Active Learning: CPD reflections from a law perspective Part 2

Talk 2 – Dr Angelica Risquez, Lead Academic Developer at CTL (Learning Technology and Learning Analytics Lead) University of Limerick – ALT ALSIG Webinar Series

For the second part of my series I am going to reflect on a talk by Dr Angelica Risquez who spoke about ABC learning design online as part of the ALT ALSIG webinar series. This was very much a design focused talk, introducing the ABC Learning Design Framework. This is a student centered approach, which aims to support, quick, strategically aligned, module creation. At the time of the talk, it hadn’t yet been used for an entire programme.  It is discipline neutral and is used both here (UK) and internationally.

The framework involves 6 cards, each with a style of learning on the front (Acquisitive, Collaborative, Discussion, Investigation, Practice, and Production) and a list of activities that support that learning style on the back of the card. Dr. Risquez took us through how the cards are used in module development. Again, there were two points that really stood out for me. Firstly, she encouraged reviewing current modules, promising they probably contained more active learning than we expected. Secondly, it was the length of each session – just 60 minutes to review and storyboard alternatives. Of course, it takes longer to actually produce the finished product, but 60 minutes struck me as a very small amount of time to come up with an initial plan.

I haven’t trialed the framework myself, but I did go back and look over an old module and yes, she was right, it did contain a lot more active learning than I had thought it would. Not only was that very reassuring, but I am now persuaded of the importance of properly investigating what I already have before investing effort in starting over. And the 60-minute timeframe? It’s made the concept of learning design much more approachable.