses and probes, challenges, questions encouraging thought and analysis of ideas and content Learners participate thoughtfully in the discussions, responding to content and thoughts and questions from other learners so that a sustained communication occurs. Faculty and students strive to ensure that project outcomes are long-lasting and meaningful.
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Of all the best practices for online teaching, the most important practice is "being there." Being there is the core of presence, letting your students know that you are there to direct, to guide, to listen and to share your expertise with your learners. This tip takes you on a guide through a Garden of Three Presences for Online Teaching and Learning - Social Presence, Teaching Presence and Cognitive Presence (Garrison, 2006b). This tip defines the three types of presence and then lists tools and behaviors - for both faculty and students -that support these three types of presence.
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Gamification Shows the Learner Visible Signs of Their Learning | Faculty Focus - 0 views
www.facultyfocus.com/...learner-visible-signs-learning
visuals games gamification ZPD multimedia design
shared by lkryder on 03 Jul 14
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One of the strengths of gamification is that it provides visible milestones of the student’s mastery of content in real time (when it is well designed). Too often in an instructional setting, the learner doesn’t know whether or not he or she really understands or can apply the knowledge they are learning. There is often no visible sign of mastery of the content or application of the content.
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Gamification should orient the learner to where they are in the instructional process, where they are going, and how much further they have to go until the end. The concept is that the learner is able to “see” progress. The progress might be in the form of a character moving up a mountain or an image of how close the learner is to the next level (Kapp, 2013).
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Gamification uses criterion and mastery to advance the learner from one element of the instruction to the next.
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Mastery learning provides an approach that recognizes that aptitude for learning may be more closely linked to time and perseverance than to ability (Bloom, 1971; Melton, 2008)
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The technique of scaffolding and the use of levels in games provides visual progress to the student and maintain interest in the instruction as the student moves from level to level having different experiences and achieving success as they progress toward the ultimate goal. In gamification, the levels usually become more difficult and challenging as the student moves toward the end and the skills they exhibit at the final level would not be possible without the experience of playing the preceding levels. This idea is embodied in Merrill’s application principle that “instruction should provide coaching, which should be gradually withdrawn to enhance application” (Merrill, 2009, pp. 42).
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Early Attrition among First Time eLearners: A Review of Factors that Contribute to Drop... - 1 views
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Some have reported attrition from eLearning as high as 70 - 80% (Flood 2002, Forrester 2000, in Dagger & Wade, 2004). Parker (1999) argues that “With the growth of distance education has come the problem of exceedingly high attrition rates”. Citing Carter (1996), she suggests that eLearning student attrition in some institutions is exceeds 40%, while others (Frankola, 2001). Diaz (2002), put it at between 20 - 50%, and Carr (2000), estimate it to be 10% - 20% higher than for traditional on-campus education.
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learners in employment bring a different set of needs, strategies and motivations to the learning process.
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frequently geographically removed from the learning resources, information sources, learner peers and Tutors compared to their on-campus peers
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Employed adults tend to complete eLearning in their personal time due to workload pressures in the workplace and/or Internet access issues at work
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Learning complex or technically demanding material requires building mental models or cognitive schemas about the subject being studied or the skill being developed over time
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Learning new material or a skill, for which a schema in long term memory is undeveloped or non-existent, can cause working memory to quickly overload its limited capacity. This overloading can result in a learner becoming highly anxious and losing confidence, which in turn can lead to the learning process, in effect, freezing and the learner being unable to continue.
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“Digital literacy involves more than the ability to use software or operate a digital device; it includes a large variety of complex cognitive, motor, sociological and emotional skills, which users need in order to function effectively in digital environments.”
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It is this author’s experience in designing, developing and delivering several eLearning programmes to public sector employees in New Zealand, that a face to face workshop prior the start of the online distance course can make a significant difference to a first time eLearner’s perception and experience of eLearning.
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This type of pre-course face-to-face induction workshop can also be used to foster the group’s sense of itself, and to identify the individual participants and their backgrounds, along with their expectations and concerns. It is also helpful to have the course design, structure and philosophy explained and to discuss anxieties associated with beginning an online course.
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(1) negotiating the technology; (2) negotiating the course website; (3) negotiating the course content (4) becoming an eLearner (5) negotiating CMC interaction.
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develop a mental model of the content structure and navigation system in order to find his/her way around
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engage with the learning materials, readings, activities and assessments that make up a programme of study
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undertake the learning tasks involved in interacting with peers via synchronous and asynchronous Computer Mediated Communication
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Successfully negotiating this early experience depends very much on the relevant skills, circumstances, motivations and personal attributes of the learner. It follows then, that paying particular attention to how an eLearning course is structured and introduced and the manner in which the learner is inducted can make a very important difference in a learner deciding whether or not to engage and persist or to drop out.
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actually apprising learners of the issues of cognitive overload and how it is commonly experienced would go some way towards inoculating learners against its more pernicious effects.
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Supporting learners till they are over the initial “eLearning learning-curve hump”, may involve a seemingly high level of resource and effort on the part of the course facilitator and associated programme administration staff, but the payoff is that fewer learners will drop out at the early stage.
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Actively supporting, encouraging, gently cajoling and following up on learners who seem to be struggling will help to keep wavering learners in the course.
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In terms of the actual course design and the structure of the materials and learning activities, then it is a useful practice to aim to start slowly and build the course tempo over time.
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The one area where something may be done to reduce attrition is in the early stages of an online course.
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Cognitive overload is a likely contributor to high drop out rates, particularly where those withdrawing do so within the first few weeks of the start of a course. Greater levels of persistence and completions may be achieved if learners are supported to anticipate, prepare for, recognise and recover from the cognitive burden they may experience as first time eLearners.
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Looks at why some students don't make it through online courses- many first time online students are unsure what to expect and are just overwhelmed by the whole experience.
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The experience of the first-time online learner is qualified. Suggestions for decreasing early attrition are suggested.
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Attrition among mature adult online learners is affected by sociological, psychological, technical and cognitive factors, critical features of which are the notions of cognitive load and locus of control.