Final Project

 

 

 

 

Allen Mooneyhan

 

 

 

 

Curriculum Seminar

 

 

 

 

Final Project

 

 

 

 

Dr. Holman

 

Arkansas State University

 

 

 

 

December 7, 2001

 

 

Final Project

Curriculum Seminar

 

Location to be evaluated:              Learning College Project

                                                http://www.league.org/league/projects/lcp/vanguard.htm

 

 

The educational environment:

 

 

            The educational environment of the Learning College Project is one that focuses on adding learning-centered values to mission and program statements of community colleges.  The objective is to move community colleges away from teaching-centered and student-centered environments to learning-centered environments.  This is an attempt to facilitate educational experiences for learners anyway, anyplace and anytime.  The Project also provides opportunities for collaboration of colleges in an attempt to help colleges fulfill the shift to a learning-centered environment.

 

 

Features:

 

Features from making connections and Cognitive Psychology that define key aspects of brain-based learning (group effort):

Teach for meaningfulness
Maintain a state of relaxed alertness
Use student experiences as part of the learning process
Find new ways to reflect on and process your own experiences
Focus on intrinsic motivation
Integrated curriculum- connectedness
Thematic units
Creative assessments
Facilitate higher order thinking skills
Question fundamental assumptions regarding our learning

 

 

 

Evaluation criteria:

 

Key Feature

Positive Exemplar

Negative Exemplar

Assessment

Meaningful Learning:

Students learn with respect to what is meaningful to them and their experiences.

 

Learning experiences are utilized which emphasize information unique to the student.

Learning experiences are utilized which focus on the memory of isolated facts.

This project seems to be placing a focus on the learning.  This indicates that meaningful learning is important.

Relaxed Alertness:

A state of relaxed alertness is maintained at the institution; there is an atmosphere which challenges students while providing for intrinsic motivation by lessening the impact of failure.

 

Learning experiences challenge students yet allow them to relax about not "measuring up."

Learning experiences emphasize success or failure discouraging students from taking new risks.

The focus is on the student as a learner leading to the empowerment of the student.  This indicates support for a relaxed, alert atmosphere.

Student Experiences:

Student experiences are used as part of the learning process giving students something to build on and associate with.

 

Learning experiences are based upon past experiences of the student, which can be built upon.

Learning experiences focus on prescribed outcomes regardless of previous student experiences.

The shift away from the teaching-centered atmosphere to one that is learner-centered encourages the use of student experiences.

Reflection:

Teachers and students are encouraged to find ways to reflect on and process their own experiences.

 

Teachers and students find ways to reflect on what they are doing and how they are accomplishing tasks.

Teachers and students are expected to complete specific tasks in traditional ways with no critical thought.

List Serves are set up to facilitate dialogue between institutional members indicating that reflection is encouraged.

Intrinsic Motivation:

The focus of the curriculum is on intrinsic motivation rather than extrinsic motivation.

 

Students are encouraged to take risks and think in new ways that are internally rewarding.

The focus is placed on external rewards decreasing the chance of risk-taking in the learning process.

The Project discusses measurement tools that can lead to greater intrinsic motivation such as replacing exams with portfolios.

Integrated Curriculum:

There is a connectedness in that different disciplines come together to work collaboratively in meeting objectives for student learning.

 

Institutions encourage disciplines to work together and may work collaboratively with other institutions.

Institutions have no contact with other institutions and disciplines work independently of one another.

The need for what the Project calls "across-the-curriculum" skills is promoted indicating that skills should be provided throughout disciplines in a connected format.

Thematic Units:

Thematic unites are used to focus student attention in order to provide information from various disciplines within the thematic unit.

 

Learning experiences are focused around themes that provide for collaborative activities.

Isolated facts are taught in ways that do not yield a contextual understanding.

Thematic units are not explicitly discussed.  However, the atmosphere is one that seems to promote contextual learning across disciplines.

Creative Assessments:

The teacher looks for and utilizes creativeness in developing and using means by which to assess student learning.

 

Alternate assessments are utilized such as portfolios, interviews, and journals.

Traditional assessments such as exams are the focus of evaluation.

The Project encourages electronic portfolio assessment in project-based learning providing for alternate means for evaluation.

High Order Thinking:

Activities are facilitated which promote higher order thinking/learning skills rather than rote memorization.

 

Learning experiences promote higher order, creative activities and learning.

Learning experiences focus on the memorization of facts by the student in preparation for an assessment.

The focus of the Project is on learning rather than student or teacher-centered activities.  This indicates a degree of emphasis on higher order thinking and learning.

Question Assumptions:

The institution and its members question fundamental assumptions regarding learning and how the instructional system should be set up rather than accepting that education should continue as it has always been.

 

The institution questions the fundamental assumptions that have been part of the educational system traditionally and looks for new innovative methods.

The institution relies upon traditional assumptions and methods to facilitate the teaching of information to students.

The Project's self-evaluation noted that there should be a "journey" to realign priorities, policies, programs, practices, and personnel to focus on learning.  This indicates the questioning of traditional assumptions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summary of the issue of brain-compatibility:

 

            The Learning College Project has a major focus on changing colleges from teaching-centered to learner-centered campuses.  The Project's objective is to move community colleges in this direction.  I believe this organization utilizes most of the features of brain-based learning toward this end. 

            The focus on being learner-centered encompasses the related features of meaningful learning and the use of student experiences as well as promoting relaxed alertness.  This is done by focusing on the learner and his or her experiences in order to enhance the learning process.

            I believe that the Project encourages reflection, specifically teacher reflection, and promotes the use of alternate assessments.  It is indicated that teachers should look for creative assessment tools to replace traditional ones that may discourage student risk-taking.  This also provides the students the opportunity to reflect upon what they have created in working on projects and portfolios.  Finally, this reflection facilitates a greater degree of intrinsic motivation about a work the student, rather than the instructor, has created and gives the student the opportunity to work creatively using higher order thinking skills.

            It seems that the features of the integrated curriculum and the use of thematic unites compliment each other.  The atmosphere is one that promotes contextual learning rather than the memorization and regurgitation of isolated facts.  Furthermore, the goal of integrating the curriculum supports this because disciplines come together to allow students to learn concepts in what the Project calls "across-the-curriculum" learning of skills.

            The feature that the Project accomplishes most significantly is probably the degree to which it questions the fundamental assumptions of education.  The major focus is helping colleges move away from the traditional assumption that instructors and teachers should write lesson plans and objectives that focus on the teaching of facts.  Conversely, the Project lobbies that institutions and teachers should focus on the learner and provide for opportunities for the empowerment of the student so that he or she can take the initiative to learn in ways that are meaningful to and focus on the student.

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