SPM030210

March 2nd was an inspirational class.

Wow, Miriam! Thanks for the great illustration on how you worked with your students to get them to compose a paragraph. It inspired me on a number of levels. First, I was inspired by the process and how it helped students do something as a group that they found difficult to do on their own. Secondly, I was inspired because I could see how this could aid in improving the continuity of our Objectives Lessons. Thirdly, I was inspired, as I could see how it addressed the concepts in the chapter.

Suzan inspired me also. What a great model of Chapter 7. As I read the next chapter, I thought of how Suzan conceptualized Chapter 7.

Lastly, I felt inspired by the action plan we agreed to for completing the Objectives lessons. I am confident that they will be solid in this iteration.

I walked into class, last Tuesday thinking about a seminar I attended at lunchtime about mechanisms for conducting a 4 hour class. Johanna Dunlap from UCD shared some interesting ways to work with classes. Much of what she shared was based on Kolb's learning cycle of concrete vs. abstract and reflective vs. active.



Kim started with the concrete experiential activity of having us create definitions. According to Kolb, each individual has a preferred learning style, (concrete experiential, reflective objserviation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation) and in a typical class each style is represented. The best way to hook them all is to appeal to each of the styles. This in turn leads everyone through each of the styles and helps them learn more effectively.

Svinicki and Dixon (1987) discussed the Kolb learning cycle as an instructional strategy. In it they listed some activities for each learning style.


 * //Concrete Experience//**: labs, observations, primary text reading, simulations, games, field work, trigger films, readings, problem sets, examples.


 * //Reflective Observation//**: logs, journals, discussion, brainstorming, thought questions, rhetorical questions.


 * //Abstract conceptualization//**: lecture, papers, model building, projects, analogies.


 * //Active Experimentation//**: simulations, case study, laboratory, field work, projects, homework.

There is overlap in the actitivites described for concrete experience and active experimentation, but the idea is pretty interesting, nonetheless.

References

Svinicki, M. D. and Dixon, N. M. (1987) //College Teaching 35//(4). 141-146.