Latest entries at top:
ENTRY 20: INCLUSIVE CURRICULUM - INTRODUCTION AND ORIENTATION
10th September 2021
Today I commenced the second unit of my PGCert; Curriculum Design for Creative Teaching and Learning. Within the lesson we were asked to reflect upon our previous unit and set ourselves two learning outcomes for the new unit.
Overall, I was pleased with my outcome for the first unit so though it would be good practise to note some of the areas I would like to continue to grow, investigate and improve upon.
Journaling: I found the process of journaling super useful and intend to keep the practise up this term. I think it will be particularly helpful during the research phase to keep track of and reflect upon the different subjects and sources I research.
Reflection: While I really enjoyed writing my reflections, they both too me a significant amount of time to plan and write. I would really like to improve my confidence and ability with academic writing further in this unit.
Inclusivity: I want to continue to explore and research inclusivity and am excited about how I can apply this to re-designing one of my FBBM units. I also want to ask myself if there are ways that students can be part of the design of the unit – perhaps by offering them options in output and delivery.
Neurodiversity: I also want to continue to increase my awareness of neurodiversity and how I can look at ways to take this into consideration when re-designing one of my units.
Technology: I really want to look at ways students can populate their online portfolios (ready for career planning) as they partake in their units so it doesn’t become such a daunting (and sometimes stressful/tedious task) during their second year now that we no longer have a career planning unit. I also wish to continue to populate the online portfolio I started on the first unit of the PGCert.
Hybrid Teaching: Explore ways in which I can balance on-live vs in person teaching to best compliment the unit when looking at the re-design.
LO_6: Research ways I can make curriculum more inclusive and more neurodiverse aware when re-designing content.
LO_8: Explore effective ways to incorporate technologies into units both for neurodiverse needs, inclusivity and to best deliver hybrid teaching.
Entry 19 – Reviewing my Educational Philosophy
21st May 2021
As I draw to the end of this unit for my PGCert I am reviewing my educational philosophy. As I reflected in my conclusion - I actually found it quite hard writing my educational philosophy at the start of the unit as I realised my teaching to date had been purely based on intuition and indirectly reflecting and responding to my own teaching. Now full of new knowledge and a bank of feedback I decided to draw the below mindmap to help me realise my true philosophy.
My original from back in February:
I believe everyone should have access to education and moreover higher education. I believe the purpose of education is to create a safe environment where each student feels valued, included and most importantly understood.
Within my teaching practise I often use Nike as a case study for branding discussing their iconic slogan ‘JUST DO IT.’ Together we draw conclusions that it suggests the wearer of the slogan is encouraged to push themselves another mile, beat their personal best or simply try harder. It’s my aim to instil a similar theory within my own teaching by promoting the slogan ‘YOU CAN DO IT,’ you can push yourself further, go beyond your personal best and achieve more than you ever imagined.
Marva Collins’ who taught children from deprived areas in Chicago during the 1970’s, discusses in her self-titled book Marva Collins’ Way (Collins and Tamarkin, 1990) the importance of getting to know your students as well as your subject and alludes to the importance of continuing to learn alongside your students.
This really resonated with my own learning experience. I was a hard-working student who would become disengaged with certain teachers and teaching methods and often lacked confidence in my own ability. My persona was often perceived as lacking enthusiasm or not having an opinion. It took a teacher who spent time getting to know me and how I learnt to reengage me with my subject. They used learning pedagogies that I could relate to and more importantly engage with. As a result, for the first time, in a long time, I confidently handed in a submission a felt proud of.
This experience shaped my own teaching theories and educational values. I believe that praxis is essential to developing all round competence in creative subjects. Theory-based information is always essential - you can’t place a student in a factory or a buyer’s meeting and expect them to understand what’s going on. Instead they need to become familiar with a glossary of fashion terminology and theory before you they can actively take part in a practice. However, you can only truly comprehend a theory by experiencing it in practice.
Outside of teaching I work as a designer and enjoy sharing my work and blending my creativity into my teaching pedagogies. I intend to make further use of my connections and experience by being more aware of the importance of connectivism within my teaching practice and aim to create a broader community of practice extending outside of the classroom.
Finally, I believe learning and teaching can’t be assessed exclusively at summative. Instead feedback should be shared continuously in peer reviews and in group and individual discussion. I understand that each of my students will be aiming for very different outcomes; some to just complete the course and others aiming for a specific job description. I aim to keep each of my students engaged and motivated so they all complete their course with an outcome they are personally proud of. The needs and goals of students are all different and the journey to achieving these goals is as important as the final destination.
ENTRY 17 – Draft E Portfolio Feedback
14th May 2021
I received my feedback on my draft portfolio from Virna this week:
Emily, what a wonderful e-portfolio, thank you very much for all your commitment and contribution to the course. Your professional growth is very evident.
I like the structure, it's very easy to navigate. It totally fulfils the brief, it is visually appealing.
You have definitely met all the criteria and indeed your e-portfolio can be used as an exemplar for others, both on this cohort and on future ones.
You should consider making some of it more public, by publishing a blog or podcast.
Your 'you choose' video - please make sure you share that internally with your department
The learning environment reflective commentary - I would like to send that to Aula.
I have made a brief video feedback (below) just to expand on the above points, but you're ready to go, both for the presentation and for the final submission.
A visual commentary can be found here.
My mentor Kevin Brazant also provided feedback on the mapping form and shared the below written feedback:
I think you have demonstrated your reflections across your portfolio.
The only thing to consider is how can you make your educational philosophy more explicit. You do mention Connectivism. Here is a link to a visual graphic exploring learning theory paradigms:
You might find this useful to pinpoint an educational philosophy within your paradigm.
Well done on juggling everything!
Kevin also brought to my attention that I was using the word ‘we’ on occasions in my reflective writing which I have already addressed.
It's my intention to revisit my educational philosophy in the next week where I will take into account Kevins feedback.
ENTRY 15 – Presentation Assessment
3rd May 2021
Ahead of the next session, Virna asked us to comment on how we should adapt/adopt the 5 criteria that we detailed last week for the e-portfolio for assessing the presentations at the end of next week.
1. Cultivate:
Professional growth
Nurturing
Development
How do we feel we have developed as tutors throughout this unit and how will we be adapting our future practise?
2. Collaborate:
SWOT
Annotated bibliography
Triad ‘community’
Team spirit
With students (students as partners)
How did lessons and triad support my learning?
3. Integrate
Praxis (theory into practice)
Use the research/reading in practice
Refer to at least 1 autor for each commentary - quote?
What was most influential in the lessons - UDL??
