Bridget Rushton
Academic Practice – Patch one
Key Concepts Underpinning Learning, Teaching and Assessment
In this patch I intend to assess the efficacy of my teaching practice in a lesson concerning EU law. I will be examining some pedagogic theories about good teaching practice to inform my planning for this lesson. In this respect, I will describe the move away from transmission perspectives of teaching and learning to the newer method of constructive alignment that has replaced it. At every stage, I will reflect on the planning and delivery so that my teaching practice may be improved for the future.
From the Transmission Perspective to Constructive Alignment
The Transmission Perspective
From a transmission perspective - effective teaching starts with a substantial commitment to the content or the subject matter. Many who teach from this perspective tend to think of the adult learner ‘as a container to be filled with knowledge.’ (Pratt, 2002). Teachers are expected to take learners systematically through a set of tasks that lead to mastery of the content. Then it is up to students to ‘attend lectures; to listen carefully; to take notes; to read the recommended readings; and to make sure it's taken on board and unloaded on cue’.(Biggs and Tang, 2011)
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However, Biggs points out that ‘many common but counter-productive practices spring from this belief.' For example, how the students receive the content, and what their depth of understanding of it may be, are not specifically