Transcript competence is a

Elements in a university course, designing
courses backwards and approaches to
learning
ToT PhD supervisor course Part II
Bagamoyo April 8, 2013
Jens Dolin
Various framing factors
1. Duration of the course (ideal, tactical, resource etc. considerations)
2. Placing in academic calendar
3. The target group (experienced supervisors, not-experienced, PhD-students,
specific disciplines, …)
4. Mandatory course for all supervisors? For PhD students?
5. Criteria for approval
6. Participants implied conditions (supervisors’ approaches, students’ attitudes)
7. Your strengths and weaknesses as a teacher/instructor
8. Which course material (books, articles, power points, …)
9. Which course formats will you use? Which pedagogy?
10. Which form for evaluation (written-oral, anonymous-no anonymous)?
Different course formats
• Homework
To the first part or to do between two parts of a course
• Lectures
By the course leaders or by invited speakers (experts) or participants
• Exercises
Learning by doing
• Groupwork and plenary sessions
Find a good balance between small group work and common discussions
• Cases
Exemplary cases chosen by the course leader and/or concrete examples from
participants. Could be written, video, oral.
• The most important format is variation !!!!!!
Designing courses backwards
COMPETENCES
STEP 1 What is most important to learn? What do you burn for?
STEP 2 Select three to five major learning outcomes. Think in broad categories
(attitudes, foundational knowledge, …)
STEP 3 Work backwards. What competencies and skills demonstrates the
achievement of the goals? What content is required to obtain these
competencies? Which formats supports the different aspects?
Definitions of Competence
There is no basis for a theoretically grounded definition or classification
from the seemingly endless inventory of the ways the term competence is
used. … There (is) … no single common conceptual framework.
(Weinert, 2001)
Competencies reflect expectations of workplace performance
(Rolls, 1997)
… competence is a […] roughly specialized system of abilities,
proficiencies, or skills that are necessary or sufficient to reach a specific
goal. This can be applied to individual dispositions or to the distribution of
such dispositions within a social group or an institution …
(Weinert, 2001)
Competence is an expression for the ability to manage and to act in a
social and cultural diversity. … A bit simplified you can say that
competence is something you have, because you are able to meet the
challenges in a given situation.
(Jørgensen, 1999)
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The concept of competence
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refers to the necessary prerequisites available to an individual or a group of
individuals for successfully meeting complex demands
should be used when the necessary prerequisites for successfully meeting
a demand are comprised of cognitive and (in many cases) motivational,
ethical, volitional, and/or social components
implies that a sufficient degree of complexity is required to meet demands
and tasks
implies that much must be learned, but cannot be directly taught.
Competence is
- a preparedness for action
- based on knowledge
- displayed in a concrete situation
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Why this shift towards competencies?
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Generel social trends: Increased complexity and contingency → difficult to
formulate precise demands → increased emphasis on generel, social, and
personal competencies
Requirements from the business world – the insufficiency of the school or
university as an independent actor
Insight from learning theory: The lack of transfer of traditionel school
knowledge (the situatedness of learning)
Pragmatic reasons: You need a floating denominator to catch something
new
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Central connections Conceptions of learning
What is it to learn?
Conceptions of the profession
Learning Theories
Conceptions of research
What is (the purpose
Traditions
of) a PhD study?
How do we learn?
Regulations
How do you learn to complete
a PhD study?
Organizing the supervision
Supervision model
Attitudes toward the PhD-st
Feedback format
The Practice Triangle
Actions
Supervision form, texts, forms of
talk, …
Justifications
Experiential (based on experience)
Theoretical (litterature, courses, …)
Value basis
Ethical (attitudes towards students etc.)
Conceptions of learning and teaching
(Understanding of knowledge, …)
Own reflections on learning
1. Individually: Reflect on what you mean by ‘learning’. When has
someone learned something?
2. Exchange your reflections with those around you
Different conceptions of learning
All learners say that learning is …
1. an increased quantity of knowledge
2. to be able to remember and reproduce
3. to acquire facts and procedures for later use
4. to understand
5. to interpret and give meaning to reality
6. to change your interpretation and hence
change as a person
RECEIVING
ACTING, DOING
There are strong connections between a person’s conceptions of learning and the
person’s (ofte unconscious) choice of study strategies:
The conceptions of learning co-determine the learning outcome!
When have you learned science?
Pipe-line approach to science education
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when
when
when
when
when
when
when
when
when
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you know (?) the concepts
you master the theory
you can solve the equations
you can work out the solution of a problem
you can pass the test
you can speak the science jargon
you can pose the right questions
you are able to do practical work in the lab or in the field
you can cope with everyday situations involving science
Citizenship approach to science education
44 % of the 1.& 2. year students at the Technical University of Denmark
passed their tests (written exercises) without understanding the underlying
concepts (Jakobsen&Rump 1999)
Very small correlation between the achievements in the core items from
TIMSS1995 and in the achievements in the performance assessment
problems (Weng&Hoff 1999, p. 231)
Surface vs Deep approach towards learning
Deep approach
Students focus their attention on the overall meaning
or message in a class session, text or situation. They
attempt to relate ideas together and construct their
own meaning, possibly in relation to their own
experience.
Surface approach
Students focus their attention on the details and
information in a class session or text. They are trying to
memorise these individual details in the form they appear
in the class or text or to list the features of the situation in
order to pass the examinations.
Three approaches to teaching
Constructivistic learning theories Content/discipline
Student centrered/
learning oriented position
Practice learning theories
Teacher centrered/
content oriented position
Approach to
teaching
Student
Teacher
Teacher/student
interplay position
Psyco dynamic learning theories
Constructivist learning
interpret
Existing knowledge
modify
New knowledge
New information
New phenomenon
Elements in a learning process
Experiences
(examples,
hands on, …)
Acting
consciously
Dialogue
Reflection
Theory
(Kolb)
Constructivism versus Transfer
Transfer approach to learning: The students learn by
listening to the teacher telling what has to be learned
Constructivism: learning is determined by the individual’s
development, and the individual must him- or herself
construct the knowledge - it cannot be transferred
Activate the student – it is he or her that are going to do the
work!
• don’t always tell the ‘solution’, what’s ‘right’
• give time and space for the students’ own knowledge
construction
• relate to earlier knowledge and give examples and
metaphors
Teacher role in ‘traditional’ vs. constructivist
teaching – an oversimplified dichotomy
Student role in ‘traditional’ vs. constructivist
teaching – an oversimplified dichotomy