Module 2: Theories that Underpin Teaching and Learning



Theories that Underpin Teaching and Learning Mark Gill10080384Module 2: Theories that Underpin Teaching and LearningModule Focus This module has been designed to provide you with an insight into different theories of how people learn and how to use these in a teaching and learning environment.The module will enable you to develop a knowledge and understanding of theories of learning and to explore ways to apply them in your own context. Learning outcomes Knowledge & UnderstandingDemonstrate a reflective approach to your own teaching practice in relation to theories of learning Develop a critical awareness of how concepts and theories influence the learning processCognitive &IntellectualSkillsCritically examine a range of theoretical approaches to learning of your choiceAnalyse the impact of theoretical approaches to learning in terms of inclusive learning and democratic educationPractical & Professional SkillsDevelop a critical and ethical understanding of current issues and understanding informing good practice in teaching and learningKey Transferable SkillsDemonstrate independent learning ability to plan and manage own learningDemonstrate reflective thinking skills which can be applied to a range of work-based situationsAssessment: Theories that Underpin Teaching and Learning (level 7)Type of Assignment: Essay with appendicesWeighting: 100%Word count: 5000 Submission Date: 17.03.14Assessment brief: Essay 100% - (4,000 words) which will demonstrate your ability to critically evaluate a range of theories of learning and make judgments about which are the most appropriate in terms of your own teaching practice and creating an inclusive learning environment (LO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)Appendices (1000 words nominal) Observed session. Lesson plan, feedback and reflection in which draws out the links to theory and the observed session. This is part of evidence for the Teaching File. Assessment GuidanceYou will need to discuss all three of the main schools of learning theory, Behaviourist, Humanist, and Cognitivist. Within this discussion or in addition you will need to examine at least two more specific models or theories of learning e.g. Andragogy, Deep and Surface learning, Gestalt, Democratic education, Constructivism, etc. This is a minimum and you may need to include more theories to construct an argument that gains higher marks. You may include any relevant model or theory related to learning, drawing on your own research and practice. As it is an essay do not use subheadings and bullet points. Further you will also need to relate these theories to your own context and classroom practice. Avoid too much description of the theories and concentrate on analysis and appraisal in relation to your own practice. ConsiderWhat theories can be seen as underpinning current practicesWhat is your personal philosophy or “theory of learning” and how does it influence your practiceAny subject specific theories related to your specialismWhat ethical dimensions should be considered How theories and subsequent approaches may support or undermine inclusionReflection on observed session Ensure you use events and issues from the observed session to relate to a range of theories and use an appropriate model of reflection. Theories that Underpin Teaching and LearningWithin the remit of education there are many pedagogical approaches to learning that can be applied to the practice of teaching, three of the most prolific learning theories are behaviourist, cognitivist, humanist and constructivist. These four main learning theories have risen to popularity and have some very different and contrasting approaches to the methods of delivering and facilitating learning. Within this essay will be an exploration of each of these main four learning theories in detail and discus their implications and uses in my own pedagogy. The essay will also explore and relate deep and surface learning, E-Learning and multimedia learning to my own pedagogic practices.The term "behaviorism" was coined by?John Watson?(1878–1959) who is often considered to be the father of behaviourism following his classic paper “psychology as the Behaviorist Views It” (1913). Popularity for behaviorism grew with the help of with strong proponents such as Edward Lee Thorndike and Ivan Pavlov, behaviourism was later championed by B.F. Skinner. ‘Behaviorism focuses on the importance of the consequences of those performances and contends that responses that are followed by reinforcement are more likely to recur in the future. No attempt is made to determine the structure of a student’s knowledge not to assess which mental processes it is necessary for them to use’ (Winn, 1990). Behaviourism measures observable behaviours based on a given learners response to stimuli. The use of positive and negative reinforcement is applied to the responses to stimuli. The behaviourist tools that have been beneficial to me within my own teaching practice are mainly pop quizzes or individual tests, being that they are useful in providing empirical data that can aid the tracking of individual student development. Computer based tutorials that students have to complete to gain outcomes or assets for further learning and demonstrations are also heavily featured within my own teaching practices. One aspect of behaviourism recently adopted into my classroom through gamification would is a points and reward system, akin to the old gold star stickers but modernised with games fluent adult learners in mind. The fact that in the process of my teaching often behaviourist techniques will be utilised in that verbal reward or reinforcement of good behaviour and condemnation or redirection of focus to verbally “punish” bad behaviour shows it can work in some instances but is not in my opinion the best approach to all given scenarios. Behaviourists attempt to prescribe strategies that are most useful for building and strengthening stimulus-response associations (Winn, 1990).Personally I think behaviourism can tend to promote just “surface learning” with the student