Infusing the Science of Learning Into a Higher Education Leadership Seminar at a Public University: Improving Graduate Learning by Design

This chapter explores how one graduate-level seminar incorporated technology and insights from the science of learning to improve the delivery and assessment of course content. Drawing on the case study, Technology and Innovation in Higher Education, an elective seminar for master\u27s and doctoral students taught at The University of Texas at Austin (2015-2017), the authors discuss the benefits of project-based learning, retrieval-based learning strategies, and the use of diverse teams in educational settings. The authors consider how technology was used in this blended-learning/hybrid course to more efficiently and effectively achieve the learning goals. The chapter concludes with practical recommendations for instructors who seek to incorporate insights from the science of learning in their graduate courses

Activating Assessment for Learning: Are We On the Way With WEB 2.0?

This chapter examines the role Web 2.0 tools can play in promoting the Assessment for Learning Agenda. It presents a number of cases of peer, self and computer assessments that display a range of characteristics proposed by Elliott (2008) for the next generation of assessment tasks. The discussion of the cases revealed a missing characteristic which is a form of feedback to the students that will take their learning forward which I have called 'Advice for Action'. In order for assessment tasks and tools to become more effective they need to be embedded within a pedagogical framework, which in turn, requires a supportive infrastructure as proposed by the 4Ts pyramid. The major components of the pyramid consist of (a) Tool Development, (b) Staff Training, (c) Rethinking the Assessment Tasks and (d) Learning from the Assessment Tasks