Top Tips for Active
Practice Based Learning:
Dr. Sheila Cunningham
PFHEA. Health & Education
This is tricky so we compiled a list from Phil Race’s (2010)
Ripples model. Race (2016) identifies an approach termed ‘learning incomes’ as
well as learning outcomes when he explores learning as a concept. He argues the
more we know about students starting points, experiences, hopes, fears and
abilities the better we can help them learning in a number of situations. In
considering deep or surface learning as concepts for teachers he points to a
newer and more potent approach termed ‘strategic learners’. This is about
making conscious choices about what to learn relatively ‘deep’, and what only
merits deliberate ‘surface’ learning. It is probably a sign of how intelligent
our students are, that they seem to get increasingly keener to ration the time
and energy they put into learning things according to the need to do so (Race,
2016: 6). Essentially it is a judgement of a view of investing more in what is
important to learn, and less in what is less important to learn. This then
offers challenges to us and our notion of learning and the often advocated
phrase ‘reading around’ exploring the topics’ etc as practitioners. So the
question is what do we do to promote and enhance learners to want to and focus
on learning?
Factors underpinning
successful learning: wanting, needing,
doing, making sense…easy!
1. Strive to enhance our students’ want to learn: addressing emotions and motivation or ‘feeling the learning’
2. Help students to develop ownership of the need to learn: meaningful and useful to them
3. Keep students learning by doing, practice, trial-and-error, repetition: ‘doing is key’ situations vary.
4. Ensure students get quick and useful feedback – from us and from each other: reinforcement
5. Help students to make sense of what they learn. ‘getting my head around it’
6. Get students deepening their learning by coaching other students, explaining things to them: verbalising in their own words.
7. Allow students to further deepen their learning by assessing their own learning, and assessing others’ learning – making informed judgements: evaluate own progress and move towards becoming ‘consciously competent’ not unconsciously incompetence.
8. Position the goalposts: use learning outcomes judiciously stick to them
1. Strive to enhance our students’ want to learn: addressing emotions and motivation or ‘feeling the learning’
2. Help students to develop ownership of the need to learn: meaningful and useful to them
3. Keep students learning by doing, practice, trial-and-error, repetition: ‘doing is key’ situations vary.
4. Ensure students get quick and useful feedback – from us and from each other: reinforcement
5. Help students to make sense of what they learn. ‘getting my head around it’
6. Get students deepening their learning by coaching other students, explaining things to them: verbalising in their own words.
7. Allow students to further deepen their learning by assessing their own learning, and assessing others’ learning – making informed judgements: evaluate own progress and move towards becoming ‘consciously competent’ not unconsciously incompetence.
8. Position the goalposts: use learning outcomes judiciously stick to them
Further reading and
digestion…..
Race, P (2014) Making Learning Happen: 3rd edition, London:
Sage. https://phil-race.co.uk/publications/ (Download lots of chapters and resources
here..)
Race, P (2015) The Lecturer’s Toolkit: 4th Edition, London:
Routledge.