only knowing the “correct” response to the stimuli without having any deeper knowledge of why. Another failing of the behaviourist theory is that?it doesn't include any possibility of reflection on processes or intuitive thinking.The classic example of behaviorism is when Ivan Pavlov used classic conditioning to investigate the digestive system of dogs. Pavlov conditioned the dogs to react to the sound of a tuning fork. The tuning fork became a conditioned stimulus. B.F. Skinners extensive work on operant conditioning in the lab using rats as test subjects, looking back seems archaic but in fitting with the accepted Science at the time. Skinners belief that the lab results compiled from studying rats behaviours would directly correlate to humans, to this author seems ludicrous in a philosophical debate but may perhaps ring true with public physical actions. It is well known that rote conditioning builds muscle memory such as archery repeatedly nocking the same draw and loosing flight, but my personal belief the same is not true with thought processes of the sentient abilities of the rattus norvegicus and Homo sapiens. This is backed by Noam Chomsky’s staunch criticism of Skinner, upon reviewing Skinners “Verbal Behaviour” his view became more popular than the book itself. Chomsky has been credited off the back of this review as launching the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. My personal opinion is that teaching and behaviourism go well together on some levels in that the teaching system itself shares similarities with the theories definition. The fact that behaviourism is methodical measurable and observable will appeal to a lot of “statistics” based teachers. Behaviourists believe that positive and negative rewards influence the learning process. Students are incentivised to study hard by “the reward” of good grades and many good teachers motivate their students to be more interested in the lessons “operant conditioning”. Though the initial work at the time was essential to the development of psychological and pedagogical practices I believe with hindsight it is not the ideal theory to be solely utilised figuring in modern social and emotional factors. The obvious ethical factors of what “punishment” is appropriate for the use of negative reinforcement, we have come a long way from the cane as a deterrent however effective it was. A purely behaviourist classroom could undermine inclusivity in that attention and focus might not be optimal due to teacher cantered nature of delivery. Shortly before his death in 1990 B. F. Skinner said, “The worst mistake my generation has made is to treat people as if they were rats.”The Gestalt theory was to a great extent propagated by K?hler, Koffka and Wertheimer. This theory emphasised higher-order cognitive processes in the midst of behaviourism. Gestalt psychologists argued that we do not experience the world in simple, small chunks of information that enter our minds and are later combined into six complex ideas. Gestalt theory claimed that we experience the world in meaningful patterns or as an organised whole. Thus knowledge is organised to solve a problem and therefore we should view learning from the perspective of problem solving. Gestalt theory does feature in my teaching practice to some extent in that I will often use student led discussion groups allowing students to logically construct arguments and provide evidence to support their assumptions re-examining the whole discussion as a closing exercise. The holistic viewpoint of gestalt theory can be beneficial in looking at large problems from the top down for example how to build a computer game the whole picture needs to be seen before the problem can be solved. Once the whole game is imagine or viewed we can dissect it constituent parts allowing students to grasp a better understanding of how each part relates and interacts to the whole. ‘Cognitive theories grew out of Gestalt psychology, Developed in Germany in the early 1900s, it was transplanted to America in the 1920s. Gestalt is roughly translated as "configuration," or "pattern," and emphasizes "the whole" of human experience’ (Yount W, 2010). The cognitivism movement was a response in part to behaviourism that was considered to lack cognition as an integral part of the theory. ‘In the late 1950s, learning theory began to make a shift away from the use of behavioral models to an approach that relied on learning theories and models from the cognitive sciences. Psychologists and educators began to de-emphasize a concern with overt, observable behavior and stressed instead more complex cognitive processes such as thinking, problem solving, language, concept formation and information processing’ (Snelbecker, 1983). In this theory learners are active participants in their learning with the mind being likened to a computer processor with inputs functions and different types of memory. Two famous contributors to Cognitivism are Jean Piaget who is known for the theory that children progress through stages and J. Anderson who is known for the two types of memory procedural and declarative. Cognitivism is the theory that describes how information is processed to produce learning. It is the change in a learner’s mental behavior. ‘Cognitive theory looks at how information travels from the sensory memory to the working memory to the long-term memory. This theory focuses on gaining and maintaining the learner’s attention. After the learner’s attention is gained, then rehearsal and visuals are used to move the information in the memories. Reinforcement is used primarily as feedback’ (Woolfolk, 2004). Benjamin Blooms later development of educational objectives into three domains cognitive, affective and psychomotor in order to motivate educators to create holistic schema focusing on all three domains. Cognitivist theory is wholly more suited to the particular area of education my teaching takes place, being that a lot of problem solving is involved with games development. As an example my 3rd year students are given the task of creating a playable game which they will have to break the