Effects of ignition sources and fire retardants on material ignition

Issued as Quarterly progress report no. 7-11, and Final report, Project no. E-25-67

The Pedagogy of Community-Based Learning: Do students learn?

In many respects the two quotes above exemplify two of the core issues in modern pedagogy and especially those related to active learning and teaching methodologies that highlight critical thinking. Einstein’s quote underscores the role of the professor as the facilitator which in turn enhances student-led learning and thus critical thinking. On the other hand Adams highlights the very critical dimension of education; namely that it is also a tool to be used in daily life and not just abstract theory for “ivory tower” academia. Thus, the two quotes combined also exemplify the philosophy of community-based learning which is at one and the same time an interactive and dynamic teaching strategy as well as a process of enhancing civic qualities among our students. In other words for university students to absorb critical thinking as a learning process as well as learn how to be citizens, students must act as citizens and faculty should attempt to provide the context within which this can happen; the community. Therefore, higher education must connect subject matter with the places where students live and the issues that affect us all. Nevertheless, universities appear to have failed to recognize the benefits of student engagement with their communities in acquiring knowledge. Thus, this short essay will explore some of the issues related to the pedagogic and academic benefits to be derived from such teaching strategies and make use of examples from my own teaching at AUC in order to contribute to the debate

The nurturing of ‘good’ capitalists: Prisoners and private prison labour

This paper draws on a ten-month ethnographic study of private prison work in a UK prison to drawn attention to the prevalence of neoliberalism; even in an institution as secreted and isolated as a prison, the neoliberal ideology can flourish. Prisoners expressed attitudes heavily influenced by consumer culture and egoistic individualism. Most participants expressed a desire to become profitable entrepreneurs. On this basis, it should come as no surprise that prisoners admired the organizations sending work into prison. They despised the work, despised the prison for forcing them to conduct this work, but they were impressed by the firms sending this work in, who they saw as the ultimate exploitative entrepreneurs. They aspired to be entrepreneurs, and with limited opportunities to achieve this legitimately, and the exposure to poorly paid, unskilled work during their incarceration, many prisoners concluded that the best way to become entrepreneurs was through criminal means. Individualism and entrepreneurial rhetoric has clearly trickled down into the depths of our society, with those most vulnerable fighting for a place at the table; they have adopted, embraced and welcomed neoliberalism

Learning Objects: The return of the “visual” to active learning?

In a recent issue of New Chalk Talk (Vol.6, Issue 2) I relied upon John Berger’s pioneering work Ways of Seeing, (1972) in order to suggest the primacy of “visual texts” in the learning relationship and especially with regard to our continuous concern, as educators and facilitators of the learning process, to enhance critical thinking and self-learning

Visual Learning Objects: enable faculty to focus on active learning

In two recent issues of New Chalk Talk (Vol.6, Issue 2 & 6) I suggested that “learning objects” enhance active learning and that “visual learning objects”, in particular, contribute significantly to the learning relationship. In this issue I wish to elaborate on how such “visual learning objects” are the key element that liberates faculty from having to design and construct their own demonstrations and illustrations (reinvent the wheel) in their respective courses and thus enable them to focus on critical and active learning instead

Role-Playing in Class: animates discussion and enhances active learning

As a social-economic historian by training I always respected and admired the work of the French Annales School and especially the way in which such historians as Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre, among others, in fact brought life into historical research and accounts and practically presented vivid almost visual representations of life in epochs long past. They, dared to step into the bedroom, the kitchen, the salon and in fact into the mentalités of historical actors. In so doing these historians present historical events through the mentalitiés of those that lived them, but without fetishising the otherness of such historical actors. Role-playing asks students to also see the past, or for that matter the present, as did those who lived and acted during these events. By focusing on the details of human relationships students are able to grasp the “humanity” of historical actors and thus comprehend in a dynamic manner the structures, parameters and limitations within which such actors acted out their respective roles. In this respect active and critical learning is enhanced as students are able to see that history and historical acts are not inevitable or predefined, but a result of the way in which chaos, disorder and turbulence articulate and produce actual happenings. It is this critical skill of moving beyond the sense of historical inevitability that is invariably communicated in scholarly texts, that students gain from role-playing and which cannot be “taught” via the medium of a traditional lecture or seminar

Grading or Assessing Learning? Seasonal thoughts for reflection!

The examination period is upon us. Students are anxious and faculty contemplate the “burden” of marking! The Registrar prepares to receive the grades and all students graduating or otherwise are calculating their respective GPAs and seeking to improve them. All this activity takes place at the end of each semester on each and every university campus the world over. What is its purpose and why do we give it pride of place in academia? In what sense if any does it relate to the primary objective of academic institutions, namely learning? Does the GPA or the letter grade awarded to a student reflects learning or for that matter any form of objective assessment and/or evaluation of what a student gained in terms of the other key objectives of higher education: critical thinking, self learning skills, ability to work in groups, understanding key issues in a particular discipline, etc.

Learning Technologies: passport to the land of significant learning

The preceding newsletter suggested that electronic portfolios constitute a key element in modern liberal education since they enable us to move beyond the “sanctity of the content” in favor of a more learner-centric approach. Furthermore, it was argued that electronic portfolios enable students to develop reflective skills with respect to learning goals and objectives. Following on, this newsletter, will argue that a variety of other learning technologies can also contribute to enhanced pedagogy and enable faculty to deliver student-centered lectures: i.e. lectures which deliver “the sacred content”, but also engage students and thus contribute towards active and critical learning

Learning Spaces Moving Beyond the Confines of the “Classroom Walls”

Studies show that when classrooms and lecture halls are designed for the delivery of information, only 5% of that knowledge is retained. Conversely, when space is designed for learning, knowledge retention jumps to 85%