Adaptive Teaching: An Effective Approach for Learner-Centric Classrooms

1. Adaptive Teaching: An Effective Approach for Learner-Centric Classrooms Dr. Rami Haddad, Dr. Youakim Kalaani Department of Electrical Engineering Georgia Southern University

2. Outline • Motivation • Why we teach this way? • What are the Implications? • What can we do about it? • How can we achieve a learner-centric classroom? • Conclusion

3. Motivation

4. Why We Teach this Way? • We teach in the same way that we have been taught. • Largely based on the misconception that students are “empty vessels” and our role is to fill them with knowledge. • We teach in the same way we learn the best. • We are not fully convinced that the learning process is an interactive process. These teaching strategies will create an extra obstacle in the learning process.

5. What are the Implications? • Based on the teaching strategies discussed we favor students (only few) who tend to learn in certain ways. Inefficient teacher-centric classroom.

6. What can we do about it? • To be aware of differences in how our students take in and process information. • Be proactive in instituting interactive learning environments. • To balance instruction so that all learning styles are addressed at least some of the time.

7. What is a Learning Style? • The “characteristic strengths and preferences in the ways that [learners] take in and process information” -R. Felder

8. Felder-Silverman Model Four Learning Dimensions: • Sensing vs. Intuitive Perception • Visual vs. Verbal Input • Active vs. Reflective Processing • Sequential vs. Global Understanding

9. How to Determine the Learning Styles?

10. Index of Learning Styles (ILS) • A Google Form was used to conduct the Index of Learning Styles survey (44 Questions). • Conducted only once at the beginning of the semester. • The results of the ILS provided an insight about the cohort learning styles profile.

11. Cohort Learning Styles Profile Cohort Learning Style Profile

12. Teaching to All Learning Styles • We should use a balanced teaching approach between the extremes in each learning dimension. • Suggested approaches to incorporate while teaching: • Provide context for concepts addressed. • Balancing theories with demonstrations and examples. • Use figures, pictures and diagrams to supplement verbal instruction. • Use numerical examples to illustrate abstract concepts. • Provide time for both students’ participation and reflection. How can we make it adaptive?

13. How to Achieve Adaptive Learner Centric Classrooms?

14. Formative Feedback Process • Content: Was the content interesting? • Content: Was the focus of the talk good? • Content: Did you find the lecture useful? • Slides: Were they adequate in terms of the coverage of the subject? • Slides: Were they readable and helpful for the lecture? • Presentation: Was the lecture vocabulary understandable? • Presentation: Was the speech (pronunciation, speed) of the lecturer clear? • Interaction: Was the lecturer complete and precise in his answers to questions? • Interaction: Did the lecturer manage to capture your attention? • Overall: Do you think the use of class time was good? • Overall: What was your overall impression from the lecture?

15. Sampled Timeline of Feedback Results Improvement

16. Pre/Post Assessment We achieved statistical significance with a confidence level of 98.5%

17. Our Proposed Process

18. Conclusion • Students bring to the classroom a great diversity of learning styles. • There is a mismatch between our teaching styles and our students’ learning styles. • Learning Styles Models help us bridge the initial gap. • Formative assessment/feedback help us achieve a learner-centric classroom using adaptive teaching.

19. Questions?