Mary here is the link, don't know why it didn't work http://medicaleducation.wetpaint.com/page/Structured+Controversy
It is also available with a video here but you have to have the latest version of Flash.http://www.medicine.usask.ca/tips/classroom_teaching/active_learning.php
Deirdre Bonnycastle
Posts made by Deirdre Bonnycastle
The activity has to be linked to the objective and if that link isn't clear then students need a debriefing session to help them make the link. I've been collecting active learning ideas for several years and am a big advocate for game based learning.
We use a technique called Structured Controversy in our large classrooms that I think would translate well online.
"Structured Controversy (SC) – sometimes referred to as ‘Co-operative Controversy’ or ‘Structured Academic Controversy’ – is a co-operative learning activity. During SC all students, working in teams and small groups during class time, engage in an informal debate like discussion about a controversial issue arguing one position in Round 1 and then another position in Round 2. The purpose of SC is not to defeat the other side, but rather to uncover the various arguments pertaining to the issue in question." - M. D'Eon 2009
"Structured Controversy (SC) – sometimes referred to as ‘Co-operative Controversy’ or ‘Structured Academic Controversy’ – is a co-operative learning activity. During SC all students, working in teams and small groups during class time, engage in an informal debate like discussion about a controversial issue arguing one position in Round 1 and then another position in Round 2. The purpose of SC is not to defeat the other side, but rather to uncover the various arguments pertaining to the issue in question." - M. D'Eon 2009
I think that depends on the subject area and your definition of deep learning. Too often concepts like this are only discussed from the humanities perspective.
In 80% of medicine where I teach, concrete knowledge takes priority over problem solving because that is the nature of the profession. Doctors see 10,000 predictable illness pattern for every 1 puzzle. So if deep refers to amount and complexity of patterns, then Medicine sees that type of learning as essential and high priority but if you are using the term as a replacement for critical/creative thinking, then the priority is about 10% at undergrad and 20% in residency.
In 80% of medicine where I teach, concrete knowledge takes priority over problem solving because that is the nature of the profession. Doctors see 10,000 predictable illness pattern for every 1 puzzle. So if deep refers to amount and complexity of patterns, then Medicine sees that type of learning as essential and high priority but if you are using the term as a replacement for critical/creative thinking, then the priority is about 10% at undergrad and 20% in residency.
I've been teaching for 37 years and still experience fatigue after some of my less successful sessions, but then I experience one of those sessions where my students are as energetic and excited as I am. So that's the balance point for me - when my students are as actively involved in learning as I am in teaching.