tasks down into smaller problems to overcome. They have to use their accumulated prior knowledge from previous modules in order to complete each of the tasks helping them develop a stronger understanding. Using animations and video while delivering structured tasks and computer based demonstrations or a tutorial ensures student attention is held. My practice is to sometimes utilise these topical videos or animations as a hook to gain interest and grab attention. Chunking is another method utilised to present the information in small increments switching between delivery methods to keep interest and dynamism in the classroom. One tool of cognitivist theory to be included as part of the ongoing gamification of my course and classroom, is graphical organisational tools to help structure and visually relate content. With the use of practical formative assessment tasks and quizzes students’ ability to recall, retain and understand the information can be determined. Creating visual aids and “cheat sheets” for the software or programs we use will often be part of my teaching strategy. The very nature of the fact we are creating software within the labs opens up a whole world of troubleshooting scenarios that the student has to overcome.my personal use of problem solving is backed by Balell work on the subject ‘Problem solving, for example, is a key 21st-century skill’ (Barell, 2010). Cognitivist theory can lead to inclusivity in that it appeals to a wider range of students learning styles and has prescriptive well detailed objectives. Similarities in the Behaviorist theory and Cognitive theory are; that both theories believe in reinforcing the concept and this is something I strive to include in my teaching with recaps and building on previous sessions knowledge similar to constructivist ideologies‘Humanism, a paradigm that emerged in the 1960s, focuses on the human freedom, dignity, and potential. A central assumption of humanism, according to Huitt (2001), is that people act with intentionality and values. This is in contrast to the behaviorist notion of operant conditioning (which argues that all behavior is the result of the application of consequences) and the cognitive psychologist belief that the discovering knowledge or constructing meaning is central to learning. Humanists also believe that it is necessary to study the person as a whole, especially as an individual grows and develops over the lifespan. It follows that the study of the self, motivation, and goals are areas of particular interest.Key proponents of humanism include Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. A primary purpose of humanism could be described as the development of self-actualized, autonomous people. In humanism, learning is student centred and personalized, and the educator’s role is that of a facilitator. Affective and cognitive needs are key, and the goal is to develop self-actualized people in a cooperative, supportive environment.’ (Learning Theories 2014).From my own experience and teaching practices lead me to be a staunch proponent of Carl Rogers’ work on student centred learning as I believe every student is individual in their learning style, pace and practice and unless a student is engaged and willing to learn progress will be impeded. Having been a student myself and realising that people can be psychologically “stubborn” if forced into a situation or learning scenario they are not comfortable with, it can almost completely block any progress as the student will be working against the intended learning direction. ‘For example: given two adults in a classroom where an exercise is about to begin, one individual may interpret the exercise in such a way that leads to a feeling of ‘excitement’, while the other person interprets the exercise in such a way that leads to the feeling of ‘embarrassment’. It is self-evident that the way the individual interprets the situation and the subsequent emotion that arises, will affect the kind of action the individual is to take’ (Burns, 1995, p 16). By individually understanding a given students learning style practices and driving factors I am able to better provide positive learning experiences for my students. A tool utilised in my personal practice are individual learning plans with student tracked skills and ability levels allowing students to visualise and gage their own progress. It can be a much needed confidence boost to student morale to see how far their abilities and skills have progressed, allowing them to adopt a positive learning outlook. The fact that I work with adult learners and my practices are student centred is reinforced by Burns work on andragogy, Burns (1995, p.233) says: ‘By adulthood people are self-directing. This is the concept that lies at the heart of andragogy...andragogy is therefore student-centred, experience-based, problem-oriented and collaborative very much in the spirit of the humanist approach to learning and education... the whole educational activity turns on the student’. I find particularly in education there can be a lot pre conceived notions or carryover of emotion from a previous tutor or mentor with regards to a student’s attitude towards learning. Creating a new personalised student centred outlook on the learning process, and an environment conducive to open debate and new ideas, is an early goal of mine when working with any student or group of students. The role of facilitator is comfortable to me as this was an area of experience personally developed as a producer in industry before my career as a teacher. It is my belief that coordinated group work is essential to the growth of students both socially and intellectually allowing students to experience and assimilate others positive working patterns and behaviours. My personal teaching pedagogy would be classed as being heavily humanist in nature concentrating on each students’ individual learning journey fortunately the small class size of generally fewer than twenty students allows me to adopt this method of teaching to the benefit of my students. By making students aware that myself as a teacher is not infallible