Group Admins
Description
By exploring a variety of pedagogical strategies, appropriate technologies and the affordances of learning spaces (Oblinger, 2006), attendees will plan for teaching to encourage collaboration, deepen understanding of the subject matter and apply a range of large and small group teaching activities to specific situations (Snowball, Think-Pair-Share, Problem-based Learning, etc.), with the objective of promoting inclusivity and better learning outcomes (Caldwell, 2007; Exley and Dennick, 2004; Kadirire, 2011).
In this highly active workshop, attendees will be in groups of 5-6, given a scenario (a teaching and learning problem) and introduced to a set of resources that they have to help to resolve this problem which will include pedagogical approaches, technologies and learning spaces available. Attendees will be asked to note down what approaches, technologies and spaces they would use to solve their teaching and learning problem and present this back to the group in a 3-minute presentation, which will be peer-assessed on a set of criteria, with a small prize for the best presentation.
Active, collaborative learning (Exley and Dennick, 2004) in all learning spaces not only leads to better learning outcomes, but also promotes inclusivity by giving students access to content in flexible ways, promoting engagement, allowing for better feedback and removing barriers to learning (Rodriguez-Falcon et al, 2010; Cornell University, Center for Teaching Excellence, 2014).
In large groups especially, participation and engagement are issues and research shows that students are often cautious about speaking to the room (Caldwell, 2007). Attendees will explore how student response system and large group teaching strategies can be used to provide reflection on content, measure understanding and highlight where individuals may be struggling, ensuring that all students can engage with their peers and lecturer. In small group settings, attendees will be introduced to teaching techniques that will aid collaborative learning and where learning spaces are flexible, rearranging the space to better suit the teaching activity can greatly increase the student experience (Exley and Dennick. 2004).
Multimedia tools such as Lecture Capture and Screencasting software allow staff to provide better quality, easy to access recordings that are not only useful for all students to recap and reflect on learning, but also to students whose first language is not English, or those with learning differences that affects their ability to take notes (Kadirire, 2011). Additionally, flipped learning techniques (University of Texas, 2015), building on lecture capture and multimedia projects, can provide a range of inclusive teaching opportunities.
Takeaways for attendees attending this session will be having a greater awareness of learning space as tool when planning their teaching and learning or advising others when they planning their curriculum design. They will also learn some new strategies for different types of teaching that they can implement in their teaching immediately.
References
Caldwell, J., 2007 Clickers in the Large Classroom: Current Research and Best-Practice Tips. CBE – Life Sciences Education. [online] Available at: http://www.lifescied.org/content/6/1/9.full [Accessed 27th March 2017]
Cornell University, Center for Teaching Excellence, 2014. Inclusive Teaching Strategies. [online] Available at: http://www.cte.cornell.edu/teaching-ideas/building- inclusive-classrooms/inclusive- teaching-strategies.html [Accessed 27th March 2017]
Exley, K. and Dennick, R. (2004) Small Group Teaching: Tutorials, seminars and beyond Routledge Falmer, Oxon
Kadirire, J., 2011 The Pedagogy of Lecture Capture. [online] Available at:
http://www.lta.anglia.ac.uk/cmsAdmin/uploads/networks_pedagogy_lecture_capture.pdf [Accessed 27th March 2017]
Oblinger, D, 2006, Learning Spaces, Educause [online]Available at:
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/PUB7102.pdf ] [Accessed 27th March 2017]
Rodriguez-Falcon et al, 2010. The Inclusive learning and Teaching Handbook. [online] Available at:https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.18989!/file/The-inclusive- learning-and- teaching-handbook.pdf [Accessed 27th March 2017]
University of Texas, Center for Teaching and Learning. 2015. Flipping a Class. [online]. Available at: http://ctl.utexas.edu/teaching/flipping-a- class [Accessed 27th March 2017]
