Education is being totally transformed to respond to the new environment and student needs of the 21st century. From a new model for teaching and learning to a new design for classrooms, our new model is emerging. Come discover how we changed our teaching model and the processes we went through to ensure its success.
Numerous theorists have developed teaching and learning models and taxonomies to teach students the techniques of creative and productive thinking. It is essential that an instructor is familiar with these when designing a curriculum.
The constructivist learning model applies well to the current emphasis in schools to have more experiential learning. Students construct their own knowledge, guided by their instructors, and learn how to create and extend mental processes for solutions to problems. Another aspect of current college students is that they want to consume everything from education to music to social interaction via information technology on an “any time/any place” basis. Online course pedagogy meets the structural needs for students to consume academic coursework any time and place while also developing their analytical skills and extending their communication skills.
Features common to all models are:
- an identified purpose or area of concentration;
- underlying explicit and implicit assumptions about the characteristics of learners and about the teaching-learning process;
- guidelines for developing specific day-to-day learning experiences;
- definite patterns and requirements for these learning activities; and
- a body of research surrounding their development or an evaluation of their effectiveness
Aspects of any model can be used in curriculum design. What is chosen will depend on the school environment, the resources available and the desired outcomes.