It's hard to believe that this is the final chapter of our GMIT coursework, not including our Practicum. It has been both fun and challenging, to say the least. The seminars were a good way to end the program. I feel that way because it is a culmination of all the previous coursework and probably a great tool to help with retention of the knowledge from the program.
This seminar experience ranked near the top of my most memorable education experiences. Besides the wonderful adventure of creating an online course with my GMIT cohorts, I cannot imagine a more rewarding learning experience. I don't think that the experience could be duplicated in the classroom because of the opportunity to think through each posting very carefully before making a reply that has reflective impact. Having the extra time to think about each posting extensively makes each reply all that more powerful and productive.
The format worked very well for me mainly because of the reason I stated above. I like to take my time to think through the ideas and issues my fellow students have presented before I can share my thoughts and opinions, add suggestions, offer advice, etc. When a group of people are sharing thoughts and opinions all at once it is very difficult to keep everything in proper perspective and order. I realize that live, face to face discussions are very important, also, but I think to really get a very polished and thorough, finished product you have to have time to go through in your mind all of the different offerings.
I think the seminar format works extremely well for adult learners because they are very serious about the topics at hand; they know what's at stake; they usually are very adamant about learning and reach down within themselves to share the best that they know, what they have truly experienced in their lives. That's not to say that you shouldn't have a little fun once in a while along the way to break tension or give cause to relax a little. I think that providing a little humor and adding a little casual talk occasionally helps people let down their guards a little more and trust in sharing more personal opinions and thoughts.
Group discusssion, or in this case a group seminar, is a lot of 'give and take' in sharing thoughts and ideas. We take each topic, think it through, and then offer our experiences or suggestions to the rest of the cohort. Our first thoughts or opinions are often subject to change after viewing or "listening" to all of the different comments, many of which have differences of opinion. This is good because the process of determining a sound conclusion takes a lot of effort and time; it takes give and take, thoughts which spark more thoughts. The end product is usually always the better for it.
As I look forward to resuming my professional career in education I can look back on this whole experience and truly say that it taught me a lot, it helped me prepare for what lies ahead. I am thankful for having had this wonderful opportunity to share and learn in the GMIT Instructional Technology program; without it, I am afraid I would have been in a deep rut, not moving ahead and becoming a good teacher and trainer.
Peer on peer learning has to be one of the best ways to learn because the cohorts hold each other accountable, so to speak, in trying to learn all that can be learned about the topics. Just a few days ago a good friend of mine taking classes at Doane College expressed concerned about a web design course she was taking. She told me that she just couldn't quite grasp what was going on after several weeks into the course. I asked her if she had consulted her classmates or instructor about this, if she had collaborated with anyone in trying to talk things out and figure out what she wasn't quite getting. She told me that she didn't ask for help because she didn't feel comfortable with them. I told her that she has to learn how to let go of those barriers, to get past feeling uncomfortable because working with people in groups could be a big part of her career.
Looking back at both GMIT 650 and 660 classes I can say that it was much easier for me to understand 660 (assessment) because it was easier reading, more about material that I could relate to. GMIT 650 was focused on the psychological theories of adult learning. I do think, however, that I did learn quite a bit about how learners think, how previous life experiences figure into their learning styles and potential. That goes a long way in preparing ourselves to plan our curriculum activites as instructors.
I have a few questions for you to ponder: Where will education be in ten years? Will our students be better problem solvers? Will we, as instructors, be able to interchange our teaching skills to fit the mold of the different types of learners? Will we, both students and teachers, be able to keep up with the rapid-changing technological world? Will there still be face-to-face classrooms? Will we get better and better each year, as instructors, and as fellow professionals?
I want to close by thanking Pat and all of my cohorts for letting me share this wonderful experience. I do hope that we will continue to cross paths in one way or another. You all have helped me grow both personally and professionally. God bless you.
Al Allen
Friday, July 20, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
GMIT 650--Week Nine--A Developmental Approach
This final week's topic in GMIT 650 focuses on the characteristics of a developmental approach to education. Our very fine seminar leader, Greg Burroughs, provided us with a tremendous amount of good material to explore and share our good thoughts and ideas.
Our textbook, Learning and Change in the Adult Years: A Developmental Perspective, explained that, "althought most education is not consciously and explicitly directed toward psychological development, the process of education itself implies growth and development." This thinking overlaps with the GMIT 660 focus for the week, which was on morals and ethics. I say this because ethical and moral growth, which was suggested by one author to be blended with social, emotional and academic education, is a process much like, if not intertwined with, psychological growth.
The text goes on to say that, "as a teacher, you need to acknowledge and explore your own development and the place of teaching in your sense of self." Greg's first seminar question focused on that very thought; Greg asks: "Our text started the last chapter with a series of questions to make us reflect on what our discussion of the concepts brought together in our readings and discourse have led us to discover. Have your thoughts about your role and purpose as a teacher and your concept of that role and purpose changed since you have embarked on this little journey into educational theory and practice?"
Many of the cohorts said that while they have learned a great deal during this journey it is going to take a while for it all to soak in, sort out, and then apply it all, or at least a lot of it to our teaching and training. As I have stated before, this Masters Degree Program has by far been my most fruitful educational experience; I think we all feel its effects for many years.
Pat, our instructor was pleased to hear Kathy Zabel mention some of the well known educational psychologists we have studied during the program, such as Tennant, Piaget, and Knowles; it showed that some of it had already sunk in a little, at least. We have learned to become better critical thinkers and have come to realize the power and importance of interactive learning, as well as some of the tremendous teaching tools such as rubrics.
Greg's second question: "On page 193 the author talks about what Shulman refers to as the "wisdom of practice", what does this term mean for you as you contemplate mentoring another who has to teach or as you approach the prospect of having to teach?"
"Higher levels of expertise and development" is the forerunner of "wisdom of practice;" more and more we are expected to take it upon ourselves to find where our weak spots are in our careers, seek out ways to strengthen those weaknesses, and engage those to fill the gaps. We have done just that in this Masters Degree program; we have grown in knowledge and professionalism. But, we can't stop here; we have to take what we've learned, build on it, and implement it in our daily professional lives. We have to keep asking questions, keep helping each other get better; we can't be afraid to be critical; we have to strive to get better each day.
Greg's final question: "On page 196 the author brings up the proposition put forth by Weathersby that theory is a base for reflection on practice. How do you feel this contrasts or enhances Collins proposition that we put ourselves into practice?"
The author is using Collins as the intial messenger that "theory is a base for reflection on practice" instead of "knowledge applied to practice." He then uses Weathersby's quote to expand on that thinking. In other words, theory comes in on both ends of practice; you start with a theory, you put it into practice, and then you go back to the theory (starting point) to use it as a benchmark to measure against. What were the results of the practice? Did a lot of things change between theory and practice, or did the outcomes stay pretty close to the original theory?
Whenever we put a plan into practice we must always go back to the original plan to see how far offbase we were; that way when we plan again we might be able to head off a few things, get to our objectives faster and with less effort. Also, we must always try to streamline process; always look for better, faster, and smarter ways to do things, always keeping in mind the stakeholders.
Our textbook, Learning and Change in the Adult Years: A Developmental Perspective, explained that, "althought most education is not consciously and explicitly directed toward psychological development, the process of education itself implies growth and development." This thinking overlaps with the GMIT 660 focus for the week, which was on morals and ethics. I say this because ethical and moral growth, which was suggested by one author to be blended with social, emotional and academic education, is a process much like, if not intertwined with, psychological growth.
The text goes on to say that, "as a teacher, you need to acknowledge and explore your own development and the place of teaching in your sense of self." Greg's first seminar question focused on that very thought; Greg asks: "Our text started the last chapter with a series of questions to make us reflect on what our discussion of the concepts brought together in our readings and discourse have led us to discover. Have your thoughts about your role and purpose as a teacher and your concept of that role and purpose changed since you have embarked on this little journey into educational theory and practice?"
Many of the cohorts said that while they have learned a great deal during this journey it is going to take a while for it all to soak in, sort out, and then apply it all, or at least a lot of it to our teaching and training. As I have stated before, this Masters Degree Program has by far been my most fruitful educational experience; I think we all feel its effects for many years.
Pat, our instructor was pleased to hear Kathy Zabel mention some of the well known educational psychologists we have studied during the program, such as Tennant, Piaget, and Knowles; it showed that some of it had already sunk in a little, at least. We have learned to become better critical thinkers and have come to realize the power and importance of interactive learning, as well as some of the tremendous teaching tools such as rubrics.
Greg's second question: "On page 193 the author talks about what Shulman refers to as the "wisdom of practice", what does this term mean for you as you contemplate mentoring another who has to teach or as you approach the prospect of having to teach?"
"Higher levels of expertise and development" is the forerunner of "wisdom of practice;" more and more we are expected to take it upon ourselves to find where our weak spots are in our careers, seek out ways to strengthen those weaknesses, and engage those to fill the gaps. We have done just that in this Masters Degree program; we have grown in knowledge and professionalism. But, we can't stop here; we have to take what we've learned, build on it, and implement it in our daily professional lives. We have to keep asking questions, keep helping each other get better; we can't be afraid to be critical; we have to strive to get better each day.
Greg's final question: "On page 196 the author brings up the proposition put forth by Weathersby that theory is a base for reflection on practice. How do you feel this contrasts or enhances Collins proposition that we put ourselves into practice?"
The author is using Collins as the intial messenger that "theory is a base for reflection on practice" instead of "knowledge applied to practice." He then uses Weathersby's quote to expand on that thinking. In other words, theory comes in on both ends of practice; you start with a theory, you put it into practice, and then you go back to the theory (starting point) to use it as a benchmark to measure against. What were the results of the practice? Did a lot of things change between theory and practice, or did the outcomes stay pretty close to the original theory?
Whenever we put a plan into practice we must always go back to the original plan to see how far offbase we were; that way when we plan again we might be able to head off a few things, get to our objectives faster and with less effort. Also, we must always try to streamline process; always look for better, faster, and smarter ways to do things, always keeping in mind the stakeholders.
Monday, July 16, 2007
GMIT 660--Week Nine--Morals and Ethics
This week brought some lively discussion in talking about morals and ethics; there is a difference between the two, as our very astute leader pointed out. Ethics are considered "written codes," while morals are considered "unwritten."
Study of ethics in education has, for some obvious reasons, been kept at a minimum for a long time. There are lots of divisive issues, many which are more related to morals than ethics. I think the main reason ethics are not put more to the forefront is that we humans, much like electricity, tend to take the path of least resistance.
A really good example of this is that even though this week's topic contains the word "morals" in it, when I brought up the moral issue of homosexuality hardly anyone wanted to get involved. I really don't blame them; we've heard so much about the issue over the years that we don't want to go there at all.
The focus stayed pretty much on ethical issues in the classroom, which is just fine; that is plenty to chew on for now. The talked focused more on the lack of teaching of ethics more than anything; many of the participants in the seminar wanted to see more of it in our curriculum.
Greg Burroughs, our seminar leader, provided us with some excellent material to ponder over and share our thoughts. One piece that comes to mind focused on the need to rethink the goals of education. Jonathan Cohen, the author of the article, Social, Emotional, Ethical, and Academic Education: Creating a Climate for Learning, Participation in Democracy, and Well-Being, argues that "the goals of education need to be reframed to prioritize not only academic learning, but also social, emotional, and ethical competencies."
Cohen goes on to say that, "parents and teachers want schooling to support children's ability to become lifelong learners who are able to love, work, and act as responsible members of the community." He also says that, "social, emotional, academic, and ethical education can help children reach the goals their parents and teachers have for them: learning to 'read' themselves and others, and learning to solve social, emotional, and ethical problems."
So you see, it is not just an adult issue; it has to start in the earlier years. We have many times heard the phrase, "it has to start in the home with parents." This is so true; but not only does it have to start in the home, it has to carry on to our schools. It can't be just about academics, with young students learning reading, writing, and arithmetic; we have to first learn how to incorporate good social, emotional, and ethical skills into our teaching/learning curriculum, and then implement it in the classroom early and often.
