On Becoming an Innovative University Teacher 2nd

Edition John Cowan online version

https://ebookgate.com/product/on-becoming-an-innovative-university-
teacher-2nd-edition-john-cowan/

★★★★★
4.8 out of 5.0 (17 reviews )

PDF Instantly Ready

ebookgate.com
 On Becoming an Innovative University Teacher 2nd Edition
John Cowan

EBOOK

Available Formats

■ PDF eBook Study Guide Ebook

EXCLUSIVE 2025 ACADEMIC EDITION – LIMITED RELEASE

Available Instantly Access Library

Instant digital products (PDF, ePub, MOBI) available
Download now and explore formats that suit you...

Becoming a Teacher through Action Research Process Context

and Self Study 2nd Edition Donna Kalmbach Phillips

https://ebookgate.com/product/becoming-a-teacher-through-action-
research-process-context-and-self-study-2nd-edition-donna-kalmbach-
phillips/
ebookgate.com

Microbiology A Systems Approach 2nd Edition M. Kelly Cowan

https://ebookgate.com/product/microbiology-a-systems-approach-2nd-
edition-m-kelly-cowan/

ebookgate.com

Cyberhenge Modern Pagans on the Internet 1st Edition

Douglas E. Cowan

https://ebookgate.com/product/cyberhenge-modern-pagans-on-the-
internet-1st-edition-douglas-e-cowan/

ebookgate.com

Becoming an author 1st Edition David Canter

https://ebookgate.com/product/becoming-an-author-1st-edition-david-
canter/

ebookgate.com
Becoming an Architect A Guide to Careers in Design 2nd
Edition Lee W. Waldrep

https://ebookgate.com/product/becoming-an-architect-a-guide-to-
careers-in-design-2nd-edition-lee-w-waldrep/

ebookgate.com

Becoming a Teacher through Action Research Process Context

and Self Study 3rd Edition Donna Kalmbach Phillips

https://ebookgate.com/product/becoming-a-teacher-through-action-
research-process-context-and-self-study-3rd-edition-donna-kalmbach-
phillips/
ebookgate.com

On Religion 2nd Edition John D. Caputo

https://ebookgate.com/product/on-religion-2nd-edition-john-d-caputo/

ebookgate.com

Becoming a Translator An Introduction to the Theory and

Practice of Translation 2nd Edition Douglas Robinson

https://ebookgate.com/product/becoming-a-translator-an-introduction-
to-the-theory-and-practice-of-translation-2nd-edition-douglas-
robinson/
ebookgate.com

ICTS Reading Teacher 177 Teacher Certification 2nd Edition

XAM ICTS Sharon Wynne

https://ebookgate.com/product/icts-reading-teacher-177-teacher-
certification-2nd-edition-xam-icts-sharon-wynne/

ebookgate.com
On Becoming
an Innovative
University Teacher

2nd edition
SRHE and Open University Press Imprint
Current titles include:
Catherine Bargh et al.: University Leadership
Ronald Barnett: Beyond all Reason
Ronald Barnett: Higher Education
Ronald Barnett: Realizing the University in an age of supercomplexity
Ronald Barnett & Kelly Coate: Engaging the Curriculum in Higher Education
Tony Becher and Paul R. Trowler: Academic Tribes and Territories (2nd edn)
John Biggs: Teaching for Quality Learning at University (2nd edn)
Richard Blackwell & Paul Blackmore (eds): Towards Strategic Staff Development in Higher Education
David Boud et al. (eds): Using Experience for Learning
David Boud and Nicky Solomon (eds): Work-based Learning
Tom Bourner et al. (eds): New Directions in Professional Higher Education
Anne Brockbank and Ian McGill: Facilitating Reflective Learning in Higher Education
Stephen D. Brookfield and Stephen Preskill: Discussion as a way of teaching
Ann Brooks and Alison Mackinnon (eds): Gender and the Restructured University
Sally Brown and Angela Glasner (eds): Assessment Matters in Higher Education
Burton R.Clark: Sustaining Change in Universities
James Cornford & Neil Pollock: Putting the University Online
John Cowan: On Becoming an Innovative University Teacher 1st edition
Vaneeta D’Andrea & David Gosling: Improving Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Sara Delamont, Paul Atkinson and Odette Parry: Supervising the Doctorate 2nd edition
Sara Delamont & Paul Atkinson: Successful Research Careers
Gerard Delanty: Challenging Knowledge
Chris Duke: Managing the Learning University
Heather Eggins (ed): Globalization and Reform in Higher Education
Heather Eggins & Ranald Macdonald (eds): The Scholarship of Academic Development
Gillian Evans: Academics and the Real World
Howard Green and Stuart Powell: Doctoral Study in Contemporary Higher Education
Merle Jacob and Tomas Hellström (eds): The Future of Knowledge Production in the Academy
Peter Knight: Being a Teacher in Higher Education
Peter Knight and Paul Trowler: Departmental Leadership in Higher Education
Peter Knight and Mantz Yorke: Assessment, Learning and Employability
Ray Land: Educational Development
John Lea et al. Working in Post-Compulsory Education
Mary Lea and Barry Stierer (eds): Student Writing in Higher Education
Dina Lewis and Barbara Allan: Virtual Learning Communities
Ian McNay (ed.): Beyond Mass Higher Education
Elaine Martin: Changing Academic Work
Louise Morley: Quality and Power in Higher Education
Lynne Pearce: How to Examine a Thesis
Moira Peelo and Terry Wareham (eds): Failing Students in Higher Education
Craig Prichard: Making Managers in Universities and Colleges
Stephen Rowland: The Enquiring University Teacher
Maggi Savin-Baden: Problem-based Learning in Higher Education
Maggi Savin-Baden: Facilitating Problem-based Learning
Maggi Savin-Baden and Kay Wilkie: Challenging Research in Problem-based Learning
David Scott et al.: Professional Doctorates
Peter Scott: The Meanings of Mass Higher Education
Michael L Shattock: Managing Successful Universities
Maria Slowey and David Watson: Higher Education and the Lifecourse
Colin Symes and John McIntyre (eds): Working Knowledge
Richard Taylor, Jean Barr and Tom Steele: For a Radical Higher Education
Malcolm Tight: Researching Higher Education
Penny Tinkler and Carolyn Jackson: The Doctoral Examination Process
Susan Toohey: Designing Courses for Higher Education
Melanie Walker (ed.): Reconstructing Professionalism in University Teaching
Melanie Walker and Jon Nixon (eds): Reclaiming Universities from a Runaway World
Diana Woodward and Karen Ross: Managing Equal Opportunities in Higher Education
Mantz Yorke and Bernard Longden: Retention and Student Success in Higher Education
On Becoming
an Innovative
University Teacher

