Art, Science and Teaching

Think about the most effective teacher you’ve had. What made them special? Was it the extra care and effort they put in? A good sense of humor? Did they bring snacks? Of the combination of factors, I highly doubt you’re considering that teacher's application of educational theory. In Tony Bate’s excellent Teaching in the Digital Age, he reminds us that teaching is a mix of art and science. Good teachers are passionate, they build strong relationships, they understand their learners and can empathize with the challenges of learning. Good teachers also understand the science underpinning their practice. The choices they make are often backed up by theories of learning and research - they understand what they’re doing and why they are doing it.

As an exercise this week, the Teaching and Learning Lab Practicum team were challenged to apply specific learning theory to the task of teaching someone to drive. After creating a scope and sequence for the learning in teams, we presented to the group who, in turn, had to figure out which theory had been applied. It was an interesting experience and reinforced the idea that some theories suit certain learning situations better than others. It’s worth remembering that different theories shouldn’t be assigned a value or ranked. Approaches to learning are often mixed and mingled based on the context and what you’re trying to accomplish.

As an educator, it is important to understand the science so you can make intentional choices. If you're not actively applying theory, choices are being made subconsciously for you. This could lead to poor choices based on false assumptions, limited experience or biases.

Design Sprint Update

Our design team are going to be working on a prototype with the aim of increasing learner agency. We reflected on the experience by mapping the course and identifying touch points that could be improved for agency. It's helpful having a team member who didn't actually take the course as it challenges Ragini and I to try and clearly articulate our experience of it.

The Q and A with the instructional designers gave us some insight into the choices that have been made and gave us some perspective on the impact of some of our ideas on the learner as well as the admin and teacher assistants. Our challenge now is to build out our idea before our meeting with the Student Experience Team on Monday and test it on them.