PIDP3250 Assignment – Course JournalPIDP3250 Assignment 1 – Reflective Writing 1
Objective Questions: Begin with data, facts, external reality “College teachers tend to describe student engagement in one of two ways. The first is with statements like “Engaged students really care about what they’re learning; they want to learn” or “When students are engaged, they exceed expectations and go beyond what is required” or “the words that describe student engagement to me are passion and excitement”... The second way many college teachers describe student engagement is with statements like engaged students are trying to make meaning of what they are learning or engaged students are involved in the academic task at hand and are using higher-order thinking skills such as analyzing information or solving problems” Reflective Questions: Evoke immediate personal reactions, internal responses, sometimes emotions or feelings, hidden images, and associations with the facts My immediate reaction was that it is an interesting and insightful way of describing student engagement. I especially like the way the author describes student engagement as the “product of motivation and active learning”, and not the sum of those two, because without either one, there is no student engagement. I agree that both are needed to create student engagement. Interpretive Questions: Draw out the meaning, values, significance, implications The author described student engagement from a two-dimensional approach: motivation and active learning. The author mentioned that students are engaged in their learning when they care about what they are learning and they want to learn. When students are engaged, then they exceed expectation. I understand the relationship: students care about their learning → engaged students → students perform at a high level. The question that pops up in my mind as I was reading this was how does an educator get the students to care about their learning and want to learn so that they will be engaged? That’s the more important question. The second description of student engagement looked at the end product or outcome of what student engagement would lead to. When students are engaged, they will perform better because they use higher order thinking skills to think analytically and critically. The description also stated that “engaged students are trying to make meaning of what they are learning”. They are trying to derive value from their learning. The answer to the question presented early is explained in Chapter 2. In the value-expectancy model, students become motivated and engaged when they see value in what they are learning and they expect to succeed. As an educator, we need to draw and present the connection of what we are teaching and how does it relate to the students. We need to show our students the things that they are learning are really practical and will affect their future work and life, thus creating intrinsic value for the students. Once the students can connect the dots and see this connection, they will see value in their learning. As for expectancy, this has to do with classroom management (setting the correct expectation for the students; giving regular and meaningful feedback about their performance etc.) and course planning (the pace of the course, teaching strategies etc.). When students value the tasks and they expect to succeed, they will “engage in the task, eager and happy to focus on developing knowledge and skills by seeking to discover meanings, grasping new insights and generating integrative interpretations”. Decisional Questions: Bring the conversation to a close, eliciting resolution to make a decision about the future Recently in my school, one of our faculty members provided some feedback/assessment of the class that she is teaching. Over the past few years, she feels that she has been concerned about the performance of many students of her students. From her assessment, the 2 main issues seem to be: 1. Lack of interest on the part of the student. Students are not committed to the course; 2. Lack of motivation. Based on her feedback, instead of blaming the issues on the students, I would see it as an opportunity for improvement. These issues raised are course design and delivery issues. I hope that taking this course will help me be more strategic in my instruction. Reference: Barkley, E. F. (2009). Student engagement techniques: A handbook for college faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Battista, L., & Ruble, V. (2014, January 13). Nine Strategies to Spark Adult Students' Intrinsic Motivation. Retrieved November 17, 2016, from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/nine- strategies-to- spark-adult- students-intrinsic- motivation/ PIDP3250 Assignment 1 – Reflective Writing 2
Objective Questions: Begin with data, facts, external reality “In our model of student engagement, motivation and active learning are twin helices that work together synergistically. How can we promote this synergy? I propose that three classroom conditions function somewhat like steps or rungs between the two sides of the double helix spiral… Condition 1: Teacher can promote synergy by creating a sense of classroom community... Condition 2: Teacher can create synergy by helping students work at their optimal level... Condition 3: Teacher can create synergy by teaching so that students learn holistically.” Reflective Questions: Evoke immediate personal reactions, internal responses, sometimes emotions or feelings, hidden images, and associations with the facts My immediate reaction was “Finally! After reading a couple of chapters about the benefits incorporating both motivation and active learning into the class to create synergy, I can finally what this plan actually looks like step by step and what are some of the conditions to make this plan work. As a former business student myself, I really like the idea of creating and promoting synergy. The word “synergy” really resonances with me. According to Dictionary.com, synergy is defined as “the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements, contributions, etc.” In business, we talk about synergy all the time. We talk about how we can create value for the firm, through things like merger and acquisition. Interpretive Questions: Draw out the meaning, values, significance, implications I want to take this time to comment on Condition 1, 2, and 3. For Condition 1, the author discussed the importance of a learning community. I like the way that the author framed it as learning communities, and not teaching communities. Teaching is more like providing knowledge to the students, while learning is more of a two-way channels. In a learning community, the “overarching goal is learning, but this learning is best achieved in environments where students feel a sense of belonging and where they feel comfortable responding to questions even when they are unsure of the answer and seeking help from the teacher or from their peers when they don’t understand” (Barkley, 2009). For the second condition, the author raised a good question and answered his own question as well. Given a class is usually made up students who are quite diverse, have different learning gaps, and different zones of optimal challenge, “how can a teacher possibly individualize the