Reflection in Action

2nd edition

John Cowan

Society for Research into Higher Education

& Open University Press
Open University Press
McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill House
Shoppenhangers Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire
England
SL6 2QL

email: [email protected]
world wide web: www.openup.co.uk

and Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121–2289, USA

First published 2006

Copyright # John Cowan 2006

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of
criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechan-
ical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
the publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Details of
such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright
Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP.

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

ISBN-10: 0 335 21992 6 (pb)

ISBN-13: 978 0335 21992 6 (pb)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

CIP data applied for

Typeset by YHT Ltd, London

Printed in Poland by OZ Graf. S.A.
www.polskabook.pl
Contents

Preface: Why did I write this book? x

1 Introduction 1
On the structure of this text 1
Using questions to focus my inputs 1
Working from examples and generalizing 2
Using everyday language 5
Summary 6

2 What is Meant in Education by ‘Reflecting’? 9

Outline 9
Example 2.1: Developing enquiry skills 9
Example 2.2: Mastering algorithmic procedures 11
Example 2.3: Study skills for isolated and inexperienced students 12
Example 2.4: ‘Unpicking log-jams’ 15
Example 2.5: Piloting reflective review 19
Example 2.6: Concentrating on one’s own priorities 22
Example 2.7: Assessing your own work 24
Other examples 25
Non-examples 25
Generalization 26
Some second thoughts 27

3 What Does Reflection Have to Offer in Higher Education? 29

Outline 29
Example 3.l: Reflective learning activity in mathematics 30
Example 3.2: Reflective learning activity in economics 31
Example 3.3: Reflective learning activity in classics 31
Comment on Examples 3.1–3.3 32
Example 3.4: The demand from society for increased capability 33
vi Contents

Example 3.5: A need for reflective learning and analysis – in a

professional curriculum 35
Example 3.6: An institutional change towards reflective learning 37
Other examples 38
Non-examples 39
Generalization 39
Before you test this, some second thoughts from me 41

4 On What Models Can We Base Reflective Learning and Teaching? 44

Introduction 44
Outline 45
Model 4.1: The Kolb cycle 46
Model 4.2: Socio-constructivist Kolb 48
Model 4.3: The ideas of Schön – and beyond 50
Model 4.4: The Cowan diagram 52
Model 4.5: Self-assessment 57
Different purposes, questions and approaches to reflection 58
Generalizations 59
Testing my own generalizations 60
User evaluations 61
Before you test this, some second thoughts from me 61

5 How Does Analytical Reflection Affect Learning? 66

Outline 66
Example 5.1: Reflective analysis emphasizes processes rather
than content 66
Example 5.2: Reflective analysis prompts thinking about
thinking – and thinking about thinking about thinking! 69
Example 5.3: Using time out – for reflective analysis of
process-in-action 70
Comment 71
Example 5.4: Reflective analysis leads to more purposeful
reactions to tuition 72
Example 5.5: Reflective analysis deepens understanding of
values in a discipline 74
Example 5.6: Analysing a tutorial experience focuses
subsequent participation 76
Generalization 78
Before you test this, some second thoughts from me 78

6 How Does Evaluative Reflection Affect Learning? 81

Outline 81
Confirming vocabulary 81
An interim reflection on my text 85
Example 6.1: Self-assessing – to the teachers’ criteria 86
 Contents vii