in knowledge or actions and that I am open to feedback both positive and negative to use as constructive insight to my own practices and behaviours helps inclusivity. One of my major objectives is to create an inclusive atmosphere for all students where they can learn in their own way.Another learning theory that has gained popularity is constructivism. ‘Constructivism is the study of a learner's own construction of knowledge (Learning Theories, 2011c) ‘Constructivism is not a totally new approach to learning. Like most other learning theories, constructivism has multiple roots in the philosophical and psychological viewpoints of this century, speci?cally in the works of Piaget, Bruner, and Goodman’ (Perkins, 1991).. This knowledge is constructed through one's own personal experiences and interactions with the outside world. The learner takes in new information and gives meaning to it using his or her own prior attitudes, beliefs, and experiences as references (Stavredes, 2011). Learners are active participants in the construction of knowledge while the instructor serves as a facilitator. Two types of constructivism emerged beginning in the late 1970s. Lev Vygotsky introduced social constructivism, in which social interaction with others helps the learner put meaning to information. Vygotsky noted a Zone of Proximal Devleopment, in which learners can develop a certain level of meaning on their own but can grow even greater after interacting with classmates and instructors. In 1985, Jean Piaget introduced cognitive constructivism, in which knowledge is constructed by either assimilation or accommodation. In assimilation, incoming information is associated with a schema, and in accommodation, incoming information does not match a schema. Thus, the schema must be changed to accommodate this conflict (Stavredes, 2011).’ Learning Technologies (2014, March). Constructivism is used in my own teaching practices in that my sessions will be adapted to have relevance to real world problems and scenarios a student may face within the remit of the subject being taught. The importance of the real world outside of the classroom is compounded by Jonassen: ‘The philosophical assumptions underlying both the behavioral and cognitive theories are primarily objectivistic; that is: the world is real, external to the learner. The goal of instruction is to map the structure of the world onto the learner’ (Jonassen, 1991).When developing a given syllabus or scheme of work my role is to connect the knowledge in a structure that allows a final project or portfolio to be assembled using prior knowledge and experience from previous sessions and modules. This is in line with constructivist theories while striving to make the content relatable to the students own experiences and proir knowledge enabling them to adapt what they know to the given scenario. These techniques are in line with constructivist thinking and my belief that they are good effective practice. This argument is backed by the viewpoint of Benar et al. ‘Constructivism is a theory that equates learning with creating meaning from experience (Bednar et al., 1991). Giving students the experience of a real-world problem and having them tackle the situation in their own manner as my role of facilitator comes to the fore can be empowering for some students. A problem arises with inclusivity and constructivism being that if any particular student does not have the pre requisite knowledge it could be difficult to progress or desired outcomes may not always be achieved because of how different people approach a task. ’Constructivism is sometimes misconstrued as a theory that compels students to reinvent the wheel, but instead, it implores students to attempt to learn how it functions and apply this to real-world learning.’ (Educational Broadcasting, 2004). One of the definitive factors of constructivism is that learners are encouraged to constantly assess how given activities are helping them gain understanding of how they are learning. This potentially leads to one of my ultimate goals for any student, being that, they learn how to learn as this is the most valuable skill as it can be applied to any discipline.With the rise of student centered approach to learning with the learner themselves being the central focus of the learning, greater importance on what the learner does has taken precedence over the what the teacher does. With the teacher taking the role as a facilitator, this leads to the student being able to gain agency of their own learning approach. ‘These approaches are not stable traits in individuals, although some students will tend towards taking a deep approach while others will tend towards taking a surface approach’ (Biggs, 1999). Biggs describes the ability of a teacher as being good if they can steer the student towards adopting deeper learning as opposed to fostering surface learning in students. Teaching which involves students in active and independent learning is more likely to encourage a deep approach to learning in the subject. This supports my own use of activity workshops with pre-defined tasks over heavy amounts of didactic transmission of lecture information. This is strengthened by Blighs views on lectures and learning: ‘The traditional form of university instruction, the conventional lecture, rewards passivity in students rather than active involvement, and has less chance of developing those higher level cognitive abilities which are usually stated in learning objectives’ (Bligh, 1972). From my own practice I have found that demonstrating enthusiasm towards the subject as the teacher of facilitator encourages interest and enthusiasm form the students. Students are less likely to engage meaningfully and enthusiastically in the subject matter, taking a deep approach to learning, if the teacher is uninterested bored or unenthusiastic with the subject matter. E-learning and multi-media learning are two relatively new learning theories that have arisen in popularity with the widespread use of computing in education. Both types of learning theory utilise modern digital media formats to assist