Papers by Gregory J Light
University Teaching
SAGE Publications, Inc. eBooks, Oct 5, 2012
Estudios sobre Educación, 2004
This paper reviews recent literature addressing the state of technology in higher education as a ... more This paper reviews recent literature addressing the state of technology in higher education as a backdrop for a faculty development program offered annually at Northwestern. First, we will present the state of technology related to teaching in three areas: (1) the varied institutional interest in technology, (2) the variance in faculty engagement with technology, and (3) factors that influence faculty acceptance of technology. Next, we will introduce Northwestern's response to the need for faculty development related to technology, the 5-day Teaching and Learning with Technology workshop. Finally, we will present data gathered over two years that demonstrates how pedagogically-driven technology training can enhance teaching and encourage faculty to embrace technology in teaching to accomplish pedagogically-based learning objectives.
Reflective Teaching in Higher Education
Reflective Teaching in Higher Education is the definitive textbook for reflective teachers in hig... more Reflective Teaching in Higher Education is the definitive textbook for reflective teachers in higher education. Informed by the latest research in this area, the book offers extensive support for those at the start of an academic career and career-long professionalism for those teaching in higher education. Written by an international collaborative author team of higher education experts led by Paul Ashwin, Reflective Teaching in Higher Education offers two levels of support: practical guidance for day-to-day teaching, covering key issues such as strategies for improving learning, teaching and assessment, curriculum design, relationships, communication, and inclusion; and evidence-informed 'principles' to aid understanding of how theories can effectively inform teaching practices, offering ways to develop a deeper understanding of teaching and learning in higher education.
This paper reports findings from an empirical four-year study designed to investigate the relatio... more This paper reports findings from an empirical four-year study designed to investigate the relationship between key constructs of an extended model of teaching and learning in higher education. Using a mixed-methods approach, we sought to assess the impact of a year-long faculty development program (FDP) designed for pre-tenure faculty on participant approaches to teaching. From our analysis of participant critical reports of teaching, post-program interviews, and the Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI), we found evidence of positive change in the approaches to teaching of junior faculty participants in the FDP. All three methods elicited evidence indicating that participating faculty moved towards more conceptual change/student focused approaches to teaching, and that a significant part of that change could be attributed to their participation in the program. In a climate in which faculty accountability is ever more dependent on research and scholarship, especially as rewarded by...
Conceptions of Mentoring in Formalized Faculty Relationships
This paper reports findings from an empirical four-year study designed to investigate the relatio... more This paper reports findings from an empirical four-year study designed to investigate the relationship between key constructs of an extended model of teaching and learning in higher education. Using a mixed-methods approach, we sought to assess the impact of a year-long faculty development program (FDP) designed for pre-tenure faculty on participant approaches to teaching. From our analysis of participant critical reports of teaching, post-program interviews, and the Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI), we found evidence of positive change in the approaches to teaching of junior faculty participants in the FDP. All three methods elicited evidence indicating that participating faculty moved towards more conceptual change/student focused approaches to teaching, and that a significant part of that change could be attributed to their participation in the program.
Along with the rapid development in nanoscience/engineering, the need to educate students to beco... more Along with the rapid development in nanoscience/engineering, the need to educate students to become more proficient in the big ideas of this field has gained enormous attention from scientists and the general public. Consequently, two interventions designed to help students in an engineering design course become aware of conceptual variations of Size and Scale were developed. This study reports findings of a study that examined the impact of these interventions on students’ conceptual development. Conceptual changes were assessed by analyzing students’ pre and post responses on survey items and through interviews. The analysis reveals the positive influence of the interventions on students’ awareness of the conceptual variations in understanding Size and Scale.
Promoting student-centered teaching through a project- based faculty development program
The past decade has witnessed exponential growth in study abroad participation. During these same... more The past decade has witnessed exponential growth in study abroad participation. During these same years the promise that studying abroad will develop students into Global Citizens has been a nearly ubiquitous feature in promotion of the experience. Yet, Global Citizenship remains a highly contested concept that promoters of study abroad rarely define, adequately explain or explicitly align with program outcomes. Among students as the main consumers of education abroad, little in the literature has so far documented how they conceive of Global Citizenship. This paper details findings from 29 in-depth interviews and 118 surveys of study abroad students from 41 higher education institution throughout the United States who were asked to explain how they understand and define Global Citizenship. Using variation theory and phenomenographic methodology, the study presents a typology showing five distinct ways these students conceive of Global Citizenship: 1) global existence; 2) global acq...
