Author: Gedi16 – Cortney Steele

Wear your heart on your sleeve

I really enjoyed the readings and TedTalk this week. Parker Palmer in the article A New Professional: The Aims of Education Revisited, gives a heart wrenching example of a medical resident in the donor care unit losing a patient due to the facility being understaffed and lack of supervision. The article however points out a major issue, professionals should be catalysts of change and have a great deal of power to challenge the institution. Challenging authority may not be so simple for that one solo resident. However, if one resident speaks up maybe more will follow to create a larger influx of change.

I also like that the article discusses the value of emotions. We just discussed the value of emotional intelligence in one of the other classes I am taking. In regards to a leadership role/professional success, those having a higher level of emotional intelligence were found to be more successful than those with a high IQ. Emotional intelligence skills can also be developed with time. In a Seattle study (1985) children in school systems had social learning programs in which they learned how to interact with their peers. The children in the program were able to handle/cope with frustration better and had less problems. Palmer makes a great point in that emotions claiming and aiming our emotions can help shape our knowledge, implement action, and attract followers. Growth comes from change. How do we promote change in ourselves and others to break societal norms?

The TedTalk by Seth Godin: Stop Stealing Dreams, proposed the question, what is school for? Everyone’s answer to that question I am sure is different. My hope is that it is an environment (virtual or physical) that promotes growth and learning. How much time do you think a student spends memorizing a day? How much of the class/curriculum is designed in a cookie cutter fashion?

The ideas posed by Seth Godin include:

  • Homework during the day lectures at night
  • Open book and open note all the time
  • Access to any course anytime in the world
  • Precise focused education instead of generic

I think these are great ideas! How do we transition them into the current education system? How do we get students to replace other activities with lectures at night? How do we develop core knowledge and transferable skills without some memorization? How do we tailor education yet make it cost efficient and successful for the masses?

Week 12- Ethics and Personal Ethos

The first two readings presented in the module were definitely difficult to determine if the journalists or students were breaking the ethical code. I could relate to issues in which it is hard to determine what resources a student can use that is considered fair. I am a teaching assistant for a laboratory section in which the laboratories are returned to the students after being graded. Although there is no way to truly control this, some students may have previous student’s laboratory reports from another semester to aid them in completing their report. Websites such as Koofers.com may have been created to help all students gain access to study material however, I think posting maybe an infringement on the professor’s scholarly work. The exams were created by the instructor and are considered their intellectual property, wouldn’t that be an ethical issue in itself? If the professor was not aware their work was being published on a website?

I grew up in a religious household with Christianity being the prime foundation. Growing up in that environment, I developed many beliefs and values from a very young age. I am constantly learning though and my beliefs have changed overtime. I attended a small liberal arts college for my undergraduate degree where we were required to take many philosophy, biblical and Christian theory classes. Many of these classes were eye opening and really helped bring in many different perspectives and cultures. My values haven’t changed that much throughout my life. To name a few I value honesty, integrity, humility, compassion, and respectfulness. I definitely couldn’t list all of my values in this one blog post. I try to hold myself to particular standards I define. I treat other people how I would want to be treated. I have my personal code of conduct that I stay true to and live by. A big part of my code of conduct is being accountable for all my actions.

Right Decision, Wrong Decision Road Sign

Imgae: http://www.philosophymatters.org/2012/11/moral-principles-monday/

^DoodlePoll

Teaching like a flashcard? Memorize, Recite, Repeat

The reading this week for class were very informative. The analogy of students being the “receptacles” that the teachers must “fill” from the Paulo Freire text really caught my attention. I have never really heard of the “banking” concept before. It made me think back to all the days, I spent memorizing word for word bullets off PowerPoint slides and writing down each key statistic to reproduce on the test. This definitely limits creativity, transformation, application, and knowledge.
Teaching should be conversational! Much like a strategy used for health counseling called motivation interviewing, the conversation should be two-sided and should be facilitated or guided by the instructor. Taking an authoritative approach where there are no connections between instructor and students will suppress creativity and damage the learning environment. Asking for questions, allowing for discussion, and opening the floor to all types of learning will allow for an opportunity for student success. Is there a place though for directness, memorization, and recitation? Is a traditional “banking” education model a foe to the progression of teaching education? What is the correct mixture of “banking” information and application?

 

pop_education

http://chattanoogacreek.utk.edu/popular_education.html

A recipe for a perfect teacher

I believe your personality should be inter-weaved in your teaching style. The reading this week really emphasized that looking at techniques and strategies may not really help your teaching style. Looking at successful teachers and trying to mimic their methods may not entirely work. Different strategies might be as equally or more successful for your classroom. Explaining way you chose your style of teaching to the students or why you chose to do in-class activities will help keep the students engaged. Being approachable and incorporating students into the learning process are strong values of mine. Knowing there is not one way to approach teaching puts me at ease. I like to show my personality and try to connect with students as I teach. What I took from the readings this week is there is no specific recipe for the perfect teacher.
The readings also emphasize teaching should be flexible in nature and not static. Sticking to the material is important but, allowing time for deeper discussion can be important. Adjusting or spending more time on a content area that you see a class is struggling may be necessary. I have had experiences teaching classes of different formats. My approach to teaching each class changes based on the content of the class. I am currently a teaching assistant for a class involving an online lecture and hands on laboratory. Teaching a class with a laboratory section in a sense automatically incorporates student engagement. In order to be successful in the laboratory, students are expected to listen to the online lectures. At most, I spend a half hour providing instruction and then students learn through the hands on activities provided. At the last institution I attended, I worked with a class called Exercise and You. This was a lot more lecture based. Since this was a mass lecture class the lecturing style was much different. So far I have learned teaching involves a lot more trial and error than I originally thought. Regardless of the format of the class, I want my teaching style to be engaging, inspirational, and knowledgeable.

