Feedback - The delivery of...

I was talking to my brother recently and we were talking about feedback for students. My brother has been teaching for 15 years at the junior and senior high school level and had recently gone to a conference. He was mentioning how he picked up a line when giving feedback that he was going to use. The sentence was " I am giving you these comments because I have very high expectations and I know that you can reach them."  I thought about this for a moment and compared it to what I normally say, which is " I have some feedback for you and am hoping you will use in your future practice or your next competency." What a difference a sentence can make! My brother's example in my opinion gave expectation, positivity, and helped build the relationship between student and instructor. I wanted to write this someone so I would not forgot how important the delivery of feedback is and so I would not forgot this gem of a line. Hope it helps someone else  out as well.

Experience and Learning

I enjoyed reading this chapter and have marked some passages down for future reference.

- "at the heart of adult learning is engaging in, reflecting upon, and making meaning of our experiences" p.104
- "learning is a lifelong process involving applying and adapting previous experience to new situations" (Dewey) p. 105
- "principle of continuity (Dewey) in which what one is learning in the present is connected to past experiences and has potential for future applications." p.105
-"a miseducative experience can occur in everyday life or in the classroom" p.105
This last passage was really important to me as it emphasizes how important my feedback is to students because we have lots of competencies in our program. It is important for me to really think about what I am saying and how I am saying it so as to not discourage future learning.
-"experience is thus a resource and a stimulus for learning." p.106
- "different ways experience can be acknowledge as resources for learning" (Tennant and Pogson) p.112
- "making sense of our past experiences to better understand our desires and interests is a route to self-knowledge." (Tennant) p.113
-reflection-on-action - "we have an experience and consciously think about it after it has happened."  p.115
-reflection-in-action- "is different because the reflection takes place as you are engaged in the experience - it is simultaneous with practice."  - "distinguishes the more expert practitioner from the novice." - "thinking on their feet" p.116
-contextual learning - "the context itself shapes the learning" p.118
-scaffolding of learning p.119
-"learning cannot be designed." Learning happens, design or no design." p.121
-apprentice-ship learning p.122


References:

Merriam, S.B.,& Bierema, L.L., (2014). Adult Learning: Linking theory and Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

The Distracted Classroom was a recent article that was posted on the VCC - School of instructor facebook page. I found it very interesting as it was describing the pros and cons of technology in the classroom. I feel that having a smart phone with them at all times is now part of Maslow's hierarchy of needs! Without it I don't know if the student would be present 100% and with it they are not present 100%. The best way, as the article indicates is to set some ground rules, while providing opportunity for use both personal and with classroom activities. 

 

I thought this was very interesting and am thinking I will purchase his book and read more. I am a big advocate of people being creative. Creativity is one of the reasons I like being an instructor as well I see the joy a student gets in being creative. They are showcasing a project that is unique to them. This video describes that educational system as only encouraging one type of learning. My favorite line by Ken Robinson (2007)  is ( and I'm paraphrasing) people are afraid to make mistakes, intelligence is dynamic, creativity is just as important as literacy. This also made me think about the educational system and its alignment. We only test facts etc. therefore we have no way of applying a mark to a student who is creative.

Robinson, K (presenter). (2007, January 6). Do schools kill creativity? Sir ken Robinson. Ted talk retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY.

Transformative learning

I just finished the chapter on transformative learning and found this video valuable in providing tips for this type of learning. I was unaware of what transformative learning was until it was defined by Clark.  "Transformative learning shapes people. They are different afterward in ways both they and others can recognize." (as cited in  Merriam, and Bierema, 2014)
I was trying to think of times that this has occurred with me and I kept on coming back to my experiences travelling. Many times travelling changed my opinions of what I previous knew, it gave me a different perspective. Often when you come home from along period of time family and friends will notice a change in you, I feel this is because of transformative learning. I always notice a change in myself when I go travelling as well.  I think this is why I love to travel!

References:

Merriam, S.B., & Bierema, L.L., (2014). Adult Learning: Linking theory and Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Image retrieved on July.28, 2017 from http://thegirlfriendmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/RevengeTravelPartDeuxnewsroom.mastercard.com_.jpeg

Learning partner - key points

My leaning partner's name is Abhijit and he is an instructor/Chef in Alberta. This is the first time in this PIDP program that I have made a connection with a classmate over Skype, whatsapp etc. Our experiences are very similar in how we began our new careers in education and the trials and tribulations we have gone through. I have really enjoyed the conversations and this is the first time I have seen the value of these assignments.

Our discussion on trends in the field and education were very interesting. I'm not going to lie but I was drooling about the new possibilities in the pastry/dessert world that our coming our way. Abhijit talked about how the dessert experience is changing, specifically the culture. In the 90's customers would eat a dessert individually, and not really share. Now there seems to be a trend of shared plates and eventually the Chef will come out and make a dessert for everyone to share right at the table!! Most restaurants now are providing containers for dessert so there is no wasted food as well. We talked about how this will change how things are taught at his college and how it is important to keep current with your field and how it changes so rapidly. It all comes back to being a life-long learner. We also talked about how this is a great opportunity for the industry to show off their skills and to potentially recruit future Chefs into the field, thus ensuring that we have future students = job security for us!

 

How cool is that?! Makes you hungry doesn't it? I could see them extending this to being more interactive and getting the customers involved in the making of the dessert. A fantastic way to allow the Chef to be creative.

 

Abhijit's trend in education was online courses. We discussed the pros and cons and what we thought a perfect  online course for us would be. This trend looks like it will continue as it fits into the adults lifestyle, specifically with pace, comfort, liberty of finance.  This will have implications on our jobs in the future possibly as we might have to adapt our courses. We also both discussed different types of online courses and how they are set up. Some are open ended whereas others are set up so something is due every week and the course ends at a set time. All very interesting as we see education transforming to meet the student's needs.

 

Thanks again for your perspective Abhijit. I look forward to our next conversation.

 

Principles of Adult Learning Scale- Conti

 

Principles of Adult Learning Scale (PALS)

tilt.colostate.edu/files/eportfolios/167/File_4328F80C-C53… · DOC file · Web view

Principles of Adult Learning Scale (PALS) Developed by Gary J. Conti.


I just completed the PALS assessment and learned a lot about my teaching style. Is it "teacher centered" or "student centered"?

There were 6 factors and they were:

Factor 1: Learner-Centered Activities. I scored 47.
Factor 2: Personalizing Instruction. I scored 23.
Factor 3: Relating to Experience. I scored 24.
Factor 4: Assessing Student Needs. I scored 14.
Factor 5: Climate Building. I scored 17.
Factor 6: Participation in the Learning Process. I scored 8.
Factor 7: Flexibility for Personal Development. I scored 12.


Factors that were indicative of my teaching style through this assessment were Factors 1, 3, 4, and 5.

My total score was 145.

A total score between 0-145 indicates my style to be "teacher-centered" and 146-220 to be "student centered."
So this would say that I am teacher-centered but I look at as I am balanced between the two styles right now in my career. I would agree with the results of the assessment and feel that I might be slightly teacher centered due to my experience as a student with traditional teacher centered instructors and as I find my way in this profession I can see myself becoming more and more student centered.