Pedagogical models -- What does open pedagogy for OERu look like

Re: Pedagogical models -- What does open pedagogy for OERu look like

by Maria Droujkova -
Number of replies: 4
Where is the webinar's recording, Wayne?

To answer the questions, two pedagogy design principles that first come to mind:
  • Peer-to-peer learning, including co-production of learning materials
  • Flat and modular curriculum design
In reply to Maria Droujkova

Re: Pedagogical models -- What does open pedagogy for OERu look like

by Wayne Mackintosh -

Maria Droujkova wrote,

Flat and modular curriculum design

Hi Maria - -yes the pedagogy must definitely incorporate peer-to-peer learning.

It scales very well (especially with social media) but more importantly, student to student interactions is proven to contribute more to learning outcomes than lecturer-student interactions based on the outcomes of meta-analysis studies. Student-content interactions being the most significant contributor to increased learning outcomes / performance.

Could you expand a little more on what you mean by flat and modular curriculum design? I'm interested to learn more ....

In reply to Wayne Mackintosh

Re: Pedagogical models -- What does open pedagogy for OERu look like

by Maria Droujkova -
Let us think about curriculum as a network of entities, for example, activities and topics.

The easiest network architecture is the sequential list, where topics must follow a particular order. It counts on everybody doing Topic 24 before going on to Topic 25. This architecture describes the vast majority of existing curricula, but does not match the reality of academic fields or professions. It also does not match how most people learn.

If you looked at topic maps for Khan Academy or Aleks, they are more like branching bushes than narrow towers. There are multiple lists of topics students can choose to follow. Some topics may have prerequisites from several lists. Gamers will recognize this design as "quest chains." Such architectures are more flat, and more modular than plain old lists.

Modularity means that separate parts are somewhat self-contained. It does NOT means lack of connections. Think of a good wiki. Each page is somewhat self-contained and makes sense to someone who arrives at it directly. However, it is also well connected to many other pages. Very few curricula have such architectures, yet.
In reply to Maria Droujkova

Re: Pedagogical models -- What does open pedagogy for OERu look like

by Betty Hurley-Dasgupta -
This discussion is very exciting.

I find discovery learning quite powerful. we offer a general education math course at Empire State called, "Math for the Inquiring Mind." In the course, students are provided tools for quantitative analysis, such as tutorials on using Excel, a problem-solving methodology and journaling techniques. They begin with assigned open-ended problems and move toward identifying and working toward solutions of problems they generate.

We are experimenting with a variety of peer-to-peer models and plan to do more in this area.

And, I totally agree with Maria's proposed model for curriculum. Her example reminds me of what Pearltrees helps one do- much less linear and much more learner centered. Over teh coming eyar, I'd love to find some math faculty to develop such a model for introductory-level mathematics.