Innovation in teaching

Khalaf, K., Balawi, S., Hitt, G. W., Radaideh, A. (2010). Innovation in teaching freshman engineering design An integrated approach. Proceedings of the EduLeamlO Conference, lATED, Barcelona, Spain, 5-7 July. 

The philosophy behind the present book is that it is more important to inform teachers about effective teaching approaches than to train them to apply specified teaching schemes in particular topics. Some of the recommendations we offer in the handbook are based on a good deal of classroom experience and draw on specific research into students learning difficulties and effective innovations in teaching. The specific suggestions made for teaching these aspects of the subject can certainly be considered as the best research-informed advice currently available to teachers. 

Which approach has been applied in writing this book As the author I was well aware of the fact that the book needed to be innovative. I teach ceramics and chemistry at an institute for senior secondary vocational training. At this school students are trained to be laboratory technicians, so I had in mind a book in which all aspects of ceramics would be discussed at precisely this level. In this way my book would be aimed at both interested lay persons and students of secondary vocational schools. In addition, there has been a trend to teach natural sciences cross-curricularly for some years now and this has created a void in which this book on ceramics fits nicely. 

Encourages innovation in the development and innovation of new tactics for teaching and learning, with particular emphasis upon increasing student involvement as active learners. 

A key element of the innovative science curriculum used at Columbia College in teaching, learning, and assessing science to its non-science major student body requires all students to prepare projects to express their knowledge of science in an original and creative way [3], making use of the skills and talents in each individual s... 

Numerous studies have appeared in the literature on the fundamental aspects of the process of innovation. One of the models of the innovation process assumes a linear progress from (a) discovery of laws of nature to (b) invention to (c) development of a marketable product or process in this order. It is well known, however, that some of the tmly remarkable revolutionary technologies evolved well before the fundamental physics or chemistry responsible for their success was worked out. True innovation is most likely to be a nonlinear— even chaotic—trial-and-error, serendipitous process. Therefore, it is difficult to teach innovation in a logical sense although one could presumably encourage creativity or try to remove blockages in the process of creativity. 

What definitely proved to be true was the intention to use the partially non-formal student laboratory as a catalyst for innovations in practical work in chemistry education. New experiments and teaching-learning scenarios were developed, successfully tested by the visiting students and finally published. With these materials a growing body of classroom materials on chemistry-related sustainability issues became available which now offer a chance to be implemented by teachers even beyond this project. 

In keeping with the focus on innovation, the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) has also introduced in May 2012 the Universities for Research and Innovation Bill in Parliament with the aim of oeating institutions recognized universally for their quality in teaching, learning and research (CABE annual report 2012-13, p. 13). 

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