E-BOOKS
Klieman, P., 2008. Design for Learning. 1st ed. [ebook] PALATINE (HEA). Available at: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238709657_Design_for_Learning> [Accessed 15 September 2021].
Challenges how we can apply good design practises principles to the process of curriculum design. One of my key take-aways from the read it that a curriculum should be designed so that I can easily be adapted and updated each time it is revisited with ease.
PODCASTS
Kane, J. and Mushtare, R., 2018. Design Teaching. [podcast] Tea for teaching. Available at: <https://teaforteaching.com> [Accessed 13 September 2021].
WEBSITES
Hudson, E., 2020. Threshold Concepts: A Bridge Between Skills and Content. [online] Medium. Available at: <https://medium.com/@ejhudson/threshold-concepts-a-bridge-between-skills-and-content-54331b2bacd> [Accessed 15 September 2021].
Discussed the process of abandoning teaching being about ‘coverage’ but instead teaching so students gain deeper understanding of the main, most important, principles of a subject well.
For educators to enable those deeper learning skills they need to be able to do two things:
Articulate the durable, transferable skills students need to achieve deep understanding (and pursue it for the rest of their lives) and
Connect students to content that is rich enough to develop those skills.
Which content builds the deeper learning skills that matter to students’ success?
Threshold concepts may be the answer to these questions.
In the article the ‘concept’ of a threshold subject is discussed:
“Concepts [cause] a transformative shift in a student’s understanding and appreciation of that field.”
Threshold concepts have five essential traits:
1) they transform the learner’s perception of the field,
2) that transformation is permanent,
3) they are integrative in that the learner perceives interrelated ideas in the same way experts in the field might,
4) they are bounded in that mastery allows the learner to move on to other threshold concepts, and
5) they are “troublesome” for learners.
“Threshold concepts as a bridge between skills and content.”
“Mastering a threshold concept requires the learner to enter an uncomfortable space where they must question what they already know, wrestle with abstract ideas, and seek new ways to organize and process information.”
During this process the student can experience emotional struggle and confusion associated with mastering a subject. This struggle is associated with the transfer of knowledge from one context into another, resulting in deeper learning. To succeed students need to learn from mistakes, be resilient and utilise a variety of learning strategies and be aware of how and who to ask for help.
To learn threshold concepts, students will need to spend more time with fewer concepts.
Here are three steps for educators to begin exploring threshold concepts:
Identify threshold concepts – collaboration, empathy, inclusivity
Align threshold concepts to authentic practice
Learn about cultures, conditions and strategies required to nurture productive struggle in students
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Morgan, H. and Houghton, A., 2011. Inclusive curriculum design in higher education | Advance HE. [online] Advance-he.ac.uk. Available at: <https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/inclusive-curriculum-design-higher-education> [Accessed 10 September 2021].Discusses key principles for designing an inclusive curriculum specific to creative HE subjects.
WVIDEO
Bergmann, J., 2016. Simplifying Flipped Learning. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hwu3xqbMKw> [Accessed 9 February 2021].
In Bergmann’s lecture on ‘Simplifying Flipped Learning) Bergmann talks about re-formatting the classroom so that students learn ‘stuff’ in terms of gaining knowledge and applying that independence. They then re-group in the classroom for the hard part; analysis, evaluate and create with the help of peers and tutors (which would traditionally be done at home individually/homework) Flipped learning doesn’t mean that the ‘individual learning’ has to happen as homework either - even better students can work in their ‘individual’ space in class by listening to a video (for example)