Pedagogy | EPFL Graph Search

Pedagogy (ˈpɛdəɡɒdʒi,-ɡoʊdʒi,-ɡɒɡi), from Ancient Greek παιδαγωγία (paidagōgía), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as an academic discipline, is the study of how knowledge and skills are imparted in an educational context, and it considers the interactions that take place during learning. Both the theory and practice of pedagogy vary greatly as they reflect different social, political, and cultural contexts. Pedagogy is often described as the act of teaching. The pedagogy adopted by teachers shapes their actions, judgments, and teaching strategies by taking into consideration theories of learning, understandings of students and their needs, and the backgrounds and interests of individual students. Its aims may range from furthering liberal education (the general development of human poten

Emergency adaptation to distance learning: no magic bullet, but where there’s a will, there’s a way

Caroline Pulfrey

Whilst, in many countries, the sudden enforced transfer to large-scale distance learning in state schools as a result of COVID_19 lockdown measures caused turmoil, it also provided an unprecedented opportunity to understand more about key factors associated with successful uptake of distance learning in the context of national education systems. Past research on distance-learning has often been limited to specific contexts and functions, but the widespread nature of the pandemic lockdown meant that for a period of time, a majority pupils in public education were following distance education programs. In this research, we build on previous models of e-learning accessibility to create a holistic model of core determinants of distance-learning uptake. In this model outcome variables include teacher estimations of the percentage of their pupils following online learning programs during a six-week period and teacher perceptions of online teaching success. Predictor variables include three core dimensions: contextual factors (school infrastructure, equipment, number of pupils being taught and the school itself), individual factors (teacher and pupil competence, autonomy and motivation to work with distance learning) and pedagogic factors (tools and teaching methods used). The model was tested within the context of the Swiss national lockdown starting on March, 13th 2020 and lasting two months. Data was collected in one Swiss canton. An online survey was issued to all teachers in state education for pupils in primary and secondary schools. 5,666 teachers participated and, in addition, forty-five teachers were interviewed using semi-directed interview techniques. Participation was voluntary. Results of regression analyses carried out on the survey data, controlling for school-level effects, and backed by qualitative data from interviews, revealed two key and inter-related findings. Firstly, we saw that a wide range of factors contributed to lower rates of pupil drop-out and higher levels of teacher perceived success. These included elements of all three core dimensions. Contextual factors (equipment, communication, pupils’ family-organization, the degree of psychological and practical support provided to teachers by their schools) played a role, as did individual factors (the competence, experience and motivation of teachers themselves and their pupils). Likewise pedagogic factors (choice of tools for distance teaching and methods used to organize learning) had significant relations with estimated pupil uptake and teacher perceptions of success in distance teaching. The second main finding revealed that, while certain pedagogic tools such as video-conferencing with cameras on and messaging had a positive main effect on pupil uptake, the success of other tools, such as online collaborative platforms was moderated by teacher motivation, having a positive effect on pupil uptake when associated with teacher beliefs in the importance of maintaining contact and providing feedback to their pupils. The first result points to the need for a coherent, coordinated approach to distance learning that takes into account the multitude of factors relating to school, pupils, teachers, tools and methods. The second result underlines the fact that it is not just the tools teachers use for distance teaching that matter, but their intention behind the use and the resulting way they use the tools that makes the difference. Keywords: Large-scale distance learning, holistic model, teacher motivation, pedagogic tools, pedagogic methods

2022

The Birth of the Workshop: Techno-Morals, Peace Experts and the Care of the Self in the Middle East

Nikolas Kosmatopoulos

In the article I examine through ethnography and contextual analysis one of the flagship techniques of peace expertise in the Middle East and elsewhere, the so-called conflict resolution workshop. For the transnational and hyper-mobile clan of peacemakers and peace experts, the workshop constitutes maybe the absolute travel device: it can be transported and deployed everywhere without the need for translation into local vernaculars; it can exemplify the moral ambition for peace in the world backed with technical arrangements of space, time and learning mostly imported from other disciplinary settings; it can address sustained needs for knowledge and hopes for personal betterment by introducing a unique style of pedagogy based on both academic credentials and moral superiority. I present ethnographic evidence that shows how assemblages of peacemaking, most of them centred around the technique of the conflict resolution workshop, had at least three, often unintended, effects in Lebanon and beyond: First, a massive trend towards what one might call the workshopping of peace, namely the idea that major issues of broad concern regarding past and future violence can be effectively addressed within secluded spaces of conflict resolution workshops. Second, the widespread acceptance and consequent proliferation of a particular version of what Michel Foucault has called ‘the care of the self’ (Foucault 1986) primarily premised on a new configuration of peacemaking that understood the individual as the primary target of expert intervention in a distinct moral and technical sense. Third, the (re-)production of a professionalized field of peace experts, whose degree of legitimacy and conditions of institutional existence crucially depended on the constant need to reiterate and reify the binary between an intrinsically ignorant and potentially uncivil society (that needs to be trained) and themselves (who need to train it).

2014

Augmented Robotics for Learners: A Case Study on Optics

Wafa Monia Benkaouar Johal, Amaury Robert Dame, Stéphane Magnenat, Francesco Mondada, Olguta Robu

In recent years, robots have been surfing on a trendy wave as standard devices for teaching programming. The tangibility of robotics platforms allows for collaborative and interactive learning. Moreover, with these robot platforms, we also observe the occurrence of a shift of visual attention from the screen (on which the programming is done) to the physical environments (i.e. the robot). In this paper, we describe an experiment aiming at studying the effect of using augmented reality (AR) representations of sensor data in a robotic learning activity. We designed an AR system able to display in real-time the data of the Infra-Red sensors of the Thymio robot. In order to evaluate the impact of AR on the learner's understanding on how these sensors worked, we designed a pedagogical lesson that can run with or without the AR rendering. Two different age groups of students participated in this between-subject experiment, counting a total of 74 children. The tests were the same for the experimental (AR) and control group (no AR). The exercises differed only through the use of AR. Our results show that AR was worth being used for younger groups dealing with difficult concepts. We discuss our findings and propose future works to establish guidelines for designing AR robotic learning sessions.

IEEE2019