teaching and learning in the classroom. Having found within my own experience that video, animation and graphical representations and delivery of information can have more of an impact than simply listening or reading a source my teaching will often include multimedia. ‘When used effectively, animated content can improve learning. Several studies have suggested that learning is enhanced in computer-based animation environments’ (Park, 1994; Tversky Et Al , 2002). Stimulating multiple senses when learning can have a positive effect on memory as supported by Sweller’s cognitive load theory research : ‘Our ability to process information is a multi-step process that involves the perception, attention, selection, organization and integration of information’ (Sweller, 2003). ‘Using multiple channels can increase the amount of information that the brain can process’ (Sweller, 2005). As previously mentioned to promote deep learning students must be engaged with the subject matter, and multimedia learning is effective at capturing the attention and driving engagement in the modern classroom. Multimedia is most effective when the content and format actively engage the learner. Active engagement helps the student construct knowledge and organize information into meaningful schema (Mayer 2003). Including intelligently designed multimedia as part of any instruction can significantly enhance student learning. Our understanding of how the brain processes information has develop from the days of behaviourism and we know that multimedia that recognizes how the brain processes information is more effective than multimedia that doesn’t. E-learning allows teacher to take a student centred approach to learning that boosts inclusivity in that learners can work at their own speed independently. This is compounded by research from Mayer and Dow: ‘Not all students learn at the same pace. Research tells us that when learners are able to control the pace of the presentation they learn more’ (Mayer Et. Al 2003). In summary my own personal pedagogy borrows many aspects from a lot of the pre mentioned theories but if a choice had to be made my opinion would mainly subscribe myself to be a humanist. The humanist theory seems to me to have the human aspect of learning including the emotional side to learning encompassed. Within my own pedagogy I have incorporated the empirical data gathering through tests and pop quizzes, focused computer based tutorials and the current reward system from behaviourism. My pedagogy incorporates group discussion and forums and taking a holistic top down approach to some tasks such as game build projects from gestalt. Breaking down tasks into smaller pieces for analysis, using hooks to grab students’ attention, graphical organisation tools, formative assessment, visual aids, problem solving and debugging which are mechanisms from the cognitivist way of thinking that feature in my personal pedagogy. My pedagogy is student centred with a good working environment that allows free discussion of ideas and collaboration between students in groups, the use of tools like individual learning plans which are taken from a humanist point of view. My pedagogy deploys real world scenarios for students connecting knowledge to previously asserted domains which are features of constructivism. Within my pedagogy deep learning is promoted and facilitated over surface learning. My pedagogy makes full advantage of a wide range of media and enable E-learning to improve inclusivity and engage students. In my humble opinion the challenges of teaching cannot be prescribed any one teaching theory because subjects, students and teachers themselves have different requirements to create the perfect learning environment for every student, although perhaps this is impossible and learning theories are a good starting point to achieving successful learning.Tell me, I forget.Show me, I remember.Involve me, I understand.-Chinese proverbPart 2On the 4th of march I was Observed delivering the seventh lesson in a scheme of work on level design for the second year of the games development BSc by my mentor Robert Butterfield and my PGDip tutor Kate Toch. From my personal point of view overall the session went well and according to plan although there where perhaps a few things that I would change if I was to repeat the session. I personally felt my own planning could have benefit from more detail. The “nice start” was noted by both observers and is something I attempt to replicate with each lesson having a strong beginning or hook to peak the students interest and draw their curiosity into the subject matter. Rob did mention that my passion and delivery sometime went off topic and my digressions to relevant side plots of information can admittedly leave the original strand not being covered as thoroughly as perhaps I would like in the given time.Both my mentor and my tutor commented and praised my relaxed, friendly relationship with my students. As a teacher that takes a humanist point of view fostering a good working relationship is important to building mutual respect and create a comfortable learning environment. Both observers commented on the level of engagement that was observed with the students and that my passion towards the subject was evident. ‘Your enthusiasm is infectious and students respond likewise’ Engagement is a key part of learning theory and it is something I concentrate on attaining through cognitivist and humanist teaching methods. I do try and be dynamic using motion and gestures to keep the students attention which was picked up on as well as eye contact being an important part of bringing students into a discussion or focus them on what is being said.Praise from Robert towards my industry knowledge and relating it to key points while being informative and relaxant was well received as I pride myself on my almost encyclopedic knowledge of games development throughout the years.My use of VLE with the students was noted and this is an important part of inclusive e-learning that I strive to keep up to date with current technologies and learning theories. I am usually