Back to Basic Teaching Principles with WebVista Tools
"The more a teacher can emphasize learner independence and choice, intrinsic motivators and natural curiosity, rich, timely, usable feedback, coupled with occasions for reflection and active involvement in real-world tasks emphasizing higher-order abilities, done with other people in high-challenge, low-threat environments that provide for practice and reinforcement . . . the greater the chances he or she will realize the deep learning that makes a difference in student lives."
—Theodore Marchese,"The New Conversations About Learning: Insights From Neuroscience and Anthropology, Cognitive Science and Workplace Studies," http://www.newhorizons.org/lifelong/higher_ed/marchese.htm
At the start of each school year instructors at the University of Minnesota have an ever-expanding array of educational technologies at their disposal. How do you choose, and use the technology in question to its greatest advantage? No matter what subject is taught, basic principles of teaching that promote significant learning should inform any technology-enhanced teaching. Many of those basic principles are "craft knowledge" instructors develop over the years. Instructors may unconsciously incorporate this knowledge when planning courses, and their students certainly benefit. However, when basic teaching principles are articulated explicitly, the benefits extend to beyond the students who are lucky enough to learn from a seasoned instructor. Once articulated, instructors at all skill and experience levels can draw on basic principles to strengthen their teaching and promote significant learning. Learning about the exemplary practices of other instructors is of great help as well. To this end, we interviewed Valerie Tiberius, an associate professor of philosophy, about her use of simple but powerful tools that can be found in WebVista: the Discussion and Group Manager tools.
Tiberius' course "History of Moral Theories," which is designed for undergraduate and graduate majors, presented a particular challenge related to fostering discussion. Says Tiberius, "The material is abstract, the terminology is not easy, and it can be difficult to have a conversation about it." In response to this challenge Tiberius created weekly online discussions that would help students prepare for face-to-face class meetings. Using the WebVista Group Manager tool, Tiberius divided students up into discussion groups, and each group used the Discussion tool to participate in threaded discussions. Every week group members were assigned one of three responsibilities: to post questions about the readings, to reply to questions that were posted, or to summarize the results of the discussion and present them in class later that week. Tiberius provided support for her students by creating the structure, but her students took greater responsibility for the content of the course than they might otherwise. The online discussion encouraged more active and effective engagement with the course material. More active engagement may have led to greater enthusiasm for discussion and the course itself. "By the end of the semester, some students would return to the discussion boards four or five times to read and post responses." Face-to-face discussions improved as well, very likely because "students had more buy-in" before they stepped foot in class.
On the whole, the WebVista Discussion tool had an impact on Tiberius' class that went far beyond her expectations. "The most dramatic change was in the structure of in-class discussion. Often students would ask each other about the material before they would ask me. And they would encourage each other to participate. One student who was incredibly smart, but more shy in face-to-face meetings than online, eventually got roped into the face-to-face discussions by other students." She adds, "In the end the course became more of a philosophy workshop."
