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lkryder

Authentic Education - What Is an Essential Question? - 0 views

www.authenticeducation.org/...article.lasso

essential questions UbD wiggins Education Big Ideas

shared by lkryder on 22 Jun 14 - No Cached
  • The big-idea questions signal that education is not just about learning “the answer” but about learning how to learn.  
    • lkryder
      lkryder on 22 Jun 14
       
      In art history this helps with relevance to the students
  • A second connotation for “essential” refers to key inquiries within a discipline. Essential questions in this sense are those that point to the big ideas of a subject and to the frontiers of technical knowledge. They are historically important and very much “alive” in the field.
  • By actively exploring such questions, the learner is helped to arrive at important understandings as well as greater coherence in their content knowledge and skill.
  • lkryder on 22 Jun 14
     
    Essential questions as the key component in design of instruction, in particular UbD model (Understanding by Design)
Catherine Strattner

Universal Intellectual Standards - 0 views

www.criticalthinking.org/...527

critical thinking universal intellectual standards

shared by Catherine Strattner on 29 Jun 12 - No Cached
  • Universal intellectual standards are standards which must be applied to thinking whenever one is interested in checking the quality of reasoning about a problem, issue, or situation. To think critically entails having command of these standards. To help students learn them, teachers should pose questions which probe student thinking; questions which hold students accountable for their thinking; questions which, through consistent use by the teacher in the classroom, become internalized by students as questions they need to ask themselves. The ultimate goal, then, is for these questions to become infused in the thinking of students, forming part of their inner voice, which then guides them to better and better reasoning. While there are many universal standards, the following are some of the most essential:
  • CLARITY: Could you elaborate further on that point? Could you express that point in another way? Could you give me an illustration? Could you give me an example? Clarity is the gateway standard.
  • ACCURACY: Is that really true? How could we check that? How could we find out if that is true?  A statement can be clear but not accurate, as in "Most dogs are over 300 pounds in weight."
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • PRECISION: Could you give more details? Could you be more specific? A statement can be both clear and accurate, but not precise, as in "Jack is overweight." (We don’t know how overweight Jack is, one pound or 500 pounds.)
  • RELEVANCE: How is that connected to the question? How does that bear on the issue? A statement can be clear, accurate, and precise, but not relevant to the question at issue.
  • DEPTH: How does your answer address the complexities in the question? How are you taking into account the problems in the question? Is that dealing with the most significant factors? A statement can be clear, accurate, precise, and relevant, but superficial (that is, lack depth).
  • BREADTH: Do we need to consider another point of view? Is there another way to look at this question? What would this look like from a conservative standpoint? What would this look like from the point of view of . . .?  A line of reasoning may be clear accurate, precise, relevant, and deep, but lack breadth (as in an argument from either the conservative or liberal standpoint which gets deeply into an issue, but only recognizes the insights of one side of the question.)
  • LOGIC: Does this really make sense? Does that follow from what you said? How does that follow? But before you implied this, and now you are saying that; how can both be true? When we think, we bring a variety of thoughts together into some order. When the combination of thoughts are mutually supporting and make sense in combination, the thinking is "logical." When the combination is not mutually supporting, is contradictory in some sense or does not "make sense," the combination is not logical.
  • FAIRNESS:  Do I have a vested interest in this issue?  Am I sympathetically representing the viewpoints of others?  Human think is often biased in the direction of the thinker - in what are the perceived interests of the thinker.  Humans do not naturally consider the rights and needs of others on the same plane with their own rights and needs.  We therefore must actively work to make sure we are applying the intellectual standard of fairness to our thinking.  Since we naturally see ourselves as fair even when we are unfair, this can be very difficult.  A commitment to fairmindedness is a starting place.
  • Catherine Strattner on 29 Jun 12
     
    I think this is helpful in assessing the quality of critical thinking.
Erin Fontaine

