Session 1.
How do people learn?
Before we can answer this question I believe we need to ask what is learning. In a simple definition learning is acquiring knowledge or skill through various forms of education and putting it into practice whether it is in the classroom or work environment.
How do people learn?
How much sitting and listening is required?
How do we teach?
In table groups we came up with different ideas, and recorded the following:
• Group discussion and interaction (e.g. teacher-student interaction, student-student interaction).
• Demonstration by the teacher/instructor.
• Investigation and research.
• Students/learners follow the instructions set up by the teacher/instructor, and willing to carry out more practice.
• Encouragement given to students.
• Observation and reflections carried out by the students/learners.
As a teacher, personally the following steps are important for me to carry out:
• Fostering relationships with the students. As we have students from different ethnic backgrounds, it is difficult for them to relate to someone they may have seen for the first time and to someone whom they can express their concerns to.
• Demonstration on how to carry out activities whether it is in the classroom or the practicals must be clear with an understanding of what is to be achieved and the reasoning behind such an activity.
• Student feedback is important in order to enable me to plan and teach my sessions more effectively.
Session 2
This session covers 2 main areas:
• SOLO taxonomy,
• How to find electronic books, and EBSCO Host databases.
In this session we were introduced to the solo taxonomy by Kate Slattery. The following were discussed:
• How to use the 80:20 rule more in our teaching
• How to engage students who are continually chatting without alienating them
• Learn new ideas
• Successful delivery
• Creative design
• Design the course more effectively
• More knowledge on how to get students to interact during classes
• I want to know what I need to know!
STRUCTURE OF OBSERVED LEARNING OUTCOMES
SOLO (Biggs and Collis, 1982).
Solo talks about the following:
• Pre-structural: here students are simply acquiring bits of unconnected information, which have no organisation and make no sense.
• Unistructural: simple and obvious connections are made, but their significance is not grasped.
• Multistructural: a number of connections may be made, but the meta-connections between them are missed, as is their significance for the whole.
• Relational level: the student is now able to appreciate the significance of the parts in relation to the whole.
• At the extended abstract level, the student is making connections not only within the given subject area but also beyond it, able to generalize and transfer the principle and ideas underlying the specific instance.
I have used the SOLO question starters in my class and have found the students engaging more in discussions and now I don’t have to read the book out to them but start the session with a mind map. The table below is quite useful and can be used as an aid to assist in question structuring.
SOLO level Characteristics of understanding Examples of questions
2. Uni-structural
• Focus on one issue in a complex subject
• Simple and obvious connections made between pieces of information, but their significance not grasped
• Name one thing…
• Identify
• Memorise
• Carry out simple procedure
3. Multi-structural
• An unsorted, unorganised list
• A number of connections may be made but meta-connections missed, as is significance for the whole – “can’t see the wood/forest for the trees”
• Name two or more things…
• Describe
• List
• Combine
• Classify
4. Relational
• Apply concept to a familiar situation
• Appreciate the significance of the parts in relation to the whole – “can see that these trees make a forest”
• What do ... have in common?
• Compare
• Contrast
•Explain
• Analyse
• Relate
• Apply
5. Extended abstract
• Apply concept generally
• Make connections within and beyond a topic – “can see many possible forests for these trees”
• What principle applies here?
• Predict, imagine
• Generalise, theorise, hypothesise
• Reflect, generate new knowledge
How to find electronic books, and EBSCO Host databases.
This is an area which is challenging to most of us when it comes to using technology for research.
Here is the extract from Fred’s blog on how to find electronic books via MIT Library Catalogue:
• Go to the library website: http://library.manukau.ac.nz
• Click the Use the Catalogue link
• Click the Simple Search link, and it should take you to the library catalogue
• In the search term box, enter the following: Teaching for Quality Learning at University, select Title (beginning with) from the drop-down Search by menu, and click on Search
• 3 results should appear. If the book is available in electronic format, an eBook link will be displayed instead of a Dewey number. Now click on the book title to see the link to the library database providing electronic access to it.
• Click the Read online link to view the electronic book online
• If you want to copy/print a selection of a book you can click the Copy/Print button. Once you have clicked the Copy/Print button, it will ask you to create a loan before you can copy/print. You can either click Yes (create a loan), or you can click No (return to book).
• On the top left corner, click the This book link, it should direct you back to the record of the book.
• You can click the Download button if you want to borrow an ebook for offline reading (Adobe Digital Edition required).
• You can email the eBook’s full record to yourself or to your friend by clicking the Email Link... button.
• Create a group by clicking on My Collections. You will be prompted to give the group a name (for example, a topic you’re interested in, or the name of an assignment).
• To add this eBook to a group, click on the Add to Collection... link. From the drop-down menu select the group that you want the book to be added to, then click on Add to Collection button.
• Click on the Bookshelf icon, and in the search box enter the keyword that is relevant to your subject e.g. Construction.
