Harnessing the potential of big ideas in language education
Wed, Jan 15
|HTB-107 & 108
Dr. Rui Yuan, Faculty of Education, University of Macau
Time & Location
Jan 15, 2025, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM GMT+8
HTB-107 & 108, Ho Tim Building, Chung Chi Rd, Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong
About the Event
Harnessing the potential of big ideas in language education
Dr. Rui Yuan
Faculty of Education
University of Macau
Big ideas generally refer to fundamental concepts that connect and organize numerous smaller ideas and multiple experiences within a subject area. While the concept of big ideas has been widely promoted in various subject areas such as history and STEM, its pedagogical power has received little attention in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classrooms. In this seminar, drawing on my ongoing research (Yuan et al., 2024; Yuan et al., 2023; Yuan & Zhang, 2022), I will discuss the “what”, “why”, and “how” of big ideas in language education. Specifically, I will propose a tentative heuristic framework that views big ideas as a composite of three distinct yet interrelated dimensions concerning knowledge, domain, and learning. In light of this framework, research evidence and practical suggestions will be provided on how to adopt big ideas as…