Walk & Talk

Do you ever wonder how you can better support your students in learning and practising the relevant thinking and working processes in your seminar or lecture? David Pace and Joan Middendorf, two US-American writing didacticians, have developed a process called "Decoding the Disciplines", with the support of which teaching staff can develop work assignments in a reflective thinking-writing process. The special thing about this process is that the starting point for all considerations is the students' learning obstacles and not, for example, learning objectives, which teaching staff often use as a basis for planning their courses.

On this Walk & Talk route, we invite you to "go through" this reflection process with the help of the thinking and speaking impulses at the five stations in a joint discussion. Decide for yourself how you want to organise the discussion situation, e.g. whether only one person speaks per round and you add a second round or whether you walk more slowly and both discussion partners have their say.

We wish you lots of fun and exciting insights!

Walk up to the social field and start talking informally.

• Think about: What obstacles to learning do students encounter in your courses? In which situations do they fail? Which tasks, e.g. understanding an important theory, applying a work process, formulating an argument in writing, are they unable to cope with?
• Decide on an obstacle to learning that you would like to think about while walking.

From the social field, take the "Lauf der Dinge" towards the tram crossing, then "Iteration" to the front of the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences.

Describe the learning obstacle to your dialogue partner as precisely as possible:
What are the students doing wrong? What do they misunderstand? What exactly is the obstacle to learning? Is the obstacle to learning linked to misunderstandings about your subject?

Walk to the campus map and turn right onto the "Pfad der Erkenntnis" in front of  Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and walk to the barricade of wagons.

Now ask yourself: How do I deal with this problem myself? Describe what you do as an expert in your subject so that you don't get stuck at this point.

Continue along the "Pfad der Erkenntnis", then "Inspiration", i.e. walk between the buildings of Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and CiTEC to the HSBI cafeteria.

• Consider: How can this form of problem solving be modelled for the students? In what type of (writing) task, with what writing or reading strategy, in what situation do students need to do the things you want them to learn?
• And then, how can students practice these skills? Design a work assignment with which your students can practise the ability to overcome the specific learning obstacle with the know-how of experts in the subject.
   

"Interaktion", "Iteration", crossing the road again and walking back to the interim library building.

What is the most important realisation you gained during the interview? Which point would you like to pursue further? What could you discuss with colleagues? What could you perhaps simply try out this semester?

A written exam is approaching and you're finding it increasingly difficult to study for it alone at your desk?

Then try our Walk & Talk impulse together! It is ideal if you are both preparing for the same exam and are in the process of memorising and applying the material.

In this learning phase, a common strategy is to silently repeat notes, slide sets or scripts and read through the content again and again. This form of learning is passive and often accompanied by the so-called illusion of knowledge. You are familiar with the content and believe that you have mastered it, but do not actively check this when repeating it silently. Therefore, learning strategies that get you actively applying, checking and testing are more efficient. In tandem, you can practise mutual explanations, put concepts and terms into your own words, correct and complement each other.

Try out different active learning strategies at five stations and test your level of knowledge!

Walk to the social field and start talking informally.

Learning through recall practice:

Take it in turns to recall everything you know about the exam topic.

Then think about which topics you are still unsure about.

From the social field, take the "Lauf der Dinge" towards the tram crossing, then "Iteration" to the front of the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences.

Feynman method:

Pick a topic that you understand particularly well and explain it in such a way that a person from outside the subject would also understand it.

Walk to the campus map and turn right onto the "Pfad der Erkenntnis" in front of  Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and walk to the barricade of wagons.

Learning through mutual explanation:

Try to reconstruct the topics that are still difficult for you together and explain to each other what you have understood.

Think about what you should still work on after the learning route and how you could best proceed.

Continue along the "Pfad der Erkenntnis", then "Inspiration", i.e. walk between the buildings of Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and CiTEC to the HSBI cafeteria.

Exam questions:

Now ask each other potential exam questions on the topic and answer them.

"Interaktion", "Iteration", crossing the road again and walking back to the interim library building.

Feedback & learning reflection:

Give each other feedback: What is the other person already very confident in? What is the other person particularly good at? Where is there a need for action?

Learning reflection: What can I build on? What are my next learning steps? What would be particularly worthwhile with regard to the exam?

If necessary, arrange another Walk & Talk. It might be a good idea to prepare exam questions or flashcards so that you can quiz each other.

Do you have to write a term paper or thesis and don't really know what an exciting topic might be? At this Walk & Talk you can think about a topic together, get feedback and sound out which scientific question could develop from it.

Let yourself be guided through your thought process at five stations with question impulses!

Walk to the social field and start by talking informally.

Collect all possible topics:

Ask yourself: What's on my mind right now? What interests me? What did I encounter in the seminar? What have I read about? Is there an experience that I have had myself?

Then think about: Which point, which topic particularly appeals to me right now? What could I write about, even if I don't yet know exactly what would come out of it? Choose one aspect/ topic.

From the social field, take the "Lauf der Dinge" towards the tram crossing, then "Iteration" to the front of the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences.

Activate prior knowledge:

What can you think of about your aspect/ topic? Say everything that comes to mind without judgement: individual aspects, people, books, newspaper articles, events, videos, questions, problems...

Walk to the campus map and turn right onto the "Pfad der Erkenntnis" in front of  Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and walk to the barricade of wagons.

Detect relevance:

Ask yourself: What makes this topic important to me? What attracts me to it? What appeals to me?

Continue along the "Pfad der Erkenntnis", then "Inspiration", i.e. walk between the buildings of Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and CiTEC to the HSBI cafeteria.

Detect difficulties:

Ask yourself: Is there something that makes this topic difficult for me? If so, what is it?

"Interaktion", "Iteration", crossing the road again and walking back to the interim library building.

Focussing, questioning & feedback:

Ask yourself: What is the point of all this? What do I actually want to say? What am I trying to say?

And: What questions could arise from the considerations so far? And what could my next steps look like?

Give each other feedback: Do you understand what your tandem wants to say? Do the ideas seem plausible to you? How do you feel about it?