Teaching and Learning at Augustana: Effective Course Design for Liberal Learning

2. Teaching and Learning at Augustana: Effective Course Design for Liberal Learning Steve Klien, Director, Center for Faculty Enrichment Mark Salisbury, Director, Institutional Research and Assessment

4. The students are coming…

5. Some initial questions: How many of you have had training in: • teaching undergraduate students? • theories of teaching and learning? When were your best moments as a student? What did your best teachers do?

6. This morning we will… • shift our teaching frame to student learning • introduce “Integrated Course Design” • develop learning objectivesfor a class • connect class activitiesand student assessments to learning objectives • consider lesson and course planning … and answer your questions and concerns!

7. Shifting the frame to student learning outcomes College teaching paradigm moving from input(content) to outcomes (learning results) • “liberal learning” (AAC&U) • “deep learning” (Millis) • “high-impact practices” (Kuh) • “significant learning experiences” (Fink)

8. Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning

9. ICD: Integrated Course Design (Fink) LEARNING GOALS TEACHING AND LEARNINGACTIVITIES FEEDBACK AND ASSESSMENT SITUATIONAL FACTORS

10. ICD: Integrated Course Design (Fink) Situational factors: • specific context of the learning situation • general context of the learning situation • nature of the subject • characteristics of the learners • characteristics of the teacher …then, “backward design” of the course

11. Learning Goals and Objectives • Augustana Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) • IDEA Center SRI Learning Objectives • [Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning]

12. Augustana Student Learning Outcomes • INTELLECTUAL SOPHISTICATION • Understand • Analyze • Interpret • INTRAPERSONAL CONVICTION • Create • Respond • Wonder • INTERPERSONAL MATURITY • Lead • Relate • Communicate

13. IDEA Center Learning Objectives Intellectual development #7: Appreciation of intellectual activity #2: Develop personal values #11: Analyze and evaluate Lifelong learning #9: Find, use inquiry resources #12: Acquire interest in learning more by inquiry #5: Acquire team skills Basic cognitive background #1: Factual knowledge #2: Principles / theories Application of learning #3: Apply course material #4: Develop professional skills Expressiveness #6: Develop creative capacities #8: Develop oral / writing skills

14. Learning Goals: Exercise! • examine your course syllabus, reflect on your course – what should students learn? • articulate three (3) key learning outcome goals in brief sentences with active verbs (“Students will _______...”) • identify which Augie SLOs and IDEA Center objectives connect best to these goals

15. Learning Goals: Exercise! • What did you come up with for goals? • What was… • most difficult? • most surprising? • Questions, observations, concerns?

16. 10 minute Intermission

17. Achieving the goals: the “3 column table” What do I want my students to be able to do? What will I use to see if they can do it? What will I do to prepare students to do it?

18. Sample, using Fink’s taxonomy

19. Assessment for Significant Learning (Fink) “Audit-ive Assessment” “Backward-looking” assessment • useful for summative assessment of content understanding • …but limited for higher orders of learning Basis for a grade

20. Assessment for Significant Learning (Fink) “Educative Assessment” Frequent “Forward-looking” assessment Self-assessment “FIDeLity” feedback Immediate Clear criteria Discriminating Loving Better learning

21. Sample, using Fink’s taxonomy

22. “Active Learning” Activities “active learning” (Bonwell and Eison, qtd. in Fink, emphasis added): • “[involving] students in doing things and thinking about the things they are doing” • (versus passive reception of information)

23. “Active Learning” Activities • (“RICH”) EXPERIENCE • doing • observing • REFLECTIVE DIALOGUE • solo, written • conversation • INFO & IDEAS • locating in sources • accessing in, out of class

24. Sample, using Fink’s taxonomy

25. “3 column table”: Exercise! • select one (1) key learning outcome goal that you developed earlier • identify a form of graded assessment you can use to determine if the goal is met • sketch out the learning activity(-ies) you would provide to enable students to complete the assessment

26. “3 column table”: Exercise! • What was your key goal? What did you come up with for an assessment? activities? • What was… • most difficult? • most surprising? • Questions, observations, concerns?

27. Developing the course schedule More “3 column backward design”: learning goals to assessment to activities • culminating project(s): 1 or 2 during the course; students must pull learning together • then, how must you prepare students to succeed in the project(s)? • think in terms of 3-5units / modules, rather than chapters, content topics

28. Developing the sequence of topics Activities, Assignments Unit introductions Unit 4 Unit 3 Unit 2 Unit 1

29. Developing the sequence of learning activities the “castle-top” instructional strategy (Fink)

30. Developing the sequence of learning activities

31. Developing the sequence of weeks

32. ICD for Liberal Learning Benefits of this approach: • outcome-focused (rather than content-focused) • learning-focused (rather than instruction-focused) • active and functional (rather than passive and purely informational) • … and so it’s student-focused (rather than teacher-focused)

33. Questions? Discussion?

34. Works Cited American Association of Colleges & Universities. “What is a 21stCentury Liberal Education?” American Association of Colleges & Universities. 2014. Web. 30 July 2014 <http://www.aacu.org/leap/what_is_liberal_education.cfm> Fink, L. Dee. “A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning.” Dee Fink & Associates. Aug. 2005. Web. 30 July 2014 <http://www.deefinkandassociates.com/GuidetoCourseDesignAug05.pdf > Kuh, George D. “High-Impact Educational Practices.” American Association of Colleges & Universities. 2014. Web. 30 July 2014 <http://www.aacu.org/leap/hip.cfm> Millis, Barbara J. “IDEA Paper #47: Promoting Deep Learning.” IDEA Education – IDEA Papers. 2010. Web. 30 July 2014 <http://ideaedu.org/sites/default/files/ IDEA_Paper_47.pdf>