This is how I teach
This month we spoke with Amanda Able, Professor in Plant Science in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology. Amanda has been a member of the Adelaide College of Reviewers since 2016 and the Adelaide Education Academy since 2017. Here Amanda shares why she loves being a scientist and how her teaching prepares students for the future.
How would you describe your approach to teaching/your teaching philosophy?
Science, by its very nature, focuses on exploration, the application of knowledge and the synthesis of solutions. Therefore, I commonly use methodologies which could be labelled as action-based, problem-based or inquiry-oriented approaches in my teaching. Every morning as I leave our house to come to work, I see the Einstein portrait in our hallway by the stairs which says ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world.’ This is a constant reminder of my teaching philosophy that I might provide students with knowledge but unless they can dream up ways to use that knowledge and apply it in real life situations then that knowledge is useless to them.Therefore, I see my role as a facilitator of exploration by students. I strive to provide learning environments that take students on their own journey of discovery enabling the development of an ability to solve problems and answer questions within their discipline in a confident manner.
Because I teach courses at all year levels within the sciences, I try to show students where they are on that discovery journey by purposefully articulating their progression and relevance of their learning to real world situations. Providing a scaffolded approach suitable to their stage of learning is also important. I primarily use action-based learning and problem-based approaches, often telling students that I am ‘throwing them in the deep end but providing floaties’. Initially, students are often terrified but appropriate scaffolding and mentoring through the process of solving an authentic industry- or research-based problem builds their confidence in the process. Indeed, a third-year student undertaking a design project in Plant Biotechnology emailed last semester to say ‘I don’t need as many floaties for this assignment because I sort of know how to tackle it now’. My observation has been that students learn to own the process and I think that they end up being a more well-rounded graduate capable of applying their skills (and imagination) in future (unknown) situations.
Because academics value knowledge, they tend to be intuitive teachers and mentors. However, very deliberately designing storylines/storyboards within and across learning activities and embedding (industry) relevance, enhances teaching and student engagement. When in a previous role (as Deputy Dean L&T), I analysed SELT written comments across all courses in sciences to reveal that students tended to make more positive comments about teachers (and the content they teach) who were well organised and when explanations were clear (and provided in multiple ways). Students also made more positive comments about being explicitly informed of the relevance of the content to future careers and industry. As such, I try to bear these aspects in mind when designing (and redesigning) courses and activities.
What do you like most about teaching in your discipline?
To be a scientist, is to be curious and hence have a lifelong love of learning and finding out the why, how, when, what and where of life.
One of the primary reasons I decided to follow my current career path as an academic was not only my own quest for knowledge as a scientist but a perceived need to make others see just how exciting this world is (and use that knowledge to make the world an even better place).Amanda Able
For me, seeing that light switch on in students’ eyes when they understand a concept is extremely rewarding.
Creating imaginative solutions to problems is central to successful science. What I enjoy most about the problem-based learning approach and teaching students the process of solving problems (or researching scientific questions) is that moment when they realise that there is no one right or wrong answer per se. There can be so many ways to solve the problems presented in class, with the evidence-base (i.e. laboratory, literature or field research) being the most important aspect of their decision-making. I love the challenge of teaching students this and discussing the industry-relevant problems. Coming face-to-face with the innovative and left field ideas that our students create is a privilege and in fact, I have learnt a lot from my students and their varying world views. We become collaborators in developing solutions. When most of the problems we discuss, research and design solutions for are about improvements to Agriculture, Food and Wine, how can you not enjoy it!
How does your teaching help prepare students for their future?
Providing confidence for them to succeed in their future workplaces. My main teaching goal is to help develop graduates that can apply their knowledge imaginatively (and make evidence-based decisions) to unknown situations in a confident and appropriate manner. This ability also allows students to be career-ready or have the necessary employability skills to navigate the future workforce. I’ve been lucky to also be involved in research about career readiness and we have learnt that one of the most important aspects to prepare the student is to be explicit about how, what, why and when career-readiness skills are being developed (check out our quick guide HERE if you want to know more). Providing self-reflective opportunities as well as using an iterative mapping process and constructive alignments (with assessment) to describe employability learning outcomes (such as effective communication and time management, resilience, networking, intercultural awareness, professionalism and project management) helps to give explicit understanding to students of the knowledge, skills and abilities that they have (and need to improve). This allows students to develop their own cognitive awareness, be active learners and be more confident. Being so explicit about learning outcomes and employability skills also allows teachers and students to connect the dots between different courses and activities in a degree. Science is also very hands-on (with lots of practicals) which helps prepare students by trying various techniques before they need to apply them as graduates.
What is your favourite way to use technology to enhance learning?
I like experimenting with technology to help with getting to the lightbulb moment as well as keeping students engaged. Over the years, I’ve tried lots of different technological tools but for me the ones that work best seem to be the ones that have students gauge their learning and self-reflect (sometimes without them even realising it). This means polling or quizzing the class (and then adapting content during a flipped workshop or lecture). Google Forms, the Echo360 active learning platform, Kahoot, Storyline Articulate, Zoom Polling, Socrative and Menti are some of the technologies I’ve used (or are still using). Lately, I’ve mainly been using Menti because it is easy to set-up for the classroom and the students find it easier to access than other platforms on any device. I’m also working on using the quiz tools (and the Chase) in H5P for the first time in some upcoming classes. I’m looking forward to seeing how that works in comparison. In some of the advanced level courses that I teach into, I have also used tools like CMap, Creately and JamBoard to have students collaborate and map what they know and don’t know – great for revision and for being explicit about skills they need or have. While I’m happy to trial different technologies to help with student engagement and learning, the other factors that impact my choice are available support, the ease of use (by me or the students) and the quickest methodology to achieve the learning outcome. Sometimes old technologies like butcher’s paper and pen to capture group discussions can be just as effective as digitally-based solutions – it depends on the goal.