We have the theories: "there are two core processes that promote children's school success and healthy development: (a) promoting children's social-emotional competencies and ethical dispositions throughout their preK-12 school experience, and (b) creating safe, caring, participatory, and responsive school systems and homes."
We have the want: "parents and teachers want schooling to support children's ability to become lifelong learners who are able to love, work, and act as responsible members of the community."
We have the tools to get it done; millions of good people want to live and work in peace and prosperity. Out of those millions there are many good teachers and administrators who have to come together to put these theories into practice. We have to work together to get there.
Study of ethics in education has, for some obvious reasons, been kept at a minimum for a long time. There are lots of divisive issues, many which are more related to morals than ethics. I think the main reason ethics are not put more to the forefront is that we humans, much like electricity, tend to take the path of least resistance.
A really good example of this is that even though this week's topic contains the word "morals" in it, when I brought up the moral issue of homosexuality hardly anyone wanted to get involved. I really don't blame them; we've heard so much about the issue over the years that we don't want to go there at all.
The focus stayed pretty much on ethical issues in the classroom, which is just fine; that is plenty to chew on for now. The talked focused more on the lack of teaching of ethics more than anything; many of the participants in the seminar wanted to see more of it in our curriculum.
Greg Burroughs, our seminar leader, provided us with some excellent material to ponder over and share our thoughts. One piece that comes to mind focused on the need to rethink the goals of education. Jonathan Cohen, the author of the article, Social, Emotional, Ethical, and Academic Education: Creating a Climate for Learning, Participation in Democracy, and Well-Being, argues that "the goals of education need to be reframed to prioritize not only academic learning, but also social, emotional, and ethical competencies."
Cohen goes on to say that, "parents and teachers want schooling to support children's ability to become lifelong learners who are able to love, work, and act as responsible members of the community." He also says that, "social, emotional, academic, and ethical education can help children reach the goals their parents and teachers have for them: learning to 'read' themselves and others, and learning to solve social, emotional, and ethical problems."
So you see, it is not just an adult issue; it has to start in the earlier years. We have many times heard the phrase, "it has to start in the home with parents." This is so true; but not only does it have to start in the home, it has to carry on to our schools. It can't be just about academics, with young students learning reading, writing, and arithmetic; we have to first learn how to incorporate good social, emotional, and ethical skills into our teaching/learning curriculum, and then implement it in the classroom early and often.
We have the theories: "there are two core processes that promote children's school success and healthy development: (a) promoting children's social-emotional competencies and ethical dispositions throughout their preK-12 school experience, and (b) creating safe, caring, participatory, and responsive school systems and homes."
We have the want: "parents and teachers want schooling to support children's ability to become lifelong learners who are able to love, work, and act as responsible members of the community."
We have the tools to get it done; millions of good people want to live and work in peace and prosperity. Out of those millions there are many good teachers and administrators who have to come together to put these theories into practice. We have to work together to get there.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
GMIT 650--Week Eight--Teacher/Learner Relationships
Kathy Zabel led the seminar this week for GMIT 650; let's see how it went!
Kathy's first question:
This question addresses the political dimension (the power) of the adult teacher-student relationship. Freire distinguished between two approaches to education, the banking approach and the problem-posing approach (see p. 173). Essentially, in the banking approach, the teacher maintains all the power. In the problem-posing approach, the learners determine goals and work with the facilitator to achieve the goals. Tennant states on p. 174 that power should be distributed evenly in community education, yet poses the question: "Can power be distributed evenly where there are institutional constraints linked to accreditation practices...?"
Many of the individual programs at the community college are accredited and have to follow certain curriculum guidelines. Does your curriculum constrain the nature of the relationship between the teacher-student? How far can instructors go in relinquishing power to students and still meet the programs' state or national requirements?
Here is Greg Burroughs' reply to Kathy:
The goals for the class are set in the course syllabus and the objectives of the class, when set up to prepare a student to meet a national professsional qualification standard, are not open to interpretation. This is especially true when you know what the state organization uses for testing. The power you are able to give to students is really limited, but Jessie is correct that an alternate project could be used to meet the same objectives if you had a student who put forth the idea, or if you had developed alternative assignments and let the student choose in what way they wished to achieve the goal. Additional suppporting material could be included if one had the time or if a student had the inclination to go above and beyond the requirements. The use of independent study can also allow a student to develop a fuller understanding of the concepts of an area of study as well, but requires the student to desire such and the instructor with the willingness to support such an academic endeavor.
Our vocational programs are often limited in their flexibility by the constraints of the professional standards and due to the fact that they are a practice-based program. Theoretically-based programs, or ones that work to expand the ability to practice, are more open to the student directing the goals. My own bachelors degree had the option for six specializations and one generalist option, which allowed for a degree focused on practice to allow the student to set their own goals for what they wanted the degree to do. At the community college level we are often limited by the time and the focused goal of our students to get the skills that they can use next Monday. Our students are practice-oriented and research is not what generally interests them.
My reflection:
Greg makes the point that vocational programs are practice-based, or focused on a specific career with needed technical skills. He says that there are constraints by professional standards, and also time constraints that limit the flexibility for research and power given to the students to create their own goals and objectives for learning.
I think this is a big problem because we limit the students' learning experience if we don't give them the chance to do more critical thinking and problem solving that prepare them for life experiences. We must do more than give them practical knowledge. We have to find ways to get them more involved, more interaction with their coursework to advance the field to levels much more productive.
I would suggest that Greg try to find a way to get students to work in groups that collaborate in their coursework to build upon the practical information they are provided. They should work together to go beyond practical knowledge to more theoretical learning. He could design exercises that have a blend of both practical and theoretical learning.
Kathy's question #2:
The author of our text, Tennant, developed a class exercise which asked adult educators to identify aspects of students/trainee/participant behavior that annoy or irritate you and to identify aspects of your role (as an educator), which you fear and or feel guilty about? See pp. 182-183 for results.
Since we're getting close to the end of our program and many of you will soon be out there as adult educators, I thought it was time to address what annoys us, and what our fears or guilts are. We all have a big fear or guilt whether we teach now or as we anticipate our role as a teacher. What is your biggest fear, or guilt when it comes to your students? Let’s hear about yours. Feel free to really express yourself here.
Then, I’d like you to tell us what your plan is if your big fear, annoyance, or guilt actually comes true. Perhaps if you’ve recognized your fears/guilts and have an advance plan to deal with it, then it will resolve itself quicker in real life. As you discuss your classmates’ fears, etc., please offer any suggestions to alleviate their concerns based on your teaching experiences.
Gina Ewing's reply to Kathy:
My biggest fear/guilt/annoyance: I have a preceved fear that I would run into a brilliant student who would embarrase me in front of the class by asking me questions that they already know the answers to and prove me to be an inadequate instructor to the other student. And even though I stick to my, "I'll have to get back to you with that answer", the student is persistant in making me look ridiculous in front of the class.
I wonder if any of my cohorts have experienced anything like this?
Plan: I plan on being knowledgeable about the topic that I teach and not become an instructor "just for the money". Perhaps in time and with gained experience I will know how to handle the know it all students and be able to instruct in any topic area that I feel comfortable, but perhaps not an expert in.
My reflection:
Gina is expressing a fear that most new instructors or teachers have, that of a student making fun of them for not knowing the course material to its fullest. That is a very disrespectful thing for a student to do and should not be tolerated. If Gina were to make it clear upfront that she expects the students to respect her while she shows constant respect for them, this disrespectful action should not occur.
I replied to Gina, suggesting to her that she had the right to excuse the student from class if he or she did not relent. There is enough pressure in delivering learning to students without having to deal with this type of nonsense.
I think Gina will find that if she starts right away with ice breaker exercises that get students to know one another and find trust with each other, as well as with her, she probably won't have this problem.
Kathy did a great job again leading this seminar; she kept the discussions going with good questions building on previous thoughts and ideas. There was good participation and sharing by the cohorts. I did a good job participating myself, commenting and sharing my own experiences in the classroom. We all continue to learn from our experiences; if we didn't have that mindset we wouldn't be improving and giving our students the best learning experience possible.
Kathy's first question:
This question addresses the political dimension (the power) of the adult teacher-student relationship. Freire distinguished between two approaches to education, the banking approach and the problem-posing approach (see p. 173). Essentially, in the banking approach, the teacher maintains all the power. In the problem-posing approach, the learners determine goals and work with the facilitator to achieve the goals. Tennant states on p. 174 that power should be distributed evenly in community education, yet poses the question: "Can power be distributed evenly where there are institutional constraints linked to accreditation practices...?"
Many of the individual programs at the community college are accredited and have to follow certain curriculum guidelines. Does your curriculum constrain the nature of the relationship between the teacher-student? How far can instructors go in relinquishing power to students and still meet the programs' state or national requirements?
Here is Greg Burroughs' reply to Kathy:
The goals for the class are set in the course syllabus and the objectives of the class, when set up to prepare a student to meet a national professsional qualification standard, are not open to interpretation. This is especially true when you know what the state organization uses for testing. The power you are able to give to students is really limited, but Jessie is correct that an alternate project could be used to meet the same objectives if you had a student who put forth the idea, or if you had developed alternative assignments and let the student choose in what way they wished to achieve the goal. Additional suppporting material could be included if one had the time or if a student had the inclination to go above and beyond the requirements. The use of independent study can also allow a student to develop a fuller understanding of the concepts of an area of study as well, but requires the student to desire such and the instructor with the willingness to support such an academic endeavor.
Our vocational programs are often limited in their flexibility by the constraints of the professional standards and due to the fact that they are a practice-based program. Theoretically-based programs, or ones that work to expand the ability to practice, are more open to the student directing the goals. My own bachelors degree had the option for six specializations and one generalist option, which allowed for a degree focused on practice to allow the student to set their own goals for what they wanted the degree to do. At the community college level we are often limited by the time and the focused goal of our students to get the skills that they can use next Monday. Our students are practice-oriented and research is not what generally interests them.
My reflection:
Greg makes the point that vocational programs are practice-based, or focused on a specific career with needed technical skills. He says that there are constraints by professional standards, and also time constraints that limit the flexibility for research and power given to the students to create their own goals and objectives for learning.
I think this is a big problem because we limit the students' learning experience if we don't give them the chance to do more critical thinking and problem solving that prepare them for life experiences. We must do more than give them practical knowledge. We have to find ways to get them more involved, more interaction with their coursework to advance the field to levels much more productive.
I would suggest that Greg try to find a way to get students to work in groups that collaborate in their coursework to build upon the practical information they are provided. They should work together to go beyond practical knowledge to more theoretical learning. He could design exercises that have a blend of both practical and theoretical learning.
Kathy's question #2:
The author of our text, Tennant, developed a class exercise which asked adult educators to identify aspects of students/trainee/participant behavior that annoy or irritate you and to identify aspects of your role (as an educator), which you fear and or feel guilty about? See pp. 182-183 for results.
Since we're getting close to the end of our program and many of you will soon be out there as adult educators, I thought it was time to address what annoys us, and what our fears or guilts are. We all have a big fear or guilt whether we teach now or as we anticipate our role as a teacher. What is your biggest fear, or guilt when it comes to your students? Let’s hear about yours. Feel free to really express yourself here.
Then, I’d like you to tell us what your plan is if your big fear, annoyance, or guilt actually comes true. Perhaps if you’ve recognized your fears/guilts and have an advance plan to deal with it, then it will resolve itself quicker in real life. As you discuss your classmates’ fears, etc., please offer any suggestions to alleviate their concerns based on your teaching experiences.
Gina Ewing's reply to Kathy:
My biggest fear/guilt/annoyance: I have a preceved fear that I would run into a brilliant student who would embarrase me in front of the class by asking me questions that they already know the answers to and prove me to be an inadequate instructor to the other student. And even though I stick to my, "I'll have to get back to you with that answer", the student is persistant in making me look ridiculous in front of the class.
I wonder if any of my cohorts have experienced anything like this?
