Teddy’s Reflection Log 02.21.2010
Posted onFebruary 21, 2010
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Teddy’s Reflection Log 02.21.2010
For class session 02.16.2010
Snowy weather is beautiful, but the sound of our 604 class back in session was a glorious anthem to my ears. As we recovered from the inclement weather, it was clear to me that everyone was eager to make-up the two missed classes. Everyone present, seemed ready to get back to work on the assignments. However, we missed our classmate Jason. He was very sick! Get well soon, Jason! Our professor, Darren Cambridge, led us in discussing SoTL topics. We shifted to many key points and finally segued into portfolios, after revamping the schedule.
I thought it fascinating that the web content, color schemes and design formats for portfolios could depict attributes of the author. Many of the portfolio offered materials or questions necessary for guided learning. Others, were meer resume’s for the teacher or a useless list of things to do to kill class time and the motivation of learners. In other words, they offered, nor suggested a well thought out plan to enhance scholarly teaching and learning experiences. Deep learning was not an objective! I was extremely impressed by the way Carrie Anne and Aracelie pointed out very powerful components in their open educational resources (portfolios). They were very articulate! I too, indulged and pointed out important questions. Some of the questions were unusual and to my shock, not normally posed by researchers for investigation or a syllabus. And in some regards, allowed other scholars access to their paths of inquiry.
The use of hot colors was a significant highlight to to help students on assignments. Such a cool and logically ingenius way to guide learning. We talked about this and other aspects of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning as they relate to the content presented on the world wide web to acquire further integral insights about its use, our roles and responsibilities. It’s use as a promotional tool in student recruitment and other possible framings to obtain student participation, deep understanding and learning while building new synoptic connections from new experiences create from new experiences.
Aracelie_Reading Pt II_23 Feb_”Making Their Own Way…”
Posted onFebruary 21, 2010
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Making Their Own Way: Narratives for Transforming Higher Education to Promote Self-Development by Marcia B. Baxter Magolda
The second portion of the book, Promoting Self-Authorship in Higher Education, takes the observations her interviews with the participants in their 20s and presents an actual framework for use with higher education. It is a “framework consisting of three core assumptions and three principles for educational practice to connect the assumptions to students’ development”. The core assumptions are that knowledge is complex and socially constructed, self is central to knowledge construction, and expertise is shared mutually in knowledge construction. The three accompanying principles are to validate learners as knowers, situate learning in learners’ experience, and define learning as mutually constructing meaning.
After the overview of the framework, the author discusses the experiences of the participants within higher education institutions. She begins with the participants’ graduate education experiences and highlights many of the differences the participants found when they compared those experiences to their undergraduate years. Many discovered they were afforded opportunities to apply their experiential knowledge and to share their opinions and beliefs. “Critique, feedback, and ongoing evolution of perspectives were mainstays in their experiences” (p 211).
And with that I must continue reading, because the book is much larger than I anticipated…
Aracelie_Reading Pt I_23 Feb_”Making Their Own Way…”
Posted onFebruary 21, 2010
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Making Their Own Way: Narratives for Transforming Higher Education to Promote Self-Development by Marcia B. Baxter Magolda
This book is broken into two parts – The Journey Toward Self-Authorship and Promoting Self-Authorship in Higher Education. Self-authorship is defined as “the ability to collect, interpret, and analyze information and reflect on one’s own beliefs in order to form judgments” (Baxter Magolda, 1998, p.143). Baxter Magolda covers the lives of participants from the time they entered college in 1986 until (for the 39 who continued with the study) the age of 30. She presents her discussion of her longitudinal study using narratives from interviews she conducted with the participants throughout this time period.
The first section of the book, The Journey Toward Self-Authorship, starts by identifying three core questions that the author found affected the participants during their 20s – “How Do I Know?”, “Who Am I?”, and “How Do I Construct Relationships with Others?” She equated each of these to dimensions for which literature already exists – the epistemological, intrapersonal, and interpersonal dimensions, respectively. Reading the book, one finds that the epistemological dimension is what the participants mostly experienced in their college years, and the other two dimensions began to develop more after college. Within the discussion on the college years, there are four types of knowing covered that are referenced throughout the rest of the book. They are absolute (right or wrong), transitional (uncertainty is discovered, but only exists in particular areas), independent (sources of authority are now in question, uncertainty grows), and contextual (consider all perspectives, research answers, and integrate own opinions). Contextual knowing became more prominent in the interviews after the participants graduated from college.
Upon completing college, the participants embarked on finding careers, continuing education, and starting relationships. However, because most weren’t yet in the stages of contextual knowing, they began their journeys through the four phases to self-authorship – following formulas, crossroads, becoming the author of one’s life, and internal foundation. Two points developed through the phases are the participants’ internal voices emerging and the reduction of the impact of external influences on the participants.
Whiteboard on literature review starting places, week 5
Posted onFebruary 17, 2010
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Aracelie_Thoughts on “Teaching as Research”
Posted onFebruary 16, 2010
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More math for those who are not doing as well in it – what a concept. It’s so counterintuitive to the way we are programmed with respect to testing prior to a class. As a teacher, I would think that to be the ideal situation because you do have the opportunity to see your students improve and possibly excel at the subject. I am interested, though, in what the students’ views would be regarding the tests and the additional coursework. Because so many of us are trained to think of more schoolwork as a type of punishment rather than a reward, would more work be a demotivator in the classroom? Perhaps it depends on the method in which the content and ideas are delivered. A teacher who believes there is purpose to the added work may get very positive feedback and results.