Key piece of feedback
4. Advocate
Ethical dimension of practice
and/or
advocate for each other as colleagues
Clearly introduce the ‘advocate’ element within your activity. - Ethical/sustainable element
5. Originate
Creativity
Innovative practice
Novel use of digital tools
10-20 images
Talk about how you use the learning environment that is a bit innovative.
How did I adapt my learning activity to be more creative/original - circumstances.
ENTRY 14 – E-Portfolios ??
20th April 2021
I’ve really enjoyed the process of creating the e-portfolio throughout the PGCert. Populating it as I achieve certain areas has helped make the process feel gradual and you are able to see it build and progress continuously. I have been considering where we could include an e-portfolio element on one of the FBBM units.
Recently I have been working with second years preparing for their work placements looking into self branding and CV’s. Due to the development of electives our personal branding unit was dropped a couple of years ago. Since then it has been difficult to motivate and encourage students to spend as much time on their personal branding and career planning as they had when it was an assessment unit. I therefore feel it would lend itself to being a continuous element that students can update and add to throughout their time at Ravensbourne and gain feedback at regular intervals such as in PPR’s.
I am experimenting with this next term with our year ones where we have allocated a week to starting an e-portfolio on Behance where they will create a personal logo, upload a CV, links to social media and upload three of their favorite projects from year one. I then want to encourage all their year two units to end with them uploading a few pages from each unit to continue to populate these e -portfolios. This will put them in such a better position come year two when they start applying for work placements as a lot of them felt stressed by the extra workload. Moving forward students will only have to update their CV and add new work which will hopefully be a lot less stressful and make it easier to apply for placements.
They can then hopefully continue with this e-portfolio post Ravensbourne and into their careers.
ENTRY 13 – Reviewing Feedback
13th April 2021
I’m now starting to review the feedback from my peers and mentor on my learning activities and lesson plans ahead of writing my main reflections.
My mentor forwarded me the following feedback prompting me to ask myself some question which I have answered below each:
- As part of your reflections, how is your Educational philosophy demonstrated in your teaching delivery and pedagogy?
This is an interesting question as I am currently reviewing my educational philosophy at this stage and do feel there are areas I would like to update. However, inclusivity and the belief that every student can achieve something with the right support still holds strong with my values and believe this was at the core of the activity.
- How has your philosophy developed over the course of the PGCERT unit?
How are your activities, and choices as part of teaching and learning aligned with HEA criteria? e.g. A1 'Designing and planning learning activities and programmes of study' - what is your interpretation of this as part of your practice?
You have referred to PBL (Problem Based Learning) as part of your planning/ reflections. How are you factoring this into your teaching? How is it influencing (if relevant) your practice?
How do you keep abreast of student development, distance traveled etc. for a large cohort of 56 students?
How will you build on their learning/ understanding?
How can you assess where they are at? Are there quick activities to gauge this?
What pedagogical strategies have been most effective or not?
With such a large cohort of 56 students, how will you mitigate conflict/ breakdowns/monopolizers and non-contributors as part of group work?
Is there an opportunity for peer assessment and feedback as part of this activity?
How do we foster learning communities especially on an online platform? - This may well be a good link to thinking about AULA and Zoom as a digital learning environment.
ENTRY 12 – Revision: Learning Environment - planning...
30th March 2021
I decided to use the Walt Disney creative strategy discussed in (Martin, 2021) as a framework for my
The Dreamer:
At first you tackle the ‘issue’ as a ‘dreamer’ where anything is possible
Big picture ⇢ long term thinker ⇢ focusing on generating the elements of a plan or idea
The Realist
Secondly you move into a different space ⇢ you the ‘realist’ visualise and consider how the dream can be realised, seeing the chunks of the stages of its completion in a storyboard process.
The critic/spoiler
Thirdly in another space ⇢ you the ‘critic/spoiler’ consider the potential difficulties or weaknesses of ‘the’ plan (and NOT the weakness of ‘you’ the dreamer or realist) You ask yourself what is good about the plan, what's missing and what’s needed...
The dreamer
This reflection then returns to you the dreamer, who can, with this new knowledge, dream again…
ENTRY 11 – Revision: Learning Activity - planning…
23rd March 2021
I’ve opted to use the Gibbs’ framework for reflection (Gibbs, 1988) to reflect upon my learning activity. I have put into place the below plan to get me started…
Description:
What happened? Describe the event? What are you reflecting on?
Advanced organiser:
How does your activity link to the lesson, brief, unit, program?
Who, what where, when, why - ADVOCATE
How does it fit in the bigger picture?
ADVOCATE
Which are the learning incomes/outcomes for your activity?
Learning incomes ⇢ emergent learning outcomes ⇢ learning outgoings
Although teaching and learning designers may provide guidance, different learners will have their own ways of interpreting the requirements and proceeding with the resources they have available.
(Beetham and Sharpe, 2020)
Which theories of learning does this activity stem from?
My learning activity stems from the cognitive constructivism (Future Learn, n.d.) learning theory. The activity created an experiential experience where students linked previous knowledge of the fashion supply chain and co-constructed (Petty, 2015) this to create a proposal advocating for ways brands and retailers can be more ethical and sustainable while sourcing.
Feelings:
What were you thinking and feeling?
What were my reactions and emotional responses at the time?
- Reflection: in action, on action, for action (Schön, 1999)
What was my style of teaching during the activity
Evaluation:
What happened? What was good and bad about the experience?
- Refer back to my initial self evaluation
Make value judgments - be subjective
Emotional intelligence - how did I connect with students - offer reassurance on a potentially negative subject. (or add to conclusion??)
After reading Quinlan, Kathleen M. How Emotion Matters in Four Key Relationships in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education for this weeks PGCert flipped learning there are some key takeaways from the text that I want to consider during my planning in relation to emotional intelligence and connecting students with the subject:
- Make the subject relevant to students' lives → How do they consider sustainability in their own lives?
- Share our enthusiasm with our subject → MAS fabric park reference.
- Get students talking about big ideas → How can they advocate change in the future?
- Involve students in authentic enquiry → Research their own suggestions
- Use a variety of media to engage students → Video, mentimeter, padlet, lecture, group work, presentation, discussion
Advanced organiser:
How does your activity relate to your purpose as a teacher?
Advanced organiser:
How do we learn ⇢ How does our brain change as we learn? What are the psychological constraints to learning? (Jensen, 2008) How does your activity reflect your understanding of how we learn? E.g. In terms of staging, time and length
How do students assess their learning and I assess their understanding of the subject - co-constructivism? - look at assessment?
Analysis:
What else can you make of the situation?
Use your own experience - and additional source material: Journal, feedback etc…
- Refer back to feedback from triad and mentor
Conclusion:
What else could have been done?
What can you conclude more generally from the experience and from evaluation and analysis?