Critical Thinking Development: A Stage Theory - 0 views

www.criticalthinking.org/...483

shared by Erin Fontaine on 29 Jun 12 - No Cached
  • We must recognize the importance of challenging our students — in a supportive way — to recognize both that they are thinkers and that their thinking often goes awry. We must lead class discussions about thinking. We must explicitly model thinking (e.g., thinking aloud through a problem). We must design classroom activities that explicitly require students to think about their thinking. We must have students examine both poor and sound thinking, talking about the differences. We must introduce students to the parts of thinking and the intellectual standards necessary to assess thinking. We must introduce the idea of intellectual humility to students; that is, the idea of becoming aware of our own ignorance. Perhaps children can best understand the importance of this idea through their concept of the "know-it-all," which comes closest to their recognition of the need to be intellectually humble.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 29 Jun 12
       
      This is a great foundation for an icebreaker module.
  • recognize that they have basic problems in their thinking and make initial attempts to better understand how they can take charge of and improve it.
  • begin to modify some of their thinking, but have limited insight into deeper levels of the trouble inherent in their thinking. Most importantly, they lack a systematic plan for improving their thinking, hence their efforts are hit and miss.
  • ...40 more annotations...
  • appreciate a critique of their powers of thought.
  • we must teach in such a way as to help them to see that we all need to regularly practice good thinking to become good thinkers.
  • We must emphasize the importance of beginning to take charge of the parts of thinking and applying intellectual standards to thinking. We must teach students to begin to recognize their native egocentrism when it is operating in their thinking.
  • since practicing thinkers are only beginning to approach the improvement of their thinking in a systematic way, they still have limited insight into deeper levels of thought, and thus into deeper levels of the problems embedded in thinking.
  • need for systematic practice in thinking.
  • Practicing thinkers recognize the need for systematicity of critical thinking and deep internalization into habits. They clearly recognize the natural tendency of the human mind to engage in egocentric thinking and self-deception.
  • regularly monitor
  • articulate the strengths and weaknesses
  • often recognize their own egocentric thinking as well as egocentric thinking on the part of others. Furthermore practicing thinkers actively monitor their thinking to eliminate egocentric thinking, although they are often unsuccessful.
  • intellectual perseverance
  • have the intellectual humility required to realize that thinking in all the domains of their lives must be subject to scrutiny, as they begin to approach the improvement of their thinking in a systematic way.
  • We must teach in such a way that students come to understand the power in knowing that whenever humans reason, they have no choice but to use certain predictable structures of thought: that thinking is inevitably driven by the questions, that we seek answers to questions for some purpose, that to answer questions, we need information, that to use information we must interpret it (i.e., by making inferences), and that our inferences, in turn, are based on assumptions, and have implications, all of which involves ideas or concepts within some point of view. We must teach in such a way as to require students to regularly deal explicitly with these structures (more on these structure presently).
  • Recognizing the "moves" one makes in thinking well is an essential part of becoming a practicing thinker.
  • Students should be encouraged to routinely catch themselves thinking both egocentrically and sociocentrically.
  • advanced thinkers not only actively analyze their thinking in all the significant domains of their lives, but also have significant insight into problems at deeper levels of thought. While advanced thinkers are able to think well across the important dimensions of their lives, they are not yet able to think at a consistently high level across all of these dimensions. Advanced thinkers have good general command over their egocentric nature. They continually strive to be fair-minded. Of course, they sometimes lapse into egocentrism and reason in a one-sided way.
  • develop depth of understanding
  • nsight into deep levels of problems in thought: consistent recognition, for example, of egocentric and sociocentric thought in one’s thinking, ability to identify areas of significant ignorance and prejudice, and ability to actually develop new fundamental habits of thought based on deep values to which one has committed oneself.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 29 Jun 12
       
