Metacognition: Teach Me How to Learn! Posted on March 31, 2014 by Jane S. WebsterWhen we shift our task as educators from those who deliver content to those who help students learn how to learn, we see that they still learn the content that we cherish, but they have also developed skills that will take them far into the future with success. And as we become more conscious of students’ learning, we will become more attuned to their needs, enabling us to intervene in just the right place at just the right time…
Hey, Instructors: Show Us Your Essential Questions! Posted on November 18, 2013 by A+ Brooke Lester, CuratorI’ll show you mine, and you can show me yours. I have written before on designing a course “backward” from essential questions, using the “Understanding by Design” system created by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. Also here at Seminarium, others have described their own experience with “Understanding by Design.” A key idea is that we teach, not so that the learners will acquire particular facts in our subject matter, but so that they will develop enduring understandings that can be transferred into other contexts and subject matters. Toward this end, early in the process of designing or revising a course (“Intro to the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible”) or unit (“Latter Prophets”), you want to come up with the “big ideas” and “essential questions” toward which the assessments, activities, and resources are oriented. These are my own, for the course “Introduction to the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible.”
Teaching with Meta-Questions Posted on November 8, 2013 by Jane S. WebsterWhat’s the point? Do you ever get those blank why-are-we-talking-about-this stare? Is your answer too often, “Just because?” Today’s challenge is to consider your larger course agenda and how it maps onto student curiosity. More specifically, it is time to identify the metaquestion you hope your course will answer. . . .
A Good Class Spoiled! Posted on August 28, 2013 by Jennifer ShepherdTwo years ago, I reached a point where I began to regard student evaluations as “a good course spoiled.” You may wonder about that phrase. Let me explain. There is a famous quote that “golf is a good walk spoiled.” You may have even said it. And for sure, it can be. It doesn’t matter how positive your attitude is, or how much you practice, or whether you have played the course 100 times. The results of your efforts are objective. You can either hit the ball or you can’t. You can’t hide your natural abilities, or lack thereof. They are on display for everyone to see….
Teaching the Bible in General Education—2 of 2 Posted on August 20, 2013 by Jane S. WebsterMany educators bemoan the fact that students seek the more secure career paths of sciences and professions, often at the expense of the Humanities. Research shows, however, that many students are interested in Religious Studies, especially for the sake of making personal meaning. As a result, students often take courses in Religious Studies as part of their General Education program, and of these courses, Biblical Studies are the most popular. So how do we approach teaching the Bible in order to meet the needs of the discipline, General Education, and student meaning-making?