Very good, brief summary of activity theory http://www.teachthought.com/learning/how-the-activity-learning-theory-works/
Category: Academic Practice Reading
Journal of Pedagogic Development
Journal of Pedagogic Development:
New Edition:
Vol 5, No 1 (2015): JPD 5(1)
Table of Contents
Papers
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M. James C. Crabbe, Lucy O'Rorke, Eamonn Egan, Ali Hadawi
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David William Stoten
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Michelle Blackburn
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Caroline Elbra-Ramsay, Anita Backhouse
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Greg Michaelson
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Gloria Park
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Veronica Barnes
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Articles
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David Mathew
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Book Reviews
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Kathy-Ann Daniel-Gittens
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Peter Norrington
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Mary Malcolm
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You don’t need to take notes – the slides will be available……
One of the things that I notice when I observe lectures is that either very few students make any notes, or students have laptops and make occasional notes while watching the powerpoint on their screen. There are a number of issues here:
Is note taking a necessary academic/professional skill - I often notice that when I give the observation feedback the lecturer general makes notes - we do make notes, and our students don't - is this a problem.
When the laptop option becomes predominant there are other problems - in giving feedback to a lecturer I often comment on their eye contact with the students - if there aren't any students looking at the lecturer - that becomes problematic.
At a deeper level there is a question about the value of handwritten note-taking, I use my tablet a lot so I am not sure about this - but two recent articles about the importance of handwritten notes - http://chronicle.com/article/The-Benefits-of-No-Tech-Note/228089/ and
http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/06/does-losing-handwriting-in-school-mean-losing-other-skills-too/
Useful literature review from Sandra Sinfield - http://learning.londonmet.ac.uk/TLTC/learnhigher/Resources/resources/Notemaking/Staff/Note-takingliteraturereview%20FINISHEDv2.pdf
Useful Infographichttp://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/the-ultimate-guide-note-taking-infographic.html?ref=fbp&n=1
Higher Education politics becoming hotter again?
Across the globe there have been recent outbursts of activity about the nature of Universities, funding etc, from Chile to Canada and now Holland - is this going to develop into a new wave of student protest?
FW: Studies in Higher Education: latest articles on Taylor & Francis Online
FW: Educational Studies in Mathematics, Vol. 88, Issue 3 – New Issue Alert
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Enhancing self-efficacy in first year students
This research finds that:
"Subject-specific self-concepts of ability predict study-related self-concepts of ability according to individuals' similarity judgements. Subject-specific mastery experience predicts expectancy of success only if the respective school subject is emphasized in the course description."
So again making the link to previous study/knowledge explicitly enhances learning and student success.
British Journal of Educational Psychology
How do I know what I can do? Anticipating expectancy of success regarding novel academic tasks
Another article about Kolb and Teaching
This time from the man himself – with others – it will be interesting to read the two together.
http://sag.sagepub.com/content/45/2/204
Abstract
Background.
Becoming an experiential educator involves more than just being a
facilitator or matching learning style with teaching style. Experiential education
is a complex relational process that involves balancing attention to the learner and to
the subject matter while also balancing reflection on the deep meaning of ideas with the
skill of applying them.
Aim.
To describe a dynamic matching model of education based on Experiential Learning
Theory and to create a self-assessment instrument for helping educators understand
their approach to education.
Method.
A dynamic matching model for “teaching around the learning cycle” describes
four roles that educators can adopt to do so—facilitator, subject expert, standardsetter/evaluator,
and coach. A self-assessment instrument called the Educator
Role Profile was created to help educators understand their use of these roles.
Results.
Research using the Educator Role Profile indicates that to some extent educators
do tend to teach the way they learn, finding that those with concrete learning styles
are more learner-centered, preferring the facilitator role; while those with abstract
learning styles are more subject-centered preferring the expert and evaluator roles.
Conclusion.
A model for the practice of dynamic matching of educator roles, learner
style, and subject matter can aid in the planning and implementation of educational
experiences. With practice, both learners and educators can develop the flexibility to
David Andrew
HEA CPD Manager
Senior Tutor
Centre for Academic and Professional Development
Queen Mary, University of London
Mile End, London E1 4NS
FW: Democratizing Higher Education is Now Available for Pre-order
Dear Colleagues,
The new HETL book titled, Democratizing Higher Education: International Comparative Perspectives, by Routledge is now available for pre-order. See http://routledge-ny.com/books/details/9781138020955/
A few reviews on the book:
"This timely book helpfully reminds us that higher education was once (and might yet be again?) considered and discussed in terms of its wider contribution to culture and civilisation, as well as to social inclusiveness and equity, all in the context of a (re-)discovered core ethos of political, ethnic, and social justice."
--David Palfreyman, Director of the Oxford Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies, Oxford University
"Through the authors' compelling case studies on social, cultural, economic and political issues in diverse communities, the reader can quickly understand the commonalities to all quality higher education programs across international borders. Applause to Blessinger and Anchan for providing an excellent resource that presents significant ideas with a trajectory for higher education systems."
--Barbara Cozza, Associate Professor, St. John's University
"A democratically engaged society demands a citizenry that can critically think and challenge the forces that oppose it. Higher education is key. This volume offers a global look at how several nations strive to make higher education a reality for all its citizens as well as the challenges they face in doing so. It is a must-read for any student or professor of international higher education studies."
--Jill Alexa Perry, Executive Director, Carnegie Project on the Educational Doctorate
Kind regards,
--
Dr. Patrick W. Blessinger, @DrBlessinger
Executive Director & Chief Research Scientist, International HETL Association
Adjunct Faculty, School of Education, St. John's University, New York City
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education
Senior Scholar, Institute for Meaning-Centered Educationz
Article re-examining Kolb
This looks interesting - if you have read it could you leave a comment here
Article Evolving Kolb: Experiential Education in the Age of Neuroscience Jeb Schenck1,2 and Jessie Cruickshank3
Abstract In pursuing a refined Learning Styles Inventory (LSI), Kolb has moved away from the original cyclical nature of his model of experiential learning. Kolb’s model has not adapted to current research and has failed to increase understanding of learning. A critical examination of Kolb’s experiential learning theory in terms of epistemology, educational neuroscience, and model analysis reveals the need for an experiential learning theory that addresses these issues. This article re-conceptualizes experiential learning by building from cognitive neuroscience, Dynamic Skill Theory, and effective experiential education practices into a self-adjusting fractal-like cycle that we call CoConstructed Developmental Teaching Theory (CDTT). CDTT is a biologically driven model of teaching. It is a cohesive framework of ideas that have been presented before but not linked in a coherent manner to the biology of the learning process. In addition, it orders the steps in a neurobiologically supported sequence. CDTT opens new avenues of research utilizing evidenced-based teaching practices and provides a basis for a new conversation. However, thorough testing remains.