Plan: I plan on being knowledgeable about the topic that I teach and not become an instructor "just for the money". Perhaps in time and with gained experience I will know how to handle the know it all students and be able to instruct in any topic area that I feel comfortable, but perhaps not an expert in.
My reflection:
Gina is expressing a fear that most new instructors or teachers have, that of a student making fun of them for not knowing the course material to its fullest. That is a very disrespectful thing for a student to do and should not be tolerated. If Gina were to make it clear upfront that she expects the students to respect her while she shows constant respect for them, this disrespectful action should not occur.
I replied to Gina, suggesting to her that she had the right to excuse the student from class if he or she did not relent. There is enough pressure in delivering learning to students without having to deal with this type of nonsense.
I think Gina will find that if she starts right away with ice breaker exercises that get students to know one another and find trust with each other, as well as with her, she probably won't have this problem.
Kathy did a great job again leading this seminar; she kept the discussions going with good questions building on previous thoughts and ideas. There was good participation and sharing by the cohorts. I did a good job participating myself, commenting and sharing my own experiences in the classroom. We all continue to learn from our experiences; if we didn't have that mindset we wouldn't be improving and giving our students the best learning experience possible.
Monday, July 2, 2007
GMIT 660--Week Eight--Community Colleges
Jessie La Cross and I led the GMIT 66o Seminar this week--lots of work participating in two seminars and getting material ready to lead one!
Let's see what happened!
Jessie--Question 1:
Because there are so many shorter readings, please do not feel you have to respond to each article. But if there was a journal article (or two) from this week that particularly caught your interest, please share your thoughts on it:
Which article interested you the most?
What did you find most interesting about the ideas presented?
Did you agree or disagree with the strategy used? Why?
What do you feel are the specific strengths or weaknesses of the strategy used?
Do you feel this strategy could be relevant to SCC?
For reaction to Jessie's first question I'm going to choose Gina DeFreece's main reply posting and reflect on it:
I know everyone is busy and no one has extra time, but the article from Butler County was really interesting!!!!!! If you want a different take on assessment, this would be a good article choice!
Which article interested you the most? I choose the Butler Community College article on their PACT Individualized Assessment program.
What did you find most interesting about the ideas presented? - I liked the idea of creating assessments that truly are individualized and indicated individual growth and development over time. Butler County developed a program by which they evaluated students on 4 areas P- Personal Develpment Skills (including everything from self-concept to teamwork) A- Analytical Skills (critical thinking, analyzing) C- Communication (listening, speaking, etc.) and T- Technological Skills (Computer/technology)
Did you agree or disagree with the strategy used? I did agree, because I thought the use of rubrics to determine whether or not the compentencies were met, but then formulating another rubric based on the PACT info was a true indicator of the students personal development within their perspective field was a more useful assessment of their learning. I thought this was a much more comprehensive approach to assessment rather than the traditional letter grade.
Do you feel this strategy could be relevant to SCC? I LOVED this idea! Of course, I think we should try it in our program, and Butler County had an actual Assessment team that converted the findings from the rubrics into the information that they would be using for Assessment, (and we don't have that at SCC so this would create more work for us) but it was really a good tool so I want to talk with my team about how we could integrate this into our Graduation Seminar class. I think it could be used as a pilot program in maybe ECED or Human Services a bit more, but the article indicated how different programs were interpreting how to use the PACT tool.
My reflection:
Gina is genuinely excited about what this article had to offer in the PACT method of assessment!
P--Personal Development Skills: self-concept/teamwork. Don't we all need more personal development skills?! I am so impressed by where Gina is at with her career and her skills as an instructor, not to mention a wonderful cohort! I've gotten to know her so much in the past year or so; I never would have had that opportunity if not for this program! I feel so far behind everyone else in education since I have been around academics on a large scale for only three years now, but I have grown leaps and bounds in the past year or so! My self-concept has improved immensely, as well as my skills to work on a team! I hope for years to come that I can continue to share and learn in such a wonderful community. We owe it to our students to continue to improve on our own skills so we can pass them on to them so they can be the best they can be. Teamwork and community are so important in this day and age of self-agrandizement. We have become such an individualistic society in our culture and that does not bode well in the long run. We were not meant to be that way!
A--Analytical Skills: from critical thinking to analyzing. I am hearing more and more each day about the importance of critical thinking! Problem-solving is such a crucial skill that is in high demand with today's rapid growth in technology, and critical thinking is the main element! We take other's thoughts and ideas about a topic, really think hard about them and what they mean to us, and share all we can about how they can affect each of us......and, when we do it as a team it can be that much better!
C--Communication: listening and speaking, etc. Being a good listener is vitally important. There has to be a good blend of listening and speaking in conversation for it to be fruitful. If it is too one-sided there is a decline in the power of the message to be shared by both parties. You have to give and take equally. If you are too busy thinking about what you are going to say next you may miss something that can make the conversation really fruitful.
T--Technological Skills: computers/technology. It wasn't that long ago that I was very afraid that I was too far behind in this area so I made a mental challenge to myself that I had to catch up or I would paid dearly for it! I caught up to a good degree and I am very thankful that I did. I do, however, have a way to go before I can comfortably say that I have great technological skills!
Jessie--Question 2:
Please feel free to choose to respond to only one of the following:
a) Both the Glimpse of Community and Technical College Students’ Perceptions and the Butler County Community College article seemed to address the role of students and community college assessments.
The first article, “A Glimpse of Community and Technical College Students’ Perceptions of Student Engagement” explores how 48 Community Colleges participated in an assessment strategy that examined educational practices that are related to student success from the perspective of their students.
At the end of the article, based on information from the survey used, several suggestions are made to help increase student engagement, two of which are:
How to optimize the use of classroom time to help students actively engage more with one another, with faculty, and with the subject matter.
How to find ways students can communicate substantively with their peers and faculty outside the classroom setting.
I was curious how important our cohorts feel out-of-class collaborative activities are in community college courses? To what extent do you feel it is important to have students working together outside of class on class-related activities? The practical logistics of having students try to find common times to communicate and or work together, in addition to juggling work and family responsibilities, seems almost overwhelming. If a student doesn’t have a home computer, or reliable transportation, or does have heavy work and family commitments, is it reasonable to expect collaborative out-of-class activities of them? Are there outside collaborative activities that teachers are currently using, or that they could use in the future, that work in spite of these complications? What else did you think was of value (or concern) in this article?
In the second article, Butler County Community College discussed a strategy in which students’ personal development skills, broken down in 10 different areas, were included in their assessment processes. Faculty were directly involved in devising the assessment strategies, created rubrics for measuring performance, informed students that these assessments would be integrated with their coursework, and they went so far as to give participating students individualized results from the assessment process.
If we are going to engage in collecting assessment data from our students, does it seem reasonable to you that students should also get individual feedback on their performance? Would this strategy require that much more work to administer? Would it be worth the extra effort? What else did you think was of value (or concern) in this article?
b) Both the Wisconsin Technical College System and the Colorado Community College and Occupational Education System articles seemed to look at some state wide issues and Community College assessment strategies.
What impressed me about the Wisconsin Technical College System strategy was their insistence on consensus as critical to decisions being adopted. Being familiar with Quakers, who move only by consensus, I know fully well how long even the simplest decisions can take using consensus building. But the article states “buy-in and consensus building take time and were recognized to be essential for the model to be credible and viable.” Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
If one of the primary missions of community colleges involves meeting the needs of the local community, community colleges could conceivably have some very different priorities and programs. Just thinking about Nebraska, with large urban areas like Omaha, or smaller rural areas further out west, seems like state-wide decisions would be incredibly hard to agree on. But then I looked at the thirteen core indicators chosen for Colorado’s 12 community colleges, and I was totally impressed with the list. The list seemed both broad and fair in reflecting ways that many community colleges could be accountable at a state wide level. What do you think of this list? What are the advantages and disadvantages of applying state-wide assessment strategies in community colleges? What else did you think was of value (or concern) in this article?
Please remember, you only have to respond to a) or b) if you wish.
For this question I am going to choose Kelly Findley's response:
How important are out-of-class collaborative activities in community college courses? To what extent do you feel it is important to have students working together outside of class on class-related activities? Is it reasonable to expect collaborative out-of-class activities of them? Are there outside collaborative activities that teachers are currently using, or that they could use in the future, that work in spite of these complications?
Students have to learn to interact as a team and be a functional, responsible member of that team. Therefore, it is very important that there be some out-of-class collaborative activity to promote this ideal. What I do is try to divide them according to clinical sites (students spend approximately 21 hours per week performing hands-on exams at a hospital site consequently they see each other a lot!) so they have time to discuss/plan/interact OR I divide them randomly and give them portions of class time to strategize. At the end of the activity, I often have students do a peer review of each other’s performance and in that I include an area pertaining to contributions and functioning as a member of the team.
Let's see what happened!
Jessie--Question 1:
Because there are so many shorter readings, please do not feel you have to respond to each article. But if there was a journal article (or two) from this week that particularly caught your interest, please share your thoughts on it:
Which article interested you the most?
What did you find most interesting about the ideas presented?
Did you agree or disagree with the strategy used? Why?
What do you feel are the specific strengths or weaknesses of the strategy used?
Do you feel this strategy could be relevant to SCC?
For reaction to Jessie's first question I'm going to choose Gina DeFreece's main reply posting and reflect on it:
I know everyone is busy and no one has extra time, but the article from Butler County was really interesting!!!!!! If you want a different take on assessment, this would be a good article choice!
Which article interested you the most? I choose the Butler Community College article on their PACT Individualized Assessment program.
What did you find most interesting about the ideas presented? - I liked the idea of creating assessments that truly are individualized and indicated individual growth and development over time. Butler County developed a program by which they evaluated students on 4 areas P- Personal Develpment Skills (including everything from self-concept to teamwork) A- Analytical Skills (critical thinking, analyzing) C- Communication (listening, speaking, etc.) and T- Technological Skills (Computer/technology)
Did you agree or disagree with the strategy used? I did agree, because I thought the use of rubrics to determine whether or not the compentencies were met, but then formulating another rubric based on the PACT info was a true indicator of the students personal development within their perspective field was a more useful assessment of their learning. I thought this was a much more comprehensive approach to assessment rather than the traditional letter grade.
Do you feel this strategy could be relevant to SCC? I LOVED this idea! Of course, I think we should try it in our program, and Butler County had an actual Assessment team that converted the findings from the rubrics into the information that they would be using for Assessment, (and we don't have that at SCC so this would create more work for us) but it was really a good tool so I want to talk with my team about how we could integrate this into our Graduation Seminar class. I think it could be used as a pilot program in maybe ECED or Human Services a bit more, but the article indicated how different programs were interpreting how to use the PACT tool.
My reflection:
Gina is genuinely excited about what this article had to offer in the PACT method of assessment!
P--Personal Development Skills: self-concept/teamwork. Don't we all need more personal development skills?! I am so impressed by where Gina is at with her career and her skills as an instructor, not to mention a wonderful cohort! I've gotten to know her so much in the past year or so; I never would have had that opportunity if not for this program! I feel so far behind everyone else in education since I have been around academics on a large scale for only three years now, but I have grown leaps and bounds in the past year or so! My self-concept has improved immensely, as well as my skills to work on a team! I hope for years to come that I can continue to share and learn in such a wonderful community. We owe it to our students to continue to improve on our own skills so we can pass them on to them so they can be the best they can be. Teamwork and community are so important in this day and age of self-agrandizement. We have become such an individualistic society in our culture and that does not bode well in the long run. We were not meant to be that way!
A--Analytical Skills: from critical thinking to analyzing. I am hearing more and more each day about the importance of critical thinking! Problem-solving is such a crucial skill that is in high demand with today's rapid growth in technology, and critical thinking is the main element! We take other's thoughts and ideas about a topic, really think hard about them and what they mean to us, and share all we can about how they can affect each of us......and, when we do it as a team it can be that much better!
C--Communication: listening and speaking, etc. Being a good listener is vitally important. There has to be a good blend of listening and speaking in conversation for it to be fruitful. If it is too one-sided there is a decline in the power of the message to be shared by both parties. You have to give and take equally. If you are too busy thinking about what you are going to say next you may miss something that can make the conversation really fruitful.