What can you conclude more specifically about your own personal response, situation and ways of working?
Action Plan:
If you were to do it again what would you do?
What will you do differently in the future, based on the experience you have just analsed?
What if your plan of action now? WHat steps are you going to take based on what you have learned from your reflection?
ENTRY 10 – Revision: Reflection - where to start???
16th March 2021
Making a plan for going forward. Suddenly we find ourselves at a mid-way point! I’ve managed my time well so far and have been able to absorb content and research into certain areas independently. However, it's now daunting on me that I now need to start collating all my feedback and research and start reflecting. I have so many ideas and suddenly no idea where to begin! I am definitely NOT the most confident when it comes to writing, especially academic writing and I feel I should spend some time this week looking more at reflective writing. I noticed a few students in the past had adopted reflective frameworks and think this could really help me so I'm going to investigate some different frameworks and see if any are relevant for me to adopt in my own reflective commentaries. I'll also discuss with Mio and Liz in our triad meeting later.
Martin, R., 2021. Through A Glass Darkly: Learning To Reflect. [online] JUICE. Available at: <https://juice-journal.com/2020/03/09/through-a-glass-darkly-learning-to-reflect/> [Accessed 16 March 2021].
In the above article, Martin discusses three frameworks that can be used for reflective writing practise:
1. Borton’s (1970) Framework for Guiding Reflection
What?
What happened? What did I do? What did others do? What was I trying to achieve? What was good or bad about the experience?
So what?
So what is the importance of this? So what more do I need to know about this? So what have I learnt about this?
Now what
Now what could I do? Now what do I need to do? Now what might I do? Now what might be the consequences of this action?
Could I use this framework in my own reflection???
This could be a possibility for my ‘you choose ?’ option of my e portfolio - I could easily use this framework in an infographic too?
2. Gibbs - Reflective framework for professional development and professional practise
Description:
What happened?
What are you reflecting on?
Describe the event?
Feelings:
What were you thinking and feeling?
What were my reactions and emotional responses at the time?
Evaluation:
What happened? What was good and bad about the experience?
Make value judgments - be subjectivE
Analysis:
What else can you make of the situation?
Use your own experience - and additional source material: Journal, feedback etc…
Conclusion:
What else could have been done?
What can you conclude more generally from the experience and from evaluation and analysis?
What can you conclude more specifically about your own personal response, situation and ways of working?
Action Plan:
If you were to do it again what would you do?
What will you do differently in the future, based on the experience you have just analsed?
What if your plan of action now? WHat steps are you going to take based on what you have learned from your reflection?
Could I use this framework in my own reflection???
I think Gibbs’ framework could be really useful to reflect upon my learning activity.
3. Atkins and Murphy’s model of reflection (1993)
Adapted from Atkins and Murphy (1993)
Develop Awareness:
Observe an action, event or experience
Describe the situation
Include your feelings, thoughts, beliefs, values, opinions, events.
Analyse feelings and knowledge
Identify and challenge assumptions - what happened and why? Imagine and explore alternatives.
Evaluate relevance of new knowledge
Does it help to explain/resolve the problem? Were the gaps in your knowledge and what is the impact on this?
Identifying learning
What have you learned? If you experienced this situation again, what would you do?
Could I use this framework in my own reflection???
This could also be relevant to my learning activity?
4. Walt Disney’s Creative Strategy
I found this method of reflection quite interesting if a little amusing initially.
The Dreamer:
At first you tackle the ‘issue’ as a ‘dreamer’ where anything is possible
Big picture ⇢ long term thinker ⇢ focusing on generating the elements of a plan or idea
The Realist
Secondly you move into a different space ⇢ you the ‘realist’ visualise and consider how the dream can be realised, seeing the chunks of the stages of its completion in a storyboard process.
The critic/spoiler
Thirdly in another space ⇢ you the ‘critic/spoiler’ consider the potential difficulties or weaknesses of ‘the’ plan (and NOT the weakness of ‘you’ the dreamer or realist) You ask yourself what is good about the plan, what's missing and what’s needed...
The dreamer
This reflection then returns to you the dreamer, who can, with this new knowledge, dream again…
Could I use this framework in my own reflection???
This could also be a really interesting method of reflection for my learning environment reflection that started off as a bit of a fairytale for me but then I faced loads of unconsidered hurdles once I started the group SWOT and discussion within my triad.
ENTRY 9 – You Choose ?
9th March 2021
Flipped learning:
1. re-read the project brief - do you have any questions?
2. reflect on your own (additional) learning outcomes (what are your next steps to meet them?)
I set my learning outcomes at the very start of the PGCert journey and already feel like my studies are naturally helping me meet them. For example, my understanding around neurodiversity was really limited in week one and already I feel a lot more confident with regards to amending my practise to be more inclusive. I have started to think about each of these outcomes in more detail and ways I can go about meeting them over the coming weeks.
LO_7 – Identify ways I can become more inclusive by becoming more aware and understanding of neurodiversity within my cohorts
- Research and read more into the topic (especially UDL)
- Start reflecting on this within both my reflective commentaries
LO_8 – Explore effective ways to deliver hybrid teaching within FBBM modules
- Start to think about how we could effectively deliver hybrid teaching on FBBM units - some units may end themselves better than others?
- How do you create that balance of online vs in class learning
- What do students want? like?
LO_9 – Integrate a broader framework of connectivism within my community of practise to keep pace and adapt in a digital age.
- Start looking into contacts that could be brought into different units I teach into expanding learning outside of the university; guest lecturers, external lectures (creativity bank??)
3. Have you started your e-portfolio? have you got suitable headings in place? What's your next step?
I started my e-portfolio quite early on listing headings and adding content as I go along such as feedback etc…
4. check the learning journey Padlet. Which has been the best learning moment for you? the 'muddiest' point?
Highlights:
The best learning moment for me has been the continuing meeting and discussions with my triad. It's been so nice to develop my learning alongside them and has opened up so many conversations and discussions. Thank you Mio and Liz!
I have really enjoyed studying UDL, preparing for and carrying out my learning activity and researching the VLE. It's been really interesting reflecting on VLE - at first I was led by my own passion for embracing technologies and inspired by so many positive experiences relating to using Aula. However, it's been so interesting completing the triad SWOT analysis and understanding and appreciating all the different opinions and experiences of colleagues. While I may find Aula really easy and applicable to the FBBM course - understanding not everyone shares the same experience is really important.
Muddies moments:
I think at the start of the journey I found everything quite overwhelming. There were so many NEW topics and ideas my brain was totally overloaded. It's really nice now i’m in a position to start reflecting on the learning that things are finally fitting into place. I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into some reading and exploring the collated bibliography further in the next few weeks.