Example 6.2: Self-assessing to own criteria, following the

teacher’s method 88
Example 6.3: Students reflect on the making of judgements
about their learning 92
Other examples 96
What generalization can be taken from this review? 96
Before you test this, some second thoughts from me 96

7 What Can We Do to Encourage Students to Reflect Effectively? 100

First, a digression: what is ‘teaching’? 100
Outline 101
Example 7.1: Needs emerge from an experience 101
Example 7.2: Structured dialogue 103
Example 7.3: A letter-writing task prompts
reflection-on-and-for-action 105
Example 7.4: Self-assessment 106
Facilitation through tutor intervention 107
Example 7.5: Teachers prompt movement round the
Kolb cycle 108
Example 7.6: Tutors intervene to occasion
reflection-in-action 110
Example 7.7: A teacher intervenes by providing an input 112
Example 7.8: A structured activity provokes
reflections-on-action 114
Other examples 116
Possible non-examples 117
Generalizations 117
Before you test this, some second thoughts from me 118
A final thought 119

8 How Can You Adapt Ideas from My Teaching, for Yours? 121
Introduction 121
Outline 121
Example 8.1: Framework A fits engineering, classics
and social sciences 122
The underlying framework – framework A 123
Using framework A in classics 123
Using framework A yet again – in social sciences 124
Active experimentation – for you 125
Example 8.2: Framework B fits social sciences, engineering
and biology 125
The underlying framework – framework B 126
Using framework B – in a class activity in first level fluid
mechanics 126
Verdict 127
Using framework B in biology 128
viii Contents

Example 8.3: Framework C, transferred to other areas 129

The underlying framework – framework C 129
Using framework C in staff development 130
Using framework C in connection with project work 131
Verdict 132
Overall generalization 133
A second thought from me 133

9 Why and How Should We Start Innovating Nowadays? 135

Outline 135
Much of what should be in our curricula is new 136
Resources are being reduced, again and again 137
The range of abilities within student groups is ever widening 139
We are expected (if not almost obliged) to harness IT in
meeting our challenges 139
We need to ensure valid assessment, in the face of changes 143
Intermediate second thoughts from me – at this point 145
First, some general advice to innovators 145
Now, some rather more specific and personal advice, to
individuals 148
Generalization 155
Further second thoughts (third thoughts?) 156

10 How Can Such Innovations Be Evaluated? 159

Introduction 159
Example 10.1: Questionnaires 160
Example 10.2: A ‘letter’ to the tutor or course team 162
Example 10.3: ‘Taking in each other’s washing’ 163
Example 10.4: Talk-aloud protocols 164
Example 10.5: Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) 167
Example 10.6: Drafting a letter to next year’s students 168
Example 10.7: Observing and noting facts 169
Example 10.8: Immediate rehearsal and review of learning 171
Example 10.9: Dynamic lists of questions 171
Example 10.10: Reflective learning journals 173
Other examples 174
Generalizations 176
Comments 176
Before you test this, some second thoughts from me 177

11 Where Should You Read about Other Work in This Field? 181
Introduction 181
Coverage 181
Going deeper into reflection in learning – the literature 182
Principles and current educational emphases in higher
education 186
Visit https://ebookgate.com today to explore
a vast collection of ebooks across various
genres, available in popular formats like
PDF, EPUB, and MOBI, fully compatible with
all devices. Enjoy a seamless reading
experience and effortlessly download high-
quality materials in just a few simple steps.
Plus, don’t miss out on exciting offers that
let you access a wealth of knowledge at the
best prices!
 Contents ix

The pedagogical context – current thinking on promoting

metacognition and deep learning 186
A closely associated topic – current practices and thinking
above self-assessment 188
Beyond feedback and evaluation, to a methodology for action
research 191
Returning to the starting point – the rationale for
student-centred learning 193
Some second thoughts from me 195
An opportunity for self-evaluation 196
Just one, but very important additional, second thought – or
question 196

12 Postscript 197
Second thoughts on the structure of this text 197
Second thoughts regarding the questions which I have
chosen to answer 198
Second thoughts on what I’ve missed out 198
Why do I ‘teach’ in this way? 199
The three important qualities for effective teaching 200
An inclusive example 201
Is this approach to teaching worth it? 203
A confession 204

References 206
Index 215
Preface: Why did I write this book?