T--Technological Skills: computers/technology. It wasn't that long ago that I was very afraid that I was too far behind in this area so I made a mental challenge to myself that I had to catch up or I would paid dearly for it! I caught up to a good degree and I am very thankful that I did. I do, however, have a way to go before I can comfortably say that I have great technological skills!
Jessie--Question 2:
Please feel free to choose to respond to only one of the following:
a) Both the Glimpse of Community and Technical College Students’ Perceptions and the Butler County Community College article seemed to address the role of students and community college assessments.
The first article, “A Glimpse of Community and Technical College Students’ Perceptions of Student Engagement” explores how 48 Community Colleges participated in an assessment strategy that examined educational practices that are related to student success from the perspective of their students.
At the end of the article, based on information from the survey used, several suggestions are made to help increase student engagement, two of which are:
How to optimize the use of classroom time to help students actively engage more with one another, with faculty, and with the subject matter.
How to find ways students can communicate substantively with their peers and faculty outside the classroom setting.
I was curious how important our cohorts feel out-of-class collaborative activities are in community college courses? To what extent do you feel it is important to have students working together outside of class on class-related activities? The practical logistics of having students try to find common times to communicate and or work together, in addition to juggling work and family responsibilities, seems almost overwhelming. If a student doesn’t have a home computer, or reliable transportation, or does have heavy work and family commitments, is it reasonable to expect collaborative out-of-class activities of them? Are there outside collaborative activities that teachers are currently using, or that they could use in the future, that work in spite of these complications? What else did you think was of value (or concern) in this article?
In the second article, Butler County Community College discussed a strategy in which students’ personal development skills, broken down in 10 different areas, were included in their assessment processes. Faculty were directly involved in devising the assessment strategies, created rubrics for measuring performance, informed students that these assessments would be integrated with their coursework, and they went so far as to give participating students individualized results from the assessment process.
If we are going to engage in collecting assessment data from our students, does it seem reasonable to you that students should also get individual feedback on their performance? Would this strategy require that much more work to administer? Would it be worth the extra effort? What else did you think was of value (or concern) in this article?
b) Both the Wisconsin Technical College System and the Colorado Community College and Occupational Education System articles seemed to look at some state wide issues and Community College assessment strategies.
What impressed me about the Wisconsin Technical College System strategy was their insistence on consensus as critical to decisions being adopted. Being familiar with Quakers, who move only by consensus, I know fully well how long even the simplest decisions can take using consensus building. But the article states “buy-in and consensus building take time and were recognized to be essential for the model to be credible and viable.” Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
If one of the primary missions of community colleges involves meeting the needs of the local community, community colleges could conceivably have some very different priorities and programs. Just thinking about Nebraska, with large urban areas like Omaha, or smaller rural areas further out west, seems like state-wide decisions would be incredibly hard to agree on. But then I looked at the thirteen core indicators chosen for Colorado’s 12 community colleges, and I was totally impressed with the list. The list seemed both broad and fair in reflecting ways that many community colleges could be accountable at a state wide level. What do you think of this list? What are the advantages and disadvantages of applying state-wide assessment strategies in community colleges? What else did you think was of value (or concern) in this article?
Please remember, you only have to respond to a) or b) if you wish.
For this question I am going to choose Kelly Findley's response:
How important are out-of-class collaborative activities in community college courses? To what extent do you feel it is important to have students working together outside of class on class-related activities? Is it reasonable to expect collaborative out-of-class activities of them? Are there outside collaborative activities that teachers are currently using, or that they could use in the future, that work in spite of these complications?
Students have to learn to interact as a team and be a functional, responsible member of that team. Therefore, it is very important that there be some out-of-class collaborative activity to promote this ideal. What I do is try to divide them according to clinical sites (students spend approximately 21 hours per week performing hands-on exams at a hospital site consequently they see each other a lot!) so they have time to discuss/plan/interact OR I divide them randomly and give them portions of class time to strategize. At the end of the activity, I often have students do a peer review of each other’s performance and in that I include an area pertaining to contributions and functioning as a member of the team.
My reflection:
I think Kelly has a great plan for her students! She divides them into groups that head to hospital sites for hands on experiences and testing. She makes sure they do plenty of collaborating in their teams before and after the experience which is very important. That way they can have feedback from each other on both ends to create the best possible learning experience.
Imagine where technologies would be today without group collaboration. Ideas spark ideas; problem solving creates new questions; new questions lead to more problem solving; the cycle then repeats itself. If we don't have critical thinking and problem solving technology stands still.
Students have to learn to be partners in education; they have to know that each of them has a small ownership in the forward movement in all education. Getting them to buy into this can be challenging, but letting them know that you are learning right along with them will definitely help!
Jessie and I had very good resources provided by our instructor that were very relevant to our coursework theme. We presented them well and we had good participation by our cohorts. We have learned a lot from each other, yet we will never stop learning. We have to have the mindset that we are lifelong learners!
Monday, June 25, 2007
Week Seven--General Education
I'm just going to reflect on Gina and Kelly's seminar questions here for GMIT 660 like I did in GMIT 650:
Kelly's first question/s:
The article on “Assessing General Education Core Objectives” was based on the curriculum at Southeast Missouri State University being assessed for 3 core objectives: 1) the ability to locate and gather information; 2) the ability to think, reason, and analyze critically; and 3) the ability to communicate effectively. The Assessment Committee evaluated samples from freshman and senior seminars and upon completion were able to itemize major findings (page 5) concluded from the analysis.
1) Although all of these findings are important, which two should be given top priority and why?
2) Does SCC face some of these main issues and if so, which ones and why?
Remember, you can answer either question.
Kathy Zabel's main reply to Kelly:
Kelly's first question/s:
The article on “Assessing General Education Core Objectives” was based on the curriculum at Southeast Missouri State University being assessed for 3 core objectives: 1) the ability to locate and gather information; 2) the ability to think, reason, and analyze critically; and 3) the ability to communicate effectively. The Assessment Committee evaluated samples from freshman and senior seminars and upon completion were able to itemize major findings (page 5) concluded from the analysis.
1) Although all of these findings are important, which two should be given top priority and why?
2) Does SCC face some of these main issues and if so, which ones and why?
Remember, you can answer either question.
Kathy Zabel's main reply to Kelly:
One of the most critical findings is part of the first bullet in Major Findings and that is the statement, “Some artifacts produced in the freshman seminar were evaluated as stronger performances than some pieces produced in the senior capstone courses”. Students ready to graduate should by all means be producing superior work to the lower level students. It implies that those seniors didn’t “learn how to learn”, didn’t learn from their experiences, or didn’t have the experiences in earlier courses. Either way, it is a detriment to those students getting ready to graduate.
The second top priority is the lack of critical thinking observed. That is the talk everywhere, that students can think critically and solve problems. They must be able to think critically in real life to survive on their jobs. That’s not just instructor talk, but that’s what the supervisors in the physician offices are saying to us. “Your students MUST be able to think critically”.
My main reply to Kelly:
1) Although all of these findings are important, which two should be given top priority and why?
Kelly, I would say that "number one" would be the fact that "all who were involved with the assessment project agreed that opportunities are needed for dialogue among faculty to discuss possible program modifications based on the results of the assessment project."
Agreeing is the easy part; the hard part is to follow through on this agreement! At least two or three faculty should be the committee to plan agendas, and schedule times and places for this to happen!
"Number two" would be, for me, the fact that there was such a wide range in performance in the areas of formulating a thesis, producing an edited writing sample, citing source materials accurately, locating relevant source material, evaluating others' and constructing their own arguments, and producing polished pieces of writing.
Some students could barely get started, while some performed masterfully. That is not acceptable as an instructor! That gap has to be closed significantly!
2) Does SCC face some of these main issues and if so, which ones and why?
From what I have seen, yes, SCC faces these same problems/issues! I don't think there is a lot of agreement or discussion that takes place in regard to program modifications based on assessment. I don't know if there even has been any cross-disciplinary faculty group assessments done. Have there been any that you know of?
In regard to the wide range in performance, I have seen it first hand and it is very disappointing. I've seen it in database research training and in the classroom. How do we work to close that gap? Will it take more time working with students one-on-one? Would more milestones working toward better performance help? Do we need classes designed specifically for this?
My conclusion and reflection:
Kathy told Kelly that her top concern was that the rookies were outscoring the veterans! That is not too surprising to me. Some students are way ahead of their classmates, and sometimes ahead of people two or three years their senior because they are just extra-gifted students. It would be more alarming if it was across the board.
I think it is much more important to try to close the gap on very poor performances versus outstanding performances amongst the students. To me there is no good reason for this. For students to be at a level of higher education they have to bring more to the table than just getting by. I kind of take it personal as an instructor. If I work hard at being a good instructor I want all students to give a good effort. I want to find out why they don't. I ask them why they seem to me to be struggling so much. Is it time constraints? Is it that something is bothering them personally? I want to find that out!
Kelly's second question/s:
The article “Imposed Upon: Using Authentic Assessment of Critical Thinking at a Community College” dealt with the issue of the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York changing the core requirements. This impacted all the transferring graduates of the local community colleges and resulted in major academic changes. Then came the question of assessment to ensure students were obtaining a secure knowledge base and valued skills such as information management and critical thinking. A plan was devised by three instructors who taught on different campuses to each write an essay at a different performance level. These essays and an instruction sheet were given to students for them to assess in a written report an argument as to how they would rank the paper. A rubric was developed to assess the students’ essays and overall observations were made in regards to their critical thinking abilities.
1) Did this method fulfill the requirement of assessing critical thinking? Why or why not?
2) Is one method enough or should multiple tools be used? Suggestions?
You can answer either question.
Doug Brtek's main reply to Kelly:
First of all, I am satisfied that the method was sufficient to assess critical thinking in this case. However, it wouldn't hurt to explore alternative ways to assess critical thinking such as verbal or written expression, reflection, observation, experience and reasoning. I know assessment is never the proper place to explore new ideas, but they should be considered at different stages throughout program assessment. After all, shouldn't we be assessing our assessment methods?
My main reply to Kelly:
Kelly, according to the article, it was sufficient to fulfill SUNY's mandated assessment requirements. I think it was a great way to assess, as well as teach, because showing the wrong, almost right, and right way to do an assignment is a tremendous tool in getting students to learn, let alone to think and write critically. It helps remove some of the gray areas and misunderstandings associated with learning.
It's kind of like teaching a youngster not to play with fire, or a boiling pot of water; sometimes you have to let them get burned (just a tiny bit without hurting them, mind you) to get them to know what NOT to do, as well as what to do, and how to do it. The tricky part is letting them get burned without hurting them.
Showing students the right and wrong way to do an assignment (by using the three different levels of quality essays), as well as getting some assessment practice at the same time was a great idea the authors came up with. It leaves the students with a more clear mental picture of the assignment, that hopefully they would retain.
As far as other ways to assess critical thinking:
One might take the essay/assessment thing a step further and have a panel or roundtable discussion amongst the students to critique each other's essays (hopefully without too much tension) to help each other learn more through sharing thoughts or ideas. The main focus would be to discuss how each could have done better to think more critically about the essays.
My conclusion and reflection:
Doug agreed with the assessment in general, but he suggested verbal and written expression, reflection, observation, experience, and reasoning as viable alternatives to consider. I do like Doug's suggestions, but I feel they wanted to keep it more simple and standardized to start. If they were to do this on an ongoing basis, these would be good guidelines.
Kelly's third question/s:
In the article “Community College Strategies – Assessing the Achievement of General Education Objectives: Five Years of Assessment,” Oakton Community College did a locally developed assessment of general education objectives. From 1999 through 2002, the approach was to use “prompts” for assessment; in 2003, the approach was changed to evaluating actual classroom work. The article continues with comparing the 5 years of assessment and stating observations about the whole entire process and results.
