Otago Polytechnic's application of active learning techniques attracts international interest.
For the three months the College of Enterprise and Development hosted three lovely visiting scholars from Xi’an University, China. Their university President sent them to learn from Otago Polytechnic staff about the application of experiential learning techniques in the classroom. They came to understand how to facilitate more active learning, and to observe practical ways to engage the learners.
Each of the staff members came with a different area of interest, so we arranged opportunities to work with staff in IT, Tourism and Accounting. Qian Ding attended classes in the Bachelor of Information Technology programme and learned about their use of pair programming and problem based learning. Liang Li was an Accounting lecturer and engaged with our accounting staff in the Bachelor of Applied Management (BAM), visiting classes and co-presenting a fascinating research seminar on Performance Management Systems in the Qin Dynasty with BAM lecturer Stephanie Chong. Jia Guo (Jenny) worked alongside our BAM Tourism staff, engaging in classes and participating in all activities.
They were working on individual research projects during their time with us and met regularly with Doris Lancaster from the Teaching and Learning Development team to help understand the theoretical basis behind Otago Polytechnic's experiential approach. Their focus was on how teachers could use activities where the students were active and able to reflect on their learning. This is an important learning and teaching approach at Otago Polytechnic.
Their visit prompted many staff discussions on the value of different approaches to learning and teaching, with much to be learned from both perspectives. One of the challenges they noted was how to apply the teaching methods they saw to classes as large as 100. Their reflections on our teaching practice has given us valuable insights into how we develop relationships with our Chinese partner institutions.