SENSE Ed Meeting

The topic for this meeting of the SENSE Ed SIG is Contrasting Learning Methods.

What goes on inside us when we’re learning? At this session, we will examine this idea by looking at different ways of learning the same concepts. In order to focus more specifically on the actual learning process, we will examine learning materials for subjects other than English.

Our guest speaker is Giulia Colacicco, who is a PhD student at the Centre for Mathematics and Informatics (CWI) in Amsterdam. Giulia has done work on developing methods for teaching mathematics to high school students, and she will kick off the discussion by presenting two methods for learning the same basic mathematical concepts. The ‘traditional’ method will be contrasted with a more intuitive method that originates from Giulia’s research.

Next, we will look at two different methods for learning a language - in this case, Chinese. I will demonstrate two methods. An older method using a textbook and pre-recorded material will be followed by a look at an ‘immersive’ online method. As we do this, we will ask ourselves: what is happening inside my head as I try to absorb this material? Are the new methods a clear improvement on the old ones? If so, where do they fall short?

If you would like to attend, please register above for the event. You are welcome to arrive from 13.00 for coffee before the meeting.

I hope to see many of you on 8 December.

Kind regards,

David Barick
Convener