Pedagogical approaches

Pedagogical approaches – a brief overview

There are many different pedagogical approaches. When selecting a particular approach as a teacher, you would soon discover that often it is a mix of pedagogical approaches that are used. I have selected a few approaches that I find pleasant to learn with and will explain them briefly. Furthermore, I will give suggestions on how a content management system (CMS; such as Blackboard) could support these approaches.

Problem-based learning (PBL)

PBL is an approach that is learner-centred, and should cover a wide range of disciplines and subjects. The role of the teacher is that of a tutor or facilitator. Important characteristics of PBL are ill-structured and authentic problems, self-directed learning, integration of theory and practice, application of knowledge and skills, collaboration, and reflection on concepts and principles learned. It is also essential that what is learned, is applied back to the problem with re-analysis and resolution. Part of the learning process within PBL is peer and self assessment. Reflection thus happens both on content and on professional and personal competences. This can be supported by a CMS by means of discussion boards, where students can discuss about the concepts used in the PBL environment, or pod- or webcasts can support the content that is discussed in the face-to-face PBL environment.

Dual education

In dual education, working and learning is combined. Learning takes place both at work and during the study days at the college. The programme is often related to the processes an employee experiences on a regular basis and provides the student with the theory behind the application at work. The division of amount of time spent at work and at school differs per country and sometimes even per school. Dual education is mainly used in vocational training, both at secondary level as in higher education. Typical fields include those where there is immediate contact between the employee and the customer, such as in health care and the service industry. This can be supported by a CMS, to allow students access to study materials when on the job, or by means of a discussion board, where they can discuss problems they experienced while at work.

Collaborative learning

Collaborative learning is an umbrella term for a variety of approaches in education that involve joint intellectual effort by students or students and teachers. Students work together on a task to achieve a common goal and are accountable to each other. The task can be fixed and pre-set or can be more flexible and open. The aim is for students to learn from each other’s questions and answers. Reeves (1994) refers to this as cooperative learning. This can be very well supported by a CMS, where the teams can make use of for example discussion boards, or post (parts of) their assignments or resources found for feedback from peers and other teams. Use can also be made of online web-conferencing whereby the discussions are recorded, so that students can access these at a later date.

Workplace learning

With the increasing shift towards ‘knowledge workers’ the divisional line between working and learning is fading (Boud, Garrick, & Greenfield, 1999). Workplace learning is an important tool to provide skills to gain innovative capacity. For companies to remain competitive in today’s day and age, innovative capacity is essential (NCVER, n.d.). Workplace learning happens both formally and informally. The major part is however informally. The formal part often exists of the induction programme into the company and on or off-site training courses. The informal part is the learning on the job. This can be assisted by the following factors: asking peers for help, observing the work of peers, mentor relationships and corridor conversations. There are a few challenges related to this informal learning. Peers may not be willing to share their knowledge, or may give disinformation. The main opportunities for incorporating e-learning are in formal workplace training. Research has shown that e-learning can assist in incorporating workplace learning in the corporate strategy (NCVER, n.d.). Specific to using CMS in workplace learning, this can be used to provide new employees with company information, manuals and the like, so that they can find important information themselves, rather than being dependent on others.

Inquiry learning

Inquiry learning assumes a natural curiosity of the learner. Inquiry learning is defined as ‘an approach to learning that involves a process of exploring the natural or material world and that leads to asking questions, making discoveries and rigorously testing these discoveries in the search for new understanding” (National Science Foundation, in De Jong, 2006). Inquiry learning promotes self-directed learning of students, as they can take initiatives as to what road to take. It can also be used in collaborative learning. With the development of technology, inquiry learning has become more effective, as students are free to experiment within a simulation. They do however experience problems with deciding on the right variables, setting hypotheses etc. Nowadays, cognitive tools are added to provide support to students in the simulation. A CMS could be used in this respect to offer for example background information, assignments to support the inquiry process or planning tools (De Jong, 2006).

Conclusion

From this brief explanation of different pedagogical approaches, it becomes almost immediately clear that often a mix of pedagogical approaches is used. Especially collaborative learning can be used in combination with a number of other pedagogical approaches. Also, adding e-learning or using a CMS leads to blended pedagogical approaches. When selecting a specific pedagogical approach for a course, one should take into consideration which blend is best to use.

Boud, D., Garrick, J., & Greenfield, K. (1999). Understanding learning at work. New York: Routledge.

De Jong, T. (2006). Computer simulations: technological advances in inquiry learning. Science, 312, 532-533.

NCVER. (n.d.). What makes for good workplace learning? Retrieved 4 October, 2009, from http://www.ncver.edu.au/research/core/cp0207.pdf

Reeves, T. (1994). Evaluating what really matters in computer-based education. Retrieved 23 September, 2009, from http://www.educationau.edu.au/jahia/Jahia/home/cache/offonce/pid/179;jsessionid=48