The M.A.R.I.A. Pedagogy

Maintain

Students learn foundational knowledge of the subject to maintain their knowledge base.

Role playing, digital story-telling, watching movies.

Apply

Students apply learned knowledge through first-hand experiences.

Field trips, simulations, games, virtual worlds exploration, invited speakers.

Reflect

Students reflect on what is learned and how it is learned.

Write to learn, group reflections, self-reflections, conversations with instructor and peers.

Integrate

Students integrate knowledge and experiences through connections with critical, practical, and creative thinking.

Case studies, team debates, judges participation.

Assess

Evaluate teaching effectiveness on learning experience and learning outcomes.

Assessment as learning, non-traditional methods including non-graded feedback, peer evaluation, experience-based grading.

The M.A.R.I.A. Strategy for Significant Learning in Semester Systems (illustrated above) is created specifically for semester systems by adapting some core components of the significant learning concept and by incorporating innovative instructional design methodologies. There are five key segments (Maintain, Apply, Reflect, Integrate, Assess), each of which is designated to a significant learning stage and represents one week of learning. The 15 weeks (14 weeks plus 1 finals week) follow the five learning stages sequentially, forming three “laps,” a fictitious representation of running tracks. Students proceed with each lap going through the five key segments (Maintain Foundational Knowledge, Apply Knowledge through Experiences, Reflect on What is Learned and How it is Learned, Integrate through Connections, and Assess Outcomes) and the laps are repeated three times (week 1-5, 6-10, 11-15). As students move from lap 1 to 2 and to 3, the amount and intensity of knowledge grow, as well as the requirements on their capabilities to integrate the learned knowledge and skills to apply such knowledge in learning activities. Move your mouse over each segment to see more.

[ Acknowledgement]
I am extremely thankful to CTL staff members Jeff Hiles for developing the web animiation and Frank Carone for creating the initial graphics. My gratitude is also extended to Chris Roberts, whose workshops and courses have inspired the creation of my M.A.R.I.A. pedagogy. In addition, I thank Matthew Harmon, a business student, for his outstanding performance in the video and the video production team of CaTS for their great work of filming and post production.

[ Dr. Shu Schiller's Video Proposal to the SOCHE 2012 Conference ]