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Teaching for Inclusion Anne Russof, Denbigh Starkey, and Carolyn Plumb. The first in a series of discussions about teaching and learning Sponsored by the College of Engineering. What is “Teaching for Inclusion”.
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Teaching for InclusionAnne Russof, Denbigh Starkey, and Carolyn Plumb The first in a series of discussions about teaching and learning Sponsored by the College of Engineering
What is “Teaching for Inclusion” • Teaching that does not exclude (accidentally or intentionally) any student from the opportunity to learn.
What excludes students? • Conveying disrespect, unfairness, or lack of confidence • Interacting with only a subset of students • Teaching in ways that favor particular backgrounds or approaches
Why Do We Hear More about Inclusion Recently? • More diverse students • The need to prepare students to live and work in a global society • The focus on learner-centered environments • What we now know about how people learn
What Does Inclusion Have To Do with How People Learn? • Learners construct their own meaning, based on the prior knowledge and experience they bring to the learning event. • “If teaching is conceived as constructing a bridge between the subject matter and the students, learner-centered teachers keep a constant eye on both ends of the bridge.” (Bransford, Brown, and Cocking, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, 2002)
Where Can I Get More Information? • College of Engineering web site • Faculty and Staff Tab • Teaching Resources • Contact Carolyn Plumb • cplumb@coe.montana.edu
One Way to Think about Learning Styles • Why learners • What learners • How learners • What-if learners (Anson et al., Empowerment to Learn in Engineering: Preparation for an Urgently-Needed Paradigm Shift, Global Journal of Engineering Education, 7(2), 2003.)
One Way to Think about Learning Styles • Why learners • Prefer listening and discussing ideas • Learn best by relating new information to prior knowledge and experience • Learn best in environments that promote divergent thinking and subjective interpretations
One Way to Think about Learning Styles • What learners • Prefer to form judgments on verifiable data • Learn best by assimilating abstract facts into coherent theories • Most comfortable in situations that allow them to use their tough mindedness to deduce correct and precise answers
One Way to Think about Learning Styles • How learners (most common—49% in a recent study) • Prefer experimenting and testing ideas • Learn best by using down-to-earth problem-solving strategies to make sense of ideas • Like to work with concrete, real-life circumstances
One Way to Think about Learning Styles • What-if learners • Prefer trial-and-error problem solving • Learn best by looking for patterns and relationships that connect personal experience to new information • Do best in environments where there is a convergence of ideas and a respect for the unconventional
Strategies to Accommodate Different Learning Styles • Relate course content to previous and future content and to students’ experience • Why and What-if learners
Strategies to Accommodate Different Learning Styles • Balance concrete information with abstract concepts • All learners
Strategies to Accommodate Different Learning Styles • Balance practical problem-solving methods with material that emphasizes fundamental understanding • All learners
Strategies to Accommodate Different Learning Styles • Provide concrete examples of the phenomena the theory describes or predicts (What), then develop the theory (Why and What-if), show how the theory can be validated (What-if and How) and present applications (How)
Strategies to Accommodate Different Learning Styles • Allow students to reflect on or write about what they are learning • Why and What-if learners
Strategies to Accommodate Different Learning Styles • Ask students to solve problems in groups • Why, How, and What-if learners
Strategies to Accommodate Different Learning Styles • Connect abstract theories to practical applications • How learners
Where Can I Get More Information? • College of Engineering web site • Faculty and Staff Tab • Teaching Resources • Contact Carolyn Plumb • cplumb@coe.montana.edu