One group of students receives a set of instructions, the other a container of LEGO pieces. Together, they must work to build a structure. The only catch: they are in different rooms.
鈥淧eople have to communicate how to build their thing online,鈥� says Information Management professor Mike Smit, explaining one of the activities he uses to teach the concepts of teamwork and online communication.
While building LEGO using only instructions from people you can鈥檛 talk to in person may sound frustrating, Dr. Smit says students tend to thrive and show genuine understanding when put in such situations. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a kind of a language that develops鈥� between the groups of students, he says.
It鈥檚 the kind of interactive experience that stays with students, motivating them to learn and engage with the material. And it鈥檚 just the sort of critical approach to the classroom that landed Dr. Smit Dal鈥檚 Early Career Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching earlier this year.
An original style
Dr. Smit鈥檚 original approach extends to even the most basic building blocks of university courses: textbooks, readings, and essays.
He says being explicit about explaining what you鈥檙e doing and why (say, what course materials you鈥檝e chosen and what assignments you鈥檝e presented) helps impart the concept of teaching critical thinking 鈥� a key aspect of the university experience.
鈥淚 spend a lot of time talking about 鈥榳hy did I choose this textbook?鈥� 鈥榳hy is this assignment done this way?鈥欌�� says Dr. Smit, who joined Dal as an assistant professor in 2013 and teaches master鈥檚-level courses. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important for them to see that students don鈥檛 do things because Mike Smit said so.鈥�
Dr. Smit recounts the time he 鈥渂rought in all eight textbooks that [he] reviewed and showed them to the class,鈥� explaining the problems and strengths behind each to drive home the importance of critical thinking in a learning environment.
The future of the university experience
Regardless of the type, size,or subject of the class, Dr. Smit says there鈥檚 a way to bring a 鈥渉ands-on鈥� experience to students.
He鈥檚 a big believer in letting the topics themselves shape the types of activities offered. 聽
鈥淟et鈥檚 actually do a usability study in a user-experience class,鈥� he says. 鈥淥r if it鈥檚 a data class, let鈥檚 actually do some data analytics . . . and see how this actually looks when we鈥檙e trying it out.鈥�
While technology will no doubt change the way professors engage in the teaching process in the decades ahead, Dr. Smit says there are elements of teaching that will still be relevant years from now.
Understanding individual student needs, critical thinking and skills-based learning will continue to drive the relevance of a university learning experience, he says, helping get students 鈥渨here they need to be.鈥�
This article is part of a series highlighting some of the recipients of Dalhousie's university-wide teaching awards. See the full list of award winners for 2017.