- Curriculum Development, Educational Theory, Experiential Learning, Instructional / Course Design, Instructional Strategies, Uncategorized, Wellness
From Stuck to Supercharged: The What and Why of Brain Plasticity
Your Brain on Teaching and Learning: Series One What is Brain Plasticity? Brain plasticity is the brain’s ability to reorganize and restructure itself throughout a person’s lifetime. It is a result of the brain’s ability to form new neural connections and strengthen existing ones based on the activities we engage in and the information we process. Factors such as learning, exercise, diet, and environmental stimuli can all influence brain plasticity. Recent research has shown that educators who understand the basics of brain plasticity can design courses that promote and accelerate learning and retention. Why is Brain Plasticity Important? Brain plasticity offers several benefits in the field of education, including: Improving…
- Curriculum Development, Educational Theory, Experiential Learning, General, Instructional / Course Design, Instructional Strategies, Wellness
Your Brain on Experiential Learning
“Is disengaged.” “Is easily distracted.” “Shows no interest.” “Never shows up.” No professor wants to use these phrases to describe their students, but disengagement is a persistent problem — making descriptions such as these all too common today. Experiential Learning can help. Experiential learning is a powerful educational approach that helps students remain focused as it promotes active learning, fosters creativity and innovation, and prepares students for the real world. Let me explain: Experiential learning engages multiple parts of the brain simultaneously When learners participate and apply their learning in authentic contexts, it activates different areas of the brain responsible for sensory processing, motor skills, and cognitive functions, such as…
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Experiential Learning Resources – 5 Top Picks
Summary: If you’re wondering how to enhance your experiential learning practices and make meaningful connections with learners’ knowledge and experiences, here are five valuable resources to support experiential learning. Discover rubrics, learning modules, reflection models, and prompting questions. Date of publishing: October 11, 2022 When exploring the USask Experiential Learning framework, you might want information about reflection frameworks, providing efficient feedback, and grading reflection. While we have built some resources around reflection and feedback, other higher education institutions have some gems to support Experiential Learning. Brock University – Reflection in Your Course and a Critical Reflection Rubric Lays out why and when students should reflect, what reflection could look like, and…
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Elevate Your Course Projects using Riipen
USask faculty members have been taking advantage of our new partnership with the Riipen project-based learning platform. Riipen provides an all-in-one platform for connecting, communicating, sharing documents, and managing deadlines between stakeholders (instructors, students, and community/industry partners). This post highlights the experiences within two USask courses. Course within College of Agriculture and Bioresources Within the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, faculty member Dr. Sabine Liebenehm, wanted her upper-year Agricultural Economics students to be able to complete a business analysis on a real company and provide a report and an executive presentation. She worked with Riipen to onboard two local companies and connect them to the groups of students within the…
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Assessment Equity and Alignment with Experiential Learning
When I met with Sandy and Harold I was stressed. I was worried that I was falling behind. After coming from a very busy workplace with many competing deadlines and defined work hours, starting a PhD program and having to manage my time independently is a huge challenge. Most days feel chaotic and I’m often overwhelmed. Being a student has given me space, mentally and emotionally, to think and to focus on my health. But this “room to think” can also be a dangerous thing. Sometimes hours, even days, slip by in an unfocused haze of meandering reading if I’m not careful. This skill of balancing time and energy is…
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From Modelling to Designing Intercultural Curricula
Summary: Intercultural curricula can enrich learning. Discover practical steps and strategies to effectively design inclusive and diverse educational programs. Date of publishing: November 18, 2019 You are on this page because you believe that you have pretty decent intercultural teaching capacities. This is evidenced by your continued commitment to developing an awareness of your own identity and modelling perspective-taking. Students in your course have the opportunity to interact with different worldviews because you know that makes them smarter. You actively create opportunities to build relationships between ‘others’ and can recognize barriers to student participation – you’ve essentially applied using your intercultural capacity to inform teaching practices. So now you must…
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Getting More Active (and getting more learning)
Summary: Boost engagement and deepen learning with active learning strategies. Discover tips to make your classroom more interactive and effective. Date of publishing: December 20, 2018 This post focuses on easy changes to make your course more active. Step 1- Clarify the purpose of active learning in your class Active learning is time in your classroom when students are actively thinking, talking, and making sense of ideas. It is contrasted with passive learning, when students are being receptive (listening, note taking, etc.) An individual class is typically considered active when 60% or more of the time is students thinking and talking, rather than the instructor explaining. To get started with…