5. Revise the shared collaborative bibliography - which are the 3 'top gems' for you so far? Why?
i.
James, A. and Brookfield, S., 2007. Engaging Imagination : Helping Students Become Creative and Reflective Thinkers : Helping Students Become Creative and Reflective Thinkers. [ebook] John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Available at: <https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/> [Accessed 1 March 2021].
ii.
Blessinger, P., Sengupta, E. and Makhanya, M., 2019. Creating inclusive curricula in higher education. [online] University World News. Available at: <https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20190422070841869> [Accessed 30 January 2021].
I read this with real interest in relation to one of my own learning outcomes.
iii.
Khan, S. (2011). Let's use video to reinvent education. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTFEUsudhfs [Accessed 3rd February 2021].
Interesting discussion around hybrid teaching and how and when video content can be really useful. Interesting ideas towards my ‘you choose ?’ portfolio element.
6. Check the unit bibliography and decide which resources you would like to study in your own time to further your professional growth
The next resources I want to read on the shared bibliography are:
Richards, A. and Finnegan, T. (2014). Embedding equality and diversity in the curriculum: an art and design practitioner’s guide. [ebook]
Sagan, O. (2018). Playgrounds, studios and hiding places: emotional exchange in creative learning spaces. In: D. Bahgat and P. O'Neill, ed., Inclusive Practices, Inclusive Pedagogies. [online] Croydon: CPI Group (UK) Ltd.
Laurillard, D. (2019). An introduction to the 6 types of learning. [video]
7. Post your idea for the '? you choose' element of the e-portfolio (what could this be? tell us in a tweet-length post (280 characters)
Research, create and collate a ‘digital creativity bank’ of creative tutorials and external content to support each of the FBBM units. Collaborate with other courses to share possible transferable content and look at ways students can build, create and add to content too.
8. if you have time: listen to one educational podcast of your choice, or choose an episode here:
The University of Queensland, 2021. How to make students learn through researching the impact of real world problems. [podcast] HigherEd Heroes podcast. Available at: <https://itali.uq.edu.au/about/projects/highered-heroes-podcast> [Accessed 9 March 2021].
How to make students learn through researching the impact of real world problems;
Students are free to choose a social impact activity themselves.
Students develop a research plan then go out and do qualitative research leading to a mini social impact assessment at the end of the course.
Apply a variety of research methods, interviews, observations - to see how people live their lives.
Use the social science theory to make sense of that.
The activity is for research based training.
Challenges - the amount of work, not during class time (weekend)
How to use data and theorise that material.
It’s challenging to write up the social impact assessment.
(The University of Queensland, 2021)
ENTRY 8 – Reflection for Learning
1st March 2021
This week we are looking at reflection for learning. Some of my notes below on our flipped learning...
James, A. and Brookfield, S., 2007. Engaging Imagination : Helping Students Become Creative and Reflective Thinkers : Helping Students Become Creative and Reflective Thinkers. [ebook] John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Available at: <https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/> [Accessed 1 March 2021].
- Challenging the creative process and the output that can thus be assessed - why can't you submit a film, dance, podcast etc…?
- We are striving to become as inclusive as possibly - yet the very method we use to assess creative subjects is as rigid and restricting as ever - especially for neuro-diverse students.
- Accepting that learning is often hard work and sometimes even boring is a given.
- Students need to be engaged in active learning that’s also challenging, not just fun!
- One of the best ways to get students to remember is to get students to use their imagination.
- Variation in learning and activities is essential to stimulate and engage all students.
- Mix thighs up - teaching methods -jerk students out of the norm or expected.
- We learn so much from teaching with colleagues…
- Reflection + serious thought or consideration
Reflection in/on/for action, by Celia Popovic
Donald Schon - Reflection: in action, on action, for action
- We are constantly reflecting on feedback; our own thoughts, what we are hearing from students etc…
- Reflecting in action (during a lesson) thinking and monitoring during delivery and perhaps adapting our behaviour along the way. Self monitoring in action.
- Reflecting on action - reflection about/reflecting on what took place. We should be doing this on a regular basis - talking to peers, journals, portfolios. Understand and make sense of what has happened.
- Reflection for action - doing something with the reflection. Reflection on what's happened to inform future behaviour. Notes help inform what you will do in the future
Another element to this week's flipped learning was to read something that helps with our own learning outcomes (see wk3 journal entry for my own LO’s) I decided to choose a few podcasts to listen to and made the below notes:
Conversations on Online Learning - Episode 2. Caroline Kühn.
Edinburgh Napier University, 2020. Episode 2. Caroline Kühn. [podcast] Conversations on Online Learning. Available at: <https://staff.napier.ac.uk/services/dlte/DSP/Pages/DSPpodcast.aspx> [Accessed 2 March 2021].
Realist social theory; interplay between culture, structure and agency.
Agency → individual ↔individual → agent.
Students start to feel ‘safe’ within their VLE because they are not interacting with the ‘real’ world - they can’t break anything! Fear of presentation is a great example - most students feel more comfortable presenting over zoom - it's not real life - there is not a classroom of faces looking at you. However, the very emotion that inhibits students to feel willing to present in a classroom environment also acts as a motivator for confidence and improvement. Thus, agency becomes restrained in the virtual environment and inhibits these kinds of practises if we rely solely on a VLE.
You need to provide students with challenges - expose them. Find the tools to solve things. To become independent. Virtual environments only have a role.
The authenticity of the experience of the students and the technology being a ‘safe emotional space’ for the students and the educator.
Power of social relations.
Critical realism defines reality as complex and layered. Teaching requires lots of things to happen and combine- in interaction now properties emerge.
How we can make the virtual space more akin to a real ‘natural’ space - there is the problem. Spaces are politically and socially constructed - they are not empty vessels.
Open participatory tools (wordpress) - twitter is powerful but not per sey. - Can we use all this in a ‘less artificial way’
Artificial constraints - end points in academia - exams - exit awards - ends of trimesters. The learning that happens can always be constrained within these structures. But sometimes they can be motivating for things that can be bigger, more authentic, more real world and its key into the social relationships there, emotional things going on.
De-centering the role of the teacher to give more agency to the student but the effect on that on the educator is quite profound because there's that co-construction of learning with your students powerful learning experience -huge possibility here as well?
There is resistance on both sides - nothing worth without struggles. By asking students to present in class, write an essay etc… They like things done for them - reluctant.
Offer challenges but provide the scaffolding. Providing care brings a humanistic element to students to achieve these challenges.
My thoughts to share with my peers on Aula...
Why does reflection matter in teaching and learning?
Reflection gives you the opportunity to continually assess your performance and outcomes whether that be a student or teacher. It allows you to understand what you are doing well and what could be done better.
What are ‘effective’ ways to reflect and why?
