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Title:
Old Dogs New Tricks
Convener:
Tom Jordan - GWCC
Facilitator:
Toni Rodriguez - GWCC
Attendees:
Jackie Fergusson - GWCC
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Discussion:
Students are coming unprepared to take responsibility for their own learning. Students need to know their own learning styles and what works best for them. Explorations of learning, what it is and how one can learn should be undertaken. Instructors have the problem of time constraints and curriculum responsibilities
which limits their ability to incorporate more creative teaching techniques that
might facilitate learning.
Students are definitely "old dogs" and have no idea of what is involved in the
learning process and do not wish to take responsibility for their own learning.
Faculty sometimes are "old dogs" and also need to learn new tricks. There needs
to be some incentives in place for faculty to learn new tricks. Faculty need time to
put these new ideas in place.
The whole system is an "old dog" geared to a semester format, the time periods for
classes are fixed, and the physical institutional layout is set in stone.
The evaluation process is an "old dog" and is not conducive to the improvement
of instruction. There are certain basic differences between the disciplines which
are not recognized.
The system is an "old dog" and everyone is learning new tricks [i.e. students,
faculty, administration].
Possible Solutions:
More time given to instructors to develop new models of learning.
Educational workshops and seminars for instructors.
Making education more seamless by adopting a more interdisciplinary approach.
In view of the fact that resources are limited, instructors might have to devise new
methods like computer simulations to achieve a better learning goal.
Re-examine relationships between the various divisions of the college to make
better use of the future possibilities which could improve learning.
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