IMPROVING TEACHING AND LEARNING4
The Instructional Skills Workshops (ISW) has proven an effective vehicle for improving teaching and learning, first in Canada, then, since 1986, in California. Some of the key principles of the ISW may be useful considerations for you in preparing for an AWAL Workshop or any other professional development experience.
ISWs are intensive 24-hour experiences, usually spread across four days, where small groups of instructors (five per Workshop) teach three cycles of “mini-lessons” (microteaching), give and receive feedback, and are introduced to key concepts that help them understand, plan and successfully model the learner-centred classroom. ISWs are organized and run by pairs of trained facilitators who are themselves members of the faculty. The ISW is a successful initial activity that can be enhanced by related activities to continue to offer professional development opportunities for faculty.
The following are some of the issues that should be addressed in implementing activities for improving teaching and learning:
ADDRESSING DIVERSITY
Learner-centred classroom – ISW advocates the learner-centred classroom, a model that can help institutions shift from “education for all,” to providing “education for each.”
Learning styles – At the heart of the ISW is an interest in learning styles and attention to the students’ individual preparation, motivations, and goals. The Workshop itself is structured according to Kolb’s experiential learning model.
Feedback model – The feedback aspect of ISW helps instructors to recognize their own learning styles and to learn directly about the learning styles of others, sensitizing them to adjust their teaching techniques accordingly.
4 Reprinted with permission of the author, Melissa Sue Kort, Ph.D., faculty member at Santa Rosa Junior College, California.