Reflecting in action; thinking and monitoring during lesson delivery and making adjustments or adapting our behaviour along the way.
Journal after your lessons to reflect and thus improve future delivery.
Talk to peers and students to get feedback to reflect upon your own performance and seek ways to make changes in the future.
How can you help your student be (more) reflective?
Allow opportunities for self reflection within briefs; journaling, reflective writing (e.g. group work reflection; how was your performance/group dynamic/how could you improve?)
Create opportunities for students to self assess their own work.
Peer crits.
PPR’s
Buddy groups
End of year reflections - goal setting.
In class activity
Today we did a drawing activity in class creating the river of our learning journey - here was mine…
ENTRY 7 – Creative Assessment
24 February 2021
This week we are looking at assessment and how we use it within creative subjects. Some of my notes below on our flipped learning...
Orr, S., 2010. Making Marks: assessment in art and design.. [ebook] Networks magazine. Available at: <http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/65308/Susan-Orr-article-Issue-10-pp-9-13.pdf> [Accessed 24 February 2021].
- Lecturers' own experience of being creative students influences their own approach to marking.
- Lecturers' own creative practises also influence the way they assess students' work.
- Understanding the student and what they are trying to do with their work is key to assessing individual outcomes in creative subjects.
Davies, A., 2012. Learning Outcomes And Assessment Criteria In Art And Design. What’s The Recurring Problem? - Arts And Culture. [online] Arts.brighton.ac.uk. Available at: <http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/projects/networks/issue-18-july-2012/learning-outcomes-and-assessment-criteria-in-art-and-design.-whats-the-recurring-problem> [Accessed 22 January 2021].
- Finding the link between learning outcomes and assessment criteria.
- In subjects where students are expected to develop intuition, be creative, take risks, etc... - learning outcomes shouldnt be too specific - instead they should act as a guide for navigation students to find their own outcome.
- learning outcomes that are too specific can become a hindrance restricting students' creativity.
- There has to be a relationship with what a student is expected to do (learning outcomes), The content and delivery that supports a students learning and the process and the judgement that assesses their outcome.
Boud, D., 2009. Assessment 2020 Seven propositions for assessment reform in higher education. [ebook] University of Technology Sydney. Available at: <https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/Assessment-2020_propositions_final.pdf> [Accessed 24 February 2021].
- Assessment frames what students learn and what they achieve.
- Assessment makes judgement on how students’ work meets certain standards.
- Students also need to be able to make judgments about their own work and that of others in order to become effective learners and practitioners within their subject.
My thoughts to share with my peers on Aula...
Why is assessment important for students?
- It provides students feedback and allows them to gauge their level of understanding of a certain subject and the quality of their work.
- Feedback is used to actively improve students' learning and outcomes.
- Assessment feedback should inform a student as to what they have done well, not so well and what they need to improve.
How has assessment changed on your courses in the pandemic?
Assessment hasn't changed on FBBM as much as other creative subjects. On FBBM most of our submissions are shop reports or market reports etc… Besides our third year submissions, most of these are submitted in PDF format so not a huge amount has changed. The main difference has been presentations which have now either taken place virtually, over zoom or we have got students to pre-record these. This has really helped lots of students and has really decreased anxiety around presenting and has allowed for a really seamless and professional pitch - something considered in the future. However, it also means students are not building their confidence presenting in ‘real life’ scenarios - pros and cons!
- More regular feedback both one-to-one and peer.
- Greater emphasis on peer/shared feedback.
- Introduction of draft submissions.
- Getting students to judge the quality of their own work and the work of others against their assessment criteria.
- Presentations are happening ‘virtually’
- Experimented with voice recorded formative assessment. This has allowed us to expand upon the ‘assessment language’ and translate into understandable language that students can understand and act upon more easily.
What 'good changes' in assessment do you want to keep after the pandemic?
Presenting - for those that suffer from anxiety the ‘virtual’ presentations have provided a great opportunity to present with confidence without the anxiety of getting up in front of an audience. Perhaps giving students an option in the future for summative presentations? We can still encourage physical presentations in task based learning to develop confidence but students can experiment with this in the comfort they won't be assessed on those performances?
Handing in PDF saves students lots of money - often 3rd year projects can amount to £100’s of printing. This often puts lots of pressure on students with limited finances and seems unfair on those who can spend a lot more! Levels the playing field making submissions digital for all.
In lesson topics 1st March
Speaker: Hala Mansour - 1st March - University of Northampton
- Students create the assessment for themselves
- Create an assessment that is creative.
- Work based learning - assessing by doing.
- Encouraging students to assess their work before submitting
- Feedback is a dialogue - more than written feedback.
- If a student's assessment doesn't match - there's a discussion about how to apply change.
- Feedback checklist to promote self assessment ←← This could be particularly beneficial while working remotely.
- Use sessions to explain the marking criteria so students can evaluate and assess their own work.
- Marking criteria is established and relating to course expectations.
- Self assessment can be a real challenge initially. Especially when assessing reflective writing submissions?
- Contribution to professional practise?
- Historical practise vs current practice. (Guilds)
- Context and concept
Interesting in-class discussion topics…
- Do we really need to get our students to “write’ so much to validate their creative output??? (Liz)
- Students are not coming to university from a position of choice. Coming from a listening scenario. Hard to transition. Student: How do I learn?? (Mustafa)
-Should 1st year just be pass/fail? Students learn more around the process rather than the grade. (Mio)
- Give value to non-written modes - nature of submission - negotiated. Make sure we are fully inclusive - allow for students who are not strong at academic writing? Can this really work? Written word is the privileged medium. (Virna)
ENTRY 6 – Learning Environment
17 February 2021
This week we started to look at the learning environment. Below are some of the thoughts and ideas I had for the flipped learning input and some reflection on this week's observations.
1. What makes a good digital learning environment?
- A place that feels safe and where members feel valued.
- A domain that supports students' learning experience, encourages questions and communication.
- Where students feel encouraged and free to share their thoughts and opinions
- Making sure there is a consistent/reliable ‘presence’ - questions can be asked and there will be a prompt response from a tutor.
- A place that's well organised, easy to follow and consistent.
- A place that can be co-created by both students and tutors.
2.How can you encourage 'informal' exchanges, between students, to build community when the course is fully online?
- Encouraging group discussions/debate
- Brief flipped learning activities on the feed and get students to reply with their findings. After, link the feed to the corresponding journey section so students can re-access and refer to it easily in the future.
- Get students to upload work from inclass tasks/workshops and encourage them to read and comment on each other's submissions.
- Dedicate time for students to interact socially, ‘as people’ not just students
Ways in which I could enhance my use of Aula…
- Linking a feed to an element in the journey e.g. a discussion point so it doesn't become lost in the feed and both student and tutor can re-access it later easily.
- Jigsaw learning - but get students to all feedback using emojis.
- Possibly incorporate the pass the parcel group work concept?
- Use the ‘tag’ option in the feed to group post types e.g. pree-class learning, discussion, class agenda etc…
- Keep getting the views of the students and adapt the platform to their needs? Gain and analyse feedback.
- Use the sections and file pages within sections on Aula.
One of the articles I found most useful was; 10 Principles for Effective Teaching & Learning on Aula
Building community - I found it interesting reading about this and how it's important to ‘create structured time and space for you and your students to connect socially ‘as people’ as well as academically’. This is something I don’t do enough of at the moment but feel could be really beneficial.
Develop and Show Cultural Awareness & Care: I found this section interesting too and would like to explore how I can cater for all my students’ needs and preferences online to hopefully maintain student retention, engagement and achievement.
Guest speakers - 22/02/2021
Rossana Sponoza - Online teaching and learning: formal and informal spaces
(learning experience designer)
- What do you need to make something flourish?
Bringing the voice of the learner to the table..
How do we find out about our students/needs?
Personas - archetypical users (learners) - Can we create profiles - link to PPRs?
Talk to learners in breaktime (social)
Visually engage them..
Blending learning user preferences - profiles.
Conflict - how can you do something for everyone that's still personal.
E.g. IKEA - build on range core range to ALSO suit needs of individual destinations.
Cater for majority - have pockets to consider individuals needs.
Where is the source and structure - does the project brief become obsolete? Should it all be Aula??? The visual design should be aesthetically clear.
Laurie Yule - MFA Craft Editing
(Building Aula)
- Aula is an ethos not just a platform.
- Create a reflective activity - half way through the term this stopped because the students had established their community and did this naturally independently.
Laurie navigated us through his space - I need to start using sections then adding pages to each section to organise my spaces better.
Naomi Rowan - Learning Environment Designer
(Aula)
VXP vs VLE (Visual Learning Environment)
- Community approach
- Pedagogy approach - active, social and applied approach
Engagement Theory - pedagogy/approach
Dimensions of engagement:
Academic or cognitive
Affective or emotional
Students need to feel seen, included and legitimised + sense of belonging
Last week's observations
Initial personal reflection:
This week I had two lesson observations and I completed my learning activity.
Lesson observation – online retailing
It has been a really busy week with lesson observations and learning activities. I had a tutorial today with Virna and I received some really encouraging feedback on my Online Retailing lecture that I delivered on Monday 15th February to our year 2 cohort.
Things I need to consider applying to my future teaching practises include:
Stating the outcomes for my lectures
- Before: In my lesson plan under outcomes I should also consider stating what I want the output/outcome of all my students, most of my students and some of my students. This will help me gauge the outcome of the individual more clearly.
- During: While I introduced the task that all students would be participating in I didn’t clearly relate this to an outcome.
Make time to review the outcome
- I need to provide some feedback on the student’s outcomes either as comments on Aula or getting them to present in class/online with some discussion/feedback.
- Limitation: Time on Mondays – this could perhaps be something we review at the start of class the following day to re-cap and start the (longer) session with a discussion rather than diving right into content?
Something else Virna mentioned was adding in slides to prompt me to ask students questions etc… This is something I usually do but need to make sure I have regular stop points to ensure I engage with students during my lectures.
I need to consider these comments in my next lesson observation and my learning activity later this week.
ENTRY 5 - Learning Activities and Universal design for Learning (UDL)
09 February 2021
What is UDL? What do you know about it?
Demands of an Increasingly diverse cohort of learners;
- International students
- Different backgrounds
- Mature students
- Disabilities
Often the curriculum is still designed for the ‘average’ learner – engage and learn on the same terms.
Not enough flexibility is put in at the design stage to give all students an ‘equal opportunity’ to learn and play to their own strengths.
SOLUTION?
=UDL – educational framework that guides the design of learning; goals, materials, methods and assessment
UDL 3 principles: multiple means of engagement, representation and action and expression.
How can you implement this?
Fostering teamwork – clear goals, roles, responsibilities
Different media to support learning – all materials are accessible.
Choice of assessment instruments –
I need to focus a lot more on UDL within my teaching practise especially with experimenting with different media to support learning. Gaining more feedback and insight from my students as to what their preferences are would be really helpful here too.
Flipped Learning
In Bergmann’s lecture on ‘Simplifying Flipped Learning’ Bergmann talks about re-formatting the classroom so that students learn ‘stuff’ in terms of gaining knowledge and applying that independence. They then re-group in the classroom for the hard part; analysis, evaluate and create with the help of peers and tutors (which would traditionally be done at home individually/homework) Flipped learning doesn’t mean that the ‘individual learning’ has to happen as homework either - even better students can work in their ‘individual’ space in class by listening to a video (for example)
While I thought I was though I was applying flipped learning to my teaching practise I think I was seeing it as more of a way that students 'prepared’ for my lesson rather than seeing it as a way to get them to research content in advance then use our grouped learning sessions, in class as a method to confirm understanding and ask questions. I will definitely re-evaluate how I organise my flipped learning in the future.
However, what I found most interesting was the theory of making time for ‘individual’ learning within the class rather than at home. We use a lot of creative tutorials within our FBBM units. Often these can be somewhat chaotic sessions where everyone is learning at very different paces and it becomes extremely hard to help individuals who are struggling as they need so much one-to-one help. This can mean that students who are grasping the topic with more ease have too much free time in class waiting and become bored and disengaged. If students were given time to watch the creative pre-recorded they could do this on their laptops, in class, with headphones. Those that grasp it easily can move on to putting it into practise without hold ups and those that are struggling can re-watch and get help from a staff member present.
(Bergmann, 2016)
Another thing I looked at this week was the final element of our e-portfolios which was given to us to choose. Following on from what I’ve written above, I have created so many ‘creative classes’ for our course; some recorded – lots not. It seems students really enjoy engaging with these, not only in class, but at later stages in their degree, especially in the third year. Maybe they want to re-look at drawing CADs flats from year 1, or look at drawing a graph in InDesign, perhaps illustrating a floor layout. I seem to spend a lot of time re-creating tutorials or guiding students to the various locations on Aula that they were originally posted. This takes time and both me and the student lose the original links when we want to re-access the tutorial later! I want to look at creating a youtube channel (or similar) where all the tutorials are stored and added to playlists to easily be accessed by students at any time. I was practically interested in Khan’s lecture on ‘Let’s use video to reinvent education’ (Khan, 2011) where he discusses that he found students actually preferred engaging with his online content in certain scenarios rather than in a classroom/lecture environment. I think this would be especially beneficial for creative content and I’d like to explore the subject more. It therefore seemed fitting that I add this to my ? part of the e portfolio
Khan, S. (2011). Let's use video to reinvent education. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTFEUsudhfs [Accessed 3rd February 2021].
How can a student represent their own learning? Journal, blog, e-portfolio? Reflection
Unit design stage – help to make more inclusive macro/micro
Guest Charles Wachira
UDL improves and optimises teaching for all people based on scientific insight.
Multiple ways to engage students
1. Engagement: The why? of learning
2. Representation: The what? of learning
3. Action and expression: the how? of learning
Listening, watching, reading, feedback?
Accessibility – physically? Lessons can be accessed by all – captioning?
Challenges of UDL…
Barriers to learning:
· Prerequisite skills, feedback, content presentation, jargon, material access?
· Anticipate barriers
· Apply IDF to mitigate barriers.
Triad discussion:
How can we as academics understand the needs of all our students to make sure our teaching is inclusive? Further courses in dyslexia/dyspraxia, understanding the needs of international students…etc…
ENTRY 4 – Emotional Intelligence
3 February 2021
Planning dates for my lesson observations and my learning activities.
Flipped Learning:
Three articles to read and make notes:
1.
Mortiboys, A. (2005). Teaching with emotional intelligence: a step by step guide for further and higher educational professionals. 2nd ed. London and New York: Routledge. Summary available at:
You need to use emotional intelligent to connect with your students –
-
Recognising and responding to your own feelings as well as your students is key to being effective in your respective roles.
Using emotion intelligence is acknowledging and discussing with your students their expectations for lessons. You also need to acknowledge individual learners within your group – I believe this is really key as all my students appear to learn in very different ways. Being able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of a student, in relation to the way they learn, is really beneficial in terms of delivering varied content that appeals and engages with them all.
Using emotional intelligence creates stronger engagement, greater motivation, willingness to take risks in learning, creates positivity and promotes creativity.
2.
Quinlan, Kathleen M. How Emotion Matters in Four Key Relationships in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education at:
Four key relationships:
- Subject
- Teacher
- Peers
- Self
Emotion matters in higher education because its relational and emotions are central to relationships.
It’s important to enhance student’s relationship with subjects:
- Make the subject relevant to students' lives.
- Share our enthusiasm with our subject.
- Get students talking about big ideas.
- Involve students in authentic enquiry.
- Use a variety of media to engage students.
3. Norton, S., 2018. The keys to the curriculum: Creativity, Enterprise and Employability at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/news-and-views/the-keys-to-the-curriculum-creativity-enterprise-and-employability
We must deliver education not only fit for purpose but also ‘future fit’ to meet the expectations of students and employers alike.
HE needs to provide opportunities for ‘students to be more creative.’ The world is changing rapidly, and graduates need to be more creative in order to engage with that pace and growth, especially around new technology.
Creativity allows for the development of a positive attitude, to be flexible and adaptable and open to new challenges.
(Bergmann, 2016)
ENTRY 3 – Teaching Creative Courses
25 January 2021
It has been really insightful reading everyone else’s learning philosophies within the PGCert group this week. It’s so interesting to read all the different angles people have written theirs from. Already, from what I have read and researched since writing my own philosophy last week there’s already a number of things that I would review or reconsider if I were to write it again. For example, I really want my teaching to become more inclusive and I’ve become so much more aware of all the factors I need to consider in order to achieve this.
Reading Mio’s personal reflections of being an international student within her education philosophy have highlighted to me the further work I need to do to become more understanding of neurodiversity within my cohorts. This reflection has helped influence the first of my own learning outcomes for this unit.
My second learning outcome is based around the recent disruption and resulting acceleration of change in teaching due to the C-19 pandemic. While I believe face to face teaching is essential, I feel there could be benefits to some online delivery that could be combined to create a hybrid teaching experience in the future. I would like to learn more about hybrid delivery and how to effectively implement this into courses like my own. I would also like to develop a broader connectivism framework within my community of practise to help blend and broaden hybrid delivery while exploring how our course can progress within a digital age.
LO_7 – Identify ways I can become more inclusive by becoming more aware and understanding of neurodiversity within my cohorts
LO_8 – Explore effective ways to deliver hybrid teaching within FBBM modules
LO_9 – Integrate a broader framework of connectivism within my community of practise to keep pace and adapt in a digital age.
ENTRY 2 – Educational Philosophy
19 January 2021
This week I am reflecting on my teaching practise and experiences to create my teaching philosophy statement. I’ve found this a challenging but really useful exercise. There are a huge amount of influences that drive me to teach and I’m forever motivated to experiment with new methods of teaching. It’s been really helpful to pin down, identify and most importantly define my educational philosophy.
I’ve followed the recommended background research suggested by Virna as well as listening to lots of podcasts and ordering a few books (though I only have a few days to really think about this) It’s a real challenge to narrow my pages of notes and ideas into 500 words!
1.
The purpose of education…is to provide a student with theory-based knowledge alongside a practical understanding of their subject so that they are able to confidently progress to the next stage in their career path.
2.
What is your style of teaching?
Outside of teaching I work as a designer and I enjoy blending this creativity into my learning pedagogies. I believe it is essential to provide students with a real life understanding of the fashion industry alongside the theory of fashion business so they can go about their future careers with confidence.
Why?
When I left university, I was armed with a creative portfolio and a strong determination to pursue a career as a designer. However, aside from understanding the role of a designer, I had limited knowledge of what the wider fashion market looked like. No one mentioned that I would be working alongside buyers and merchandisers and I had never heard of a WISSI, buying quantities, fit sessions, grading etc… I would sit in meetings taking notes then frantically find someone who I could trust to fill me in on this foreign terminology. I had mocked up rudimentary tech packs at university but had no idea of the complexity and level of detail that was really required, let alone any real knowledge of the production process. I didn’t even know what a factory looked like, how it operated or how you work with one. I became even more alarmed when there were huge amounts of colleagues, ten or fifteen years older than myself (at the time), who were unable to progress their careers due to the fact they had no idea or experience either. I couldn’t help asking myself why this wasn’t introduced during my time at university?
Not only did this initial experience in the fashion industry teach me just how little I actually knew, it also introduced me to the theory of lifelong learning. Furthermore, every time I visited a factory, sat in a buyers meeting, listened to merchandisers talk about the WSSI, I constantly thought I could share this, or this could be introduced into the classroom in a simple activity-based task. I had a new thirst for learning on the job and a hunger and passion to feed this back to students. I now make sure that alongside fashion theory I bring as many subjects to life through demonstrations and practical task-based activities. It is my aim to make sure each of my students can leave university with an array of knowledge, a glossary of terminology they are confident using as well as practical knowledge of the core processes within the industry, so they can confidently participate and function in their future roles within the fashion industry.
