There will be no lectures in Adobe Connect. The participants are supposed to read the material before the meetings to take part in the discussions. The course is divided into three topics: Higher education now and in the future, Teaching in higher education (planning and structuring as a teacher), Mentoring in higher education (assessing and motivating students). The material below roughly follow these. The videos are also available in this YouTube playlist. To make it easier for you to navigate the page I only put links to the videos, and they will open in a new window or tab.
In the playlist you find my recordings where I address questions from the participants about teaching, assessing and engaging students. If you find these interesting they may support you when writing your second blog post and perhaps later on when you are teaching. These videos are not part of the required readings before the seminar discussions.
And, if you find interesting materials that you want to share with the rest of us please do so in the comment section below, thank you!
1. Higher education now and in the future
Assignment: During the second video conference in Adobe Connect we will discuss current possibilities and challenges for higher education. Please prepare two comments or questions based on the material below in advance, and also answer the following questions. What are the challenges of higher education according to the authors? What is the future of higher education? Do you agree or disagree with them? Please give reasons for your answer.
We will talk and write during our discussions as a way to get familiar with the virtual meeting room. You can use one of the questions above later when you write your first blog post. The learning goal in this assignment is that the participant will be able to appraise the university as an educational institution.
Texts
Ball, S. J. (2012). Show Me the Money! Neoliberalism at Work in Education. FORUM, 54 (1).
The European University Association. (2017). Ten European Principles for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching.
Videos
Liz Coleman’s call to reinvent liberal arts education (1.6.2009)
The Future of Higher Education | Kevin Manning | TEDxBaltimore (1.2.2016)
Designing a university for the new millennium: David Helfand at TEDxWestVancouverED (8.6.2013)
Open Webinar: “Virtual Mobility and Internationalisation of Higher Education” (29.5.2017)
RSA ANIMATE: Re-Imagining Work (Dave Coplin, 25.9.2013)
2. Teaching in higher education
Assignment: During the third video conference in Adobe Connect we will discuss the didactical questions (what, how, why, when and where) while teaching. We will start with a general reflection on teaching methods in higher education, what is working and what is not? Read the material below in advance and prepare two comments in writing that you share with the group in the beginning of our meeting.
Reflect on your own teaching and the following questions. How much time do you spend on transmitting content (lecturing for example) and how much time is spent on student activities and you commenting on their assignments? Research tells us that in a classroom the teacher talks 75 % of the time and students share 25 % for questions or comments. Is this true in your course as well? If you are not teaching at the moment, think back to courses you have taken part in as a student.
We will talk and write during our discussions as a way to get familiar with the virtual meeting room. The discussions during this topic might help you get started with your second blog post. The learning goal in this assignment is that the participant will be able to identify pedagogical questions concerning planning and implementing their teaching practices.
Articles
Alexander, B. (2004). Going Nomadic: Mobile Learning In Higher Education.
Ashwin, P. Seven myths of university teaching (26.2.2015, Times Higher Education)
Dall’Alba, G. (2004). Improving teaching: Enhancing ways of being university teachers. Higher Education Research & Development, 24 (4).
Knight, P. & Yorkee, M. (2003). Employability and Good Learning in Higher Education. Teaching in Higher Education, 8 (1).
Videos
Becoming a Better Teacher (Mariappan Jawaharlal, 22.5.2016)
A Brief Overview of 4 Learning Theories (Jo Harris, 24.2.2014)
The 4 adult learning styles explained with JC Melvin (31.10.2015)
Learning styles & the importance of critical self-reflection | Tesia Marshik | TEDxUWLaCrosse (2.4.2015)
3. Mentoring in higher education
Assignment: During the fourth video conference in Adobe Connect we will discuss mentoring and assessment in higher education. Reflect on your own teaching or your experiences as a student. What are your present assessment methods and what kind of learning are you assessing? Think back to the first topic, are you preparing your students for that future or for something else? What would you like to change in your assessment and what kind of support do you need to do that?
Read the material below and prepare two comments about assessment or mentoring in advance. What can we assess and what can we not assess? What kind of support do teachers and faculties need when choosing assessment methods?
The discussions during this topic might help you when updating your second blog post. The learning goal in this assignment is that the participant will be able to identify pedagogical questions concerning evaluating their teaching practices and mentoring students through asssessment, as well as, appraising the university as an educational institution.
Texts
Carragher, J. & McGaughey, J. (2016). The effectiveness of peer mentoring in promoting a positive transition to higher education for first-year undergraduate students: a mixed methods systematic review protocol. Systematic Reviews, 5 (68), 1–9.
Lunsford, L. G., Crisp, G., Dolan, E. L. & Wuetherick, B. (2017). Mentoring in Higher Education. In David A. Clutterbuck, Frances K. Cochan, Laura Lundford, Nora Dominguez & Julie Haddock-Millar, The SAGE Handbook of Mentoring, (316–334).
O’Byrne, I. (5.10.2017). Making healthy skepticism happen in teaching and learning
O’Byrne, I. (10.8.2017). Develop an assessment of critical online information literacies
Videos
Ashley Finley on the Future of Assessment in Higher Education (14.1.2015)
Why Is Measuring Learning So Difficult? (17.8.2015)
Stanford Seminar: The Science of Learning, Data, and Transformation in Higher Education (Candace Thille, 21.2.2017)
Measuring learning gain: Using assessment to improve student learning (Charles Blaich & Kathleen Wise, 9.2.2015)
Teaching in Finnish higher education
I recommend that you read these:
Karjalainen, A., Alha, K. & Jutila, S. (2003/2006). Tid att tänka. Dimensionering av finländska universitetsstudier – Anna aikaa ajatella. Suomalaisten yliopisto-opintojen mitoitusjärjestelmä. (Texts are only available in Swedish or Finnish.)
Åbo Akademi University’s support for different software such as course evaluation and Adobe Connect.
The course literature for other modules in Higher Education may also be of interest and you find them in the ÅAU libraries.
Teaching and mentoring in theory and practice 