A Focus on Pedagogy

Abstract

Given global informatized education, there are challenges facing the teaching of landscape architecture, including the sharing of educational resource, the application of effective and scientific methods, and the innovation of teaching process. From the instructional process, there is a key question arising, that is, how to transform passive learning into an active one for students. Through reflection on the weaknesses of traditional teaching methods, this paper aims to explore the blended teaching as implemented through face-to-face instruction and digital strategies including the mobile interactive platform provided by Chaoxing Learning App and online open courses of MOOC in China. Moreover, with the course named History and Theory of Western Landscape Architecture as an example, the classroom instruction is developed using BOPPPS, which is an acronym representing the various components of active learning in six respects: bridge-in, objectives, pre-assessment, participatory learning, post-assessment and summary. Regarded as a goal-oriented and student-centered method, BOPPPS assists instructors with decomposition and analysis of the teaching process, which is theoretically based on constructivism and communicative approach. In blended teaching, the course goal is set as a comprehensive system consisting of knowledge exploration, capacity building and value-focused thinking. It encourages all participants to identify the artistic characteristics of landscape gardens and parks in different countries, apply the analytical methods of circumstances and form to conduct discussion about the evolution of landscape types, and finally establish the views on natural history, art, and creation, thus enhancing the cultural self-confidence. Moreover, the course is organized by the strategies of process, interaction and diversification, all of which are practiced through episodic cognitive learning, case-based teaching and flipped classroom. Focusing on technology-mediated instruction, the blended teaching can contribute to adjusting the learning methods adopted by participants, expanding high-quality instructional resources, improving learning efficiency and enhancing the communication between instructors and students.