Universal
Design vs. Academic Freedom? Are they
incompatible, battling for supremacy? And
now, in the left corner is the welterweight champion of learning styles,
disability accommodation, and student-centered instruction – coming to us from brain
research, teaching strategies, and student engagement theories. And in the right corner is the heavyweight
champion of academic freedom, coming from a long history of post-secondary
education experience, master teachers, stressed part- and full-time faculty, and
subject-matter-experts. On the sidelines
are the bean counters, pundits, critics-at-large, education reformists with
varied credentials, the whims of the economy and student preferences, and
budgetary concerns in a world that increasing questions the use of a college
degree. There are rubrics, assessments, course learning objectives, best practices, and don't forget technology and diversity of your students' abilities. Seriously, there are a lot of
things to consider when designing a class/workshop/syllabus/activity.
Obviously
some subjects lend themselves better to one style of instruction/learning
activities than others. It would be
impossible for me to learn a new computer program without someone showing me
and then allowing me to do activities that cement the learning ON the
program. But maybe most subjects lend
themselves to more flexibility in learning experiences for students. I like to offer options whenever I can and
let students choose which is best for them, so they ‘own’ their learning
process. Some prefer hunting down
answers to share in an oral report to others or in a written assignment, some
love team work/others prefer to work alone.
It is easier and faster to just tell them answers and give self-grading
multiple choice exams that clearly align with learning objectives – K-12
struggles with that ‘teaching to the test’ concept on a daily basis. There are conflicting opinions about whether
that destroys creativity, increases anxiety (for both teacher and student), and
makes students hate school or if it structures student learning activities for
increasing focus and success. There are
even some conflicting thoughts on whether it is possible to teach critical thinking, much less
assess it.
What
do you do when stumped on how to accomplish a learning objective? Talk to a colleague? Google it?
Check out a favorite blog on your subject matter or post-secondary best
practices? Do you start with the end in
mind, identifying specific applications/knowledge necessary for ‘success’ in
your course/assignment/workshop? Do you
pull out feedback from previous classes, to see what worked before? Do you use pre-fab syllabi/assignments/courses
or course software to accomplish your goals?
Probably for many instructors, the answers to the above are “Yes, a
combination of these, if there is time…”
I’ll share a few resources for when I’m stuck or want to stretch, and
hope you may share some of yours too:
- http://blog.cengage.com/ The Engaging Minds blog has articles (and an e-newsletter) with ideas for both teachers and students.
- http://www.nea.org/home/33508.htm This has ‘top tips’ for teaching strategies.
- http://elearningindustry.com/11-tips-engage-inspire-adult-learners Online learning tips for student engagement.
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