UNIVERSITY COURSE DESIGN THAT FACILITATES AUTHENTIC AND SITUATED LEARNING:

PROPOSING A MATRIX MODEL

DR EMMA ROBERTS LEEDS TRINITY UNIVERSITY

The benefits of active learning in lectures are maximized when tasks are authentic and reflect how knowledge is used in real life’

Cavanagh, 2011 p.24

No longer is the teacher a person of authority imparting knowledge as information. The teachers in this process are other participants in the community of practice

Quay, 2003 p. 109

Disruptive and transformational learning experiences require relational support if they are to be successful

and both students and staff deserve appropriate development opportunities to become more aware and

familiar with the new discomfort of the HE classroom

(Roberts, E. 2016a)

• Student-led (BUT they are anxious, unfamiliar, worried about teams)

• Retain quality (AND reduce taught content)

• Independent learners AND high peer support

• Increase student effort, decrease staff effort

• Reduce likelihood of plagiarism

• High engagement and attendance from poor attenders

STUDENT-LED LEARNING, TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT WHY DID I EXPERIMENT WITH THIS?

e.g. Recruitment

e.g. Reward

e.g. Performance

e.g. Development

Themes

1. Split the cohort between thematic specialisms. 2. Provide brief lectures on conceptual frameworks but

little content. 3. Finish with formative presentation/ seminar.

STAGE 1- SPECIALIST GROUPS

Applied

e.g. Recruitment

e.g. Reward

e.g. Performance

e.g. Development

1 2 3 4 6 5 7

Themes

Applied presentation brief. e.g. Contrast two companies’ people management policies and processes based on the four key areas of HR- Recruitment, Development, Performance and Reward.

STAGE 2- MULTI-THEMATIC ASSESSMENT

INITIAL FINDINGS- AUTHENTIC LEARNING THROUGH RE-CONTEXTUALISING ABSTRACT CONCEPTS.

• e.g. Multi-functional teams are a normal part of working life and

require members to bring specialist knowledge.

• e.g. Assessment is the application of concepts to a relevant context

or case study

I’m euphoric with how well this group is taking up this

challenge! I think they are ready for working at a task

since they have just come back from placement. They

seem to love the fact that it is real and relevant task that

they have to work with each other on. Some very

professional behaviour. Able to talk to Heads of

specialisms about how to include international students

etc and they have thought of how they can ensure that

the proposed buddy system is put in place.

Reflective log

INITIAL FINDINGS- Develop Communities of practice within the HE Classroom. Create ‘communities of practice’ that allow students to participate by both taking leadership roles and observing and acting from the periphery, thereby gradually increasing their confidence in exposure to authentic work situations.

Most of the groups queries are being handled extremely well by the Heads and deputies in place. Some exceptional group and leadership behaviour already. They were working beyond the class time of 5pm, getting very organised with email lists and contact information. These heads are awesome! … a lot of extra work is being demanded of students from each other.

Reflective log

From the first week as well you

have to engage as well

and do something whereas in some modules where they are

just taught and you have a report to write in 6 weeks’

time the often you can just sit in the lectures and just not do much

until the report

I think I’m more confident because

I had to get up and talk in front of the group… like in lectures of 70 I would never speak up. Never. Its horrible. But in this one you know that you were valued and your opinion

mattered and your knowledge helped massively

it was people out of their comfort zone I guess isn’t it which is a good thing after, but

not while you’re in it cos we don’t want to be out of our comfort zone

FOCUS GROUP L6 STUDENTS REFLECTING ON

L5 MODULE USING MATRIX

INITIAL FINDINGS- STAFF VIEWS

Student questionnaire- best thing about module "The whole of semester two being group work when each individual had a different role."

"The format of semester two's work and marking is very different but encourages group work and enhances skills for the future.“

I mention all of these as you were instrumental in enabling me to see a way why which I could move to group, real-life assessments. The changes have been seen as positive and all down to the realisation that I could simply ask the students their opinions rather than dictate to them .

(Lecturer in Psychology)

I believe the students took on more in terms of work than they would normally do. Keeping them to the learning objectives, and the area of knowledge required was harder that getting them to put the hours in. However giving the students Emma’s structure in which to find their passion in.

(Lecturer in Media)

USING THE MATRIX APPROACH IN YOUR MODULE…

1. Identify 3-5 key themes in which students could specialise.

2. Identify a range of applications/ contexts to which mixed assessment teams could apply the thematic knowledge.

3. Create a densely worded final assessment brief.

REFERENCES

Cavanagh, M. (2011). Students' Experiences of Active Engagement through Cooperative Learning Activities in Lectures. Active Learning in Higher Education, 12(1), 23-33.

Herrington, J., & Oliver, R. (2000). An instructional design framework for authentic learning environments. Educational Technology Research & Development, 48(3), 23-48. doi: 10.1007/BF02319856

Lave , D., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. . New York: Cambridge University Press.

Ntshoe, I. (2012). Reframing curriculum and pedagogical discourse in universities of technology. South African Journal of Higher Education, 26(2), 198-213.

Quay, J. (2003). Experience and Participation: Relating Theories of Learning. The Journal of Experiential Education, 26(2), 105-116.

Roberts, E. (2016a) Active Learning in Higher Education as a Restorative Practice: lecturer’s reflections Journal of Learning and Development in Higher Education (Vol 10)

Roberts, E. (PENDING 2016b) Introducing the Matrix Classroom: University course design that facilitates authentic and situated learning International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education