Transforming University Biochemistry Teaching Using Collaborative Learning And Technology

Transforming University Biochemistry Teaching Using Collaborative Learning and Technology

One aim of Gilmer’s captivating text on university pedagogy is to show that biochemistry (or any science) does not consist solely of facts to be learned, but is a way of thinking about the world. Her purpose, both in this book and in her classroom, is to make her students into critical thinkers rather than passive learners. The chapters cast a critical eye over research into enhanced education techniques such as collaborative learning. Gilmer describes the action research she conducted in her own biochemistry undergraduate classroom into ways of improving the learning environment. She offers various perspectives on the make-up of her classroom, including an analysis of ethnographic data. The tools Gilmer employs as she hones her teaching skills include collaborative learning and technology. She views the classroom through various theoretical perspectives: social constructivism, cultural-historical activity theory, and a theory that involves the dialectic between the structure of the learning environment and the agency of the learners (a group among whom she includes herself). She provides a wealth of autobiographical detail as well as the results of her action research, which followed up on its original subjects after an interval of 11 years, to see what impact her course had on their professional growth. Above all, this volume is proof of what can be achieved in education when teachers are as interested in the process of learning as they are in their subject itself.

Transforming University Biochemistry Teaching Using Collaborative Learning and Technology

Redesigning Pedagogy

This book brings together selected papers from a conference focusing on Redesigning Pedagogy, organized by the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice, National Institute of Education, Singapore. The papers are organised around seven key themes: Literacy Education, Relations of Power, Reflection, Meaning Making, Evaluation, and Mathematics and Science. There are two distinctive features in this title. First is its international focus. In addition to providing readers with an introduction to pedagogy in Singapore, it contains discussions on the environments in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, South Africa, and the United States. A second focus is a strong commitment to transnational research. Although influenced by the theoretical perspectives of Bourdieu, Luke, and others, the authors are primarily focused on classroom practices. This title will be of interest to students, researchers, and practitioners who are interested in broad thematic and comparative issues. With a number of chapters on Literacy Education, Mathematics, and Science, it will also be of appeal to those more interested in content specific areas.