Legato: Recap, Reassess, Reload

Proceedings of The International Conference on Advanced Research in Teaching and Education

Year: 2019

DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/icate.2019.04.270

[Fulltext PDF]

Legato: Recap, Reassess, Reload

Paulo Oliveira

 

ABSTRACT: 

Legato is an active learning strategy where a given theme is treated by two small groups of students, in succession.The first group explores the theme and assembles the materials to be used by the second group, for the development of an indepth treatment of the theme, according to the guidelines rendered by the teacher. An additional specification is to randomize the groups for the final phase. The original description, made in 2015, highlighted the untapped potential of committing the students in a work that was prepared by their peers, but also its potential shortcomings. At the time an experienced comparison with other active learning strategies was not possible. The present communication proposes a new description of the procedures, analyzes the dynamics of Legato and common obstacles, and discusses its application in a landscape of other learning strategies. Legato provides the option of a rich experience with building knowledge, emulating the legacy processes common to all scientific inquiry.

KeyWords: Active Learning, Biology, Cooperative Learning, Flipped Classroom, Legato, Peer Interaction, Small Group Learning, Team-Based Learning.