In the article “Community College Strategies – Assessing General Education Using a Standardized Test: Challenges and Successful Solutions,” College of DuPage took an entirely different approach than Oakton Community College. Instead of using “prompts,” they developed a strategy in which 6 American College Test/Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (ACT/CAAP) area tests were given to a select number of introductory courses (beginning students) and advanced courses (graduating students). The article continues with the results of their assessment method.
1) Of these two methods of assessment, was one method superior over the other in obtaining assessment data that can be used constructively? Explain your reasoning.
2) Pick one of these methods and explain the advantages and disadvantages of using it as a tool for assessment.
Remember, answer the question that appeals to you the most!
Jessie La Cross's main reply:
I keep going back and forth on this question. On one hand, I was not comfortable with the prompting methods Oakton CC used.
On the other hand, the purpose of the assessments are to measure how well students can meet the general education objectives, some of which were listed as:
1) define problems
2) construct hypotheses
3) interpret data using a variety of sources
4) explain how information fits within a historical context
5) communicate findings effectively in writing and in speech
6) work and communicate effectively with people
7) apply ethical principles to issues
I don't know how some of these, especially the highlighted ones, could adequately be measured with a standardized test. I liked the approach used in 2003, where actual classroom work in real time was used to evaluate the speech and teamwork objectives. Even though not as many students were able to be assessed this way, with practice, this seems like it could be a good strategy to use.
Each tool--standardized objective tests and performance based tests--has different strengths and weaknesses, but when used together I think they can actually complement each other.
My main reply:
Kelly, I think both articles display good examples of assessment. What I like most about the "Five Years of Assessment" example is the fact that they tried different formats over a significant time period. That allows for a wider range of experimentation which should translate to finding a good assessment vehicle depending on student background and coursework implemented.
Regarding the "Standardized Tests" article: the thing I liked best about their format is that they used response sheets that faculty used to voice what should be done with the results of the assessment data, and then made public (anonymously) in a document. Now, if they used that document to further improve coursework, they made great strides in improving learning and assessment.
My conclusion and reflection:
Jessie gave some very good reasons--pro and con--on standardized versus performance based testes. Her feelings, in the end, was that using the two together somehow would be a good way to go about testing.
My reply was that I liked assessment with variety over a period of years to get a better picture, and a more realistic view. Try different things--get a more extensive sampling of assessment so it is more reliable.
Feedback both ways is a huge factor here, also! Making it public for peer reviewing has to do a lot of good, also. When others can see what your results are it makes for everyone trying harder to do better and work towards more improved learning!
My final reflection on the seminar:
I think Kelly and Gina did a great job again! Kelly is so good at keeping discussions going with replying thoughtfully to replies and asking for more input! I feel that I did a good job of adding to the seminar with my thoughts and feelings on the different provided questions. It was another great learning experience! See you next week in GMIT 660!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
GMIT 650/Week Seven--Adult Education & Experience
I'm going to try something different this week in an attempt to do a better job at reflecting on the seminar. I want to focus only on the three questions provided by seminar leader and cohort, Jessie La Cross, one other cohort's reply to her question, my own reply to her questions, and then my own conclusion and reflection.
Jessie's first question/s:
Our text lists at least 4 ways that educators can acknowledge the experiences of learners. One technique is for teachers to link explanations and examples to the prior experiences of learners. This is an attempt to support continuity between the known and the unknown.
A second technique for acknowledging students’ experience is for teachers to link explanations and examples to the current experiences of learners. This is an attempt to make the learning more relevant for learners.
a) I have a feeling that some members of our cohort have discovered many creative ways to get to know our students. If you are an educator and you have already used either strategy, please share a technique you have used and whether you believed it helped facilitate learning for your students. If you have not attempted to integrate students’ experiences, do you believe it could aid students’ development for the types of courses you teach? Are there new techniques you can think of that you’d like to try in the future?
b) If you are not an educator, or if you just prefer to answer this question as a student, think back to classes that you have taken in the past. Did any of the instructors make an effort to incorporate your personal experiences as part of the class? What techniques did they use, and do you feel that aided your learning?
Here is Francine Oran's main reply to Jessie:
There is a technique that I have used once before which is an example of acknowledging the student experiences to support continuity between the known and unknown. I used this technique in my Exam Room I class. This is the class that I teach that predominantly focuses on phlebotomy procedures. I decided to do this on the first day, as an ice-breaker activity. In addition, I also wanted to learn about the students and any biases or problems that they may have regarding performing this type of invasion procedure.
First I introduced myself, and told the students two stories regarding myself. One of the stories was regarding me as a student and the other on a more personal level, as a mother of a young, sick child. Both of my stories pertained to phlebotomy. Then I asked each student to introduce themselves. I wanted them to share anything, good or bad, regarding their experiences with phlebotomy.
The activity went great. I learned a lot about the students, and it was a really good getting-to-know-you exercise. I was able to determine if there were any major problems or reservations with the students and address them right away. I also was able to use this knowledge when linking explanations and examples down the road to the prior experiences of the students.
Here is my main reply to Jessie:
I have not had a lot of experience teaching yet, but I think a good way to approach teaching in relation to prior experiences would be to come up with a series of questions for a questionaire that would lead into the various course activities you have at your disposal. The students would complete the questionaire, and hopefully, this would give you enough information to decide which activities to focus on.
The same could be done for teaching in relation to current experiences; the questionaire questions would focus on the students' current job or life experiences.
My conclusion and reflection:
Francine gave Jessie a great example of getting to know the students personally, and also getting their perspective on the specific subject of phlebotomy. Fran was able to establish a starting point and address any questions or problems the students may have had before they got into the coursework.
I think this a great way to establish a good relationship with students, and also gives you a better feel for the whole class as you dive in to the coursework. You have a better idea of what to focus on in your provided activities and discussion.
My suggestion was a questionaire for the students to fill out which pertained to the coursework activities at my disposal. This would also provide a guide for me to follow.
My "getting to know the students" would be similar, but the focus would be on the students getting to know each other first with "ice breaker" exercises. By them being more comfortable with each other first allows them to open up more to me as their instructor.
There is no perfect or standard way to do this. The main thing is to get the students talking about themselves and each other, their past experiences, and how they feel about the class they are taking, either specifically or in general.
Jessie's second question/s:
Learning from experience is the fourth way our text discusses to acknowledge students’ experiences. When I read this section, starting on page 160, it was easier for me to put myself in the place of the student.
Brookfield (on page 162) says critical reflection is the key to learning from experience. He states critical reflection involves three phases: 1) The identification of the assumptions that underlie thoughts and actions; 2) The scrutiny of the accuracy and validity of these assumptions in terms of how they connect to experience; 3) The reconstituting of these assumptions to make them more inclusive and integrative.
Brookfield further says that recognition of assumptions is the key to critical reflection. He states you can think of assumptions as ‘rules of thumb that underlie and inform our actions’, or general beliefs, commonsense ideas, or intuitions that you hold.
Can you share some rules of thumb about education that guide you as an teacher or as a student? Are there any rules of thumb that you formerly held that you now think may be being altered for having worked through some of the ideas from this textbook?
Here is Kelly Findley's main reply to Jessie:
Rules of thumb about education that guide you as a teacher:
When I first started as an instructor, I was given some very good advice from another instructor and that was to admit that if I didn’t know something to say it straight out to the students. The point was to come across not as a know-it-all, but as someone who has knowledge about the subject yet at the same time, is still learning about it. This has become my golden rule in regards to teaching. I tell students in a candid manner that technology is always changing and that they might find a change in theory or additional facts in a text or online that I am unaware of. They are encouraged to discuss new material during class time and in effect, be the teacher.
Here is my main reply to Jessie:
I looked for an article on "critical reflection" in ProQuest and found the one attached. The article focuses on first year college programs and freshman learning communities (FLCs) and states that there are several factors that contribute to positive learning consequences of the FLCs. Following is the section I am referring to:
The argument for the positive consequences of FLCs is based on several factors. First, students learn best when they are able to make substantive interdisciplinary connections across their courses (Austin, Hirstein, and Walen 1997; Hursh, Haas, and Moore 1983; Kain 1993; Wolf and Brandt 1998). When issues, topics, debates, and concepts introduced in one class are reintroduced and reinforced in another, there is a greater likelihood that students will develop a deeper understanding of the content and material. Second, learning is enhanced when students are able to interact and engage with their peers about the subject matter in their courses (Bruffee 1998; King 1990; Qin, Johnson, and Johnson 1995; Springer, Stanne, and Donovan 1999; Webb 1982). Third, students learn best when they are actively engaged, versus passively present, in the learning process through handson problem solving and application (Bonwell and Eison 1991; Hake 1998; Kuh, Pace, and Vesper 1997). Fourth, students tend to be more successful when they are able to develop a meaningful academic relationship with faculty (Endo and Harpel 1982; Kuh 2001; Lamport 1993; Pascarella 1980). FLCs are organized to foster these conditions.
How I tie this in with your question/s, Jessie:
The first factor, "making substantive interdisciplinary connections across courses," might be easier understood by saying that we have past real-life experiences and knowledge that should help us relate to, and better understand, the different types of coursework that we may be involved in as a student.
The second one, "interacting and engaging with peers," makes good sense, too; as students, we share our ideas and thoughts, and learn together. We help each other understand and learn by asking and answering questions.
"Handson problem solving and application," the third factor, is very important in learning--we shouldn't be passively learning as students.
Finally, a "meaningful academic relationship with faculty" is a must--we, as students, need to try to put ourselves more in the mindset of the teacher so we can relate to the coursework activities they present.
Jessie, I think these are good "rules of thumb" to follow.
My conclusion and reflection:
Kelly basically told Jessie that she teaches by using knowledge from experience on the subject, but tells her students that she doesn't know everything, and costant change is inevitable so the students learn what she teaches while still having to be critically reflecting on the material.
I was a bit more extensive in my answer, referring to the scholarly article I provided in my reply. I think it is very important to establish a good teaching/learning relationship with the students so there is plenty of trust to start with. Then, it is equally important that the students know and trust each other; they should be able to share thoughts and opinions professionally and without fear that they will be affected negatively by their peers.
It is also a good idea to give the students exercises that involve them interactively and help them develop problem-solving skills. The more they are involved personally (hands on) the more likely that they will put forth a stronger effort and perform at a higher level.
The students should also be reminded that past experiences in their personal lives, as well as their career experiences should be constantly kept in mind and applied to the coursework. It is up to me to reinforce these things throughout the learning experience.
Jessie's third question/s:
Collins (on pg. 154) states it is not enough to simply put theory into practice, because this carries with it the presumption that a particular theoretical model can faithfully represent a particular order of reality. He(she?) goes on to say “it is more efficacious to think in terms of engaging thoughtfully with theory and then putting ourselves into practice”.
We are being exposed to quite a bit of theory in this class. We also have a lot of experience in the field of education. How do you interpret putting yourself into practice? In light of some of the theory we have been reading, are there ways in which you are beginning to “re-see” your own role in education, or the role of students in education, that are different from before?
Here is Gina Ewing's main reply to Jessie:
On page 156 the author states, regarding music, that it is possible to have theoretical knowledge without practical expertise & practical expertise without theoretical knowledge and as experience is developed theory illuminates practice & practice illuminates theory.
I interpret these phrases to mean “practice makes perfect” and the more experience a person has the more credible they will become in that area of study. In todays job market a college education falls under proof of expertise, in some fields, as a degree is needed in order to get that position, as well as experience.
In reference to question 3 I interpret putting myself into practice by using my experiences as a child care provider and child care facility inspector whenever I facilitate to providers. The information I share with clients gives me credibility and puts them at ease with the training/inspection to a point. It also brings more questions from the client in other areas of child care.
I am finding that the more experience I gain on the job allows me to reevaluate my technique of doing inspections. Even though I have a checklist to go-by there are areas of the inspection that are subjective and I am careful not to provide information without stating that “this is a recommendation, but not required”.
Here is my main reply to Jessie:
Excellent question here, Jessie! I see myself as continuing to try to put a lot of this presented material into practice as I move along. One example might be that of taking into account the past experiences or backgrounds of students in planning coursework activities appropriate to reflective learning and assessment.
