LEARNING & TEACHING ENHANCEMENT SEMINAR, 09 MAY 2019 held in Room 3008, Education Building, from 12h45 – 13h45
Professor Faadiel Essop, a professor based within the Department of Physiological Sciences in the Faculty of Science, was the presenter at the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Seminar on the 9th of May 2019. His key focus areas include cooperative and active learning in relatively large classes. He is passionate about creating a teaching and learning (T&L) environment that is conducive to critical thinking, problem solving and a deeper understanding of subject content. The topic of his presentation was “Autonomy pathways to compare active teaching methods in undergraduate Physiology classes". The main focus of the presentation was on examining selected examples of in-house developed Physiology class activities at Stellenbosch University - aimed at fostering critical reasoning and problem-solving skills - using Karl Maton's Legitimation Code Theory's (LCT) Autonomy dimension.
Professor Essop commenced his talk by providing some background to the discipline of Physiology. He then introduced a couple of T&L related challenged within the discipline, such as (1) the nature of the disciplne and (2) the world views of “baby boomers" and the so-called “generation X". Next, he moved on to active learning strategies to begin to counter T&L challenges in Physiology, stating that it is about more than content. Instead, it is about creating joy, excitement and a love for learning. He spoke about the importance of introducing active learning strategies.
He proceeded to introduce Karl Maton's LCT, which is about uncovering or making explicit knowledge practices or the organising principles underlying them. He explained how he uses “autonomy tours" in his teaching. An assessment of active learning techniques through the lens of Autonomy allows for the determination of the putative value and efficacy of each respective method in terms of promoting a problem-solving culture within Physiology undergraduate classrooms.
He concluded his talk by listing the advantages of implementing active learning strategies for the lecturer. Not only does it create a calm and safe climate, respect and inclusivity, but it also requires minimal resources. The lecturer furthermore acts as mentor – he/she sets an example of sincerity, care and authenticity.
For more information about, feel free to contact the presenter, at mfessop@sun.ac.za
The next Learning and Teaching Enhancement Seminar will take place on 05 September 2019.
