Pedagogical - EN

Inspired by James Lang’s book Small Teaching. Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning, this workshop will introduce participants to the “small teaching” approach, which refers to small changes in teaching that can lead to big changes in learning. Even without subjecting your course to a major redesign process, some small modifications can have a significant positive impact in how much your students learn and how well they learn it.   

The workshop will cover the following areas:  

• strategies to support the acquisition of solid foundational knowledge  
• strategies to support the development of deep knowledge and understanding  
• strategies to support the emotional and social components of learning  

In this hands-on and activity-based workshop, participants will have the opportunity to work with the concepts introduced, complete individual tasks and participate in group and peer discussions. Participants will be encouraged to complete the activities with one of their courses in mind, so that what they produce during the workshop can be put into practice in their teaching straightaway.   

*To work further with learning sciences research and its applications to teaching, please see the course From How We Learn to How We Teach in the Course Catalogue. If you have already taken that course, how does this workshop differ from it? This workshop touches upon some of the topics included in the course but it is designed to apply the “small teaching” approach described above, meaning that it focusses on small course interventions rather than on a holistic approach to teaching practice as it is the case in From How We Learn to How We Teach. 

Target group 

Teaching staff who, regardless of their teaching experience, would like to   

• explore some of the most well-researched strategies for student learning   
• spend some time planning how to incorporate them in their courses   
• exchange ideas and reflections with fellow teachers  

Intended learning outcomes 

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:   

1. explain some of the key learning strategies supported by learning sciences research  

1. reflect on their current practice in relation to the presented strategies  

1. identify opportunities and challenges to apply some of these strategies in their teaching  

1. draft a plan to implement some of the strategies in their courses  

Workload 

3 hours