Principles of the Studio Classroom

According to Jack Wilson of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Studio Classroom was developed as a model of interactive learning. It emphasizes a hands-on, learning- by- doing approach that focuses on what the student does rather than on what the professor does. The technology revolution has allowed many other schools to develop and implement interactive programs similar in design to the Studio Classroom developed at Rensselaer. Yet many questions still remain for instructors who are just becoming familiar with the rapidly developing revolution. Thus, we have included here some educational principles and guidelines that we hope will help instructors integrate some of the new technological/online material into their traditional classrooms.

Features of the Studio Course Using Instructional Design Principles to Amplify Learning on the World Wide Web Guidelines for the Online Instructor

• Student-centered
• De-emphasizes lectures
• Instructor as mentor, facilitator, not as lecturer
• Constructivist approach
• Multimedia courseware
• Team-based and collaborative learning
• Theater-in-the-round classroom 1

In both preparing and/or selecting Web material to be used in your class, Don Ritchie and Bob Hoffman offer the following instructional sequences. The goal should be to provide meaningful instruction to students and access to current as well as relevant information on the Web.2

1. Motivating the Learner
   • Web pages provide easy availability of graphics
   • Use color, animation, sound, to attract reader
   • Excessive use of these features distracting
   
   
2. Identifying What is to be Learned
   • Provide focus and objectives for the lesson
   • Prevents mindless "surfing" and delays in learning
   
   
3. Reminding Learners of Past Knowledge
   • Memory link must be made between new information and that stored in long-term memory
   • Web pages uniquely designed to link to pages with similar information for comparison
   
   
4. Requiring Active Involvement
   • Active learning more effective than passive
   • Facilitate active learning by requiring students to construct artifact of their learning
   • Strategies include: comparing, classifying, inducing, deducing, analyzing, constructing support, making abstractions, analyzing perspectives
   • Bernie Dodge has constructed some examples of active/interactive learning along with additional attributes of online projects. WebQuest is the name of HIS project.
     http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/EDTEC596/About_WebQuests.html
   
   
5. Providing Guidance and Feedback
   • Provide meaningful descriptions of Web links you assign: annotations are helpful- indicate if site is an example, a justification, shows a relationship, etc.
   • In assessing a student's answer or choice, provide a rationale for the answer, reinforce the correct answer, or direct student to a more appropriate site or answer
   • Use CGI script to provide learners with detailed information and alternative choices
   
   
6. Testing
   • Online testing with CGI script allows for automated grading of objective tests
   • Construct learning artifacts: solve puzzles, define terms, etc. to be e-mailed to instructor
   
   
7. Providing Enrichment and Remediation
   • Use CGI script to directly provide learner additional material based on her level of performance or response
   • Provide additional links to extend or broaden knowledge

Committing to using online material in your class means developing specific teaching strategies that take advantage of the medium while considering learner differences. Starr Roxanne Hiltz provides additional resources for online instructors.3

1. Media Richness
   • Use written language in a skillful way
   • Use humor and metaphor
   • Orchestrate active participation by students
   • Prepare collaborative assignments involving social and task-oriented activities
   • Deliver lectures in small segments with opportunities for participation in an online environment

2. Timely Responsiveness
   • Students can ask for help at any time via e-mail
   • Instructors MUST sign on every day and respond to requests
   • Might become a "perpetual professor"

3. Organization
   • Establish regular rhythms and schedules
   • Post new material on the Web site regularly (on the same day of the week, for example)
   • Post new assignments regularly on a different day (so students need to logon at least two or three times a week)
   • Set deadlines and establish penalties for lateness (for self-paced interaction to really work, all students must be on the same material in the same time frame)
   • Give detailed, explicit instructions for assignments so no confusion arises

4. Collaborative Learning
   • Learning process that emphasizes group or cooperative efforts among faculty and students
   • Stresses active participation or interaction
   • Teacher becomes facilitator who structures learning opportunities, serves as a resource, encourages students to work together
   • Seminar style of learning
   • Groups select topics for study, read, prepare summary, lead discussion
   • Assign group projects
     --case study discussions
     --simulations or role-playing exercises --sharing solutions to problems --collaborative composition of essays, stories, research
   • Grade students based on quality as well as quantity of responses
   • Exams should include some material provided by students

1. http://cde.rpi.edu/Studios.html
2. http://edweb.sdsu.edu/clrit/learningtree/DC
3. http://english.usu.edu/jcurry/wbi.html