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Game Over – Please Play Again

Classes can be boring/repetitive in nature especially if the lecturer develops lesson plans for them to be so. Mark Carnes points out a learner center-process is critical for the student to be more actively involved in their education! However, Robert Talbert definitely makes a good point that we need a mix of traditional lectures along with other styles of teaching. The instructors experience should be shared with the class to provide students with context or provide them with other working knowledge. Society is changing and new technology is being developed every day. How do we make the class room and students more actively involved?
I do not consider myself a “gamer” by any means. The Quest to Learn School discussed in the video seems like they taking learning to a whole new level by incorporating video game design into learning. I most certainly agree video games can be a vehicle for problem based learning. At times, the digital world could potentially create less barriers for learning than the real world. Video games could also have the potential to develop a new forms of learning and thinking. However, do I think kids should sit around all day and play video games to learn? NO! If I had to choice between real vs. virtual worlds, I would hands down chose the real world. I would consider that video games could be a modality to learn and successfully solve problems. However, I would much rather students being engaged with their peers face-to-face or exploring the world around them. Also being an HNFE major in the future I want student’s physical activity to increase and not decrease while sitting in front of a monitor. I don’t want to say I am anti-video game because I am not! I just think there are many ways to achieve the concepts of learning provided by video games. Another point to be made is not all video games are created equal. Some I feel may enhance learning and problem solving skills more than others.

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Which one requires more strategy a game of chess or pac-man?

Re-invent the Rubric and Put down the Red Pens

Reading through the articles this week, I was reminded of a class I took during my undergraduate career. The class was designed for athletic training majors and specifically related to injury assessment. Throughout the course, we had a series of practical assessments where we were given a list of competencies to get checked off. If we memorized the list from beginning to end and recited it back to the proctor you would receive an “A” in the class. However, if an athlete was truly injured I would have had trouble taking the information I memorized for that practical exam and applying it on the field.

 
A student is more than a letter grade! I feel like so many students determine their value by their grades. Providing meaningful qualitative assessment verses a simple quantitative number is much more constructive and provides authentic feedback. I also think it provides value to the student’s work. Rubrics are essentially “a chore list” designed for students that narrow their focus and cap their creativity. Students are focused on the next test and graded assignments as opposed to exploring learning independently. As both videos mentioned, motivation is sparked from autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Creating self-driven assignments/rubrics that allow students to explore learning without strict restrictions will enable students to expand their horizons. Can there be more than one correct answer? Check out this link where a student had the correct answer but was deducted points due to the methodology. Would you have marked the question wrong?

I was taught to Color in the Lines

From a young age, I was taught skills in an absolute sense just as described in the readings. From middle school to high school to college, I learned to study solely for the test. I sat in large lecture halls, listened to lectures, and worked through standardized homework in a step by step fashion. I was taught how to do things in a “this is the way they are done” fashion. I was taught to not color outside of the lines and stick within the frame of the picture. However, what I needed most is to color outside the lines. What expanded my learning the most was stepping out of the classroom to help with community development and other application projects. However, I still find myself preparing content for a lecture from the start of class to the very last five minutes. Giving little time for discussion throughout the period since so much material needs to be covered over a fifty minute time span. Langer made the point that prepared class material can work against the goals of teaching. I agree with that statement too much structure may compromise the learning environment not allowing students to explore on their own curiosity. Learning skills in a conditional manner as opposed to an absolute manner can help spark questions and encourage further learning.
As I continued to read about anti-teaching and how managing the learning environment of the classroom may be more important than the content, I was also thinking about cases where this may be difficult. The description of the mass lecture hall (250 seats nailed to the floor aligned in rows, a small podium with a microphone, and massive screen) reminded of my chemistry class. This got me thinking of how it could be possible to incorporate this idea of Teaching as a Subversive Activity in a class that is more content/memorization driven such as anatomy or chemistry? Any thoughts?

Mindful Learning

Image: http://www.atesldocuments.com/cf/mindfulLearning

Whether or Not to Jump on the Bandwagon

Society is shifting as whole with the introduction of new technology, social media platforms, and access to more information. The way we teach future generations should be adapted to the changing world. How do we do this in an efficient manner? I’m not really sure. How do we make something highly individualized and provide that same level education to the masses? I’m still not sure. I strongly agree with the idea of connected learning. I feel like most graduate students would agree, as they are continuing their education to pursue their specific interests, whether be science, history, or architecture. Future generations should still be exposed to different forms of education and be supported/encouraged to pursue their specific interests. I think content learning does have a place in the hierarchy of learning, the basics are important. However, connected learning seems to push individuals out of their comfort zone to think out of the box/apply what they are learning. Will technology and today’s media (blogging, twitter, etc.) help?
During the first semester of my masters degree, I was instructed to get a Twitter account by one of my professors. I was then soon after signed up to become part of the Twitter team for the American College of Sports Medicine meeting. Not knowing what I just got myself into, I just agreed. After learning how to get the most information possible into such a small character count and entering into the hashtag world, I realized Twitter wasn’t so bad. The students that were unable to attend the meeting could follow the meetings official hashtag and receive valuable learning information from the speakers. And soon after I learned that my mentor, now was able to live tweet his lecture in real-time using a program called hootsuite, enabling a discussion to form. I honestly took more away from that meeting when I had to tweet than I would have just simply taking notes. This was because I had to dissect the information and make it concise enough to fit in the character account limit. As Gardner Campbell said the way to use Blogs effectively is to “Narrate, Curate, and Share.” Blogging in away forces you to process the information and formulate an opinion. All the readings, present strong points advocating that blogging has potential to enhance learning and communication with others. So why not try it out?