curriculum to meet each student’s unique needs? Is it inevitable that some students will be bored and other confused and frustrated” (Barkley, 2009)? The author suggested three approaches to help students work in their optimal challenge zones. These approaches are assessment, teaching students metacognitive skills and empowering students as partners in their own learning. I really like the idea of teaching students metacognitive skills. As described by the Barkley, metacognition is about “being aware of oneself as a learner and constantly monitoring the effectiveness of one’s learning”. We all know that learning is good for us, but how can we learn more effectively? Some strategies include previewing, summarizing, paraphrasing, imaging and creating analogies, note taking, outlining, and keeping our attention focused on the task and our minds actively engaged. For the third condition, the author talked about creating synergy by teaching so that students can learn holistically. The author stressed about the importance of integrating the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains because doing so will support active learning and enhance motivation. Students will think and care about what they are doing and they will do what they are think and care about. Decisional Questions: Bring the conversation to a close, eliciting resolution to make a decision about the future The three classroom conditions suggested by the author will be very useful to my future teaching. They provide some great suggestions as to how I can promote synergy between motivation and active learning. For instance, I will create collaborative activities in my class so that students participating can build their own minds in this process, applying what they have learnt and making an idea or a concept into their own understanding. I really look forward to taking these ideas and implementing these conditions into my future class and incorporating some of its strategies. Reference: Barkley, E. F. (2009). Student engagement techniques: A handbook for college faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. The definition of synergy. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2016, from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/synergy Assignment 1 – Reflective Writing 3
Objective Questions: Begin with data, facts, external reality “Shyness is about fear of social judgement. Introversion is more about how do you respond to stimulation, including social stimulation. So extroverts really craved large amount of stimulation, whereas, introverts feel they are most alive and they are most switched on, and they are most capable when they are in quieter environment.” Reflective Questions: Evoke immediate personal reactions, internal responses, sometimes emotions or feelings, hidden images, and associations with the facts When Susan mentioned at the beginning of her speech, talking about going to summer camp and bringing a “suitcase of full of books”. She described this as a different way of being social. Being social does not mean being an extrovert. At that moment, my immediate personal reaction was “Aha! I finally get it! I finally understand the difference between shyness and introversion! I finally understand the difference between leadership and introversion!” Before, I thought that introvert cannot be become a leader. I was wrong. Introvert can indeed become a leader. Interpretive Questions: Draw out the meaning, values, significance, implications Susan mentioned that “When it comes to leadership, introverts are pass over for leadership position, even though introvert tend to be very careful, much less likely to take outside risk.” She then provided evidences as to why introverted leaders would have better performance, because when they are managing proactive employee, they are more likely to let them run with their ideas, whereas an extrovert can “put their own stamp into things”, resulting in other people’s idea not being readily bubbled up to the surface. Indeed, introverts can be creative. Introverts can take on leadership roles. Being a leader has nothing to do with whether we are an extrovert or introvert. Being a leader is about taking on responsibilities. Susan described some of the transformative leaders in history who have been introvert themselves. Examples are Roosevelt and Gandhi. These leaders described themselves as quiet, soft spoken and shy. They took the spotlight even “every bone of them was telling them not to”. They were driven to do what they thought were right. Decisional Questions: Bring the conversation to a close, eliciting resolution to make a decision about the future Susan Cain brought up a good point that in our society, school and workplace are designed for mostly extrovert which has lots of stimulation. In today’s education system, the classroom settings are designed for extrovert in most cases. For instance, we have heard about participation penalizing quiet learners and introverts not speaking up in class. In the classroom, in the workplace, we have both group of people (the introverts and the extroverts). The extroverted students and the introverted students perform differently in the classroom. Susan then mentioned that the key for individuals to maximize their talents is to put themselves in a simulation that is right for them. As an educator myself, I think student learning and their educational experience. From my perspective, the key question that I am interested in is how can I create such an environment with the appropriate simulation level that will maximize the performance and learning of my students? Isaacs (2009) brought up some good suggestions: “First we should be aware that the student sitting in the back may be an interested introvert and not an unmotivated student. The introvert is comfortable when allowed to observe and uncomfortable when pressured to perform. In order to get this student involved, we must directly ask the student to respond. Designing rotations so that all students are asked to participate will make the introvert more of a part of the class. Allowing the students to prepare questions at home by assigning the material for the next class discussion in advance can help.” In my future teaching, in addition to implementing Isaacs’ suggestions to my class, I will also adjust my grading criteria. Instead of allocating 10% participation marks (which will stimulate the extroverted learners), I would allocate 10% class-work marks. The class-work marks includes both participations, in-class assignments and group case studies. With this approach, I can create suitable learning environment for both the extroverted and introverted learners. Reference: Barkley, E. F. (2009). Student engagement techniques: A handbook for college faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. TED. (2012). The power of introverts | Susan Cain. Retrieved November 28, 2016, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0KYU2j0TM4 Isaacs, T. (2009). Introverted Students in the Classroom: How to Bring Out Their Best - Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning. Retrieved December 09, 2016, from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/introverted-students-in-the-classroom-how-to-bring-out-their-best/ |
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