Kill your PowerPoint and teach like a pirate
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RMIT Kill your PowerPoint and teach like a pirate James Arvanitakis j.arvanitakis@uws.edu.au Twitter: jarvanitakis 0438454127 May 2013 Globalisation: A definition “Globalisation may be thought of … as the widening, deepening and speeding up of the worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of contemporary social life, from the cultural to the criminal, the financial to the spiritual.” (Held et al 1999, p. 2). – This definition recognises globalisation is multi-dimensional, having width, breadth and depth. – Another important aspect of this definition is that it portrays globalisation as a process. – As globalisation permeates different areas of society Cont… The term globalisation reflects a perception that the world is increasingly being moulded into a shared social space – The analogy: a butterfly flapping its wings in Tokyo effects the weather patterns in Sydney. – That is, developments in one region of the world can have profound consequences on individuals or communities on the other side of the globe – Importantly, this is in ways that are difficult to know and understand (linked with Chaos Theory) – These effects can be cultural, economic or political as well as environmental. Chaos Theory • We draw on chaos theory because it is the study of nonlinear dynamics. • That is, where seemingly random events are actually related and a pattern emerges • Think of the butterfly effect again… Technology and Globalisation • What is the link between globalisation and technology? • Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…. Let’s stop and think • What did the students learn? • Did they ‘relate to‘ or ‘apply’ the concept? • Did they have a chance to let this ‘sink in’ before we moved on? • Let’s try again? Today: Teach like a pirate 1. A changing environment 2. Teaching like a pirate (for example, globalisation) 3. Beyond degrees to citizenship PART 1… A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT We are where newspapers were 10 years ago… A quick scan… • Changing nature of the student cohort – UWS student for example… • Rise of ‘large classes’ - massification – Across (most) institutions – Students searching for relevance • Rise of ‘choice’ – Both across institutions and within courses • Everything counts… A quick scan… • Budgetary challenges – What is being cut and by whom? • Culture wars (mark II) – New government on the horizon – regardless, shock jocks rule • Changing environment for academics PART 2… TEACH LIKE A PIRATE - EG GLOBALISATION “James you teach like a pirate… Pirates, like ninjas, change to suit their environments…” GLOBALISATION: A LOVE STORY Many ways to teach globalisation What does globalisation mean to you? j.arvanitakis@uws.edu.au The power of words: Think of a word relevant to your teaching area? Globalisation: A definition “Globalisation may be thought of … as the widening, deepening and speeding up of the worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of contemporary social life, from the cultural to the criminal, the financial to the spiritual.” (Held et al 1999, p. 2). – This definition recognises globalisation is multi-dimensional, having width, breadth and depth. – Another important aspect of this definition is that it portrays globalisation as a process. – As globalisation permeates different areas of society Globalisation • We are connected in many ways • Sometimes these are straight forward… – For example: a direct trade treaty • Sometimes more complex… Lectures: Idea v. Reality “lectures are always exciting and effective for both the lecturer and the students…” What do you think? Some Challenges Faced By Students • It’s deadly boring • No connection with prior knowledge to facilitate understanding • I could have just downloaded all these notes from the web - this is a waste of time • Other students talk throughout the lecture - it’s so irritating What can we do about it? Confronting challenges… • It’s deadly boring: Make it interactive • No connection with prior knowledge to facilitate understanding: Build on each step • I could have just downloaded all these notes from the web - this is a waste of time: Add value • Other students talk throughout the lecture - it’s so irritating: Encourage the right type of talking Eg: Globalisation… How do you teach this vague concept? http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=24_7Ki87-c0 Use what is out there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SnR-e0S6Ic Globalisation and us: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0TQR1kVs0k Globalisation at TED http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nItwVO9stX8 What The Research Says .... This is important for teaching not just engaging