Another example might be to incorporate the different styles of rubrics into coursework.
Another one could be designing activities that are more suitable for interactive learning, problem solving, and critical thinking.
My conclusion and reflection:
Gina related to Jessie how her career experiences as a chilcare provider and facility inspector has been very instrumental in "putting herself into practice" while facilitating childcare providers. Gina also mentioned how getting a degree will give her more credibility in her field, as well as in her future educational experiences.
I related to Jessie how I plan to use what I have learned in this program to improve myself as an instructor, especially in the area of relating well to students, being more aware of their backgrounds, and planning coursework activities accordingly. I also plan to use rubrics more effectively in my teaching, and make interactive learning, problem solving, and critical thinking a higher priority for the students in their coursework.
It's going to take a lot of practice and determination to put all I have learned into effective teaching. It won't happen overnight, but I plan on referring back to notes and resources I have collected as I have gone along in this program.
My final reflection on the seminar:
I feel that I performed at a graduate level in this seminar. It has been very challenging, but I think each week we all get a little more confident and do a good job of sharing thoughts and ideas. These seminars will be in my memory for years to come; it has been a great experience. I have learned a lot and hope to retain a lot of the information so I can be more effective as an instructor.
I think Jessie again did a great job of providing excellent material for us, and also kept the discussion threads moving very well. I can't imagine a better way to share and learn than this "electronic seminar."
There was also a high level of participation by fellow cohorts. I wish I could include all of them in my journal reflections, but time and space is limiting me at this point. I still have another seminar to reflect on. We'll see you next week in GMIT 650!!
Jessie's first question/s:
Our text lists at least 4 ways that educators can acknowledge the experiences of learners. One technique is for teachers to link explanations and examples to the prior experiences of learners. This is an attempt to support continuity between the known and the unknown.
A second technique for acknowledging students’ experience is for teachers to link explanations and examples to the current experiences of learners. This is an attempt to make the learning more relevant for learners.
a) I have a feeling that some members of our cohort have discovered many creative ways to get to know our students. If you are an educator and you have already used either strategy, please share a technique you have used and whether you believed it helped facilitate learning for your students. If you have not attempted to integrate students’ experiences, do you believe it could aid students’ development for the types of courses you teach? Are there new techniques you can think of that you’d like to try in the future?
b) If you are not an educator, or if you just prefer to answer this question as a student, think back to classes that you have taken in the past. Did any of the instructors make an effort to incorporate your personal experiences as part of the class? What techniques did they use, and do you feel that aided your learning?
Here is Francine Oran's main reply to Jessie:
There is a technique that I have used once before which is an example of acknowledging the student experiences to support continuity between the known and unknown. I used this technique in my Exam Room I class. This is the class that I teach that predominantly focuses on phlebotomy procedures. I decided to do this on the first day, as an ice-breaker activity. In addition, I also wanted to learn about the students and any biases or problems that they may have regarding performing this type of invasion procedure.
First I introduced myself, and told the students two stories regarding myself. One of the stories was regarding me as a student and the other on a more personal level, as a mother of a young, sick child. Both of my stories pertained to phlebotomy. Then I asked each student to introduce themselves. I wanted them to share anything, good or bad, regarding their experiences with phlebotomy.
The activity went great. I learned a lot about the students, and it was a really good getting-to-know-you exercise. I was able to determine if there were any major problems or reservations with the students and address them right away. I also was able to use this knowledge when linking explanations and examples down the road to the prior experiences of the students.
Here is my main reply to Jessie:
I have not had a lot of experience teaching yet, but I think a good way to approach teaching in relation to prior experiences would be to come up with a series of questions for a questionaire that would lead into the various course activities you have at your disposal. The students would complete the questionaire, and hopefully, this would give you enough information to decide which activities to focus on.
The same could be done for teaching in relation to current experiences; the questionaire questions would focus on the students' current job or life experiences.
My conclusion and reflection:
Francine gave Jessie a great example of getting to know the students personally, and also getting their perspective on the specific subject of phlebotomy. Fran was able to establish a starting point and address any questions or problems the students may have had before they got into the coursework.
I think this a great way to establish a good relationship with students, and also gives you a better feel for the whole class as you dive in to the coursework. You have a better idea of what to focus on in your provided activities and discussion.
My suggestion was a questionaire for the students to fill out which pertained to the coursework activities at my disposal. This would also provide a guide for me to follow.
My "getting to know the students" would be similar, but the focus would be on the students getting to know each other first with "ice breaker" exercises. By them being more comfortable with each other first allows them to open up more to me as their instructor.
There is no perfect or standard way to do this. The main thing is to get the students talking about themselves and each other, their past experiences, and how they feel about the class they are taking, either specifically or in general.
Jessie's second question/s:
Learning from experience is the fourth way our text discusses to acknowledge students’ experiences. When I read this section, starting on page 160, it was easier for me to put myself in the place of the student.
Brookfield (on page 162) says critical reflection is the key to learning from experience. He states critical reflection involves three phases: 1) The identification of the assumptions that underlie thoughts and actions; 2) The scrutiny of the accuracy and validity of these assumptions in terms of how they connect to experience; 3) The reconstituting of these assumptions to make them more inclusive and integrative.
Brookfield further says that recognition of assumptions is the key to critical reflection. He states you can think of assumptions as ‘rules of thumb that underlie and inform our actions’, or general beliefs, commonsense ideas, or intuitions that you hold.
Can you share some rules of thumb about education that guide you as an teacher or as a student? Are there any rules of thumb that you formerly held that you now think may be being altered for having worked through some of the ideas from this textbook?
Here is Kelly Findley's main reply to Jessie:
Rules of thumb about education that guide you as a teacher:
When I first started as an instructor, I was given some very good advice from another instructor and that was to admit that if I didn’t know something to say it straight out to the students. The point was to come across not as a know-it-all, but as someone who has knowledge about the subject yet at the same time, is still learning about it. This has become my golden rule in regards to teaching. I tell students in a candid manner that technology is always changing and that they might find a change in theory or additional facts in a text or online that I am unaware of. They are encouraged to discuss new material during class time and in effect, be the teacher.
Here is my main reply to Jessie:
I looked for an article on "critical reflection" in ProQuest and found the one attached. The article focuses on first year college programs and freshman learning communities (FLCs) and states that there are several factors that contribute to positive learning consequences of the FLCs. Following is the section I am referring to:
The argument for the positive consequences of FLCs is based on several factors. First, students learn best when they are able to make substantive interdisciplinary connections across their courses (Austin, Hirstein, and Walen 1997; Hursh, Haas, and Moore 1983; Kain 1993; Wolf and Brandt 1998). When issues, topics, debates, and concepts introduced in one class are reintroduced and reinforced in another, there is a greater likelihood that students will develop a deeper understanding of the content and material. Second, learning is enhanced when students are able to interact and engage with their peers about the subject matter in their courses (Bruffee 1998; King 1990; Qin, Johnson, and Johnson 1995; Springer, Stanne, and Donovan 1999; Webb 1982). Third, students learn best when they are actively engaged, versus passively present, in the learning process through handson problem solving and application (Bonwell and Eison 1991; Hake 1998; Kuh, Pace, and Vesper 1997). Fourth, students tend to be more successful when they are able to develop a meaningful academic relationship with faculty (Endo and Harpel 1982; Kuh 2001; Lamport 1993; Pascarella 1980). FLCs are organized to foster these conditions.
How I tie this in with your question/s, Jessie:
The first factor, "making substantive interdisciplinary connections across courses," might be easier understood by saying that we have past real-life experiences and knowledge that should help us relate to, and better understand, the different types of coursework that we may be involved in as a student.
The second one, "interacting and engaging with peers," makes good sense, too; as students, we share our ideas and thoughts, and learn together. We help each other understand and learn by asking and answering questions.
"Handson problem solving and application," the third factor, is very important in learning--we shouldn't be passively learning as students.
Finally, a "meaningful academic relationship with faculty" is a must--we, as students, need to try to put ourselves more in the mindset of the teacher so we can relate to the coursework activities they present.
Jessie, I think these are good "rules of thumb" to follow.
My conclusion and reflection:
Kelly basically told Jessie that she teaches by using knowledge from experience on the subject, but tells her students that she doesn't know everything, and costant change is inevitable so the students learn what she teaches while still having to be critically reflecting on the material.
I was a bit more extensive in my answer, referring to the scholarly article I provided in my reply. I think it is very important to establish a good teaching/learning relationship with the students so there is plenty of trust to start with. Then, it is equally important that the students know and trust each other; they should be able to share thoughts and opinions professionally and without fear that they will be affected negatively by their peers.
It is also a good idea to give the students exercises that involve them interactively and help them develop problem-solving skills. The more they are involved personally (hands on) the more likely that they will put forth a stronger effort and perform at a higher level.
The students should also be reminded that past experiences in their personal lives, as well as their career experiences should be constantly kept in mind and applied to the coursework. It is up to me to reinforce these things throughout the learning experience.
Jessie's third question/s:
Collins (on pg. 154) states it is not enough to simply put theory into practice, because this carries with it the presumption that a particular theoretical model can faithfully represent a particular order of reality. He(she?) goes on to say “it is more efficacious to think in terms of engaging thoughtfully with theory and then putting ourselves into practice”.
We are being exposed to quite a bit of theory in this class. We also have a lot of experience in the field of education. How do you interpret putting yourself into practice? In light of some of the theory we have been reading, are there ways in which you are beginning to “re-see” your own role in education, or the role of students in education, that are different from before?
Here is Gina Ewing's main reply to Jessie:
On page 156 the author states, regarding music, that it is possible to have theoretical knowledge without practical expertise & practical expertise without theoretical knowledge and as experience is developed theory illuminates practice & practice illuminates theory.
I interpret these phrases to mean “practice makes perfect” and the more experience a person has the more credible they will become in that area of study. In todays job market a college education falls under proof of expertise, in some fields, as a degree is needed in order to get that position, as well as experience.
In reference to question 3 I interpret putting myself into practice by using my experiences as a child care provider and child care facility inspector whenever I facilitate to providers. The information I share with clients gives me credibility and puts them at ease with the training/inspection to a point. It also brings more questions from the client in other areas of child care.
I am finding that the more experience I gain on the job allows me to reevaluate my technique of doing inspections. Even though I have a checklist to go-by there are areas of the inspection that are subjective and I am careful not to provide information without stating that “this is a recommendation, but not required”.
Here is my main reply to Jessie:
Excellent question here, Jessie! I see myself as continuing to try to put a lot of this presented material into practice as I move along. One example might be that of taking into account the past experiences or backgrounds of students in planning coursework activities appropriate to reflective learning and assessment.
Another example might be to incorporate the different styles of rubrics into coursework.
Another one could be designing activities that are more suitable for interactive learning, problem solving, and critical thinking.
My conclusion and reflection:
Gina related to Jessie how her career experiences as a chilcare provider and facility inspector has been very instrumental in "putting herself into practice" while facilitating childcare providers. Gina also mentioned how getting a degree will give her more credibility in her field, as well as in her future educational experiences.
I related to Jessie how I plan to use what I have learned in this program to improve myself as an instructor, especially in the area of relating well to students, being more aware of their backgrounds, and planning coursework activities accordingly. I also plan to use rubrics more effectively in my teaching, and make interactive learning, problem solving, and critical thinking a higher priority for the students in their coursework.
It's going to take a lot of practice and determination to put all I have learned into effective teaching. It won't happen overnight, but I plan on referring back to notes and resources I have collected as I have gone along in this program.
My final reflection on the seminar:
I feel that I performed at a graduate level in this seminar. It has been very challenging, but I think each week we all get a little more confident and do a good job of sharing thoughts and ideas. These seminars will be in my memory for years to come; it has been a great experience. I have learned a lot and hope to retain a lot of the information so I can be more effective as an instructor.
I think Jessie again did a great job of providing excellent material for us, and also kept the discussion threads moving very well. I can't imagine a better way to share and learn than this "electronic seminar."
