(395g) Learning By Teaching: Reflections on an Adaptive Implementation of “Small Teaching” Strategies for Mass/Energy Conservation and Unit Operations Laboratory

Small teaching refers to a learning approach where small, manageable changes are purposefully incorporated into teaching methods to yield significant positive impacts on student learning. Small teaching constitutes a key strategy encouraged by the De Vries Institute for Global Faculty Development at Calvin University, which offers a unique opportunity to fresh PhDs to acquire essential teaching skills as part of preparations for an academic career. This strategy has been systematically implemented in the teaching of Engineering classes including principles of mass and energy conservation, introduction to engineering design as well as research-oriented Chemical Engineering laboratory sessions.

To facilitate continuous improvement, an adaptive approach is chosen for the implementation of this strategy. The teaching sessions, which spanned various student levels, included groups ranging from 9 to 25 students. Among others, the iterative manner in which small changes were brought into these classes have resulted in increased student involvement as well as consistent incremental development of desired critical teaching skills.