Thomas Randrup Pedersen
Abstract
Up-gunning Experiential Learning and Research-based Teaching
How do we, as teachers, further the transformation of our students’ practice-based experiences into a rich source of learning in the classroom? How do we further the integration of research and teaching/learning inside as well as outside the classroom? In other words, how do we transform traditional ‘teacher-centred learning’ into ‘student-centred learning’ emphasising different student voices, active student involvement, and student responsibility for lifelong learning? In this TLHE project, I address these questions within the context of the Royal Danish Defence College (RDDC). The aim of the project is to promote a student-centred learning approach through enhanced reconciliation between the 2020-RDDC Strategy (institutional level), the 2020-Curriculum of the Master’s Programme in Military Studies (MMS) (programme level) and the MMS course ‘Culture as an Operational Enabler – NATO Mission Iraq’ (COE-NMI) (course level). More specifically, this project aims at promoting student-centred learning through interventions advancing reconciliation between the institutional level’s emphasis on the RDDC’s exceptional link to military practice and up-to-date relevance for the Danish Defence, the programme level’s accentuation of the MMS Programme’s foundation on the students’ practice-based experiences and the teachers’ research-based teaching, and the course level’s intended learning outcomes (ILOs), teaching/learning activities (TLAs) and assessment tasks (ATs). Based on experiential learning theories and models for research-based teaching/learning, I ague that student-centred learning may be promoted through interventions enhancing the reconciliation between the institutional, programme and course levels in terms of incorporating experiential learning and research-based teaching/learning into constructively aligned ILOs, TLAs and ATs in the COE-NMI course. To be clear, the interventions implied by this project consist of a ‘constructive alignment design’ that seeks to advance student-centred learning through the creation of experiential learning spaces (enabling students to draw upon their experiences with military practice) and spaces for research-based teaching/learning (engaging students in research problems and research-like processes). Student evaluations indicate that the interventions have succeeded, at least to some extent, in a) creating learning spaces for students sharing and reflecting upon their practice-based experiences, and b) stimulating student inquiries into their own experiences as well as into a problem-based case scenario. In the light of the student evaluations, along with my self-reflection on teaching the COE-NMI course in practice, the project further identifies ways in which the interventions may be improved in the future.