Friday, March 3rd, for the March meeting is about Improvisation as teaching method in order to encourage active learning, and about exploring the benefits of sequencing learning activities.

The first speaker, Dr. Andy Jones of the University Writing Program, discussed syllabus and classroom strategies to balance what historian James W. Loewen calls the “tyranny of coverage” with an active learning approach that we know works best with adult learners. Dr. Andy  will shared his recent research into the “Teaching as Jazz” approach championed by Cornell music professor Steve Pond, and exemplify some of the improvisational methods that he has been trying in his Winter quarter “Writing in the Fine Arts” class.

Instructional designers Mark Wilson and Margaret Merrill discussed the value of guiding learners through a strategic sequence of learning activities. Wilson and Merrill explained what the various stages in that sequence might look like, how each stage can benefit your students, and how that sequence might best be communicated to students.