Curricular strategies promoting participatory learning opportunities in Higher Education

Author(s):

Åsa Maria RosengrenEllinor Silius Ahonen

Conference:

ECER 2008

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 02C, Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (Part 1) Problem-based Learning

Paper Session

Time:

2008-09-10

11:15-12:45

Room:

B2 215

Chair:

Mary Eileen Thornton

Contribution

The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of curriculum building from a contextual understanding. Our effort is to make pedagogical strategies more visible in Higher Education and thereby simultaneously suggest curricular strategies in relation to the “Bologna process”. The theoretical framework for reasoning in this paper is primary based on the sociocultural argumentation of human learning and knowledge production. The problem of curriculum making is elaborated in relation to time and space aspects from two perspectives. The first departure in the paper is connected to a philosophical standpoint as the problem requires a rationale for handling complexity. The epistemological premises for the chosen Problem-based learning (PBL) interpretation are formulated. Defining studying in Higher Professional Education as learning, we refer to a communicative, shared and mediated cultural practice, a semiotic engagement. The other starting point concerns one of the conditions for those processes, the curricular formation. During the past years, European Higher Education has witnessed a great paradigm shift, from a teaching-centred into a learning-centred and competence-based approach. It takes into account and scaffolds the personal and professional growth. At the universities of applied sciences it entails the reinforcement of flexibility, integration of subjects, working life orientation and student-centeredness of the curricula. The foundation for the curriculum design we propose is the learning processes of students, which involve both the individual and the environmental culture which concerns overall Higher Education. We argue that curricular planning deals with concrete practical matters as well as epistemological choices. Contextual understanding challenge curriculum developers to reflect upon collaborative learning as co-construction of knowledge where affordances interact with meaning making processes.

Method

We exemplify our reasoning by referring to a case study on a degree program in Social studies and a discourse analysis on teacher-ship. We examine how a Problem-based design provides participatory learning opportunities for students in Higher Professional Education. How to make a PBL vocabulary a collaborative learning environment? By highlighting some sociocultural considerations, such as activities in communities of praxis in relation to learning outcomes, we aim to make the pedagogical reasoning visible. In Higher Professional Education competences, general and subject-specific, are formulated in relation to the Tuning methodology. The discourse of the Bologna-process influences practice beyond the process itself. Curricular strategies mark arenas where competences of professional relevance are fostered. We propose a creative approach where meaningful learning experiences and participation are seen as values in curriculum formation when marking liminal spaces for learning. Curricular strategies opening up arenas for participatory learning opportunities, enables constraints to act as vehicles instead as mere regulations.

Expected Outcomes

Problem-based learning as an educational setting offer several kinds of structuring ingredients. The curriculum offers repertoires of reflective practice to trigger transforming learning experiences in various environments. For example in the tutorial, production of knowledge emerges due to the art of negotiation. This collective multimodal process is significant for developing student´s critical thinking and reasoning skills in dealing with professionally relevant situations, problems. It is significant in enhancing independent responsibility, a personal commitment and self-directed actions of exploring on a mutual, dialogic arena.

References

Gonzáles, J. & Wagenaar, R. (eds.). 2005. Tuning Educational Structures in Europe. Universities’ contribution to the Bologna Process. Final Report. Phase Two. Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto. Available from http://tuning.unideusto.org/tuningeu/ Accessed 17 January 2008. Lave, J. (1996). The practice of learning. I: S. Chaiklin & J. Lave Understanding practice, Cambridge University Press. pp. 3–32. Poikela,E. & Poikela, S. (2005). (eds.) PBL in Context. Bridging work and education.Tampere University Press. Lave, J. Wenger, E. 1991. Situated learning.Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press. Poikela,E. & Poikela, S. (2005). (eds.) PBL in Context. Bridging work and education.Tampere University Press. ISBN 951-44- 6303-X Poikela, E. & Nummenmaa, A.R. (eds.). 2006. Understanding Problem-Based Learning. Tampere University Press. Reid, W:A. 1994. Curriculum planning as Deliberation. Oslo: Pedagogisk Forskningsinstitutt, Raport Nr.11 Rosengren, Å. (2006). Den förändrade lärarrollen inom den högre utbildningen på 2000-talet. Ingår i Silius-Ahonen (red.). Vägen till yrkeskompetens. Hur syns pedagogiken i den professionsinriktade högskoleutbildningen? Arcada: Rapport 1/2006. s 23-35 Rosengren, Å. (2006). Att handleda lärprocesser: - Lärarens roll I problembaserat lärande. Ingår i Silius-Ahonen (red.). Vägen till yrkeskompetens. Hur syns pedagogiken i den professionsinriktade högskoleutbildningen? Arcada: Rapport 1/2006. s 129-137. Scott, D. & Uscher, R. (eds.). (1998). Understanding educational research. London: Routledge. Silius-Ahonen, E. (2005). Lärande som text. En dramapedagogiskt förankrad läsning av det kroppsliga, rumsliga och retoriska i kunskapsbildande processer. (Diss.) Åbo Akademis förlag. Silius-Ahonen, E. (2006). PBL och verklighetsanknutet lärande. Ingår i Silius-Ahonen (red.). Vägen till yrkeskompetens. Hur syns pedagogiken i den professionsinriktade högskoleutbildningen? Arcada: Rapport 1/2006. s 138-154 Silius-Ahonen, E. (2006). Fantasi i kunskapsbildande. Ingår i Silius-Ahonen (red.) Vägen till yrkeskompetens. Hur syns pedagogiken i den professionsinriktade högskoleutbildningen? Helsingfors: Arcada Publications. Stables, A. (2005). Living and learning as Semiotic Engagement. A new theory of Education. Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales. UK: The Edwin Mellen Press. Säljö, R. (2000). Lärande i praktiken. Ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Stockholm: Prisma. Säljö, R. (2005). Cultural tools, externalisation of human knowing and the transformation of learning practices. Key note at Interlearn conference in Helsingfors December 2005. Wenger, E. 1998. Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Vygotskij, L.S. (1978). Mind in society. The development of Higher Psychological Processes. London: Cambridge Mass.

Author Information

Åsa Maria Rosengren

Arcada

Helsinki

Ellinor Silius Ahonen

Arcada

Helsingfors

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