Transcript עמדות מרצים ביחס ללמידה פעילה

David Pundak1,2, Orit Herscovitz2 , Miri Shacham2
1. Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee
2. ORT Braude College, Israel
Meital Annual Conference, Open Univeristy, Israel 30 June 2010
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Active Learning
Difficulties in Traditional Courses
 Students are passive most of the time
 Instructor cannot identify students’ difficulties
 Guiding students in a large class is difficult
 Students focus more on problem-solving techniques
in the exam and less on understanding
scientific principles.
 Course materials are quickly
forgotten and do not serve as a
base for advanced courses.
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Active Learning:
confronting traditional learning difficulties




Rearranging course structure
Combining lecture, recitation and lab
Shortening lecture time to 15-20 minutes
Conducting discussions and providing
feedback
 Activating students in groups
 Concept tests
 Problem solving
 Research relating to animations and
simulations
 Students present their solutions in
front of class
 Lecturer’s duties include: guiding groups of students,
managing social aspects of the course, continuous
evaluation, managing an active web site.
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Active Instructors- a case study
 Developing learning materials over 3 years
 Ongoing experience of active learning over 4 years
 Group of active instructors included:
 3 instructors in mathematics
 3 instructors in physics
 2 instructors in chemistry
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Changes Experienced
by Active Instructors
Student-teacher's role
“ The room structure allows much more flexibility to students.
The room erases the borders between the provider of
knowledge (teacher) and the receiver of knowledge
(students), and creates a changeover between provider and
receiver… “
Knowledge construction
“ It is fascinating to see how students begin to construct
knowledge, how this process develops during the course. This
cannot be seen in any other mode of instruction. There is a
sense that the students’ minds are transparent and we can
see the way in which the knowledge is organized.”
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Changes Experienced
by Active Instructors
(continued)
Cooperative learning in small groups
“ In regular classes it is actually impossible to provide
personal guidance. In an active class, when I approach
a group of students, all 3 or even 9 of them are involved.
“
“ Group work contributes very much. The group is a
supporting environment. “
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Research Background



An improvement in students’ involvement and
achievements following active instructors’
teaching.
Other instructors in the academy
expressed willingness to adopt elements of
active learning.
E-instructors’ need to
encourage communication
between E-learners.
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Research Questions
What are the attitudes of the 'active instructors' toward
active learning?
2. Is there any gap, and if so how large, between the
attitudes of the 'active instructors' and the attitudes of
the other FTF instructors in academic institutions
regarding active learning?
3. Is there any gap, and if so how large, between the
attitudes of the 'FTF instructors'
and the attitudes of the E-Instructors
regarding active learning?
1.
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Research Population
Group
No. of Instructors
Active Instructors
8
FTF - Instructors
153
E-Instructors
56
Total
217
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Developing the research questionnaire
Questionnaire with 35 statements, divided into 6 areas.
Respondents had to choose their approach from a scale of 1 (disagree) to 5
(agree)
# Instruction
Area
Traditional
Instruction
Active learning
Instruction
1 Activation of a No need to guide
students
large class
Instruction and guidance
of students are important
Attending class is
elective
Students’ involvement in
class is essential
All learning
3 Students'
independence materials must be
Students can study
subjects from a syllabus
independently
2 Students'
Involvement
presented to
students
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Developing the research questionnaire
Part A - questionnaire with 35 statements, divided into 6 areas.
#
Instruction
Area
4
Students’
Students are
construction unable to build
of knowledge new scientific
knowledge
Students can present new
scientific conjectures and
ideas on their own
5
Completion
syllabus vs.
understanding
It is important to
teach the entire
syllabus
Finding a compromise
between the learning
program and students’
understanding of it
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Instructor’s
role
Instructor has to
focus on his role
as a provider of
knowledge
Instructor has to become
acquainted with students’
learning difficulties and
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assist in solving them
Traditional
Instruction
Active learning
Instruction
Research Results
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Large class
Involvement
Independence
Faculty
Develop.
know ledge
Quantity /
Understanding
Instructor
'active instructors'
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Comparison between FTF, E and Active
instructors
Domain /
Variable
(Kruskal-Wallis Test)
Instructor's
role
Quantity/
Understanding
Develop.
Knowledge
Independence
Involvement
Large
class
Ranking of FTF
instructors
63.3
60.6
62.1
64.5
61.8
67.7
Ranking of
E-Instructors
70.3
47.7
72.4
68.6
75.5
76.1
Ranking of
'active
instructors'
115.8
116.6
116.1
114.8
107.3
142.1
Chi squared
12.2
19.6
13.7
11.0
10.9
20.6
Significance
<0.001
0.004
0.004
0.001
<0.001
0.002
Comparison between the Mean of FTF
and E instructors (T Test)
Domain /
Variable
Mean of FTF
instruction
Mean of EInstruction
Significance
Function of
Instruction
Quantity/
Understanding
Develop. of
knowledge
Independence
Involvement
Large
class
3.75
3.55
3.83
3.56
3.54
2.70
3.87
3.42
4.01
3.63
3.80
2.80
0.39
0.08
0.11
0.42
<0.01
0.52
Findings and Discussion
 Contrary to our assumption there are small differences
between E-instructors and FTF instructors in their
tendency toward active learning.
 The result could be explained by the instructors'
tendency to maintain their traditional FTF teaching
style even when they begin to teach virtual classes.
 In some cases economic constraints directed the
institutions to develop e-learning courses, alongside
the FTF courses.
Conclusions
 There is a large gap between "active instructors’”
experience of success and how FTF and E-Instructors
relate to this teaching method.
 The research tool developed can be used to locate
potential active lecturers.
 It is advisable to expose FTF and E instructors to the
advantages of active pedagogy without creating pressure
or threatening.
 As a first step it is recommended to expose FTF and E-
Instructors to active learning in large classes.
 Promoting active learning among FTF and E-Instructors
may improve students’ satisfaction regarding their
learning in academic institutions.
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Recommendations
 Carefully check the uniqueness of success stories in
active learning, while trying to adopt it.
 Expose lecturers FTF and E-Learning to theoretical
background and to practical solutions in activating a
large class.
 Adjust changes for each course and department and
learning style.
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Thank You
Dr. David Pundak
Ort Braude College
Kinneret College on the See of Galille
Israel
[email protected]
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