Teaching and Learning in First Year Seminars

An experiment is carried out on a subset of a first year group in Semester 1, 2001 for five separate fiftyminute sessions. Five groups are taught using one teaching technique based around the idea of passive learning. Five further groups are taught using a second technique based on active learning within small groups. The remaining three groups face a third approach based on a combination of the other two techniques. The students are monitored throughout the course. The assessment is based on (a) written and verbal tests at the end of the course, (b) participation in seminars and (c) attendance at the seminars and at the written/verbal tests. The author considers the performance of the students for each of these categories in the light of a personality questionnaire designed to ascertain preferred learning styles. She also considers the students’ responses to a final questionnaire that asks for the best and worst features of the seminar in which they were placed. The investigation aims at establishing if there is a link between student performance in tests, preferred learning styles and the teaching methods adopted. The ultimate goal is to deliver seminars that offer the students the best possible learning environment.