a big proponent of multimedia learning and Rob picked up on an area which was lacking within this particular presentation, being that there was no audio visual media or videos within the presentation to engage learners by appealing to multiple learning styles.Kate made a good point about my transitions from one activity to the next with each requiring a clearer beginning middle and end this is something that I will work on achieving through improved planning. Robert also commented on perhaps the objectives for each activity could be clearer conveyed to the students.The student lead section of the session with student groups demonstrating their software to the group for peer feedback was commended despite one of the groups not being quite ready for the public feedback. Individual feedback and a path to progression was given to this group giving them guidance to the next stage as I feel feedback is an important part of any learning. Kate commended me on my use of the gestalt technique of giving the students the holistic bigger picture to the student project that they can later break down into its constituent parts for development.Kate raised a point about inclusivity that perhaps all students had not contributed to the discussion and whether I needed to draw reluctant ones in this is something that I can work on for future sessions. Expanding the inclusivity to topics such as games some students may not have had experience of, and taking Roberts advice and using video media to demonstrate my point.Robert commended me on the discussion generated from the power-point allowing and encouraging students to ask questions as we progressed. I personally believe the right to open questioning in the classroom is the key to unlocking understanding on many levels rather than have student fearful of stigma or reprisal shying away from revealing their ignorance of any areas.A grammatical error on one of my slide at the end was picked up by Kate and is rightfully something that I should work on championing literacy including grammar. There was a point of font consistency particularly with my learning plan which I have addressed as it can look untidy and inconsistent.A good point about planning my objectives properly was raised by both Kate and Robert and this is something I need to address as focus and direction can be lost without clear concise objectives.Student participation was commended and this is something I try and include in every session allowing either student led or student centric elements to develop the learners and the learning environment. Kate brought up a good critical point about the level of challenge to my questions and pointed out this could be an area to foster deeper learning using ‘pose, pause, pounce and bounce’ technique which is something I will look into including in my pedagogy.Both Robert and Kate made some very useful constructive criticisms that I can work on and develop my own teaching practices to better my abilities to teach. They also affirmed some of the techniques that work in my practice which is good for me knowing that I am on the right track with certain aspects.Teacher Observed: Mark GillPCET course and year: PG Dip. Yr.1Observer: Kate TochObserved course/ level: BSc Games Development Yr 2 (L5)Date & time: X 4th March 2014 11.00 – 14.00Location: OB A10BNo. of students: 6 + 1 male studentsSession Context & Focus– linked to trainee’s rationale of session: A joint observation with Mark’s mentor, on ‘Pacing and level flow’.There is assignment support and peer presentations planned, as well a lecture-led part to identify the issues around games design pacing and flow.Summary of any outstanding features and particular strengths:You have a sound relationship with your students – mutual respect evidentYou are a good communicator and clearly enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the subjectThank you and your students for sharing the session – some interesting work going on.Summary of Areas for development:Clearer planning will help you to give each part of the session a clearer focus. Get those objectives phrased well so that you can use them for assessment at each stageWork on staging the session so that you have clear beginning, middles and end, remembering that each ‘middle’ will need a beginning, middle and an end’. TARGET COMPETENCE (Standards refs in brackets)EvidencedDomain A professional Values and Practice or XEncourage reflection amongst learners (AP 2.2)Support and promote inclusivity and diversity (AP 3.1)Communicate and collaborate with colleagues and outside agencies (AP5.1,5.2, BP4.1EP5.3) Conform to statutory requirements and maintain learning environment – Health and safety (AP6.1,6.2)Keep accurate records (AP7.1) Ensure professional boundaries are maintained ( FP2.1)A crisp start, if not a prompt one – it’s 11.06. What are you doing to ensure prompt start to sessions? Late arrival at 11.22 – just at a stage when you were able to give him some brief catch-up. Register noted. Introductions not evident – always good to introduce visitors to the classroom – Malsow’s hierarchy of needs notes the need for students to feel ‘safe’ in their learning space and as this workshop is students’ space, it is always good practice to introduce visitors – also good for the visitor to hear from you, what you say.Domain B Learning and TeachingEstablish purposeful and motivating environment (BP 1.1,1.3)Manage behaviour and challenge discriminatory attitudes (BP1.2)Use a range of appropriate, flexible and varied teaching and learning techniques (BP2.1,2.2,2.4 CP 3.1)Develop independence amongst learners (BP 2.3)Engage, enthuse and motivate all learners (BP2.1,2.3, CP2.1)Communicate effectively and present information clearly (BP3.1,3.3)Question and listen effectively (BP 3.2)Use inclusive and effective resources including new technologies where appropriate (BP5.1,5.2)Nice start with reminder about Reading Week homework and introduction to peer testing within an overview of the whole 3-hour session. Question about previous session – game-ification, students able to respond confidently. You have a friendly manner, are