Teacher for Learning Scenario

A Scenario

Students don’t seem to understand the material in my course. They just don’t get it! For some reason they seem to miss the mark in my exams each year no matter what I try to do to prepare them. They just seem disinterested. I want them to understand the relevance and enthusiasm I feel for my content, but I’m out of ideas on how to get through to them.

We are not suggesting anyone is as dry as the economics teacher that Ben Stein played in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off ^[1]. But none of us wants to see those deadpan bored student faces in that scene from the movie^[2].

Do you have this internal wondering about students who do not appear to be as fascinated in your subject as you are? How do you know what they think? What questions do you have about getting more enthusiasm in your classes?

Overview

Why else do we teach but for learning?

Yet, there is often a disconnect between conventional, accepted teaching practices and research evidence about what enables learning. In this module we will explore how we learn and what we can do to ensure learning environments are effective. As we extend our knowledge, we will consider strategies for designing significant learning experiences that are grounded in and informed by research principles that foster student learning in specific contexts.

Outcome