There was also a high level of participation by fellow cohorts. I wish I could include all of them in my journal reflections, but time and space is limiting me at this point. I still have another seminar to reflect on. We'll see you next week in GMIT 650!!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Week Six--Variations on the Theme
I. The reading for this week in GMIT 660 was Chapter Seven (Variations on the Theme) from our text Introduction to Rubrics--highlights from the chapter:
- In some disciplines, such as the fine arts and sciences, rubrics related to regular, hands-on, lab or studio activities may require some flexibility in how scales, dimensions, and descriptions of dimensions are conceived or arranged.
- "Staged" rubrics, as one might guess from the name, are used for assignments in which process is at least as important as the final product.
- Staged rubrics are used and reused at different times to assess different stages of a student's work, thus allwoing us to monitor the student's work as it progresses.
- Staged rubrics are usually used for large projects that might take a whole term or certainly several weeks to complete.
- "Multiple" rubrics are more common to program assessment than to grading, but we do occasionally use them for grading complex, multifaceted assignments like an end-of-term portfolio or a full ad campaign designed over the course of a semester.
II. Fellow cohort, Kathy Zabel, led the seminar for GMIT 660 this week--two of her proposed questions:
Question #1
A variation in theme using rubrics would be to assess something that is very difficult to assess and that is ICP. In my line of work that stands for intracranial pressure. In this text, it stands for in-class participation.
Many instructors like to give points or credit for in-class participation. How do you supposed that is graded? Do the instructors who use ICP for part of the grade use a rubric to come up with the points for their students? Figure 7.3 (p. 99) in Introduction to Rubrics has an example of a rubric used to evaluate ICP. Take a look at the descriptions of the dimensions used to assess ICP in the rubric. Do they make sense? What other dimensions would you add or is it even necessary to use a rubric for assessing something such as in-class participation?
Lots of great discussion on this question--many different thoughts and ideas on in-class participation. Some felt that there is room for ICP in rubrics--some felt ICP should be simplified--either you participated or you didn't. Grading should be mostly for assignments or quizzes, according to some--according to others, ICP was a sizable part of the students' grades.
Question #2
Multiple Rubric- These rubrics can be used for program assessment and consist of several rubrics. In fact, each dimension has its own rubric.
The appendix at the back of your text has examples of 5 rubrics beginning on p. 121 used to assess learning goals in the University Studies Program at Portland State University. Look at them and take a moment to be overwhelmed. Now here is your question. You are on the assessment team at your college. Each program (Radiography, IT, Early Childhood Education, Medical Assisting, Media, Continuing Education, Fire Science, etc.) must assess themselves on a yearly basis. You would like the team to consider the use of rubrics for the individual programs. Each program would have the same basic format of rubric with some modifications for program differences. Let’s hear your explanation to the assessment team of why your college programs should use rubrics for assessing their programs. Describe some of the dimensions that might be included in the program rubric.
Wow! Great discussion here on using rubrics in individual programs! Lots of great examples from the different programs represented! We have learned a great deal about rubrics in this coursework--we are truly going to another level in this program!
Kathy did a wonderful job leading this seminar! She provided a great deal of material for all of us and did a masterful job of keeping things going during the week! Great job, Kathy!
III. In response to the "reflections" of the seminar:
- Kathy engaged us all by good resources and questions she provided! I think she has set the bar really high for us!
- The discussions in the seminar were very lively and good learning and sharing took place.
- I feel the need to keep my textbooks and refer back to them often to review what we have learned as I go on in my teaching career!
- I felt that I participated at a graduate level again this week--we are nearing the end and are feeling the pressure to perform, but we keep answering the bell!
- Again, the seminar experience this term will be invaluable to us as we go on in our careers--we will think back to these for a long time to come!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Week Six--Promoting Autonomy and Self-Direction
I. The reading for this week--Chapter 6 (Promoting Autonomy and Self-Direction) from our text Learning and Change in the Adult Years, with highlights from the chapter:
- The idea of autonomous or self-directed learning is firmly entrenched in contemporary thinking about adult education, and there has been a great deal of scholarly interest in the subject.
- The autonomous person has three qualities: freedom of choice, rational reflection, and strength of will.
- Self-direction in learning embraces four distinct phenomena: personal autonomy, the willingness and capacity to manage one's own learning, an environment allowing some effective control by the learner, and the independent pursuit of learning without formal institutional suport or affiliation.
- Learners at different stages of ego development have different assumptions (and therefore expectations) about the purpose and potentail of education, different capacities to frame educational goals, and different interpretations of the meaning of educational experiences.
- Education is inextricably bound up with developmental change, and teaching practices need to take into account the developmental capacity and potential of learners.
- The development of reflective skills, that is, the ability to select from and problematize experience, is considered the key to learning from experience.
- Practical intelligence is largely domain specific while reflective judgment is considered a generic capacity--while the problems being thought about are ill-structured they remain context free and therefore the language used to analyze them is more abstract and academic.
- There are four categories of skills that a competent learner should possess: 1) Flexible application of a well-organized, domain specific knowledge base; 2) Heuristic methods; 3) Metacognitive skills; 4) Learning strategies.
- The hallmark of the autonomous learner is the person who has developed a critical capacity in a particular subject area.
- The challenge for adult educators is to promote situated autonomy in the context of their own work.
- "A learning need is the gap between where you are now and where you want to be in regard to a particular set of competencies" (Knowles, 1978).
II. Fellow cohort, Francine Oran led the seminar again this week--two of her proposed questions:
Question #1
Weathersby talks about the education ego stages starting on page 24.
Weathersby argues that teachers need to understand how the ego stage influences the learners' responses to educational intervention (p. 125).
Do you agree or disagree with this way of thinking. Explain.
The participants did some real good sharing on this question--most agreed that "ego stage" does influence the learners to a degree. Where the student is in his or her educational adventures, and what background they have plays out in current education.
Question #2
According to the textbook, there have been many attempts to identify the characteristics of the autonomous or self-directed learner and the role of the teacher in promoting such a learner (p. 131-132).
Knowles (1978) states that the role of the teacher is to assist students to "learn how to learn" (p. 132). I thought that was an interesting phrase. What do you think about his statement? Explain.
Knowles also talks about forming learning contracts on pages 145-146. This reminds me of some of the readings that we had from two quarters ago. Does this make sense to you and why?
Great discussion here, also--most agreed that the role of the teacher is to assist students to "learn how to learn." It just makes sense--if the students don't know how to learn well enough to do the assignments properly, it is the teacher's responsibility to show them how. Just like a mother robin showing little ones how to fly--if they aren't learning right, she keeps on trying!
Francine also provided some very good websites and scholarly articles for the cohorts to read and share on! My favorite was the tennessee.edu p'pt website!
III. My reflections in relation to the "Reflecting on the Seminar" questions:
- I did feel very engaged by Fran's questions and provided resources. She really did some good research and provided good material for us to reflect on, share ideas, and discuss!
- I learned some new terms like "ego stage" and "learning contracts" this week!
- Hopefully, some of this will stay with me during my career!
- I do feel that I participated at a graduate level in this seminar; I shared with the cohorts and tried to keep the discussions going in a productive way.
- The seminars are still proving to be a great learning experience for us all, even if we do disagree on occasion.
- The seminars are a great educational tool--we hope to continue our learning and sharing on an SCC wikki website one of our cohorts, Jessie, created!
Monday, June 11, 2007
Week Five--Grading With Rubrics
I. Chapter 6 (Grading With Rubrics) is the GMIT 660 reading this week from our text Introduction to Rubrics. Following are highlights from this chapter:
- Rubrics make grading easier and faster in several ways: 1) Establishing performance anchors; 2) Providing detailed, formative feedback (three-to-five level rubrics); 3) Supporting individualized, flexible, formative feedback (scoring guide rubrics); 4) Conveying summative feedback (grade).
- Three-to-five level rubrics allow us to provide detailed, formative feedback very rapidly by simply checking and circling prewritten criteria, wheras scoring guide rubrics allow us to do the same thing more flexibly and in a more individualized fashion, albeit at the cost of speed.
- Metarubrics are rubrics we have developed over the years to grade our own courses, to evaluate how effective our texts, lectures, and other teaching strategies really are.
- With rubrics, we focus our attention on what we expect in the best and worst papers, and we do it the same way--in the same order--for each every paper.
- The degree to which rubrics facilitate grading by avoiding repetition is in direct inverse ratio to how long it took us to create the rubric.
- Three-to-five level rubrics with check boxes are the most time consuming to create but the fastest and easiest to use.
- In the long run, scoring guide rubrics save less time than three-to-five level rubrics.
- Scoring guide rubrics do not take much longer to use than three-to-five level rubrics when the work being graded is so strong.
- Even in cases where we are seriously disappointed in a student performance, however, the scoring guide rubric. like the three-to-five level rubrics, also saves us time simply by keeping us focused on what we are looking for as we grade and, of course, it also assures greater consistency.
- Rubrics are adaptable grading tools that become better and better the more times we use them.
- Methods of using rubrics can and do vary, but on the whole, the checking, circling, and commenting methods described are the most commonly used.
II. Fellow cohort, Francine Oran, took her second turn at leading a seminar on this week's topic. Below are two of her provided questions and my take on how the seminar discussion transpired:
Question #1:
Some teachers "grade" their own teaching as they grade their students, some go one step further and write notes to themselves, and some use a rubric (p. 89).
I think that it is important to self-assess. The book has a version of a self-assessment rubric on page 92, Figure 6.8. I have attached a rubrics from SCC for evaluating an on-line course, a self-assessment tool. In addition, I included a couple of websites that Doug was so kind as to find (thanks Doug), regarding rubrics to assess on-line courses. Look at the different rubrics and compare and comment. Is the SCC rubric on track? Do any of the dimensions need some work?
There was heavy discussion for Fran's question on self-assessment. Participants shared their different thoughts and ideas on the provided SCC rubric. Most didn't know it existed, including me. Most thought the SCC rubric was good for the most part.
Question #2:
In the textbook, there are several examples of 3- 5 level rubrics (see Figure 6.1, Figure 6.2, and Figure 6.3).
Compare and contrast the different examples provided with what you have employed as a student or a teacher or both. What do you like or dislike about each type, and why.
Cohorts shared their different thoughts on Fran's question about 3-5 level rubrics supplied in the textbook. Opinions varied on the three different rubrics and how they related to the participant's experiences and preferences.
Francine also provided us with two scholarly articles to ponder; she also provided some good internet website resources which made for some good discussion.
III. Below are my overall thoughts on Fran's seminar:
- I felt engaged by Fran's provided questions, articles, and website resources. She did some good research to provide the seminar participants good discussion material.
- Fran provided some keeper material to refer back to as an instructor.
- I was surprised at the different types of rubrics formats and how they work better with different assignment applications.
- I think that I participated at a graduate level in this seminar, and helped move the discussions forward.
- Again, the seminar format was a good educational tool for us during this course.
Week Five--The Life Course as a Social Construct
I. Chapter 5 (The Life Course as a Social Construct) was our GMIT 650 reading this week from the text Learning and Change in the Adult Years. Following are highlights from the chapter:
- We live in an age-graded society where much of social life is organized around socially standardized age categories.
- Age structuring is influenced by history and culture.
- Age structures, like other social structures such as gender and class, become embedded in the psychology of individuals.
- Socially constructed age categories change over time, as do the patterns of individual lives.
- In different cultures and historical periods, there are different conceptions of the stages of life and their boundaries, dimensions, and divisions.
- Although progress and achievement are highly valued in Western societies, elderly people have relatively few--and minor--roles to play in the family and in society at large.
- Within Western culture, there are historical differences in the way the life course is viewed.
- In different historical periods there are different views about the stages of life.
- There are five key elements in how social organization influences the social status of the old: 1) Extent of state protection; 2) Strength of the oral tradition; 3) Valorization of physical beauty; 4) Extended family; 5) Creation of movable wealth.
- The physiological and biological factors associated with aging are not sufficient to support existing conceptions of age-appropriate behavior.
- It is interacting with others, and reacting to or participating in social institutions--most importantly through symbolic processes--that we come to constitute ourselves as social beings.
