Course

Exploring Design Thinking in the Classroom

Exploring Design Thinking in the Classroom

by: Brandon Pousley

Design Thinking in Education Banner'Design thinking' refers to the collection of practices and mindsets that enables creative, collaborative problem-solving across domains. The term was popularized within design consultancy and has since demonstrated value across a variety of organizations and contexts, including the classroom. Design thinking differs from previous problem-solving approaches in its prioritization of the user experience and its reliance on continuous feedback and iteration.... Read more about Exploring Design Thinking in the Classroom

The Learning Loop: An Iterative Dialogue Between Faculty and Design Partners

by: Bonnie Anderson

“[A] thermostat that automatically turns on the heat whenever the temperature in a room drops below 68°F is a good example of single-loop learning.

A thermostat that could ask, "why am I set to 68°F?" and then explore whether or not some other temperature might more economically achieve the goal of heating the room would be engaged in double-loop learning.1”... Read more about The Learning Loop: An Iterative Dialogue Between Faculty and Design Partners

T-127 Student Experience

by: Jillian Rubman

Back in September, as new students in the HGSE master’s programs, we found ourselves face-to-face with a huge array of courses and activities to consider. Should we spend most of our time at the Ed. School or doing off-campus internships? How many courses could we take, really? Four? Five? Six? In the midst of all that wonderful chaos, the T127 Teaching and Learning Lab Practicum course stood out for me. I was looking to get hands-on experience with media and learning design in higher education; the class looked like a great way to step into that world. So I enrolled in a semester of experiential learning with the TLL — and I enjoyed it so much I decided to stay there through the spring semester!... Read more about T-127 Student Experience

T-127 Practicum: From Theory to Action

by: Andrea Flores

In a recently published article Analise Shrout, a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Davidson College, describes her experiment in letting students design and run a new course called Death in the Digital Age. The idea for the course, which was interdisciplinary in nature, was prompted by her own research questions about what it means to die in the Internet Age given that so much of what is created has a digital footprint living beyond one’s physical existence. To achieve her learning outcomes Shrout chose a pedagogical design that gave students a more equal role in shaping the course content, collaboratively defining best practices for digital scholarship, and deciding on the metrics for success through a co-created personalized rubric.... Read more about T-127 Practicum: From Theory to Action

The Challenge of Teacher Development

by: Steven Sofronas

Here at HGSE and at educational institutions around the world, there is a lot of talk about providing adequate structure in order to promote student agency. It is an issue that educators at all levels and contexts grapple with when designing learning experiences for their students, and it is as important to professors at graduate schools of education as it is to elementary school teachers across the country.

As the field of education continues to move away from memorization-based pedagogy in favor of strategies that promote personalized learning and increased metacognition, educators are facing challenges in implementing strategies that encourage their students to think critically, collaborate with others, and solve real world problems. Many educators have little experience in moving beyond traditional instructional strategies. This lack of experience and training poses a formidable barrier to significant change.... Read more about The Challenge of Teacher Development

Principle-Driven Design: The Certificate in Advanced Educational Leadership

by: Bonnie Anderson

CAEL Project Poster

As described in an earlier post, the TLL’s work on the Certificate in Advanced Educational Leadership (CAEL) has yielded fruitful lessons for all involved. In particular, we are seeing the importance of infusing evidence-based design principles and our own team’s guiding principles into every aspect of this project. In this post, I will focus on the influence of three specific design principles on the creation of the CAEL program.... Read more about Principle-Driven Design: The Certificate in Advanced Educational Leadership

Walking the Walk: Reflections from the Inaugural T-127 Gallery Walk

by: Josh Bookin

Gallery Walk Student Presenters

On December 9th, 2015 the Teaching and Learning Lab Practicum (T-127) hosted a gallery walk to showcase the capstone projects that students created for the course.  Community members from around HGSE – administrators, faculty, staff, and fellow students – attended the event to join the class in exploring and celebrating this meaningful work.  As a new member of the TLL who was not significantly involved in this first iteration of the course, I came to the event excited to learn more about the students who engaged in this endeavor, the projects in which they took part, and the skills and knowledge they are taking away from the experience.  In this post, I would like to share some of what I discovered from this inspiring event.... Read more about Walking the Walk: Reflections from the Inaugural T-127 Gallery Walk

Online Learning: Accessibility and Fulfilling the Promise of Diversity

by: Andrea Flores

Online Accessibility LogoConversations about Diversity In 2014, HGSE launched the Fulfilling the Promise of Diversity (FPD) initiative to foster and sustain community-wide conversations and learning experiences around the topics of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Most often the conversation centers around face-to-face learning environments through the lens of race and socioeconomic status (SES).... Read more about Online Learning: Accessibility and Fulfilling the Promise of Diversity