Moving Forward – Phase I

We are very excited about moving the Surround Learning project forward.  Over the past year it has been truly a pleasure working with the Magnificat community to conceptualize Surround Learning both physically and symbolically.  We are now at the stage where the project will become a reality.

Over the next couple of months we will be working with the Leadership Team to develop construction drawings for the entry area and Surround Learning Center so the spaces can be built over the summer months and completed by the start of the 2012-2013 school year.  The remainder of the Surround Learning spaces will be developed during a second phase to be completed at a future date.

We are excited to team with a talented local architecture firm, studioTECHNE|architects, who has worked on many educational and civic projects.  studioTECHNE|architects is dedicated to developing unique environments for their clients—environments which improve their daily interactions and connections to each other.

Please comment and let us know if you have any thoughts or ideas for moving forward.

Learning from Failure

The mantra of most schools is: “failure is not an option.”  Indeed this is good advice, we certainly don’t want to encourage students to continually fail on assignments or fail classes altogether.  However, an over-emphasis on “failure is not an option” may lead to a fear of failure.  In life, failure is normal.  I will even be bold and say that all successful people have failed at certain points in their life.  Their resilience to failure is what makes them successful.  In school however, learning from failure is not always emphasized.

According to a recent BBC News article, learning from failure is being focused on at an all-girl school—Wimbledon High School—“to teach pupils to embrace risk, build resilience and learn from their mistakes.”

A quote by headmistress, Heather Hanbury, from the article:

“Wimbledon High School is showing how making mistakes is not necessarily a bad thing, that it is fine to try – and fail – and then pick yourself up and try again – or as Samuel Beckett said, ‘fail better’.”

Link to the BBC News article

Questions for reflection:

1. In your life, what have you learned from failure?
2. Do you think having a resilience to failure is important in life?
3. Is learning from failure encouraged enough at Magnificat?

From Libraries to Learning Commons

This video shows what a Learning Commons looks like in British Columbia.

 

What aspects of the Learning Commons could apply to the Surround Learning Center?

Who Needs an English Major?

This podcast discusses why the liberal arts are important and why they should be connected to the real world.  In your comments, please respond to:

1.  How can our students who plan to major in math or science benefit from taking electives in the arts or other fields?

2.  How can our students who plan to major in English, language, business, social studies, theology or the arts benefit from courses in science and math?

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/tomorrows-college/english-major/

Final Pre-Design Report

The Pre-Design report is complete.  There is still plenty of time for input and feedback before the Design phase begins.  Please feel free to post comments or questions.

Click here to download the report

“Don’t Lecture Me” Podcast

Podcast suggestion by Zoe Murphy:

For “Don’t Lecture Me,” the September 2, 2011, presentation in Tomorrow’s College series: “Don’t Lecture Me: Rethinking the Way College Students Learn.” As the introductory blurb indicates, employees who can “think well and learn fast” are needed. Students must have opportunities to raise questions, problem-solve complex problems with more than one acceptable answer, learn how to learn, etc.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Do Students Learn from Lectures?

There are many fantastic teachers who can give amazing lectures that are exciting and full of energy.  But, do students actually learn from them?  At FNI, we believe that many modes of learning are needed, including the traditional lecture.  Students learn in a variety of ways and educational facilities need to accommodate multiple learning modalities.

About ten years ago, MIT found that despite having amazing lecturers such as Professor Walter Lewin, attendance rates were low and 10-15% of students were failing. The problem was that the learning was passive.  Even though the material and the way it was presented was exciting, students were passively engaged.  To fix this problem, they initiated a new approach called TEAL (Technology-Enhanced Active Learning).  In this approach, learning is highly active.  Excerpt from the New York Times article “At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard”:

Instead of blackboards, the walls are covered with white boards and huge display screens. Circulating with a team of teaching assistants, the professor makes brief presentations of general principles and engages the students as they work out related concepts in small groups.

Teachers and students conduct experiments together. The room buzzes. Conferring with tablemates, calling out questions and jumping up to write formulas on the white boards are all encouraged.

The lecture is still present in this format, but only in smaller chunks.  Students flow seamlessly from listening to doing.  They are able to immediately test out and work through the ideas themselves.  There has been much research that shows that active learning (learning by doing) has a higher retention rate amongst students.

So what does this mean to the facility?  At MIT, they created collaborative learning studios with round tables and technology to foster student interaction.  This was a contrast from their traditional lecture hall of fixed rows and seats all facing the teaching wall.  Magnificat already has open spaces (LGI, RC, BTC, and Caf) that can support active learning.  Enhancing these spaces with new furniture and technology could easily bring them on par with the TEAL environment at MIT.

Further resources:

1. At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard – The New York Times
2. Why TEAL works – The Tech
3. Description of TEAL

Questions for reflection:

1. Do you find traditional lectures to be effective?
2. Do you think learning is enhanced when students are actively engaged (doing)?
3. What type of environment is required for active learning?