- Because age category is a continuum, the boundaries of appropriate behavior have a measure of uncertainty or ambiguity.
- Adult educators who seek to make their work of individual change and transformation fit into a wider agenda of social change and transformation need to acknowledge the social and historical dimension of adult development.
- Arin-Krupp (1990): "In the first half of life, men are generally more assertive than women and women are more nurturing than men, while in the second half of life men become more nurturing and women become more assertive." Adult educators could respond to this developmental trend toward reversing assertiveness roles by introducing appropriate courses, methodologies, and materials to enhance and support it.
- Focault (1988): "There are three major types of self-examination: how our thoughts relate to reality, how our thoughts relate to rules, and finally, how our thoughts relate to--and reveal--our inner selves."
II. Fellow cohort, Rex Coleman led another student-directed seminar on this week's topic--here are a couple of questions he proposed and my overall view of the seminar discussion:
Question #1:
"Please define in your own words the phrase "technology of the self" found on page 117."
The discussion was not very extensive here. Participants gave their own definitions of "technology of the self," and pretty much agreed that we all have something within us to make adjustments to how we act toward others in our social environment.
Question #2;
"Do you agree with Minois statement, 'there has never been a golden age for the old?' Please list why or why not."
The discussion on this question was more lively; there were mixed thoughts and emotions on the "golden age" issue. I think the majority disagreed with Minios, thinking that most people use their older years to their benefit and make the most of it by sharing with loving family, friends and former colleagues.
Rex also provided us with a very in-depth scholarly article and some great website resources relevant to this week's topic; there was good discussion and participation, but not as heavy as past weeks. I think it is common to have ups and downs in discussion intensity.
III. In response to the reflection questions on the seminar provided in "Participating in Seminars" document provided by our instructor:
I felt very engaged by good resources and questions provided by Rex. I felt he did a good job of leading the seminar and keeping it going with good responses! I learned a lot about this week's topic; the text provided some very interesting material and the seminar was again very effective in meeting the weekly objectives.
When I find more time I would like to read and learn more about Life Course and Social Construct. Social interaction is probably one of the more written about and studied subjects, and I could use more training in this area.
I do feel that my participation in the seminar helped lead to a better experience for everyone involved. This week could have been better, but again, I feel that ups and downs are common in discussion forums. The seminar format worked very well as an educational method for this topic.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Week Four--Rubric Construction and the Classroom
I. The reading for this week was Chapter 4 (Rubric Construction and the Classroom) from our text Introduction to Rubrics, with highlights from the chapter:
- Five models of how rubric construction can be integrated into classroom teaching, beginning with the rubric you create alone and ending with a model in which the teacher creates the assingment and the students create the rubric, working together in groups.
- Three good reasons for integrating rubric construction into classroom teaching: 1) It prevents misunderstanding and misinterpretations before they affect student work; this makes for happier students and happier graders; 2) It increases student awarness of themselves as "stakeholders" in the educational process, which, in turn results in greater student involvement in the tasks assigned and greater professionalism and creativity; 3) It can actually cut down your workload by letting your students do some of it--that is, create part of their own assessment tool.
- Students can tell us three basic things we need to know in order to make our explanation relevant: 1) They tell us what they already know; 2) They tell us what they don't know; 3) They tell us what misconceptions and misunderstandings they have about the assignment.
II. Fellow cohort, Doug Brtek, led the seminar for GMIT 660--two of his proposed questions:
Question #1:
According to the text, the five rubric models are suggested for a specific audience to be fully effective. Review the characteristics for each model, then consider your experience of using a rubric for a specific class. As an instructor, are the environments you are using rubrics in agreement with the suggestions of the text? Should you consider revising your current methods when involving students in creating a rubric?
Feel free to comment on your exposure to constructing a rubric as a student. As a student, do you agree with these suggested environments? Why or why not? (Feel free to answer either question)
Presentation Model: suited for large, lower-division, undergraduate classes where lecture is the primary forms of delivery.
Feedback Model: suited for smaller, lower-division, undergraduate courses where discussion is part of the normative teaching style.
Pass-the-Hat Model: small to medium size classes(fewer than thirty students) at any level where discussion is part of the teaching method.
Post-it Model: intended for large, complex, end-of-term assignments.
4x4Model: suited for large, content-heavy assignments such as term projects or research papers.
Doug also provided us with some other great resources to glean information from on rubrics and how they affect our teaching and grading experiences in the classroom! Doug did a great job in leading the seminar and keeping the threads going!
Question #2:
I wanted to show another side of rubrics. The text has gone into great lengths about how successful and vital rubrics can be, but this article talks about some things that are still not right with rubrics.
Take a look at the journal entry and see if you agree/disagree with the author's opinion.
http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=9&n=2
Participants shared some lively discussion on how rubrics have to be carefully constructed for different types of students and different types of assignments! Some other good resources on rubrics were also presented!
III. My reflections in relation to the "Reflecting on the Seminar" questions:
1) I did feel very engaged by Doug's questions and provided resources. He did some good research and provided great material for us to reflect on and discuss!
2) I learned a lot more about rubrics, and plan to use these resources as I move along in my teaching career for sure!
3) I will investigate further how I can use the suggested ideas and resources in my teaching!
4) I was surprised how rubrics are such an important part of teaching and how most of us didn't realize their power and potential!
5) I feel that I participated at a graduate level in this seminar; I shared with the cohort what I have attempted with rubrics and how I feel the need to continue using them even more in all classes I will teach! I felt that the seminar was a great learning experience for us all; we all did a great job of sharing and reflecting!
6) The seminar format was a great educational tool for us, and will continue to be throughout the rest of the course!
Week Four--Theories of the Life Course
I. Chapter 4 (Theories of the Life Course) reading from text Learning and Change in the Adult Years with highlights from the chapter:
- Experience, and the ability to reflect upon and learn from that experience, emerges as a key factor in the formation of adult personality and social roles.
- The life course is described in terms of a sequence of stages through which one progresses, at least ideally.
- The identity of adult education as a field of study is largely premised on the identity of the adult.
- Many adult education programs are explicity designed to promote personal change or development, and are geared towards addressing life-span concerns.
- Levinson: Each era has its distinct and unifying character of living. Each transition between eras thus requires a basic change in the character of one's life.
- Gilligan: Terms like separateness, autonomy, and independence are essentially male values and females value relationships and responsibilities, empathy and attachment, and interdependence rather than independence.
- Caffarella and Olson: Interpersonal relationships are extremely important to women's self-concept.
II. Fellow cohort, Kelly Findley and I led a student-directed seminar on this week's topic--here are a couple of questions Kelly proposed and my overall view of how the discussions went:
Question #1:
Gilligan (page 74) states that terms like separateness, autonomy, and independence are essentially male values and relationships and responsibilities, empathy and attachment, and interdependence are female values. Do you agree or disagree with Gilligan’s assessment? Has the advancement of women in leadership roles in what was once considered a “man’s world” changed the descriptive terms used to express women and men values?
This question resulted in a record number of replies, I think! There was plenty of good discussion on the topic, one that with difference between genders being the focus, was understandably controversial.
Question #2:
The text contained a number of theories that depict adult development by using stages and phases to show progression from child to adulthood. Some of these dealt with only male or female subjects while others integrated the two genders. Among the most notable models were: 1) Levinson’s theory regarding the four eras of the life cycle (page 71); 2) Caffarella & Olson’s study of women based on Levinson’s model (page 75); 3) Maslow’s theory of self-actualization (page 85); and 4) Erikson’s theory composed of 8 psychosocial stages (page 88). In your opinion, which approach seems to give the best explanation of adult development and why?
There was a lot of good sharing here, also! Cohorts shared their views on the four theories, which led to lively discussion!
Kelly and I also provided some good internet resources on the topic, which also sparked some good discussion!
III. In response to the reflection questions on the seminar provided in "Leading a Seminar" document provided by our instructor:
- Kelly and I chose good resources and questions to present to the seminar participants! We had a lot of fun planning and leading the seminar!
- I am quite comfortable in a leadership role with my peers. I have gained a lot of confidence in this area over the past year or so, with most of the thanks going to this online program!
- I think the participants enjoyed the discussions on the material we supplied for the seminar and we all learned quite a bit!
- I think the seminar has been an excellent educational tool, and especially on this topic!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Week Three--How to Construct a Rubric
I. Reading for the week--GMIT 660--Chapter Three in Introduction to Rubrics; highlights from the chapter:
- Rubric construction gets easier with time, partly because we get better at it and also because we often find ourselves revising rubrics we created for other, similar assignments.
- Four basic stages are involved in constructing any rubric regardless of the number of people participating: 1) Reflecting; 2) Listing; 3) Grouping and Labeling; 4) Application.
- We reflect not only on the assignment but also on the overall course objectives for this particular class.
- Constructing a rubric requires reflection on our overall class objectives, the assignment itself, its purposes, the task objectives, and students' prior knowledge, as well as our own previous experience with this type of assignment.
- In listing, we ask ourselves what specific learning objectives we hope will be accomplished with the completion of this assignment.
- Lists of learning objectives can vary tremendously, even in classes that seem very similar and that are taught by the same professor.
- Once the learning goals have been listed, you can add a description of the highest level of performance you expect for each learning goal.
- Like the objectives themselves, these descriptions also articulate the individual, disciplinary, and departmental objectives of the class.
- In grouping and labeling, we group similar performance expectations together and create labels for each group.
- Once the performance descriptions are in groups of similar skills, we read them and start to find out what is common across the group and label it.
- In application, we transfer our lists and groupings to a rubric grid.
- We need to be clear about expectations and about failures as well as successes, yet we also try to avoid overly negative or competitive labels.
- Rubrics help us give more feedback, more consistently, with many more opportunities for all students to not only understand but to meet our expectations.
II. Fellow cohort, Rex Coleman had the honor in leading the seminar for this course; his proposed questions and resources along with my view on how things went:
Question #1:
The focus of the entire chapter deals with building a rubric. An easy method to build a rubric is to begin with a template.
Please review the following rubric:
http://styluspub.com/resources/1579221157-otherlink2.doc
Could you use this rubric as a template for a class you are teaching or might teach? Please explain why or why not..
Rex provided us a rubric that was imcomplete and had a very questionable format; he was playing "devil's advocate," as he put it later in the discussion. Obviously, the rubric was imcomplete, but I tried to make the best of what was offered and reflected on the content, which, for the most part made sense to me. Rex's incomplete rubric in question was a good way to eventually get everyone to see that a good rubric is complete with nothing left to interpretation, and has a good, readable format.
Question #2:
The chapter states that there are some questions to be answered prior to designing a rubric.
Beginning on page 30 there are 8 questions. Choose one of the 8 questions to answer, using information from a class you are currently teaching.
If you are not currently teaching, use the group course created last term.
The participants did a good job of selecting a question from the text and applying their thoughts on rubrics planning. The questions ranged from how the teacher plans to accomplish his or her goals, to what skills the students have to have to do well in the assignment.
Question #3:
The chapter briefly discusses the use of student feedback in the process of developing a rubric.
Please refer to a rubric that you are using for a class, and then discuss some of the comments/feedback from your students regarding that rubric. If you are not teaching a course, please comment from the student perspective, on the following rubric: http://styluspub.com/resources/1579221157-otherlink2.doc
There was plenty of lively discussion regarding this question; participants provided good feedback and ideas from existing rubrics used in their field of expertise, as well as giving good feedback to others postings.
Rex also provided us with some good websites and articles related to the topic, which got some good feedback from the participants!
III. My overall reflections on the seminar:
- I thought Rex did a good job of providing good questions, websites, and scholarly articles on the main topic of creating rubrics, as well as keeping the discussions going with good comments.
- I learned a great deal about constructing rubrics from this seminar, as well as from the textbook reading.
- I will refer back to several of the rubrics formats in the future as I move along in my teaching career!
- I participated at a graduate student level in the seminar; I offered a few scholarly articles from EBSCO database on the subject matter and participated with replies to postings that helped move things along.
- This seminar format worked very well as a good educational tool in sharing and learning on the main topic!
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