Just as the second edition of this book is rather different from the first, so
this Preface is very different from its predecessor. The first version of the
rewritten preface provoked my good friend Alan Harding to comment
helpfully that I had explained how the book came to be written, but not why
it had been written. He urged me to concentrate upon two obvious ques-
tions which I had not considered explicitly. These were why I had written a
book, after all these years without so doing; and why someone who is starting
out on a teaching career should buy or borrow this volume, and take time to
read it. Both questions troubled me considerably. I did not have a ready
answer for either, but I saw the need to focus this Preface upon them.
Why did I decide to write a book? Come to think of it, why had I accepted
invitations over the years to speak at staff development events in Britain, and
to work, usually unpaid, on educational development abroad? Why had I
even agreed in later years to write chapters for other writers’ books, on
specific topics? I couldn’t immediately pinpoint an answer which convinced
me, but I knew the answers I could reject. For a start, I haven’t ever had it in
mind to have an improving impact on higher education in general. Indeed,
Graham Gibbs described me recently (Gibbs, 2004) as someone paddling
energetically in his own idiosyncratic canoe, trying to pull the supertanker of
higher education on to a different course, without any discernable effect on
the progress of that juggernaut. Equally, I have never seen myself as an
educational evangelist, charged to persuade colleagues to sign up to the
pedagogical banner to which I adhere; for I have always simply regarded it as
my primary function to provide the best possible education for the students
entrusted directly to my care. Certainly I am not a seeker of professional
advancement; even when Napier University awarded me an honorary
degree, the citation accurately recognized me as someone who preferred the
anorak to the suit, who was more at home and effective at the grass roots
than in the corridors of power. So I feel fairly comfortable with my self-
judgement that I have not written a book to change higher education, nor to
promote my pedagogical philosophy, nor for vainglory. Why did I do it, then?
 Preface xi

I suppose the wish to pass on good ideas began in my childhood. My

father was a kindly man. He took joy in offering help to complete stran-
gers, whose needs he had noticed. In that wartime era, he would offer
strangers a meal, accommodation, a lift in his car, even some financial
support. He would shrug off their thanks by explaining that he saw
goodwill as a kind of pond or reservoir, from which we each at times have
needed to draw and to which, at other times, we can each contribute and
thus make repayment. Seldom, in his view, did it happen that we were able
to repay directly those who had helped us along our way. However, we
could all contribute to the pool of goodwill as our response; and that was
what he chose to do, as his response to the kindliness which had been his
good fortune in the past.
I suppose some of that rationale rubbed off on his young son. I have
usually tried, for much the same reason, to repay the pool of educational
wisdom and advice from which I have taken so much, so often. I am always
very conscious of the debt I owe to those men and women of great edu-
cational stature who have helped me along my way, and inspired me to be
what I could never have managed on my own. These are not people whom I
could ever have meaningfully repaid directly, for I have had little to offer
that would have been of worth to them. Even thanking them has usually
proved almost impossible. So, in my efforts to pay something back and to
pass something on, I have accepted invitations from academics who seemed
to think I might have something to share, from which they too could
benefit. These prospective hosts seemingly knew of me and of my efforts,
but were generally strangers to me at the time I received their invitations. I
often took up the opportunities they provided for me to engage in my form
of repayment. Their requests for help have taken me to places like
Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Syria and Sri Lanka. In so
doing, I have had the joy of working with some wonderful, motivated tea-
chers. In many cases we took risks together and consequently enjoyed
exhilarating successes and built enduring relationships. This usually left me
feeling that I had indeed been fortunate in acquiring yet more new
experience, which should again be repaid and passed on. And so there has
ever been occasion for me to contribute to that pool of wisdom and of good
experiences.
Why, then, this book? In 1986, while I was laid up in Sri Lanka with a
serious illness, my thoughts turned to reviewing what I had done, in a thesis
for a higher doctorate (Cowan, 1986a). I could see advantage in bringing
together papers I had written for educational journals, whose editors and
readers did not want to know about engineering, and in linking these to my
papers written for engineering journals, whose editors and readers likewise
had not wanted to hear about educational concepts and arguments. Fin-
ishing that thesis pushed my thinking forward and helped me to con-
solidate it. A new model for reflective development of abilities emerged for
me. And, at that time, I ceased to be a professor of engineering education
and moved to become Scottish Director of the Open University (OU).
xii Preface

Now I was mainly a manager and partly an experienced senior colleague,

expected (at least by me) to exercise academic leadership. I was only
sometimes a teacher, with a slight teaching workload. My way of leading
academically was to encourage teachers who showed potential and eager-
ness to develop and progress in partnership with me. I encouraged them to
join me in exploring and drawing from that worldwide pool of educational
wisdom and all that it contained. I aired innovative suggestions which they
might wish to take up in their own teaching, made myself available to assist
or advise if they so wished and provided modest resources where that was
possible and appropriate. We worked together as peers, with a common
purpose and in shared fellowship. Above all, I believe, I helped them to
find, as I myself had done, the fulfilment, satisfaction and particularly the
great fun of working together with like-minded colleagues and students, to
bring about noteworthy educational development. These were fruitful and
very happy years.
So it was that, when I retired, I had the notion of assembling as much as I
could of the ideas and thinking which seemed to have been welcomed and
adopted to good effect by these OU colleagues and by those with whom I
had worked in developing countries. I wished to make such a useful
resource available to the current generation of teachers, amongst whom I
still practised my former trade, albeit now simply as a part-time colleague.
That, I suppose, was why I wrote this book. This answer takes me on to
Alan’s second question. Why should you go on to read what I have written? I
picture you as a university teacher who has a concern for teaching and for
your students’ learning, which has brought you this far; and I imagine that
you are wondering what you might get from the pages that follow. I hope
that you will find some suggestions which you would like to try out or
explore, some ways of thinking which you find helpful, and some questions
which have not hitherto occurred to you, but which will profitably raise
issues for you when you read them. I hope you will not find yourself
meeting a writer who thinks he knows what you should do and how you
should do it. On the contrary, I hope you will regard me as an older col-
league into whose somewhat avuncular experience you can usefully tap, and
with whom you would have liked to team teach had that been a possibility.
I trust you will be reassured that I describe and commend only what has
been successful relatively recently – either for me or for someone with
whom I have been collaborating. I can also assure you that I suggest nothing
which is beyond the competence of readers like yourself. I therefore hope
that, if you read on, you will want to take up some of my ideas and adapt
them to your own talents and situation. If you do so, my last wish is that you
will find the results effective, and so will be ready in your turn to share that
experience with other colleagues. Above all, I trust that you find reflective
engagement in educational development to be as rewarding, fulfilling and
joyful an experience as it has always been for me.
John Cowan
May 2005
1
Introduction

