Learning Styles
The course shifts from broadcast learning to interactive learning
Traditional approaches to learning are linear. This dates back to the book, which is usually read from beginning to end, as a learning tool. Stories, novels, and other narratives are linear as well. Most textbooks are written to be tackled from beginning to end. Television shows and instructional videos are designed to be watched from beginning to end. Now, in on-line courses, access to information is hypertextual (WWW), interactive and nonsequential. It is paperless. All student-instructor contact is electronic and asynchronous.
The courses will require you to articulate what you are doing, the decisions you make, the strategies you use and the answers you found. When you articulate what you have learned and reflect on the process and decisions that were entailed by the process, you understand more and are better able to use your constructed knowledge in new situations.
Construction of a web page is the major requirement.
Study Alone or Collaborate?
The fact that most students study alone is indeed unfortunate because research shows that students who engage in collaborative learning and team study perform better academically, persist longer, improve their communication skills, feel better about their educational experience, and have enhanced self-esteem. As even more evidence, Karl A. Smith, Civil Engineering professor at the University of Minnesota and a nationally recognized expert on cooperative learning, has found that. Cooperation among students typically results in:
1. Higher achievement and greater productivity
2. More caring, supportive, and committed relationships
3. Greater psychological health, social competence, and self-esteem
In my own anecdotal research, I have tried to understand why students study alone, so I also make it a point to ask students, "Why don't you study with other students?" I almost always get one of these three answers:
1. "I learn more studying by myself"
2. "I don't have anyone to study with"
3. "It's not right. You're supposed to do your own work"
The first of these reasons is simply wrong. It contradicts all the research that has been done on student success and student learning. The second reason is really an excuse. You are overflowing with other students who are working on the same homework assignments and preparing for the same tests that you are. Third reason is either a carryover from a former era when the culture of education emphasized "competition" over "collaboration," or it comes from that old romanticized ideal of the "rugged individualist" that today is clearly debunked. Today, the corporate buzzwords are "collaboration" and "teamwork," and education programs are under a strong mandate to turn out graduates who have the skills to work well in teams.
If you are using any of these reasons to justify your "lone-wolf" approach to your academic work, you should now see their inherent problems and, thus, you need to change your approach. If you're still not convinced, then look at the issue from a different perspective. Instead of focusing on the weakness or problems of solitary study, consider the strengths or benefits of team study. In this new light, you will find three very powerful and persuasive reasons for choosing the collaborative approach over the solitary one:
1. You'll be better prepared for the real "work world" = easier to get a well paying job! Yahooo!
2. You'll learn more = always a benefit eh?
3. You'll enjoy it more = fun
