Category Archives: Learner Engagement

Approaches that promote learner engagement and motivation

Creative Assessment – what is it?

In higher education assessment is recognised as a driving force for student engagement and curriculum design. How does this tally with a desire for active student-centred learning? How can it accommodate the artistry in the academic practitioner who seeks to … Continue reading

Posted in Academic Innovation, Academic Innovation and Possibilities, Assessment & Feedback, Creativity, Learner Engagement, Media-enhanced feedback, Media-enhanced learning, MELSIG, Social Media for Learning | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Absence of detail and the value of ambiguity in art and education

This post pulls together ideas about the value of ambiguity and space in art and education by drawing upon my diverse experiences as educator, artist, and musician. It wanders! In some ways, it is about creating room to wander. I hope you it connects with your own wanderings. Continue reading

Posted in Active Learning, Creativity, Learner Engagement, Studio and Studio-based Learning, Walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Man Walked into a Bar: humour, space, self-deprecation, #activelearning

In this post I explore the pedagogy of humour in the context of higher education teaching and learning and begin to realise there’s more to humour in the classroom than having a bit of fun! This was my starting point, … Continue reading

Posted in Active Learning, Co-operative pedagogy, Creativity, Gamification, Learner Engagement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ritual in the learning environment

In this post I explore what is meant by ritual in relation to the teaching and learning experience and, as we reset our post-pandemic classrooms, why we should care. Given that there is little obligation to care, beyond a notion … Continue reading

Posted in Active Learning, Belonging, Co-operative pedagogy, Learner Engagement, Learning Space and Place, Studio and Studio-based Learning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Connecting curiosity, creativity and criticality

In this post I explore creativity and critical thinking and how they connect with the fostering of curiosity. This post continues my exploration of curiosity as a state of learning in which learner motivation and agency are central. Following on … Continue reading

Posted in Active Learning, Assessment & Feedback, Learner Engagement | Leave a comment

Curiosity – untapping latent energy

Continuing from the post ‘Sublime, curious and distracted – challenging conceptions of learning’, I want to examine curiosity towards finding strategies that can be deployed by the academic and the learner themselves to create an engaging learning environment. Surely, curiosity … Continue reading

Posted in Active Learning, Learner Engagement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sublime, curious and distracted – challenging conceptions of learning

Tyson E. Lewis in ‘The Dude Abides, or Why Curiosity Is Important for Education Today’, looks at the idea of curiosity from a pedagogical perspective. He sets curiosity in stark contrast to widely held beliefs about education where blind faith … Continue reading

Posted in Active Learning, Learner Engagement, Learning Space and Place | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Unified Active Learning – our commitment to #activelearning wherever and however we access learning

I am in reflective mode – it’s summer 2021 and in the West we’re trying to get over the pandemic, catch our breath, and decide what we value, what we have done, what changes will stick. It is both a … Continue reading

Posted in Active Learning, Learner Engagement, Learning Space and Place | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Transparency, turbulence, ambiguity and uncertainty in #activelearning

“One student’s safe uncertainty is another student’s chaotic nightmare.” (Orr & Shreeve, 2018) Based on research I conducted with others into student satisfaction of learning (Heaton et al., 2015), being clear with students about what is expected of them has … Continue reading

Posted in Learner Engagement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Photopedagogy and photovoice

Loopmans et al. (2012) observe that photographs incite public debate about place and community. When that public context is the university course and where there is a desire for learning engagement and community building, how can photography empower the learner? … Continue reading

Posted in Academic Innovation, Academic Innovation and Possibilities, Active Learning, BYOD4L, Creativity, Digital Placemaking, Learner Engagement, Learning Space and Place, Media-enhanced learning, photopedagogy, Smart Learning & BYOD, Social Media for Learning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment