Real Life Paradigm Shift

Today, I attended a workshop on the The (Secret) Steps: Simple Ways to Efficiently and Effectively Teach an Undergraduate Course.  This workshop is part of a series of workshops on Preparing Future Faculty organized by the Center for Teaching Excellence at UH Manoa.  I had been receiving emails about monthly workshops but really did not pay too much attention to them until a friend informed me that she found the workshops to be extremely helpful for her as a lecturer.  I have been tossing around the idea of teaching as a career path but I had not made too much effort to explore until now.  Thus, I figured I might as well start. 

I had a positive experience at the workshop but then again I always love continuing development sessions and always come away with at least one bit of new and useful knowledge (Hello, Zotero!).  I found it to be especially relevant to our discussion about higher education curriculum because it focuses on what the educator can do to be effective in their teaching roles.  Much of what was presented mirrored Tagg's Learning Paradigm. 

There were four steps that were presented:

1. Don't reinvent the wheel
2. Create assignments that work for you and the students
3. Use writing to learn
4. Learn from students
5. There really are no steps.

The first step underscored the idea that there's no need to take on the stress of creating new learning strategies at the beginning of the teaching assignment (full disclosure: this workshop was designed for adjunct instructors...but an educator is an educator is an educator).  Learn from what's been done before, use old syllabi as guidelines, and there are tons of resources available online to help you craft syllabi.

The second step touched on assignment design and purpose.  Similar to our discussions on creating active learning environments where deep learning occurs, it was stressed that assignments had to have a purpose and challenge students in an intentional way.  It called for the educator to create assignments that are designed to build a particular set of skills.  Additionally, rubrics are an important part of the assignment process.  A tip that was given was to have students write out three to four sentences paraphrasing what they thought the assignment was asking for.  This is a great way to determine if students understand the assignment and would save you time and effort in the long run to work on how clearly you express your expectations.

The third step delineates the importance of implementing writing activities to create active learning environments.  Not only does this build on the student's ability to write coherently, it creates an opportunity for them to develop critical analysis skills and become deep learners.  And let's face it, students need to practice writing beyond texting, Twitter, and Facebook.  

The fourth step was the most important, I thought.  Learning happens bi-directionally.   The best learning environments are when both the students and the educator learns.  This was significant to me because it asked for the instructor to understand the new post-traditional types of students they will deal with and it asks the instructor to be open to constructive criticism from students about their teaching methods.  This openness can be constructed through mutual respect from educator to student and vice versa as well as the creation of a safe environment where the student is the center focus.  Mid-course evaluations of the professor are an example of how this can happen positively.  

The fifth step, well, is not really a step at all but I thought it was a great way of bringing it all back to the heart of the issue--that it's a matter of attitude and outlook.  A student-centered framework allows the educator to understand which strategies will work best to achieve their purpose of creating a learning environment that nurtures student growth and development. 

Significant concepts and tag words that I heard from the presenter: Student-centered learning; rubrics, assignment design, active learning, dynamic, student engagement, evaluations, reflexive teaching, coaching.   

I know I am slowly building a better understanding of what I need to do to create a positive learning environment for students that takes into consideration their skills, experiences, stories, and beliefs.  I appreciated attending the workshop and having the concepts we learn about curriculum, teaching, and assessment being confirmed.  What we discuss in the classroom is being perpetuated and disseminated in positive ways that are informing new educators.  That gives me hope that this learning-centered paradigm shift is occurring. 

Are you seeing shifts in the teaching paradigm in your experiences outside of the classroom?  How do you feel about these changes?