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The Open University

Teaching and learning tricky topics

The Open University via OpenLearn

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Overview

As a teacher, educator or trainer, do you often think, I just don’t understand why they don’t understand?Learning should be transformative, and this course will unlock your full potential, using a practice-based learning tool to help identify the barriers in students' understanding.This free course, Teaching and learning tricky topics, has a course structure that builds upon understanding you have developed during the previous week’s study. You should expect to spend 3 hours per week studying (a total of 24 hours). Through the first three weeks you will be focusing on the background to tricky topics and how to apply the process to your practice. Weeks 4–5 will focus on the role of learning design and how to use this approach with tricky topics, and the final three weeks will help you to look at the wider picture of using tricky topics and learning design to help innovate, assess and embed your understanding with others. Moreover, it will be outlined how you can become a champion for these processes.TranscriptEnrolling on the course will give you the opportunity to earn an Open University digital badge. Badges are not accredited by The Open University but they're a great way to demonstrate your interest in the subject and commitment to your career, and to provide evidence of continuing professional development.Once you are signed in, you can manage your digital badges online from My OpenLearn. In addition, you can download and print your OpenLearn statement of participation  - which also displays your Open University badge.The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our optional start-of-course survey. Once you complete the course we would also value your feedback and suggestions for future improvement, in our optional end-of-course survey. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others. This course is accredited by the CPD Standards Office. It can be used to provide evidence of continuing professional development and on successful completion of the course you will be awarded 24 CPD points. Evidence of your CPD achievement is provided on the free Statement of Participation awarded on completion.Anyone wishing to provide evidence of their enrolment on this course is able to do so by sharing their Activity Record on their OpenLearn Profile, which is available before completion of the course and earning of the Statement of Participation.  

Syllabus

  • Introduction and guidance
  • Introduction and guidance
  • What is a badged course?
  • How to get a badge
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week1Week 1 Tricky topics and threshold concepts
  • Introduction
  • 1 Why don’t they understand?
  • 1.1 Why do misunderstandings occur in threshold concepts?
  • 1.2 Identify threshold concepts in your subject
  • 1.3 Reflect on your personal experience of threshold concepts
  • 2 Tricky topics as a practice-based application of threshold concepts
  • 2.1 Identify your tricky topics
  • 3 This week’s quiz
  • 4 Summary of Week 1
  • References
  • Further reading
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week2Week 2 Identifying tricky topics
  • Introduction
  • 1 What are tricky topics again?
  • 2 What is it that students don’t understand?
  • 2.1 Using a needs analysis to identify misunderstandings
  • 2.2 Preparing a needs analysis
  • 2.3 Planning an effective needs analysis activity
  • Structuring to capture students’ thoughts
  • Recording students’ thoughts
  • Analysing thoughts
  • 3 Categorising trickiness in tricky topics
  • 3.1 Why are tricky topics tricky?
  • 3.2 Problem distiller
  • 3.3 Identifying stumbling blocks
  • 4 This week’s quiz
  • 5 Summary of Week 2
  • References
  • Further reading
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week3Week 3 The tricky topics process
  • Introduction
  • 1 Stumbling blocks and problem examples
  • 1.1 Tricky topic of project planning
  • Atomic structure theory
  • 2 The tricky topics process
  • 3 Structuring tricky topics
  • 3.1 From mind maps to structured mapping diagram
  • 3.2 States of matter tricky topic
  • 4 Different ways of conducting the tricky topics process
  • 5 This week’s quiz
  • 6 Summary of Week 3
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week4Week 4 Introduction to learning design
  • Introduction
  • 1 OU learning design
  • 2 Hearing the student voice
  • 2.1 Word wheel
  • 2.2 Describing learning experiences
  • 3 Student profiles
  • 3.1 Creating a student profile
  • Tricky topic intervention
  • 3.2 How to use a student profile
  • 4 This week’s quiz
  • 5 Summary of Week 4
  • References
  • Further reading
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week5Week 5 Developing your learning design
  • Introduction
  • 1 To the classroom
  • 1.1 Why is learning design required?
  • 2 Learning design classification
  • 2.1 Activity profiles
  • 3 Using activity types to plan interventions
  • 3.1 Benefits of the activity type approach
  • 3.2 Learning design applied to tricky topic interventions
  • 4 This week’s quiz
  • 5 Summary of Week 5
  • References
  • Further reading
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week6Week 6 Innovating pedagogies and targeted interventions
  • Introduction
  • 1 Innovating pedagogies
  • 2 Targeted learning interventions
  • 2.1 Digital storytelling
  • The digital story-telling intervention
  • 2.2 Creative video making
  • The Creative video making intervention
  • Example 1 High ability group
  • Example 2 Low ability group
  • 2.3 Games-based learning
  • Game-based learning intervention
  • The child interviewing simulator
  • 2.4 Face-to-face storytelling
  • 3 Planning an intervention
  • 4 This week’s quiz
  • 5 Summary of Week 6
  • References
  • Further reading
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week7Week 7 Assessment and tricky topics
  • Introduction
  • 1 What are tricky topic quizzes and assessment?
  • 2 Creating a tricky topic quiz
  • 2.1 Creating a question
  • 2.2 Wording your question
  • 3 Using the quiz
  • 3.1 Appropriate mark schemes
  • 3.2 Creating the charts
  • 3.3 Reviewing your findings
  • 4 This week’s quiz
  • 5 Summary of Week 7
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week8Week 8 Reflection, sharing and becoming a champion
  • Introduction
  • 1 Developing yourself and your organisation
  • 1.1 Cultivating communities
  • 2 Tricky topics theories
  • 2.1 Sharing relevant theory and research
  • 3 The tricky topic process
  • 3.1 Sharing what works
  • 4 Learning design
  • 5 Learning innovations
  • 8 Summary of Week 8
  • 7 This week’s quiz
  • 8 End-of-course round up
  • Where next?
  • Tell us what you think
  • References
  • Further reading
  • Acknowledgements

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5.0 rating, based on 1 Class Central review

4 rating at OpenLearn based on 11 ratings

Start your review of Teaching and learning tricky topics

  • Anonymous
    This is transformative in teaching practices and learning design, especially with regard to developing personalised learning and reducing the likelihood of an over-stuffed curriculum.
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