Category: Teaching and learning
-
Going Through the Motions of Active Learning and Engagement
Whether it’s framed as active learning, student engagement, time-on-task, or <insert educational jargon here>, we know that people don’t learn well by simply listening to others talk. Learning requires repeated practice and adjustments made via feedback. A recent metastudy in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS)…
-
Is Radical Personalization Antithetical to Sustained Interactions With Others?
One of the more exciting developments at my university is the ongoing development of our new Mathematical Sciences Learning Laboratory (MSLL). Pronounced “missile” and the already the cause of many puns (e.g., the opening of the new lab is already being dubbed “the missile launch”), it’s a space that is “intended to serve students entering…
-
Self-regulated Learning and Age in a Hybrid Course
Earlier this spring, I worked with a wonderful faculty member to conduct research into a new hybrid version of an introductory Spanish course at our university. He changed some sections of a 4-credit course that typically meets four days each week to so that they only met two days each week with a substantial increase…
-
Data Analysis MOOC Week 3: I’m a Dropout
Despite my best intentions, I have become another MOOC dropout. Why am I not continuing to participate in this free course? The format isn’t compelling. The course is primarily built around four components: video lectures and notes, weekly quizzes, a discussion board, and two peer-graded assignments. The lectures are alright and although there are many…
-
Data Analysis MOOC Week 2: Muddling Through Frustration
I have watched the online videos and successfully completed the quiz for week 2 of the data analysis MOOC in which I am enrolled. I struggled quite a bit with some of the R syntax and that made the quiz a very frustrating experience. I have two observations to share about what I learned this…
-
Data Analysis MOOC Week 1: I’m Going to Hate This
This semester, I have signed up for a data analysis class being taught in Coursera. This is a massively open online course (MOOC). I’m tech savvy and well educated but it seems like the most responsible way for me to really learn about MOOCs is to gain some firsthand experience. I also hope to learn…