clearly leading the session and students responsive. Good to see students doing group work and you talked through what each of the two groups had achieved so far. Planning, management, working styles/ roles etc discussed and a reminder for students about all aspects of the project, including diary, that need to be addressed. As you talked through the project, you accessed the documentation on the VLE. Students responsive and able to confirm their stages of progress across the different aspects and they were active participants in some discussion and clarification questions. I’m not entirely sure where the session is going and what the objectives are for each part – are you clear and what about the students?You are expressive and communicate well, good eye contact, emphatic gestures, attentive to students. As you progress the session from one activity to the next, you could make the transitions clearer – make each part of the session have a beginning, a middle and an end.The group presentations begin with students demonstrating their progress so far. The peer feedback is spontaneous, commenting on technical aspects. Perhaps some formality or summary of the discussion would be useful? The second group were not ready for peer presentations, so you supported them individually, offering guidance on next stage. Good whole-group summary with reminder of deadlines and stages from alpha, then beta and then ‘gold’ stages. You are very good at giving the big picture, both of games design and student project development. 40 minutes into the session and I don’t know any of the students’ names – have all students contributed to the discussion? Do you need to draw the reluctant ones in? Domain C Specialist learning and teachingDemonstrate up to date knowledge of specialist area (CP 1.1,1.2)Make links between specialist area its wider context (e.g. work, legislation, current issues) (CP1.2)Ensure own key skills enable effective support of learners (CP3.4)Work with learners and colleagues to identify and address individual key skills needs (CP 3.2,3.3)Use and promote benefits of new and emerging technologies (CP3.5)Help learners identify transferable skills (CP4.2) ‘Is there any questions?’ Do remember your commitment to model good practice with literacy, including grammar.Your enthusiasm is infectious and students respond likewise. I like that you link the project stages to current industry practice. Do be consistent with font in documents (LP and PowerPoint) – what are the advantages of using a sans-serif font? Domain D Planning for learning Planning takes into account curriculum and learner needs (DP1.1)Express and share learning outcomes for group and individuals ( DP1.2, DP2.2) Planning is flexible (DP1.3)Include opportunities for learner feedback (DP2.1)Module scheme of work gives a reasonable outline of content and assessment expectations over the 15 week module. Session plan in place. The aim is the overall direction of the lesson, whilst the objectives should be SMART stages that students need to take to achieve the aim. So, the verb ‘understand’ is Ok for the aim, but you need to think about your objectives – go back to the Bloom’s Taxonomy and use the verbs recommended for different level and domains of learning. You had to be flexible with your session plan as two of the three groups were not ready to give class feedback. Your PowerPoint was well-prepared with examples, images, graphics etc. Your mentor made some good points in the feedback about ways to improve the student learning opportunities with the inclusion of some video.Domain E Assessment for learningDevise and use appropriate assessment tools (inc. appropriate learning technologies) (EP1.1,1.2, 2.3)Use peer- and self-assessment (EP1.3)Use formative assessment to check all learners’ progressMake assessments accessible and clear for all learners (EP3.1,3.2)Give constructive feedback, involving learners in feedback activities where appropriate (EP4.2)Assessment records are accurate, standardised and relevant to awarding bodies (EP5.1,5.2)You gave a lot in this session during your lecture input and you encourage student participation with questions. How challenging are your questions? Could you use this strategy more effectively to achieve deeper learning? What about using the ‘Pose, Pause, Pounce and Bounce’ technique?Good to see peer assessment built into the session – although you will need to revisit this when the other two groups have caught up.Domain F Access and Progression- standards discussed and met elsewhereA satisfactory sessionYESNOTeacher Observed: Mark GillPCET course and year: PG Dip Y1Observer: Robert ButterfieldObserved course/ level: BSc (Hons) Game Development, Level 5Date: 4th March 201411:00hNo. of students: 5Session Focus (context):Lesson started with a recap on previous material then a PowerPoint was used to gain the student focus for the new material “Pacing and level flown in games”Summary of any outstanding features and particular strengths:Mark has a good relationship with the students and this helped him engage them from the start. The use of the Q&A session was very good as it brought everyone into the centre of the room (away from computers)Summary of areas for development:The nature of the delivery and Mark’s passion for the subject sometimes led him off into other topics. This unfortunately resulted in some topics not been covered in full, not necessarily a bad thing but be mindful where you started and finish it.How has the trainee planned effectively to deliver the subject specialism?(Consider how planning take into account curriculum and learner needs, while remaining flexible?)The session linked to the previous lesson and made links to industry. The material was related to recent games and references made to key points were both relevant and informative. The material presented was appropriate to the SOW (provided).Mark’s planning was also evident in the use of current games that he knew the learners would have seen/played.How effective are the resources in supporting learning in the subject?