What is Learning?Posted on October 8, 2014 by Holly InglisLearning outcomes – learning styles – learning assessments. We use the word learning in a lot of different contexts but what exactly is the nature of learning and how can educators work to enhance more effective student learning?Israel Galindo, Dean of Lifelong Learning at Columbia Theological Seminary, makes the bold assertion that learning is not an outcome of teaching…
“Smells Like a B-Minus?”: Surrender Privilege for TransparencyPosted on October 1, 2014 by A+ Brooke Lester, CuratorUnderstanding by Design is an outcomes-based approach to course design whereby an instructor first articulates her most profligate hopes and dreams for her students: what are the enduring understandings about the subject matter that animate her love for the course and which she strives to kindle in her learners? There is a cost to doing it well, but it’s a cost many of us are more than happy to pay: we have to surrender the privilege of issuing letter-grades from within the fortress of our privileged Instructor’s Black Box, and take up the adult responsibility of making our evaluations processes transparent to learners.Transparency in assessment is a loaded concept for faculty. Traditionally, we are not accustomed to having our discernment questioned: if it “smells like a B-plus” to us, then that is that…