3.
Why are you a teacher?
I believe everyone should have the opportunity to learn while feeling supported and included within their subject. Each student's need is very different, and I feel it is important to get to know each of your students' needs individually so they can progress on the chosen career route.
I am passionate about feeding back and sharing my industry experience to help students learn the subject for themselves while understanding how they will implement this in their own careers.
What is your purpose as a teacher?
I feel my purpose as a teacher is to share my industry experience and knowledge within my community of practice. I endeavor to understand each of my students' needs so they are able to progress through all stages of learning in a way that’s achievable to them. I understand that each of my students will be aiming for different outcomes; some to just complete the course others aiming for specific jobs for a specific brand. I aim to keep each of my students engaged so they all complete the course with an outcome they can personally be proud of.
4.
Advanced organizer: Which theories of learning have affected or influenced your educational values system?
Behaviouralism – Instilling knowledge through repetition of information to create trained behavior/understanding = Instructionist
Cognitive Constructivism – Making sense of a subject by linking it to existing knowledge to build a deeper understanding of it. Actively discovering new information by doing things will lead to the construction of knowledge in the brain. The teacher helps as a guide on this route. = Experiential.
Social Constructivism – Creating a shared understanding of meaning which is co-constructed as a group. Learning becomes social and interactive. A facilitator is needed to ensure the correct understanding is achieved = Collaborate Peer Learning
Connectivism – Using a network of platforms including lectures, technologies, actions etc.. in both formal and informal settings. Learning across various platforms of connections network connections = Network learning.
The two theories of learning that have most influenced my educational values are; cognitive constructivism and connectivism. I believe the best way for students to understand fashion theory and key industry practices is by discovering the process themselves within a task based group activity (THINK: factory sourcing mini project) I believe it is essential that a student expands upon the knowledge that’s delivered to them within a formal classroom environment. To do this the lecturer teacher needs to act as a guide connecting them with wider platforms of information for them to explore independently such as interviews, forums, discussions but most importantly creating opportunities for them to visit and immerse themselves in real life scenarios such as store visits and factory demonstrations.
As well as delivering students with information they need to arrive at their own conclusions then have these further reinforced within a broader community of practice.
5.
Advanced organizer: What do you think: what is the relationship between educational theory and practice?
Praxis – a word I honestly have not used before but totally sums up by values of creating a strong balanced understanding of your subject.
Praxis sees theory and practice working as one. By teaching through praxis, you are able to provide students with an initial theory framework before cementing knowledge in participating or experience in the actual practice.
Theory-based information is always essential – you can’t place a student in a factory or buyers meeting and expect them to understand what’s going on. Instead they need to become aware of a glossary of fashion terminology and theory before you can actively understand a fashion practice. However, you can only truly comprehend a theory by immersing oneself in the practice.
You can forever lecture a student on the fashion production process through a series of complex diagrams and maybe even a series of slides and online films. However, until a student has had the opportunity to actually visit a place of production they cannot place that theory into perspective. Theory creates frameworks of understanding while practice ground it with knowledge and confidence in the subject.
6.
Advanced organizer: which questions resonate with you and you want to discuss in your educational philosophy?
What do you believe is the purpose of Education?
Should everyone have access to an education?
Who is the best teacher that you've seen? Why? What skills, qualities or values made this person a great teacher? Do any of this teacher's skills, qualities or values appear in your own teaching? What specifically?
Who should direct the learning? Teachers? Or Learners?
What do I expect to be the outcomes of my teaching?
What is the student-teacher relationship that I would like to achieve?
What content skills should be taught at school?
How should learning be measured?
What values do I want to impart to my students?
What could I improve on?
I think in summary of all the above research I really define myself as someone who believes every student has a different path and method of understanding and absorbing information. At the same time it's necessary to understand each student will have very different aims and goals from their membership of the course. Finding out who your students are as individuals is key to making sure you direct learning methods that are appropriate and engaging to them as individuals and key to their future success. Every student will require a different method of support and finding out what this is key to their retention and ability to reach their personal goal. Students' reasons for study are very personal and this needs to be appreciated.
In terms of the way I teach I am a firm believer in Praxis. By teaching through praxis, you are able to provide students with an initial theory framework before cementing knowledge in participating or experience in the actual practice.
ENTRY 1 - Co-constructivism - Community of Practise
18 January 2021
I have really enjoyed getting back into the mindset of a student again this week. It’s been humbling to see and experience things from the student’s perspective again. I forgot just how isolating and vulnerable you can feel as a student at the start of a new unit and moreover at the start of a new course. There’s a feeling of excitement and eagerness to get started mixed with having no idea where to begin and no real grasp of what’s expected from you in terms of an outcome.
A lot of my learning pedagogies have been based around the practice of co-constructivism and I endeavour to build and maintain a strong community of practise within my work. However, these values can become overlooked and not fully considered over time. The study subjects this week have really re-enforced how important these two ideas are to my teaching philosophies and for students to create an understanding and connection with their subject, while feeling fully supported and involved. Being in the shoes of a student again has made me realise just how important co-constructivism is when expanding and progressing my own understanding of a subject including this very subject and relating task. Likewise, it has reinforced to me how contributing to and working towards forming a community of practise creates a deeper level of understanding and inclusivity, really enriching the learning process and experience for students, including myself.
As a result of this week’s research I will make a deeper commitment to implement co-constructivism within my lectures and related task-based activities. This week’s research has reinforced to me just how important setting the expectation of the student's participation and output from a task ahead of the delivery of information is. In doing so you are able to increase their concentration while assessing their level of understanding. Through task feedback you have the opportunity to rectify any gaps in understanding and use this to reflect on your own future deliveries of the subject. Assuring there is feedback and confirmation provided to students that they have understood the subject is both beneficial for the lecturer and student. It also allows the student to progress with the subject confidently during independent study.
I have really enjoyed using Aula and find that students really enjoy using it as a shared learning platform which naturally forms the core to a community of practise. It works well for task-based activities, discussions and shared feedback as well as linking to all sources and materials that students may need to access. Continuing to encourage discussions as well as developing the ways I use this as an interactive tool can really help create a stronger community of practise for my students. What I do need to address further is how I can expand this community of practise further beyond the walls of the university connecting students with industry professionals and external influences.
LO_7 – Identify ways I can become more inclusive by becoming more aware and understanding of neurodiversity within my cohorts
LO_8 – Explore effective ways to deliver hybrid teaching within FBBM modules
LO_9 – Integrate a broader framework of connectivism within my community of practise to keep pace and adapt in a digital age.
Link to Weekly Journal