Interaction in one of several different modes (student-student, student-content or student-teacher) seems to be a necessary condition for student learning to take place. One way to promote positive student interactions and deep approaches to learning is to offer a structured ‘study buddy’ activity where students review each others' assignments prior to the assignment deadline. Deep approaches to learning are characterized by the appropriate use of high-level cognitive skills for tasks which require them. Students taking a deep approach seek to understand ideas in context and apply their learning to other concepts. Instructional designers, K-12 teachers and higher education faculty will understand deep and surface approaches to learning, why they are not the same as ‘learning styles’ and how student interactions can be structured to promote deeper approaches in a socially engaging context.
This will be a relatively high level overview of my MEd thesis with interaction coming from the participants in the form of questions and comments.
Of Interest to: Online and distance education, Post-secondary education, K-12 educators, Instructional designers, Researchers, Educational technologists, Administrators
