Teaching Institute

The articulation of Process Education has evolved over time and reflects a synthesis of the change processes taking place in higher education. Process Education includes: active learning, student-centered learning, mentoring, assessment, use of technology and the learning paradigm. A concise definition for Process Education (PE) is as follows:

an educational philosophy which focuses on
building students’ learning skills (in all domains)
and developing “self-growers”

Philosophy

Process Education is a philosophy rather than a particular method or set of methods. Each process educator must choose how to best implement the philosophy by customizing an approach (from a broad set of techniques, processes, and tools) to suit his or her own unique context and learning environment to produce successful students.

Learning Skills

Classification of Learning Skills for Educational Enrichment and Assessment identifies 15 key processes and more than 275 specific skills from four domains: cognitive, social, affective, and psychomotor. Building students’ proficiency with skills from this extensive classification is a primary objective of process educators to advance learner performance.

Self-grower

Learners can be described according to their level of performance in the learning process. The two endpoints on this continuum of performance are trained individuals and self-growers. Self-growers are high performing individuals who have a highly developed set of skills across all domains and are set for life success.

Teaching Institute: Overview

The four main theme areas for a Teaching Institute are: the philosophy of Process Education, facilitation and teaching, assessment, and curriculum design.

Process Education     Participants will:

  • learn about the philosophy of Process Education; that it is a philosophy (rather than a set of methods) which is based on a set of core principles.

  • be introduced to the Classification of Learning Skills; a valuable resource which identifies 15 key processes and more than 275 specific skills fundamental to learning.

  • learn about the levels of learner performance and the characteristics of a self-grower.

  • understand the importance of assessment and self-assessment with respect to successfully implementing Process Education.

  • learn about the links Process Education has to Bloom's Taxonomy and the Learning College.

Assessment     Participants will:

  • learn to articulate and distinguish between measurement, assessment, and evaluation; including the similarities and differences.

  • utilize and implement a learning assessment journal.

  • be introduced to various forms of assessment including real-time, summative, formative, and self-assessment.

  • study an Assessment Methodology and models for effective assessment design.

  • learn to use a practical and powerful assessment tool called SII.

  • explore designing a course assessment system.

Teaching and Facilitation     Participants will:

  • learn ways to create greater student ownership of the learning process.

  • learn how to create productive learning environments where students achieve high criteria for performance.

  • be introduced to a facilitation methodology that helps educators get the most from student-centered, active learning classes.

  • be introduced to constructive intervention techniques and learn ways to enhance the productivity of cooperative teams.

  • appreciate the importance of the affective domain in learning and address dealing with learner frustration.

Curriculum Design     Participants will:

  • be introduced to the concept of a knowledge map as means to categorize the content of a course.

  • learn to apply a learning methodology when designing curriculum to enhance the quality of student outcomes.

  • model creating an activity for use in an active learning environment; focusing on how to design the basic components of an activity.

  • learn how to develop and structure critical thinking questions in a manner which supports guided-discovery learning.

  • be given an overview for designing a process-oriented course.

  • have the opportunity to explore sample curricula from various contents areas.

Sample Agenda

Most Teaching Institutes are three days in length with some occasionally being four days. The following agenda lists topics and activities from past Institutes. While certain activities are common to  most Institutes, the final agenda is different for each event. Pacific Crest stresses learner ownership and adjusts the agenda according to the needs and goals of the participants.

Day One

Overview of the Institute
Overview of Process Education
Team Goal Setting
Levels of Learner Knowledge
Learning Process Methodology
Creating a Productive Learning Environment
Managing Learner Frustration
Consulting / Q & A session

 

Day Two

Knowledge Maps
Team Reflection/Discoveries
Assessment and Evaluation
Assessment Methodology
Classroom Assessment Techniques
Facilitation Methodology
Modeling a PE Learning Environment
Consulting / Q &A session

Day Three

Team Project (based on Team Goals)
Overview of Designing a Course
Designing a Syllabus
Designing a Course Assessment System
Exploring Sample Curricula
Consulting / Q &A session
Grant writing, strategic planning
Assessment of the Institute

Scheduled Events

May 21-23, 2007 St. Louis College of Pharmacy
June 11-13, 2007  Hinds Community College
Oct 17-19, 2007 Brevard Community College  

If you're interested in scheduling a Teaching Institute at
your college, please contact us at inquiries@pcrest.com.