When you think about undergraduate education, what do you visualize? In my mind, I picture large lecture halls filled with many students sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, in the fold-down chairs with the fold-up tables. At the front of the room, the professor lectures away while students quietly take notes for an upcoming exam. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Typical university experience? (image via flickr by Alan Levine)
Don’t get me wrong- I’m not suggesting that lectures are unacceptable or a waste of time. Certainly, lectures has its place at large universities such as UBC. In fact, I think lectures are great because it allows many students to learn from incredibly knowledgeable professors. I will argue, however, that this should not be all there is. There needs to be more opportunities for student-centered learning, especially in science where discoveries depend on creativity, critical thinking and effective communication rather than passive accumulation of information.
Carl Rogers describes student-centered learning as a shift in power from the expert teacher to the student learner. Lea et al. (2003) emphasizes the importance of active learning where participation and involvement is essential for quality education. In recent years, the term student-centered learning has been increasingly used, along with flexible learning, experiential learning and self directed learning. The emergence of this proactive approach in education reflects today’s society where choice and democracy are important concepts.
But the fact that active learning is good is not breaking news. Rather, it’s quite obvious! So what’s the big deal anyway? The big deal is that “many institutions or educators claim to be putting student-centered learning into practice, but in reality they are not (Lea et al., 2003).” However, I do believe that UBC is indeed an advocate for student-centered learning.
This semester, as part of the UBC student directed seminars program, I am leading a course on the topic of traumatic brain injury. The UBC student directed seminars program allows undergraduate students to create their own 3-credit course for a 15 person maximum class. As I have strong interests in neuropsychology, I created a course that explores in depth how a traumatic brain injury can profoundly impact an individual’s life. From project conception to execution, UBC has provided me with all the resources, guidance and support I need to succeed.
The experience leading a seminar so far has taught me a lot regarding how to effectively communicate science. Our motto here at UBC is “Tuum Est” which means “make it yours”. Our undergraduate careers are too short (and expensive) to spend passively learning what we’re told. There are ways to personalize the experience of how we learn about science whether it’s through a hands-on research project, a student directed seminar or even service in the community. It’s important to find your passion, but it’s also important to then pursue that passion from different facets outside the traditional lecture.
Tuum est “Make it yours” (via UBC branding)
Written by: Vivian
