ICI International Conference║Professor Tina Grotzer: Innovative Pedagogies: How On-line Learning Underscores the Importance of Developing Self-directed Learners

Professor Tina Grotzer

Harvard University

Title: Innovative pedagogies: How on-line learning underscores the importance of developing self-directed learners

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We publish this report with the permission of Prof. Tina Grotzer for the use of scholarly communications only.

Hello, everyone. I’m Dr. Tina Grotzer. I’m working at the School of Education, Harvard University. I am interested in the field of cognitive science, learning, instruction and curriculum. I also pay attention to technology and how technology supports learning. I am glad to share some of my research with you today.

Since this spring, we have started online teaching, which means teachers and students cannot be in the same space at the same time. One of my graduate students named Sophie Rich interviewed teachers across the United States to discuss the major ideas and themes brought about by these changes and how they have fundamentally changed the way teachers think about teaching. One of the main conclusions of this study is that when teachers and students are no longer in the same space, students’ self-directed learning becomes particularly important, and teachers need to reconsider what kind of skills students need to possess when they are learning alone.

In this speech, I will compare two different paths of teaching, the one is “Teaching for Understanding” (TfU), the other is “Living Curriculum” (LC). I will discuss the impact that the two paths caused on the development of self-directed learners respectively.

01. Teaching for Understanding (TfU)

TfU is regarded as the gold standard of curriculum development, it has been promoted for a period of time. TfU has been developed in that people found that students do not have a deep understanding of what they have learned, they tend to forget what they have learned after a while. Let’s take a look at the chart, TfU is initiated by teachers, and it is defined by big, societally important understanding.

The core of TfU is “What we decide is worth learning is no simple matter”. TfU emphasizes “less is more”, and attaches importance to large generative topics that can be transferred to new disciplines and fields. Students, therefore, learn knowledge that can be applied to many disciplines and fields, only such knowledge is worth the limited time we spend in school.

“Backward design” of curriculum is at the heart of TfU, which is crucial to our understanding of self-directed learner. Teachers start from understanding the teaching goals that are determined by teachers or developers who have developed the curriculum. They set these goals from the standpoint of experts who know a lot about the field. By “backward design”, the experts point out the destination of our teaching.

02. Living Curriculum

Living curriculum is one that is dynamic and changeable, it responds to what is relevant at that time. Living curriculum can be revised many times throughout the academic year. The curriculum is about the authentic world and authentic learning, it is also about acquiring knowledge that enable a person to live a better life.

Living curriculum is initiated by the students, their interests and enthusiasms are at the heart of the curriculum. It plans the learning path in a forward-looking and guiding way, which is an important difference between it and the other curriculum. As beginners, students are forward-looking and they plan their learning by making use of resources surrounded. Living curriculum are recorded in detail in the study log, and students tend to receive support, feedback and guidance from their teachers.

Living curriculum presupposes that learners have the ability of planning, cooperation, developing professional and reflection. It assumes that students are able to make use of evidence to solve problems actively.

Therefore, I would like to make it clear that compared with “backward design” of TfU, living curriculum is a forward-looking design. It starts from the standpoint of a novice, and then leads to learning and understanding. When doing these things, the most important thing is to know how to do it.

Living curriculum helps students to become self-directed learners who can think about what they should do instead of asking their teachers first.

I hope you would ask me further questions about these concepts. I have papers about these studies, as well as some curriculum materials. I firmly believe that TfU and living curriculum are quite important in classroom. The learners in 21st century need to master important knowledge and understanding of social value, and they need to know how to effectively construct new knowledge, which will lead them to the future. Finally, thank you for your time and attention, I hope we will have more opportunity to exchange ideas in the future.