UR FUTURE FACULTY Why are innovative teaching approaches important?

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "UR FUTURE FACULTY Why are innovative teaching approaches important?"

Donald Wade
7 years ago
Views:

1 UR FUTURE FACULTY Why are innovative teaching approaches important? November 4, 2011 Raffaella Borasi 1

2 Faculty key responsibilities Scholarship Service Teaching 2

3 Faculty key responsibilities Scholarship Service Teaching: Teaching courses Supervising dissertations/independent studies Supervising internships Advising students Developing/running programs Student admissions/recruiting 3

4 Teaching courses What does it take? Experience is important and valuable BUT teaching is not learned just by doing 4

5 Teaching courses What does it take? Knowledge and skills in: Curriculum design Innovative teaching practices Classroom management 5

6 Teaching courses What does it take? Reflection on practice 6

7 What does a typical college class look like? 7

8 What does a typical college class look like? Instructor presents Students listen/ take notes Students apply/ practice Students are tested 8

9 Advantages of lecture approach: Conveys information effectively to many people Can make complex content more accessible Can target content to a specific audience Makes good use of experts 9

10 Limitations of lecture approach: It does not always work! 10

11 Key assumptions behind lecture approach Learning = acquisition of information and skills by listening, memorizing and practicing (behaviorist theory) Teaching = delivering clear explanations 11

12 Results of research on how people learn: People learn best when: They are actively engaged They fit new knowledge with their existing knowledge They encounter cognitive dissonance They benefit from social interaction Importance of learners background knowledge, culture and beliefs and learning preferences Role of context and purpose 12

13 Teaching implications of recent research on learning: Teacher as facilitator Teachers should focus on: Capitalizing on what each learner brings Designing productive learning tasks Facilitating individual sense-making and social interactions Assessment that can inform instruction Need to match teaching approaches with learning goals 13

14 Implications for lectures: Role of learner background Learn about your students backgrounds Ask students to make connections with past experiences Role of cognitive dissonance Present conflicting situations/examples Role of social interactions Provide opportunities to interact with a neighbor Role of learning styles Use multimedia as support 14

15 Examples of alternative teaching approaches *Inquiry approach learning through inquiry *Case discussion/ *problem based learning (PBL) learning through the in-depth examination of cases *Peer-led workshop model learning by engaging in a complex task in small groups Master lessons learning by analyzing/critiquing a specific performance Social networking technologies learning by communicating on line with others Online courses 15

16 Questions to guide reflection How did this experience help or hinder your learning? Which specific elements contributed to this outcome? Which of the learning principles discussed were reflected in this experience, and how? What does it take to employ this teaching approach effectively as a teacher? Can you see yourself using this method in your teaching? If so, for what purposes and with which type of content? 16

17 Results of research on how people learn: People learn best when: They are actively engaged They fit new knowledge with their existing knowledge They encounter cognitive dissonance They benefit from social interaction Importance of learners background knowledge, culture and beliefs and learning preferences Role of context and purpose Teaching implications of recent research on learning: Teacher as facilitator Teachers should focus on: Capitalizing on what each learner brings Designing productive learning tasks Facilitating individual sense-making and social interactions Assessment that can inform instruction Need to match teaching approaches with learning goals 17

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS The following questions are examples of questions frequently asked by school system recruiters. This list is certainly not all inclusive and should be used as a starting