Contents
Cover
Story
- What we're learning about learning
- Principles of learning
- Outcomes-based
- Lessons learned
- If learning were a room...
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Contents
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What we're learning about learning
College faculty are experts in their own disciplines. For the most part, they've had little or no formal training in education. They teach the way they were taught and the way their teachers were taught and the way their teachers' teachers were taught. They lecture, they develop assignments and tests, they give grades. Like the teachers who have gone before them, they are at the center of the instructional universe...Not any more. As government and industry call on higher education to become more accountable for the outcomes of college education, universities nationwide are changing their instructional models. The centuries-old tradition which has perpetuated teacher-centered education is evolving into student-centered instruction. And Iowa State's College of Engineering is at the forefront. "The shift from teaching-based to learning-based is much more than a simple semantic change," said Engineering Dean James Melsa. "It is a dramatic shift in the basic way we think about the educational enterprise." This cultural change is gathering momentum and gaining favor among more and more faculty within the college. Many are participants in a university-wide teaching enhancement program. Called Project LEA/RN, the program provides training, resources, and encouragement to faculty who want to improve student learning. Using student-centered learning as a teaching paradigm has been a mainstay of K-12 education, said Assistant Engineering Dean Howard Shapiro. A former member of the Ames School Board, Shapiro is well aware of theories about student-centered instruction and its ability to generate higher order thinking (i.e., analysis, synthesis, and evaluation). In 1994 he and Barbara Licklider, associate professor of education, initiated a faculty learning group in the ME department. The 14 ME faculty began studying, developing, and incorporating into their classes techniques derived from cognitive psychologists' theories on learning. Research has shown that student-centered approaches can make a difference in the experiences of college students. "These benefits include achievement gains, retention, mutual respect for differences, and self esteem," Licklider said. "However, adopting a student-centered approach represents a major change in what faculty must do to enable student learning. Thus innovative faculty development efforts are critical." LEA/RN-Learning Enhancement Action/Resource Network-is just such an effort. The excitement generated by the successful ME faculty learning group led to the establishment of LEA/RN groups in engineering and across campus. Today 40 percent of engineering faculty participate. "We're probably among the only places in the country with ongoing facilitative support groups. The extent of involvement here is outstanding," said Shapiro. LEA/RN groups meet for two hours every other week. In each session, participants learn a new or refined teaching strategy. The groups provide a supportive environment for discussion and experimentation so that faculty can model new activities or techniques before trying them in class, said ECpE Associate Professor Doug Jacobson. Jacobson attended his first LEA/RN session in 1996. "I didn't realize at the time that this one meeting would forever change the way I teach," he said. "During those two hours, Barbara Licklider demonstrated the power of cooperative learning and provided a simple tool to use in our classes." After using that tool-an interactive exercise-in his class, Jacobson immediately saw a change in the whole personality of his class. "They were a different group of students. They were talking and active," he said. In his sophomore-level CpE class on digital design, Jacobson spends the first few hours of the semester building community among the students and himself. Through various interactive exercises and group activities, he creates a safe environment for learning. "Nothing is more powerful than having a room of 80 students in groups engaged. You can see and feel the learning taking place!" In Jacobson's class and in dozens of others, the professor has become the facilitator of learning, not the source of knowledge, Shapiro said. "By using a mix of student-centered instructional techniques, faculty are helping students move to a higher level of thinking-students are learning how to become creative problem solvers." Early research at ISU shows that student-centered learning has an impact. In a study examining beginning calculus, students in active-learning sections achieved higher grades; and fewer students dropped, ailed, or withdrew compared to students in classes using traditional instruction.
Jacobson sees evidence of improvements in students' learning. "I've noticed higher test scores from the middle range students and a deeper understanding of the material. It's made a difference in the way students work in class and in the level of learning. Attendance rate is higher, in-class participation has increased, and there's a stronger positive attitude," he said. Does all this mean that the lecture is taboo? No, said Jacobson. "Students learn in a variety of ways. We need to create a balance between lecturing and interactive activities," he said. For Jacobson, the past 20 months have completely changed the way he teaches, the way he interacts with students, and the way he views teaching. "With help from professional educators, we can make changes that make a difference in students' learning." Contact Shapiro at <hshapiro@iastate.edu>
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