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Good teachers never stop learning.
In education language, this refers to a teacher being able to continue learning within their discipline, whilst simultaneously performing pedagogical inquiry into their technique and practice. This leads to informed decision making about what, when, how to teach, after which reflection must be practised.
These aren’t just wish-list attributes, but help provide the framework under all professional teaching practice. They are some of the criteria against which teachers can be measured for their successes and failures (which are equally important to learn from too in that self-reflection journey). They are the benchmarks against which an individual can receive recognition and teaching institutions can strive for excellence.
They are some of the signposts for success.
After 5 years teaching in various roles in a leading UK university, I came to recognise these as some of the attributes which made for great students as well, and it struck me that the learning path of student and teacher is very much entwined and (forgive the microbiologist’s angle here) a truly symbiotic relationship of interdependence.
If the teacher doesn’t succeed at their job, neither will the students, and of course if the students don’t succeed, university rankings and student survey responses can hit back painfully.
Teachers and students get on best when this mutualism is properly appreciated and each has an honest and respectful investment in the other.
Building the bridge to binary
我喜欢认为我既是一个好老师，又是一个好学习者。
It was my role as a teacher that reminded me (daily) of just how much my teaching depended on my learning, and how much I still need and must learn!
One of the biggest lessons I learnt was to truly value the potential and ability of digital teaching tools, which I’ll admit was a little bit of a threshold to cross for a 40-something xennial. An analogue childhood and digital adulthood.
Being the bridge generation isn’t easy.
I really wanted to be open and believe in that power, but, but, but… I kind of needed the proof first hand before I bought in. So what helped me bridge that gap and put my belief in binary?
两件事对我来说是关键。
首先,正与一个伟大的人to build an in-house teaching app for a component of our course. This taught me truly about globalisation. We pushed it a little into the ether and watched it spread its wonderful word (who doesn’t love molecular biology?) around the world. The feedback from students from locations that were geographically remote from me was incredible, and humbling.
What I learnt from that was a first-hand realisation that they were ONLY remote by geography. Not technologically. We CAN teach anyone, anywhere…. and there is a huge world-sized classroom out there looking for teachers who can share with them.
Labster try-out
It was about exactly at that moment I met with some of the team from Labster, who were visiting my university.
Labster came with the teaching product of my dreams (yes really), and showed me what I would have spent wasted hours, months, years! trying to pull together with grant proposals for development and a network of technological collaborators that I just did not have.
他们在关键的STEM课程区域中具有虚拟实验室的目录 - 实验室模拟。华体会赞助ac米兰这些实验室使您可以带领学生登录和学习。在他们自己的时间。校外。理论。技能。重复学习和练习机会。清楚地表明了它们如何实现。选择与您的课程目标相匹配的实验室并将其引发！
听起来太好了，无法实现吗？我们认为可能也是如此。
支持管理人员鼓励我继续我的教学询问，所以我上了200名本科生，分为两组 - 其中一半是从模拟中学习实用的实验室技能，然后我和在辅导另一半以学习老式方式的技术（我认为在这里有必要的简短脚注必须向您保证学生同意在此试验中成为豚鼠，并且所有人都可以享受两种类型的教学经验在考试之前）。
Afterwards they were all sent to the real lab to perform this technique in a simple practical test, and their results were marked blind.
这是发现的另一个时刻……两组在任务中表现出色，并且随着一个使用Labster模拟学习的小组higher scores in motivation and self-efficacy。
Reflect and review
What did I learn here?
当然，不要感到我的工作撤消或受到数字教学的威胁。并不是说真正的实验室会变得过时。
I learnt that there are truly novel ways to teach and learn, that are there for teachers to adopt and adapt to.
我从教育心理学专家合作者那里学到了有关认知负荷的知识，以及如何使现实世界中的实验室体验变得更加成为学生的实验室经历，这是对学生进行发现和实验的机会。
I learnt to think about how a course could be reshaped and optimised to deal with tighter budgets and increasing student numbers.
我知道这是一个包容性的to teach.
我知道学生价值的resources.
I learnt how my time could be better used in other ways for the students.
I learnt – most of all – to keep an open mind and love that journey of learning myself.
Growth and change
从Labster进行这项测试2年，我完全致力于这一学习道路。
After another study with our university students looking at the effect of location on how well students learn from simulations (isit pedagogically sound to give them this to do at home themselves?) I moved on to building a complete simulation with the incredible developers at Labster, shaped around content and learning outcomes that I felt would be ideally delivered to my students via a simulation.
Specifically I felt the simulation should cover a topic that can be hard to teach, with some threshold concepts that many students need to hear a couple of times before they sink in completely.
This would provide a ‘safe’ environment for them to practice and read again and test themselves, at their own pace and away from the view of peers and teachers before coming into class to explore further with confidence.
这是为一些认真的教室翻转做准备的。
Invested as I was with their simulation products, naturally I am now thrilled to be working for Labster. The rigour and objectivity by which they analyse their own products and performance feels familiar to me, and how could I not feel at home in a company that is so truly committed to their core value –赋予下一代科学家改变世界。
对我来说，这将通过使他们的学习能力与科学学习一样多，从而实现这一目标。
Faculty wishing to speak to Helen about how to get the best from their Labster experience please reach outhelen@labster.com
