This post reminded me of a conversation that took place in another class having to do with assumptions. I find myself making assumptions about the students in my class on a regular basis. And while some assumptions may indeed be true, I think it is important to be cognizant of this sometimes subconscious practice. I believe that if we are to treat our “students as people,” we should not assume things about them or should at least further explore these presumptions. I find myself assuming things like “oh they should already know that,” about course material when in actuality we may not know which courses students have or have not taken or what their high school experience may have looked like. We may assume that they are not interested or engaged in a topic, when really they may not feel that they have been given the space to speak up and voice their thoughts. Even small things such as the assumption that students will take home their syllabus and read it can cause more harm than good. I think this especially pertains to larger class sizes when it is difficult for an instructor to get to know a student on a personal level and may not be aware of a student’s work ethic and learning preferences.

Sara – Thank you for sharing this fantastic reflection on the course! I will be excited to hear how you incorporate various aspects of this class as well as experiences in your own education to create unique experiences and learning environments for students.

Thank you for your post! As always, I think you bring up so many great points and I always enjoy hearing your perspective. In engineering, we often get so caught up in teaching the technical content that we don’t teach anything other than derivations and calculations. Therefore, when students graduate, they often don’t understand the implications of the work that they do. For me, I think we need to teach students to see different perspectives, to understand the implications of the choices that are made, and to understand that engineering is not just about calculations and finding the right answer. Thanks for your thoughtful post! I hope that we can cultivate brave citizens.

Thanks for your post, Anurag. I agree completely with Sara. You are willing to learn and reflect and fail and get feedback and change and improve. And I think you will be a great professor. Thank you for your post! I will be excited to hear what you end up doing after you finish your PhD!

Thank you for your post! I really enjoyed reading it and you brought up so many great points. If an educator has not been trained to educate, they often teach in the same way that they were taught (for example, derivations on the chalkboard). You bring up so many good points about educating the teacher so that they are able to see multiple perspectives and help students learn. By reevaluating how and what we as educators teach, we can help students better understand the course material and better understand the importance of the material (for example, ethics should not just be one module of one engineering class – unfortunately it often seems like it is). Thanks for the great post!

Bethany – Thank you for your post! Throughout the semester, I have really enjoyed hearing about your experiences teaching and learning about all the hands-on activities that you are incorporating. I really would love to sit in on your class sometime. And I definitely think that you are helping your students make positive changes in their worlds.

I really enjoyed reading your post! Thank you for sharing! You bring up some wonderful points! I agree that we should not just try to make education easier and just do what people (students) want. What I really appreciated about the Contemporary Pedagogy class and other experiences in my Engineering Education program is that it has challenged me to look at things from a new perspective. I’m really glad that you took so much from this course!

I’m glad that you enjoyed the readings this week! I really appreciate how much you emphasized reflection in your post. For me, as I have learned more about learning theories, pedagogies, and education more broadly, I have reflected quite a bit on my own education and my own motivations. And I have learned so much from that reflection and self-awareness! Thanks for your post!

Thanks for your post. I appreciate your critical view of the readings each week, but I was hoping we could get a little optimism by the end of the semester. ? Personally, I know that I will not be able to fix the entire educational system, but I sure am going to try to make my classroom a better environment for students. I want to help support students and help educators explore a variety of pedagogical approaches to find out what works best for them. And if I help even a few students, that is what I consider success.

“If there was something I could share with my future students, it would be this: learning with me will provide an experience unlike any other you have ever had before.” That’s great! I think I’ve been embodying this philosophy without realizing it.

The various techniques we’ve learned in this class, like classroom flipping, problem-based learning, and so on, can all facilitate a unique experience. They can assure students that class is something to look forward to, that might surprise them and draw out curiosities they didn’t even know they had — that’s what education should do, right? But whatever methods we use, I think the important thing is to affirm the specialness and importance of both the course content and the classroom. In this networked age, why should students come to class rather than using Khan Academy (or cheating from classmate notes)?

The in-person experience is important. Give them something they’ve never had before, and might never have again…