Title: Engaging Students in Learning Activities
1Engaging Students in Learning Activities
- Mark H. Gelula, Ph.D.
- Director of Faculty Development
- Department of Medical Education
- mgelula_at_uic.edu
2The Online Classroom
- Fast communication across distances
- Anytime learning and teaching
- Integration of the computer
3Caveats
- Technical skills
- All participants must have access to suitable
hardware and software - Bandwidth is usually limited
- Technological problems
4Pedagogical Decisions
- Learners and their needs
- Motivation
- How can my course material help the students in
their lives outside of the course - Learning styles an important consideration for
every online teacher
5 Instructors and their teaching model
- four types of teaching models
- discipline-centered,
- teacher-centered,
- student-centered cognitive
- student-centered affective
6Questions to Consider
- Is this content primarily factual, experiential,
conceptual, or attitudinal? - Is this content better approached by an
individual activity, a group activity, or both? - Should units be completed at each students own
pace, or should there be deadlines for
assignments?
7Instructional methods
- Lectures and readings
- fixed material to students passive
- Discussions and group activities
- allow students to interact as they grapple with
course material active - Exercises and simulations
- provide individual students with an opportunity
to try out course concepts in a limited way and
thus enhance their understanding experiential
8Modes of Interaction
- Two basic concepts
- the shape of the communication.
- the timing of the communication
9Shape of the Communication
- Solitary (like individual reading)
- One-to-one communication (as in a tutorial)
- One-to-many (as in a lecture)
- Many-to-many (as in a discussion).
10 Timing of the Communication
- Synchronous communication
- Asynchronous communication
11 Synchronous Communication
- Participants receive the communication at the
time that it is spoken (or written) - Telephone calls
12Asynchronous Communication,
- Some delay between the time the speaker speaks
and the listener hears. - correspondence by mail.
- "telephone tag" and voice mail messages.
13Communication Shape, Venue, and Timing
14Technological decisions
- Software
- Hardware
- Network Bandwidth
- Security
15A Learning Taxonomy
- 1. Knowledge arrange, define, duplicate, label,
list, memorize, name, order, recognize, relate,
recall, repeat, reproduce state. - 2. Comprehension classify, describe, discuss,
explain, express, identify, indicate, locate,
recognize, report, restate, review, select,
translate, - 3. Application apply, choose, demonstrate,
dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret,
operate, practice, schedule, sketch, solve, use,
write.
From Distance Learning Resource Network's
Technology Resource Guide Chapter 4 Bloom's
Taxonomy. http//www.dlrn.org/library/dl/guide4.ht
ml
16A Learning Taxonomy
- 4. Analysis analyze, appraise, calculate,
categorize, compare, contrast, criticize,
differentiate, discriminate, distinguish,
examine, experiment, question, test. - 5. Synthesis arrange, assemble, collect,
compose, construct, create, design, develop,
formulate, manage, organize, plan, prepare,
propose, set up, write. - 6. Evaluation appraise, argue, assess, attach,
choose compare, defend estimate, judge, predict,
rate, core, select, support, value, evaluate
17What about Lectures?
- Streaming audio-video
- PowerPoint presentation
- Textual
- Lecture
- Notes
- Supplements
18Kolbs Learning Cycle
19Experiential Learning
Experiencing
Applying
Sharing
Generalizing
Processing
º
º
20Activity and Learning
Didactic Meaning External to Learner
Experiential Meaning Internal to Learner
Role Play
Exp. Lec
Read i ng
Discussion
Instrumnt
Simulation
Lecture
Case
21Three Principles
- Active and experiential learning
- Dynamic student to student discussion
- Opportunities for reflective thought followed by
relative risk taking
22More than Distributing Information
- Processes to assist students as they
- discover how to think critically and
reflectively - work collaboratively
- establish leadership skills
- learn to exchange ideas leading to
- productive problem-solving
- careful decision making,
- substantive applied learning.
23Vary Group Size and Purpose
- Students learn to
- relate concepts to each other
- develop new strategies and approaches to problems
24Organizational Process for a Typical Course Week
25Asynchronous Discussions
- General class conferences are for the use of all
of the students in the class. These conferences
appear in every students conference list, and
include Announcements - Topical class conferences are associated with
each of the topics covered in the course. These
conferences are also open to all students, and
appear in every students conference list, after
the general conferences.
26Asynchronous Discussions
- Small group conferences are used by each of the
4-5 person student groups in the course. Each
students conference list includes only the small
group conference for their group - Private conferences are for discussion between an
individual student and the instructors. Using
private conferences rather than email allows both
student and instructor to keep everything
associated with the course in one place.
27Asynchronous Discussion Examples
- Four per-group conferences
- Four per-group conferences with topical
sub-conferences - Four per-group conferences with weekly
sub-conferences - Eight per-week conferences with group
sub-conferences
28Asynchronous Discussion Examples
- Three topical conferences with group
sub-conferences - Three topic conferences with weekly
sub-conferences and group subsubconferences - 2-person paper review
- Co-writing papers
- Case analysis
29Synchronous Discussions
- Text
- Computer bulletin board systems and Unix systems
have long supported text-based synchronous chat
discussions. - Audioconferencing and Videoconferencing
30How to Suggestions
- Use Small Group Sizes
- Find Group Facilitators
- Set Deadlines
- Focus on Goals
- Ask Questions
- Lie Back
31Specific Activities
- Problem-based Learning
- Case Analysis
- Peer Teaching
- Group Writing
- Critical Incident Discussions
- Nominal Group Technique
- Delphi Process and Polling