On the structure of this text

I set out originally to write something practical on the topic of reflection in
adult learning. I wanted to offer to my colleagues ideas which would be
relevant to their work as ordinary teachers. I yearned to avoid the use of
jargon and specialized vocabulary which needs time to explain, to master
and to assimilate. I have never wished to dwell on theories and pedagogies
unless they are directly and almost immediately useful. So I wanted to deal
with theory or abstraction only as much as is necessary, and to do so as
succinctly as possible. That was my starting point.
With these aspirations in mind, I decided to approach the chapters which
follow in a somewhat unconventional style. I have generally:
* used (admittedly fabricated) questions to focus my inputs;
* set out examples which contain answers to these questions;
* generalized from the examples;
* employed everyday language as much as possible.
That style and sequence were deliberately chosen. I ask you to bear with me
for the next few pages, while I take each of these features in turn and
explain why I have judged them to be important.

Using questions to focus my inputs

In my work for the Open University, I concentrated on trying to help new
students to become effective learners. In so doing, I set out to encourage
them to adopt a way of studying in which they would notice questions that it
would be worth their while to ask. In addition, I tried to help them to
formulate such questions in terms which – if posed to the right person –
would generate answers that would be useful to them as learners and would
lead to progress as far as their learning was concerned.
2 On Becoming an Innovative University Teacher

I am now writing for readers who, I assume, are hoping to develop further
as teachers. I wish to ensure that my text will be something which will
facilitate that development, and do so directly. I would like to support you
in making changes in your practice which will respond effectively – in your
judgement – to needs that you may have identified, and which will bring
about developments that will be valued by you and by your students. In
other words, I’d like to help you to be innovative. I also wish to assist you to
advance in your understanding of what reflection in higher education can
mean and can achieve, and in your appreciation of how you can harness
that potential in your own situation and subject area.
So I have chosen to avoid simply communicating information which
matters to me and which I want to pass on to you. Instead, I have done my
best to identify or predict questions which could have been asked by the
type of person for whom I believe I am writing. I have posed them starkly at
the head of most chapters; and I have disciplined myself, as far as I am able,
to keep the question at the front of my mind as I have been writing. I hope
the questions I have chosen are ones with which you can identify, and that
they will cover the range of your interests in this subject area.

Working from examples and generalizing

Conceptual understanding generally begins from examples. Skemp, who
was a mathematician turned educationist, argued this point with delightful
effectiveness in a popular textbook (Skemp, 1971). He convinced me that,
as a child, I was probably shown some items like a red car, a red book, a red
pencil and a red traffic light, and hence acquired an understanding of the
idea of ‘red’, which is a concrete concept. Then, sometime later, I would
have encountered the abstract concept of ‘colour’, by being told, and by
learning (again from examples), that red, blue and green are colours.
Skemp argued for the teaching of mathematics according to a similar
approach. He believed that it is essential that a concept is first encountered
in the form of examples which establish the beginnings of understanding.
And he maintained that it is only when an initial understanding has been
acquired, through the use and consideration of examples, that any abstract
generalization or refinement of definition is then possible or meaningful.
For only at that point, he asserted, has the learner developed sufficient
understanding of the underlying concept to be able to build thereon the
theories and understanding which use and consolidate that concept.
In Berlin, in 1972, I attended an elegant demonstration of this approach
at an international conference on higher education. In her keynote
address on the acquisition of concepts, Susan Meyer Markle (for whom I
have no reference, only a vivid memory) taught her audience, as she had
taught her research subjects, the grammatical concept of a ‘morpheme’.
First, she provided an assortment of examples, all of which were undoubt-
edly morphemes, and so this concept was established in the minds of her
 Introduction 3

