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Abstract Detail



Conference Wide

Kirchoff, Bruce [1].

Visual Learning in the Botany Classroom.

Active visual learning offers students a number of advantages. In active learning the students are actively engaged with the material. They form and test hypotheses, receive feedback on their results, and have the opportunity to modify their hypothesis based on this feedback. Active visual learning has the added benefit of working with photographs, symbols or diagrams that aggregate individual pieces of information into coherent schema that can be used to overcome the limitations of working memory. Although active visual learning seems the ideal way to learn, its usefulness is limited unless we understand the difference between what novices and expert see. In this workshop we will explore this difference, and the different components of active visual learning through a series of hands-on activities. We will begin with a classification activity using botanical images that will be unfamiliar to most participants. This exercise is intended to simulate an experience your students would have upon entering a new class. They would be expected to assimilate information from visual images with which they had no prior experience. After a brief discussion of the exercise, participants will work individually to gain expertise in this image domain by using visual training software developed by Metis LLC (http://metisllc.com/). The software is designed to rapidly develop visual expertise. After training, we will return to the classification activity and do it again, this time as visual experts. A discussion will highlight the differences between the two exercises, and give us an opportunity to discuss strategies for helping students to see what is before their eyes.

Broader Impacts:


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Related Links:
Active Learning Blog
Visual Learning Software


1 - University of North Carolina At Greensboro, Department of Biology, PO BOX 26170, GREENSBORO, NC, 27402-6170, USA, 919-304-2991

Keywords:
teaching
learning
active learning
visual learning
instructional software.

Presentation Type: Array
Session: WS04
Location: Melrose/Riverside Hilton
Date: Sunday, July 28th, 2013
Time: 8:00 AM
Number: WS04001
Abstract ID:33
Candidate for Awards:None


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