The University of Miami College of Engineering (UMCoE), in partnership with UM Academic Technologies, is welcoming faculty to engage and participate in a series of active learning seminars throughout the spring 2019 semester.
Yunqiu Wang, senior lecturer in the UM College of Arts and Sciences Department of Biology, presented at the first installment of the Lunch and Learn Series on February 8. He made an interesting and engaging presentation on “Promoting ‘Deeper Learning’ in the Undergraduate Genetics Course at UM.”
Wang teaches genetics and conducts biology education research. His main research interests focus on the implementation and assessment of cognitive science principles in the classroom, including identifying students’ prior knowledge to inform instruction and engaging students to construct deep knowledge and active learning skills.
Dr. Wang’s passion for teaching was evident during the session as he demonstrated the active learning techniques he uses in his genetics course. He discussed the challenges and successes he has had with teaching in an active way. He also mentioned how instrumental the instructional designers from academic technologies were in the successful implementation of the various active learning techniques.
His presentation highlighted multiple research-based methods for developing transferable knowledge, which includes using multiple and varied representations of concepts and tasks; teaching students with examples and role-play cases; using formative assessment; and encouraging elaboration, questioning as well as self-explanation.
Looking ahead, UMCoE will host Dr. Walter Secada, professor and senior associate dean for graduate studies in the UM School of Education and Human Development, on March 8, as well as Dr. Aaron Heller, assistant professor in the UM College of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology, on April 12, for the final spring semester installments of the Lunch and Learn Series.
The Lunch and Learn Series affords faculty the opportunity gain first-hand experience on how these active learning techniques can be used when teaching new content and how to apply these techniques within their own field of expertise.
“My hope is that faculty will walk away encouraged to experiment with different active learning techniques in the classroom” Evans explained. “For many attendees, this first session achieved that. It was encouraging, informative and inspired them to think about how these techniques can be leveraged within their classroom.”
For more information on Dr. Wang and his research, please click here.
