Office: |
105 Jewett Hall |
|---|---|
Phone: |
621-3353 |
E-mail: |
linhardt@maine.edu, office hours are by email anytime |
B.A., Safarik University [Czechoslovakia], 1977
M.A., Safarik University [Czechoslovakia], 1977
Ph.D., Safarik University [Czechoslovakia], 1979
Ph.D., Komensky University [Czechoslovakia], 1989
Post.Doc., Boston Institute for Psychotherapy, 1996
Post.Doc., Boston University, 1997
Post.Doctoral studies, Freudian School of Quebec, Canada 2002-2008
Learning is not the product of teaching. Learning is the product of the activity of the learners. –John Holt
Educational research demonstrates that active learning is the most effective technique for students to learn, apply, integrate, and retain information. I identify my teaching philosophy with problem based learning, where beyond an orientation to problems, courses promote learning via activity and discovery. As students explore assignments and problems, they discover much about their topics and themselves.
A problem based course provides students with opportunities and responsibilities to make significant decisions about what to investigate, how to proceed, and how to solve problems. Students immediately apply the knowledge they learned and explain it to others (by classroom presentations of their projects); students learn by doing. In the process, students develop new social and cognitive skills, responsibilities and understanding, which can be used immediately in their work.
By effective integration of teaching-training practices into my teaching, I use the problem solving as foundation in as many activities as possible, dividing material into relatively small, manageable parts. I also provide ample opportunities for students to reflect on the relevance of class material content to their own life, interact with each other and with me as their instructor. Lately I have established an ongoing assessment system on the Blackboard, that frequently measures students’ learning and provides meaningful feedback in a timely manner and provides new pedagogical approaches for learning content. This approach offers students with different learning styles more approaches to meet their needs, is more flexible for students, gives students more practice through online assessments, requires more active student participation than a lecture and provide a better “real world” experience for students.
Magdalena Linhardt, Ph.D. is associate professor of psychology and mental health at the University of Maine in Augusta. She completed her postdoctoral program at Boston University, Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation in 1997, as well as a post-doctoral fellowship at the Boston Institute for Psychotherapy.
Dr. Linhardt teaches mostly Distance Education courses via ITV or web-based courses for the Mental Health and Human Services program at UMA.