Foster Student-Directed Learning
When making their product, students learn to see their own gaps in knowledge and are able to go to either teacher, letting them know what learning they need to improve their product throughout the term.
Instead of whole-class lessons, Pardoe is able to personalize his students' learning by their interests and needs. When students come to him asking to learn more about a topic, he'll pull about 12 students together and facilitate Harkness debates -- student-led discussions at an oval table where everyone can see each other and participate. He'll give them something to read beforehand so that they'll come to the debate prepared to speak.
"Students have a chance to spend 20 minutes discussing a problem or discussing some content in depth," says Pardoe. "At the end of the session, I feedback how they performed and also clarify any misconceptions that I heard. It's a way of developing knowledge in students, but it also allows them to talk about and think through their ideas.