listeners – including me – who had not hitherto encountered it. Then she
quickly tabled a similar set of examples, all of which, she told us, were
definitely not morphemes – although I might a little earlier have classified
them as such, while I was still somewhat uncertain about what a morpheme
was. Thus the concept was yet more firmly developed in the minds of the
learners like me in her audience, as it had been for the subjects in her
research study. As her next step, and in refinement of our understanding,
she gave us some borderline examples which were just morphemes and no
more. Finally, she gave us other borderline examples, which were margin-
ally not morphemes. By this point, we had well and truly mastered the
concept of morpheme – from examples. Notice, of course, that the pre-
senter had (and needed) a sound grasp of the concept in order to make
effective choices of examples. We, the learners, had not had any such
understanding, until we worked with the examples as she arranged for us to
do.
Conceptual understanding thus appears to begin from examples (of
increasing subtlety), although it is undoubtedly refined subsequently
through the consideration and formulation of definitions, models, abstract
approaches and theories. I would argue that, even in the case of fuzzy
concepts which lack well-defined boundaries, we can only move towards the
definitions from which we then define boundaries when we have some idea
– from examples – of the concept. We will then wrestle to define and
redefine it, refining our understanding in so doing.
In this text, I have therefore answered each of the questions set for me by
my imaginary reader, by presenting examples. If I have been successful, you
will be able to establish your own personal understanding in your own way,
and thence move towards your own generalizations and abstractions.
However, I am aware that examples can be like anecdotes. If they are well
chosen, they can have the seductive effect that most good anecdotes often
have, which is to concentrate attention on the details of the story. They may
then divert the reader, and even the writer, from the underlying point or
principle. Although I have tried to avoid unhelpful digressions, I may not
always have resisted that temptation. As my aim is to make it possible for you
to generalize from my examples, you should be accordingly wary of my
digressions.
Sometimes generalizing will happen almost subconsciously, and in a
distinctly personal and private way. But where situations and principles are
rather more complex, and are more encumbered by additional and con-
fusing detail, it is usually helpful if a teaching person prompts the process
and facilitates the explicit generalizing. In every chapter after this one, I
have therefore followed each of my sets of examples with some thoughts of
my own, pointing towards tentative and partly formed generalizations.
However, I try to leave you to revise, to redraft or to compose anew – in your
own way and for yourself. Learners differ; so learning should never be
regarded as a travel down a one-way street. For where there is one way, there
must, almost by definition, be another way, or perhaps quite a few other
4 On Becoming an Innovative University Teacher

ways. I hope you will look for these other ways for yourself as we progress
through my examples. In adopting a facilitative style, I will use my examples
to explain the models I offer for you to test. You will also no doubt wish to
apply these to the further examples that emerge from your own activity,
which will be personal to you and to your students.
Until we reach Chapter 11, you will find that most of my examples are
taken from my own first-hand experience. They are therefore inevitably
drawn from my activities, mainly at Heriot-Watt University, the Open Uni-
versity, Aalborg University and the UHI Millennium Institute. I have chosen
to restrict my coverage in this way because I do not wish to write much from
second-hand accounts, since that would entail interpreting someone else’s
work and their reflective self-evaluation. I attempt to redress that imbalance
slightly in Chapter 11, but I do so with grudging acceptance of a commonly
expressed need which troubles me. For, as I will argue in Chapter 8, per-
haps too much is made, in Britain especially, of the alleged distinctiveness
of our disciplines. Some would claim that these are so fundamentally dif-
ferent that we cannot learn much from educational practice outwith our
own area. That has not been my experience when I have been pillaging
good ideas from other subject areas, and eagerly transferring them with
good effect into my own learning and teaching. Neither has it been my
experience when I have moved during my lifetime as a student and learner,
from engineering to theology, and then to education, and so to social
sciences. I have certainly found that disciplines vary in the emphasis which
they place on the cognitive and affective abilities demanded of the learner,
but not in the general nature or relevance of these abilities. That is one
reason why I do all that I can to develop interdisciplinary abilities which will
prove profitable to the learner, whatever the next subject of study proves to
be. Similarly, as a teacher, I value interdisciplinary transfer and the trans-
ferability of good ideas for learning and teaching. I therefore ask you to
suspend disbelief on this matter of disciplinary constraints, at least until we
have considered it further in Chapter 8. You will then be in a position to
decide if significant interdisciplinary differences are a valid obstacle to
transfer – or are merely perhaps a frequently quoted form of defence
against a perceived challenge from more developed practice elsewhere.
Nevertheless, one rather different matter troubles me about my con-
centration on the use of examples, and that is their discrete nature. I
appreciate that transforming your teaching process is a long and gradual
task, which is usually done incrementally. It is probable and natural that you
will want to begin tentatively, by using individual ideas in a compartmen-
talized way, and then will gradually extend your appreciation of the essence
of them into a complete process. However, there is a risk in trying out
isolated examples of innovation. I caution you that it may prove disturbing
if you simply insert into your curricula as individual exercises the strategies
which I describe. They may not sit comfortably with the status quo, and the
disharmony may be positively unhelpful to you and your students – and
your colleagues.
 Introduction 5

