They say that when you get a new hammer, everything looks like a nail. Great analogy, the only problem is that this tool has been around for too long. Meaningful assessment is a great challenge in primary Ed and higher Ed. I would like to think that the right kind of assessment can inspire greater depth and understanding, but many are aware that it may take too much effort. I think a change in the culture of education is definitely needed

HA! I know what you mean with timed tests. I fell asleep in both of my SAT’s! Grad school has been different, in that it is one giant timed test. I put a great amount of energy into my coursework but many of my professors give tremendous amounts of reading. Guess what is rarely on the test? I am not opposed to reading, but some of that ancient material is only an homage to the good old days when they were in grad school. The professors themselves are most often the more valuable resource. I think that the advantage of many graduate programs lies in the research experience outside of the classroom. In many of my classes I am able to provide a unique perspective based on my experiences. Our professors typically have specific fields of interest, so that works out. My most memorable undergraduate professors were those that were able to incorporate their experiences into the material and provide perspectives that were beyond the textbook. I think that a large part of learning more in grad school has been the realization that my own experiences can give me perspectives that I can in turn share with others to aid in their own discovery.

But who is asking for the cheat codes? The administrators who are trying to divide budgets by zero and demand standardized tests that encourage cheat codes, or the students that are a product of that culture? STEM is an interesting challenge. I think that there is room for creativity in delivery and innovation in teaching STEM. At some point though, students progress beyond survey courses and will need more than a mile wide and inch deep understanding. If we work on an interdisciplinary system of connected discovery, we may be able address part of the significance issue. I don’t know how we can restructure education enough to change the “mechanistic” and “product” views of it, but until we do product delivery will remain the focus of education.

Hey Turner and Emily,

I have the advantage of being able to use labs to better show and assess student comprehension. I a, usually in a supportive role as a TA, but hands on is where I can really help the most. I like to think of the things I work on, beekeeping for example, as related concepts that can be used to build a better understanding. At some point, I will be able to see if a student knows just what makes a hive of bees work (eggs, queen, worker bees, food, etc.). If the learner is missing one of the basic building block concepts, I try my best to make that concept more approachable for them. In the case of feedback models like Socrative, I think the technology and anonymity buffers may make things more accessible to more introverted students. But that may be more reactionary than real time. As for the caring, I hope to inspire my audience’s curiosity everyday, but some… Just have to get stung to learn.

Exactly!
I find that when given the chance to provide something new and unique as a path to conceptual learning works in two ways. First the student / audience has an identifying moment of “they can do that with cows?” Then the why becomes more clear (more of the point of the lesson) “So that’s how they can tell what forage is good or not. I thought all grass was good.” In my case I work with bugs. So I can shock people with rediculus examples of how insects break every stereotype we can manage. Along the way, I can use these examples to illustrate just what makes them so different. But that’s a whole different story. -Thanks!

Homero makes a good point. The information delivery platform is only useful if it can reach others. I started a blog about my research and was slowly trickling the link out to others. The idea was I would do a big launch with some collaborators to start a citizen science project. It never really got off of the ground because of my committee, but I am looking forward to revamping it and making it a useful resource. One of the things you can do is change some of your options about “search engines” then your subject can be easily found. Ultimately, I think it would be useful for a place like VT to showcase some of the research driven websites that students and faculty generate. Tweeting may just be a great way to get exposure for your posts! #mycollegetweets

Thanks for your thoughts. It does seem like many blogs are platforms for specific opinions to be shared. I did notice that you yourself appeared to move away from the prompted focus area and begin to develop more analytical or critical thoughts on the process of blogging. I thought that the you tube video was interesting as well. Mainly I enjoyed the thoughts on audience receptions to blogging. How we have to take into consideration what readers may actually gain from our posts. As professionals we may not need to use blogs as an opportunity to put our two cents out there, but perhaps use blogging as an opportunity to share experiences in a way that is approachable, and capable of fostering meaningful dialog.