What we Do
We help improve the quality of instruction: for individuals, schools, businesses. We believe that the key to achievement and performance is meaningful learning, inspired by great instruction.
How We Do This
We do this by introducing instructors to a best-practices framework called 4MAT that defines a cycle of learning and human growth encompassing: learner diversity, differentiation, brain compatible teaching, and concept-based teaching. The 4MAT framework helps teachers (1) connect to and engage learners (2) provide rich expert knowledge (3) offer an opportunity for practice and demonstration of relevance (4) offer an opportunity for creative manifestation of material learned.
We Believe Teachers are Artists
We help instructors become intentional in their use of teaching strategies, resources, technology, and standards and curriculum documents in a way that is entirely learner centered. We believe that multiple methods of instruction should be accompanied by multiple forms of assessment, both formative and summative integrated with the instructional design.
We Believe Teachers are Responsible to their Learners
We believe it is the teacher’s role to demonstrate the meaning and relevance of all material to be learned.
Above All Else, We Believe in Learner Potential
We believe true learning should result in both human growth and “something new in the world”, emerging from the integration of the learner and the thing learned.
Agreed!
In the corporate training environment, the focus is always upon RESULTS. To that end, end-of-course evaluations are common tools used to assess the relative effectiveness of a course or module.
I have found such tools to be, generally, harmless . . . and probably not worth much in the long run (though they keep the “suits” happy).
However, when using such “smile sheets” for a 4mat-based learning, overall scores tend to drop. There is always some part of the class that every learned dislikes — sometimes, intensely. THAT’S AS IT SHOULD BE! If we truly approach all the cognitive learning styles, then, logically, some part of every class will not fit well with a particular learner who is predisposed one way or another.
We likely need a new form of class evaluation for a learning model like 4mat.
By: Keith Macksey on October 3, 2006
at 3:52 pm