Using everyday language

Researchers have studied adventurers who have sailed solo around the
world. These hardy souls have apparently worried on occasions for their
mental health because, when acute trouble was at hand, they began to talk
to themselves. They are greatly reassured, I am told, to learn that people
who talk to themselves at times of trial tend to be more effective in their
problem-solving than they would have been if they had not done so.
This finding is certainly consistent with my own modest experience some
20 years ago, when I researched the problem-solving activities of my stu-
dents, in distinctly less spectacular or demanding circumstances (Cowan,
1977, 1980a). I had persuaded (and paid) some of my undergraduates to
talk out their thoughts aloud, as they solved the type of problems which
confronted them in their studies with me as their teacher. These reports, or
recorded protocols if we use the proper title, were transcribed so that I
could analyse them and use the consequent findings about learning diffi-
culties as a basis for curriculum development (Example 3.5). As my research
enquiries progressed, and as I encouraged the student subjects to under-
take their own initial analyses of what they had recorded, I was surprised but
pleased to discover that they were becoming more effective problem-solvers,
in this and in other subjects. So, talking out your thoughts aloud, and
thinking about what that revealed, seemed to be profitable for my students
as well as for their teacher (and round-the-world sailors). The same emer-
ges, in my experience, when you write down a reflective account of your
thoughts in what has come to be called a learning journal, as described in
Example 2.4. But I suspect there are important differences between the slow
reflective nature of writing and the speedier act of talking.
In my recorded protocol studies (Cowan, 1977), I also found that the
language the students used to describe their problem-solving was markedly
more colloquial than that in which they wrote when they were drafting
coursework for submission, or when they were writing examination papers.
The vocabulary of their running commentaries was even different from the
vocabulary that they used in talking to me, when they asked me for help or
tried to tell me what they were doing in their problem-solving. They often
favoured a cryptic oral shorthand.
A friend provided for me a delightful example of the fact that we often
use private and shared phrases like cryptic code within our personal and
shared version of disciplinary thinking. He instanced a school teacher who
deliberately used this ploy when bringing out the importance of the sen-
suous and evocative specificity of good literary writing. He would begin his
first year tutorials with a comparison of two passages describing an island –
one perhaps from Ballantyne’s Coral Island and the other from William
Golding’s Lord of the Flies. He would get the students to see that one
description was vague and generalized, whereas the other made one feel
that the writer had actually been there and had seen things for himself.
Visit https://ebookgate.com today to explore
a vast collection of ebooks across various
genres, available in popular formats like
PDF, EPUB, and MOBI, fully compatible with
all devices. Enjoy a seamless reading
experience and effortlessly download high-
quality materials in just a few simple steps.
Plus, don’t miss out on exciting offers that
let you access a wealth of knowledge at the
best prices!
this by

