The Case for Online Case-Based Learning
Presenter:
- Professor Ian McKillop (School of Public Health and Health Systems)
Case-based learning is a student-centered approach for development problem-solving and decision-making skills. Exciting and challenging for both the professor and the student, the case-based method immerses students in a first-person scenario that is usually fraught with conflicting and incomplete information but that nonetheless requires a solution be found.
Pioneered 80 years ago by the Harvard Business School, the case-based method forms the backbone of many management programs today, and is increasingly viewed as an excellent method for developing problem solving skills in other domains.
One of the key attributes that allows the case method to be so effective is the fast-paced to-and-fro classroom discussion component, often conducted in specially designed classrooms called case-rooms, and led by professors who have received special training in the case method.
Pioneered 80 years ago by the Harvard Business School, the case-based method forms the backbone of many management programs today, and is increasingly viewed as an excellent method for developing problem solving skills in other domains.
One of the key attributes that allows the case method to be so effective is the fast-paced to-and-fro classroom discussion component, often conducted in specially designed classrooms called case-rooms, and led by professors who have received special training in the case method.
ePortfolios, Reflections and Meaning Making: Learning from Reflecting on Experience
Presenters:
- Dr. Doris Jakobsh (Religious Studies)
- Students from Fall 2010 RS 495: The Living Traditions of India: Devon Spier, Stephen Prentice, Amberlee Boulton, Zabeen Khamisa
“Nothing is easier than to have an experience and miss the meaning.” — William Sloan Coffin
“We don’t learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.” — John Dewey
In the fall of 2010, students in RS 495: The Living Traditions of India travelled to India with Professor Doris Jakobsh. During their travels, the students were required to complete a series of weekly reflective activities within their ePortfolios, complete a number of readings, and participate in group discussions. A month after they returned from their three month trip, they were required to reflect on their learning experience in their ePortfolios by revisiting journal entries, reviewing artifacts from their trip and sharing their ePortfolios with their classmates.
During this session, Doris Jakobsh shared what she learned through this experience, the impact that learning in community had on the learning experience, and how the eportfolio activities facilitated this learning. The students described how the time given to review and reflect upon the journal entries, and how the addition of images and artifacts combined with the ability to share these reflections in their eportfolio had a significant impact on their learning experience.
Integrative Learning and Developing and Assessing the Critical Skills of Life
Presenter:
- Geoff Malleck (Economics)
This session explored ‘"non-essential" activities: activities that occur outside the classroom and are not considered essential components of a university education, yet are truly vital to learning critical skills of life.
Examples of these activities include:
- varsity sports
- recreational sports
- living/learning activities
- school clubs and organized activities
- communities (ARBUS-Accounting, etc.)
Assessing Experiential Learning: How Do We "Grade" Process
Presenters:
- Toni Serafini (Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies: St. Jerome's University)
- Carm De Santis (Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies: St. Jerome's University)
- Mackenzie Turow (former SMF student)
One of the questions that often comes up with respect to experiential learning is, “How do we assess this learning?” Toni Serafini and Carm De Santis (SMF) shared their experiences with assessing these more challenging-to-assess learning experiences. They described how they have structured experiential learning within the context of a Capstone course in order to focus assessment on the goals of integration (across previous learning, self, and practicum) and critical self-reflection. Assignments are designed to tap each of these areas, and to link explicitly to the practicum component of the course. Students receive formative feedback throughout the course, which allows them to make constant (ongoing) adjustments across the term so as to gain the most from the practicum learning experience. Final assessment of student performance in the practicum involves evaluations from multiple stakeholders: practicum supervisor, student, and course instructor.
Integrating Experience into the Online Environment
Presenters:
- Sandra Loucks Campbell (School of Social Work, Renison University College)
- Judene Pretti (Director WatPD)
The University of Waterloo's Sixth Decade Plan places significant emphasis on experiential learning. Deliberate effort is required to integrate the learning and the experience, but how can we help students integrate experience when we are offering a course in the online environment?
During this session, Judene Pretti and Sandra Loucks Campbell described the types of activities they have incorporated into their respective online courses to help students integrate experience. Judene described the types of activities included in the WatPD modules which are designed to help students reflect upon learning that takes place during co-op work terms.
Sandra Loucks Campbell shared how she has been able to bring learning to life and teach interviewing skills in an online environment through the use of videotaped interviews. By referencing skills covered in the course, students are able to assess the extent to which the skills are covered in the interviews.