students… Simply reducing the number of students in a class will not alone improve the quality of teaching and learning. Key factors: – – – – opportunities to be engaged in a range of ways timely and frequent feedback to students active problem-solving feeling like part of the group Attention Span in Large Classes Attention levels decrease after 10 – 20 minutes, when activity levels are passive Gibbs (1992); Bligh (2000) Changing Demands on Students Changing the demands on students can have an impact on concentration levels and performance - Gibbs (1992); Bligh (2000) Forgetting During Lectures Students forget information because of interference from subsequent material .... ..... and from preceding material .... Implications for teaching? Forgetting After Lectures When students actively review what they’ve learned in a lecture, close to the time of the lecture, they can retain up to 40% of the information for up to 60 days. Without prompt review of materials, retention is closer to 10% Bligh (2000) Promoting active learning Active engagement, imaginative enquiry and the finding of a suitable level are all much more likely to occur if teaching methods that necessitate student activity, student problem-solving and question-asking, and cooperative learning are employed Ramsden (1992 p. 167). How do I translate this into practice? Aligned Teaching • The idea that students construct their own learning through relevant learning activities. • Our job is to create a learning environment that supports the learning activities appropriate to achieving the desired learning outcomes. • Key: all components in the teaching system (curriculum, intended outcomes, teaching methods, assessment tasks) are aligned. • These are tuned to learning activities addressed in the desired learning outcomes. • The student “finds it difficult to escape without learning appropriately”. Biggs, J.B. (2003). Teaching for quality learning at university. Buckingham: Open University Press/Society for Research into Higher Education. (Second edition) Some thoughts on globalisation… An cements inequitable relationship Two worlds… http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm Increasing disparities • A wide range of statistics confirms growing inequality between first and third world – In 1965, the average per capita income of G7 countries was 20 times that of the world’s poorest seven; in 1995 it was 37 times as much. • The income gap: – richest fifth to the poorest fifth increased from 30 to one in 1960 to 74 to one in 1997 – 2007 - richest 20% of the world population now receives 150 times the income of the poorest 20%. • There are also increasing disparities within countries • http://www.undp.org/publications/annualreport2 007/IAR07-ENG.pdf Environmental consequences Words that come to mind? A story of chocolate What does this tell us? Other times… Chaos? • We draw on chaos theory because it is the study of nonlinear dynamics. • That is, where seemingly random events are actually related and a pattern emerges • Think of the butterfly effect again… • How does this work? Cluster Bombs… … & food drops… THIS IS OUR WORLD… LET’S RESHAPE IT THANK YOU… PART 3… MOVING BEYOND DEGREES Crossing the threshold and seeing the world as if for the first time… Citizenship Skills and knowledge Culture Traditional Model of citizenship Civic Institutions Citizens Citizens Citizens Citizens Citizens 51 Changing Models of Citizenship: Relational Citizens Civic Institutions Citizens Citizens Citizens Citizens 52 Changing Models of Citizenship: Governance Citizens Civic Institutions Media Citizens Corps NGOS Citizens Citizens Citizens 53 Citizenship typology Empowered Disengaged Engaged Disempowered 54 THANK YOU! Useful references Bligh, D. A. (2000). What’s the use of lectures? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Brookfield, S. D. (2006). The skilful teacher (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Cowan, J. (1998). On Becoming an Innovative University Teacher. Buckingham: The Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press. Gibbs, G. (1992). Improving the quality of student learning. Bristol, U.K.: Technical and Educational Services. Krause, K., Hartley, R., James, R., & McInnis, C. (2005). The first year experience in Australian universities: Findings from a decade of national studies. Centre for Studies in Higher Education (CHSE), University of Melbourne. Ramsden, P. (1992), Learning to Teach in Higher Education, Routledge, London. • Scevack, J. J. (2010). Lectures (45 – 54). In In R. H. Cantwell, & J. J. Scevack, (eds.). An academic life. Victoria, Australia: Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). Toohey, S. (1999). Designing courses for higher education. Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education/Open University Press.