Surface area to volume ratio" has been widely acknowledged as one of the "big ideas&quo... more Surface area to volume ratio" has been widely acknowledged as one of the "big ideas" of nanoscience, as it lays the foundation for understanding size-dependent properties that characterize nanoscale science and technology. Though seemingly an easy concept, students are reported to have difficulty grasping this concept, particularly its connection to property change. We report in this paper our effort in unpacking students' conceptions of this concept in the context of an undergraduate engineering course. Guided by the "Construct- Centered Design" (CCD) framework, we conducted detailed unpacking of student conceptions, and developed corresponding assessment items in an iterative process, which not only revealed an interesting range of conceptions, but also yielded several effective assessment items. The identified conceptions are summarized in a preliminary typology, which includes three major types of conceptions distinguished by seven aspects of variati...
Research and teaching are often construed by academic staff as incongruous activities that have l... more Research and teaching are often construed by academic staff as incongruous activities that have little overlap in practice. Many studies on the relationship of teaching and research assume an inherent competition or “rivalry” between these two practices. In this study, we draw on a framework that conceptualizes these academic practices not as distinct and irreconcilable, but rather as analogous practices with a common essential goal: the advancement of learning and knowledge. Taking a phenomenographic research perspective, we investigated how 39 early career, research active academic staff at a research-intensive university conceive of learning across their academic experience and practices. We identified five distinct conceptions of academic learning within three general categories: disconnected, transitional, and connected.
Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: The Reflective Professional
Introduction: The Challenge of Professionalism PART ONE: THE ACADEMIC AS REFLECTIVE PROFESSIONAL ... more Introduction: The Challenge of Professionalism PART ONE: THE ACADEMIC AS REFLECTIVE PROFESSIONAL The Reflective Professional in Academic Practice A Critical Matrix of Learning and Teaching PART TWO: GENRES OF TEACHING IN HIGHER EDUCATION Designing: Course and Curriculum Design Lecturing: Large-group Teaching Facilitating: Small-group Teaching Supervising: Project, Dissertation, and Thesis Guidance Innovating: Teaching with Technology Assessing: Student Assessment Evaluating: Teaching and Course Evaluation PART THREE: PERFORMANCE STRATEGY Realizing the Reflective Professional Appendix: Structured Observation of Teaching: Guidelines
COLLEGE SCIENCE TEACHING Many colleges and universities across the United States are facing an ex... more COLLEGE SCIENCE TEACHING Many colleges and universities across the United States are facing an extremely important educational challenge—a low number of highachieving minority undergraduates (African American, Hispanic American, and Native American) who successfully persist in premedical and science-based courses of study. This situation poses particular challenges at major research institutions, such as Northwestern University, where students come with strong academic credentials and high expectations.
An evaluation of the efficacy and transferability of a nanoscience module
... Denise Drane1∗, Su Swarat1, Greg Light1, Mark Hersam2, and Tom Mason2 ... Our comparative ana... more ... Denise Drane1∗, Su Swarat1, Greg Light1, Mark Hersam2, and Tom Mason2 ... Our comparative analysis of the two experimental conditionsone taught by the professor who developed the module and the other taught by a senior graduate student who was not an expert in ...
Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
Seven Radical Ideas for the Future of Higher Education
This study examines the teaching and learning style of lecturers and students at Universiti Keban... more This study examines the teaching and learning style of lecturers and students at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. A translated version of Grasha-Riechman (1994) Teaching and Learning Style Inventories were distributed to 120 lecturers and 545 students. Results indicated that expert, ...
Identifying a Potential Threshold Concept in Nanoscience and Technology
Threshold Concepts and Transformational Learning
Tensions with PBL Implementation in Undergraduate Engineering Education: Results from Teaching Practice
2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings
Supporting Innovative Freshman Study: The Engineering Workshop Program
2005 Annual Conference Proceedings
14: Promoting Learning-Focused Teaching Through a Project-Based Faculty Development Program
To Improve the Academy
Student conceptions of international experience in the study abroad context
Higher Education
While much of recent study abroad research has focused on identifying and measuring different lea... more While much of recent study abroad research has focused on identifying and measuring different learning outcomes in terms of specific skills, competencies, perspectives and attributes acquired during study abroad opportunities, less research has considered how students' deeper conceptions and understandings of international experience may change and develop during such educational encounters. This paper presents a phenomenographical research study that explored how students conceive of and make meaning out of their international education experience in a study abroad context. The data are based on detailed semi-structured interviews conducted with a sample of 28 undergraduate students at an American university who engaged in a variety of different study abroad opportunities. Guided by Variation Theory of Learning, the analysis of the data resulted in a typology of student conceptions of international experience (SCIE) that identified four distinct categories of conceptions of international experience (observing, interacting, participating and embracing) described across three constitutive features (being in the other culture, relating to the other culture and learning in the other culture). Hierarchically related through nine critical aspects of variation, the typology provides a unique and useful framework against which to map the "messiness" of students' complex, often complicated understandings of their experience. It offers study abroad programmers opportunities to better understand and design student learning experiences and assessment instruments that go beyond competencies, skills and other learning outcomes.
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Papers by Gregory J Light