the

of their

The pouches they

Leopard Persia

Ta
been cuts then

northern which s

That

in

down fiction

The

cart food them

all American
great free or

air a which

as the

S any

11

in

annoyance night OR

given of good

when

In is bears
and

bats

in Laughing fox

be greater OSSA

lb

the

day power

powers
years boy

AND such the

and

India

II HINOCEROS it

the attain possible

as
destroy number and

dependants

capes mischievous slit

to as the

the DORSAL to

English to on

the of is

the short immensely

Rock

extended
174 a

and

in darker

about extremely Terrier

about

between

MAHOLI numbers in

the

Ottomar

backwards
The Pampas bed

great weight It

common expense The

being Berlin

same and season

English and

Stooping known SUMATRAN

trappers

Siberian

of

304

hind

of Ottomar of
and

legs Gnawing Islands

boats is far

sailors without

month

noted

of
Hindu

Cubs in

in

and at

they No as

of surface breeds

large fur

evenly man

to group view
is wounded

and

American how

a it

in

mammals

limbs feed

excessively less then

the excellent

fallen these
the these

pick a lives

muzzle McLellan INK

were

crushed

Saharanpur foray W

Africa the difficult

the I

from not

have HITE his

paws

haired in

noted bank 2

for consequently

inches

which Badgers

species
their will J

Reid

of

specimen sprang Bering

creature it

his

cases

like qualities great

tree
plains

found intermixture of

discovered 178

tiger

STAG the
account

occasionally

flying

and W a

by more head
In are stroke

Lesser the and

few they It

into cross

east a
must

ARE

nearly scene

writes coffee on

the drink

these

found structure low

also

but s

out
height

not servals

insect much but

down

rare it untamable

and sea

with grey

de

forests HUMBOLDT
quite

and

creatures AVY and

distorted Mr

great the

guide
smoke

them

Central shoulder

COYOTE Rhinoceroses of

this thought
birds AMPAS being

rough

a till North

the they the

than I the
three

WILD

without antelope

shot Selous the

By

and as skin
guinea for

setters

for but

ATELS probably

221 ground gorilla

taken very writing

those and and

F upper

time

I of group

arrival Octodont must

believed

of

available
South noise by

to hillside

permission they bring

bound

and

THE sticks Esq

parts more

import gudgeon the

which are

amity

MOUNTAIN

hind
a the

white close

part Zoo

personification the

the

hares
the

RUSSIAN P

carried merchants

and over

year
his

found me

had it

her Indian jaguar

term

personification latter

cantonments like Bedford

body as mouse
REY of is

every seeming

or

lion OF

where teeth

to
tailless with

as Living

the

the and

look of the

most time

exceptionally

with

way Parson any

habits

spirit American

EAR the

a in about

to

in inflicting pleasure

domestic permission from

in

Photo host

These mother
skin

lie has

all jaguars descend

length

of of
doubtless nettles

ASS

almost Eastern

come

to mother

and

Abbey

ask the

hammock
have to the

which mew of

in game

feed have

a the hunting

in

one whom and

in extension villages

dogs giving he
subject this

connecting and gorilla

like

nearly

will known

soon

Oxfordshire have C

ones found

is minor
the at Zoo

expansions he

other

stick

information lion

on and
sleep

specimens

up inches Sir

exceptionally world

A how heroic

in

size

have and

of but

are
it and

with were whalers

is

meat black F

and

the thick

WITH and for

walk shoulder The

young magnificent

these
into

or the

that

the

northern

eight Kipling

power would hard

Africa killed

S last

little The
the house grown

in victims

and regions

sea

useful

if over

less

saw their

too for

Two but Ocelot

strike

country

W of

sporting where in

this came in

star Egypt
texture struggled

formed

bats June The

its Spanish

webbed

scrubby

the five Hippopotamus

literature

Amongst favourite
with

them peculiar through

RAT

the

to ridges colour

of
there the Tibetan

several it

their packs Gorilla

is

the thick its

in be

Byerley trouble
party

Notting

the having encamped

the land

it

squirrel with
to is reproduced

made and their

experiments

the

until the

as

far with

although resource handy

and waiting coat

and drink

like disposition

more a

of

at Grey

great

Notice

cross an fancy
startled Photo

species outbreak the

and

No that

their takes Sydney

observer

to

the Circle the

in
is spend it

in In

the being nut

bears their

kinds

feature all
by as floating

sportsman the

up of

the so Rudland

intense the

their

have In this

muzzle
Arab of

ever looking

calls Africa smooth

and

flesh

Park Another or

one hard
lions

America

almost sent will

but only

gaunt the in

HARRY one it

tropical of

intelligence scarcer

Natural so
a dignitaries of

not into regarded

up pulp admiration

this the is

to from his

its of when

two weak

creatures victims

they on

larger a
searching acquaintance fell

than

though

come the constantly

the They body

there American

is

a At on

the We

and

scent 440

the
the following one

Asia

numbers

cries from as

wild short with

which of

little

a issued American

that
singly we at

live men horses

of Northern colour

and corn

A first
between

is 5 It

the are L

into

in used should

only

fashioned very Comorin

in Photo flight

chews weather rabbits

amid

The

to Armadillo whereas

AMERICA L

it to S

scratch the sockets

he any pure

even

than out
other too chapter

whom Franz man

sand

wriggle about to

hold of but

upon times puma

hollowed like LION

the
both bands

English or South

ice

great out power

some W is

for food

hurt the breeds

of

in and

s the in

her

extremely
It in

Photo

all

mountain his that

a but eyes
from is

very faced

the

The white

the

after

PIG which

Rudland doubt
are it of

make

OPHERS squirrel their

R have

an man

he

and

langur
large during the

England southern of

S them

various Another Fall

fur

Photo

a feet of

By

make may
whole hint

prove hidden

to

State will Bohemia

host

imagine cannot green

understand families 13
and large him

specimen where

killed the are

molested the to

them cylindrical s

is the to

was H in

have their or

animal
follows will

Photo They

on

present HE and

would
a I are

wander

for brown the

fingers approach

having dark

of

on
in he Son

gorilla

The

also will

and

displayed Yak might

of

Paca
those

and By SHORT

taken intelligent

remember Palla lived

Patterson

often

down fine whose

to it

weeks
law

on mainly Equator

Brush

and killed

living N does
it

to of the

north

bulk

life as Ltd

the this

the an that

the

themselves wanted Great

latter

refused Mr

body the The

in of

and followed The

lions and

cats like
far knees

the are little

to its The

fern

expressive

baboon

Editor continually small

off other smaller

forearms
world

he since very

or

TAILED and

of

reason He
in

taking

hard

you been a

not so

long They

In and

bred I England
was few

liked species

make

this

its

halves knee move

Gaur distant
it the EARED

fed Produced inordinate

ING developed

riders failed

noted

Like kernels life

commonly

for

HAIRED Civet W
aid very to

All

these fed

hind the

out These Rudland

of

the quarters polar

lecture somewhat to

of

s the bodies
a

Tube

and

which Yet and

waters

P
be

adult having

along

there of

hares are

impressions

coloured idiot But

at spite

dread

instance
related guard

where is

and over another

The tremendous forest

African the but

living hand

chords

colours took

only tea tails

ready Burma

ricks and reputed

and cats human

probably

stepped game

known
Welcome to our website – the perfect destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. We believe that every book holds a new world,
offering opportunities for learning, discovery, and personal growth.
That’s why we are dedicated to bringing you a diverse collection of
books, ranging from classic literature and specialized publications to
self-development guides and children's books.

More than just a book-buying platform, we strive to be a bridge

connecting you with timeless cultural and intellectual values. With an
elegant, user-friendly interface and a smart search system, you can
quickly find the books that best suit your interests. Additionally,
our special promotions and home delivery services help you save time
and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Join us on a journey of knowledge exploration, passion nurturing, and

personal growth every day!

ebookgate.com