Contextual Teaching and Learning

Welcome back and I hope that those of you who had holidays enjoyed them. As the world continues to experience public health challenges, higher education continues the conversation on how to offer optimal learning opportunities. In this week's post, I would like to offer several research-based ideas in the area of contextual teaching and learning (T&L), i.e., the environment where T&L can occur. I have been fortunate to research in this area over the past two decades, beginning in the mid 1990s with my doctoral dissertation, "Can Students Learn Science Using the Internet." In short, the major factor found that influenced student learning (and engagement) was their ability to self-regulate. Much of the subsequent research has supported this finding (Adiguzel & Orhan, 2017; Lu & Hargis, 2021; Jansen, et al., 2017; Iwamoto & Hargis, 2017). Perhaps we might consider offering a pre-assessment of student SR ability (Pintrich Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, 1983), which can help students identify gaps in their SR. Then, we could direct and/or offer skill building SR opportunities.

Prior to the pandemic, faculty who taught online, typically were self-selected, sought assistance in designing online learning spaces and were supported in some way (perhaps not financially or from the institution, but more from colleagues, professional associations, grants, etc.). I share this because this approach is very different from the past two year of emergency remote T&L. Some have come to the conclusion that online learning is ineffective when the real questions are about context, design and preparation.

Factors for online T&L are found in a 2021 study by Cacult et al. entitled, “Distance Learning in Higher Education: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment.” Using a randomized experiment the authors found that

attending lectures via live streaming lowers achievement for low-ability students and increases achievement for high-ability ones;
students use the live streaming occasionally; and
offering live streaming reduces in-class attendance only mildly.

Many studies have highlighted the advantages of online T&L, which can include flexibility, [if designed well] more [authentic] interaction, and more learning opportunities (virtual field trips, student multimedia project-based learning, etc.). Of course, we need to keep in mind the potential disadvantages for online, which could include creating a sense of isolation, requiring elevated self-regulated learning, and additional development for instructors ((Bowen et al., 2014; Di & Jaggars, 2014; Matuga, 2009).

It seems clear that context [and design preparation] are significant attributes for effective T&L. Ideally, as we prepare for this winter/spring semester/quarter as individual faculty and ideally as departments and institutions, we are discussing how we might design our learning experiences so they are more adaptable to context as we remain uncertain to how we might offer effective T&L in the future.

References

Bowen, W.G., Chingos, M.M., Lack, K. A., & Nygren, T.I. (2014). Interactive learning online at public universities: Evidence from a six-campus randomized trial. Journal Of Policy Analysis & Management, 33(1), 94-111.

Cacault, P., Hildebrand, C., Laurent-Lucchetti, J., Pellizzari, M. (Aug 2021). Distance learning in higher education: Evidence from a randomized experiment, Journal of the European Economic Association, 19(4), 2322–2372.

Hargis, J. (August 2001, Published online: Feb 2014). Can students learn science using the Internet? ISTE Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 33(4), 475-487.

Iwamoto, D., & Hargis, J. (July 2017). Self-Regulated learning as a critical attribute for successful teaching and learning. International Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 11(2).

Jansen, R. S., Van Leeuwen, A., Janssen, J., Kester, L., & Kalz, M. (2017). Validation of the self-regulated online learning questionnaire. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 29(1), 6-27.

Pintrich, P. R., Smith, D., García, T., & McKeachie, W. J. (1993). Reliability and predictive validity of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53, 801-813.