(Consider how they made links between specialist area and its wider context (e.g. work, legislation, current issues) and helped learners identify transferable skills?)The use of PowerPoint was appropriate and the examples used, both text and images encouraged discussion. The review of the material on the VLE was constructive and again opened discussion. You reviewed the group work progression, however answers were provided but no evidence provided. Your comparison of different games and the methods used to pace games was clearly presented. I think the use of video clips from the games would add a great amount of clarity for students, not everyone will have played or seen the games. Describe the range, and quality, of teaching techniques used in the subject and how the trainee established a purposeful and motivating environment?(Consider how the trainee used a range of appropriate, flexible and varied teaching and learning techniques, and motivated all learners?)Mark created a friendly environment where learners felt comfortable and free to openly discussed topics. He used open and closed questions at the beginning of the session and at set intervals, this was particularly evident in the project progression section. The discussion generated from the PowerPoint was very constructive, I like the way you allow students to ask questions at any point in the presentation and in most cases encourage this. How did the trainee use formative assessment to check all learners’ progress and was this assessment accessible?(Are the assessment records are accurate, standardised and relevant to awarding bodies?)Mark made use of open questions on project progression (assessment progression) and learners provided answers but no evidence of the answers were provided. Mark provided formative feedback where possible but he recognised the lack of evidence so asked more specific questions and offered constructive support along with formative feedback.I liked the way that this felt like guidance with tips and tricks.No assessment providedHow were questioning and answering used effectively, and describe how the trainee gave constructive feedback?(How has the trainee encouraged reflection amongst learners, supported and promoted inclusivity and diversity?)Mark made excellent use of Q&A in both the project reflection stage of this lesson and in the new material delivery. Learners were encouraged to reflect on their projects and formative feedback was given, Later open discussion led to excellent opportunity for formative feedback. This was used very well in the review of “pacing in games” There were some occasions when Mark posed questions but provided and instant answer, I am not sure if this was on purpose but try give the learner a chance to answer the question How has the trainee managed the classroom to support the learning of the subject?(Consider how they managed behaviour and challenged discriminatory attitudes, while ensuring professional boundaries are maintained?)Mark has a friendly approach and this helped in the management. There were however two students who did not contribute as much as the others did. Some students came late and this was actioned accordingly, no disruption was caused. There were no incidents or attitude problems.Circle as many of the following that best describes the trainee during this observation:FluentArticulateCreativeEffectiveSoundInnovativeSecureOriginalDynamicRe-observation neededReference list:Barell, J. (2010). Problem-based learning: The foundation for 21st century skills. In J. Bellanca & R. Bednar, A.K., Cunningham, D., Duffy, T.M., & Perry, J.D. (1991). Theory into practice: How do we link? In G.J. Anglin (Ed.), Instructional technology: Past, present, and future. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.Biggs, J. (1999) Teaching for quality learning at university. Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education.and Open University Press. Bligh, D. .(1972) What's the use of lectures?, Harmondsworth: PenguinBrandt (Eds.), 21st century skills (pp. 174–199). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.Burns, R. (1995). The adult learner at work, Sydney: Business and Professional Publishing.Burns, S. (1995). ‘Rapid changes require enhancement of adult learning’ HRMonthly June, pp 16-17.Huitt, W. (2001). Humanism and open education.?Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Jonassen, D.H. (1991b). Objectivism vs constructivism: Do we need a new philosophical paradigm. Educational Technology Research and Development, 39(3), 5–14.Learning Technologies (2014, March) Theories Knowledgebase (2011c, August). Constructivism at Learning-. Retrieved August 24th, 2011 from, R.E.,Sobko, K., and Mautone, P.D.(2003) Social cues in multimedia learning: role of speakers voice. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, pp. 419-425Park, O. (1994). Dynamic visual displays in media-based instruction. Educational Technology, 21–25.Perkins, D.N. (1991). Technology meets constructivism: Do they make a marriage? Educational Technology, 31(5), 18–23.Retrieved march 20, 2014, from the URL:? march 20, 2014, from theURL:?, G.E. (1983). Learning theory, instructional theory, and psychoeducational design. New York: McGraw-Hill.Stavredes, T. (2011).?Effective online teaching: Foundations and strategies for student success. Retrieved August 8, 2011 from University of Illinois, College of Education Online Web site:?, J. (2005) Implications of cognitive load theory for multimedia learning. in R. E. Mayer (Ed.). The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning. New York: Cambridge University Press. Sweller, J. (2003) Evolution of human cognitive architecture. In B. Ross (Ed.), The Psychology of learning and Motivation (Vol. 43, pp.215-266). San Diego, CA: Academic PressTversky, B., Bauer-Morrison, J., & Betrancourt, M. (2002). Animation: can it facilitate? International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, Vol 57, 247-262. Winn, W. (1990). Some implications of cognitive theory for instructional design. Instructional Science, 19, 53–69.Woolfolk, A. (2004). Educational Psychology. Boston. PearsonYount, W. 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