1. Improving Teaching and Learning in the 21 st Century Daniel Wydo

2. How to Improve Teaching Quality by Richard M. Felder and Rebecca Brent   Authors from North Carolina State University.   Argue that TQM should be employed in public schools. *The authors are engineers at the collegiate level.

3. How should we write instructional objectives in the 21 st century?

4. Write instructional objectives with stems that indicate action is going to take place in the learning sequence. -Use stems from Bloom’s upper level taxonomic classification scheme. Students will… (“simulate”, “derive”, “design”, “determine”) NOT (“know”, “learn”, “understand”, “appreciate”) The rationale is that students in the 21 st century must be able to problem solve. Problem solving involves a deeper understanding of content than just “knowing” material.

5. What instructional techniques should we use to transfer information to our students in the 21 st century?

6. Use active learning as a consistent teaching practice. -Students should be grouped in dyads or triads. The students should work as a team in order to solve a problem. Classrooms should be arranged to allow this style of instruction. Teacher must choose which students are in which groups and purposely organize groups with varying abilities. Students should be given the right to assess each other’s contributions. -After a period of time the instructor should call on specific students for a solution. The instructor should not ask for volunteers. The rationale is that active learning internalizes the information which allows the students to recall the principles they have learned. Active learning gives the students power to solve problems because they have a deeper sense of how to fix them.

7. What are other benefits to active learning, especially in terms of 21 st century learning?

8. Positive Interdependence - students sink or float together. Individual Accountability - students must be accountable to each other. Face-To-Face Promoting Interaction - students must communicate to get the job done. Communication abilities are the key to being successful in the 21 st century. Appropriate Use of Teamwork Skills - students are encouraged to develop functions within the team. Many students will acquire leadership roles in this fashion. Regular Self-Assessment of Team Functioning – students must set goals and assess how well they are doing.

9. How do we evaluate student progress in the 21 st century?

10. Assessment should be based on a compilation of student solutions in a portfolio format. Standardized testing should be limited. Smaller-scaled formative assessments should be given to check on student’s ability to solve an independent problem based on the problem the group faced.

11. References  Felder, R. & Brent, R. (1999) How to improve teaching quality. Quality Management Journal, 62, 9-21.