      What do YOU believe in? How and why do you believe it?
  • successfully engaged in systematically monitoring the role in their thinking of concepts, assumptions, inferences, implications, points of view, etc., and hence have excellent knowledge of that enterprise. Advanced thinkers are also knowledgeable of what it takes to regularly assess their thinking for clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, logicalness, etc.
  • critique their own plan for systematic practice, and improve it thereby.
  • articulate the strengths and weaknesses in their thinking.
  • reduce the power of their egocentric thoughts.
  • a) the intellectual insight and perseverance to actually develop new fundamental habits of thought based on deep values to which one has committed oneself, b) the intellectual integrity to recognize areas of inconsistency and contradiction in one’s life, c) the intellectual empathy necessary to put oneself in the place of others in order to genuinely understand them, d) the intellectual courage to face and fairly address ideas, beliefs, or viewpoints toward which one has strong negative emotions, e) the fair-mindedness necessary to approach all viewpoints without prejudice, without reference to one’s own feelings or vested interests. In the advanced thinker these traits are emerging, but may not be manifested at the highest level or in the deepest dimensions of thought.
  • our students will not become advanced thinkers — if at all — until college or beyond. Nevertheless, it is important that they learn what it would be to become an advanced thinker. It is important that they see it as an important goal. We can help students move in this direction by fostering their awareness of egocentrism and sociocentrism in their thinking, by leading discussions on intellectual perseverance, intellectual integrity, intellectual empathy, intellectual courage, and fair-mindedness. If we can graduate students who are practicing thinkers, we will have achieved a major break-through in schooling. However intelligent our graduates may be, most of them are largely unreflective as thinkers, and are unaware of the disciplined habits of thought they need to develop to grow intellectually as a thinker.
  • have systematically taken charge of their thinking, but are also continually monitoring, revising, and re-thinking strategies for continual improvement of their thinking. They have deeply internalized the basic skills of thought, so that critical thinking is, for them, both conscious and highly intuitive.
  • As Piaget would put it, they regularly raise their thinking to the level of conscious realization.
  • Accomplished thinkers are deeply committed to fair-minded thinking, and have a high level of, but not perfect, control over their egocentric nature.
  • To make the highest levels of critical thinking intuitive in every domain of one’s life. To internalize highly effective critical thinking in an interdisciplinary and practical way.
  • Accomplished thinkers are not only actively and successfully engaged in systematically monitoring the role in their thinking of concepts, assumptions, inferences, implications, points of view, etc., but are also regularly improving that practice. Accomplished thinkers have not only a high degree of knowledge of thinking, but a high degree of practical insight as well. Accomplished thinkers intuitively assess their thinking for clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, logicalness, etc. Accomplished thinkers have deep insights into the systematic internalization of critical thinking into their habits. Accomplished thinkers deeply understand the role that egocentric and sociocentric thinking plays in the lives of human beings, as well as the complex relationship between thoughts, emotions, drives and behavior.
  • Naturally inherent in master thinkers are all the essential intellectual characteristics, deeply integrated. Accomplished thinkers have a high degree of intellectual humility, intellectual integrity, intellectual perseverance, intellectual courage, intellectual empathy, intellectual autonomy, intellectual responsibility and fair-mindedness. Egocentric and sociocentric thought is quite uncommon in the accomplished thinker, especially with respect to matters of importance. There is a high degree of integration of basic values, beliefs, desires, emotions, and action.
  • For the foreseeable future the vast majority of our students will never become accomplished thinkers 
  • important that they learn what it would be to become an accomplished thinker. It is important that they see it as a real possibility, if practicing skills of thinking becomes a characteristic of how they use their minds day to day.
  • Thus it is vital that an intellectual vocabulary for talking about the mind be established for teachers; and that teachers lead discussions in class designed to teach students, from the point of view of intellectual quality, how their minds work, including how they can improve as thinkers.
  • in elementary school an essential objective would be that students become "beginning" thinkers, that is, that they will be taught so that they discover that they are thinkers and that their thinking, like a house, can be well or poorly constructed. This "discovery" stage--the coming to awareness that all of us are thinkers--needs to be given the highest priority. Middle school and High School, on this model, would aim at helping all students become, at least, "practicing" thinkers. Of course, students discover thinking only by discovering that thinking has "parts." Like learning what "Legos" are, we learn as we come to discover that there are various parts to thinking and those parts can be put together in various ways. Unlike Legos, of course, thinking well requires that we learn to check how the parts of thinking are working together to make sure they are working properly: For example, have we checked the accuracy of information? Have we clarified the question?
  • We are not advocating here that teachers withdraw from academic content. Rather we are suggesting that critical thinking provides a way of deeply embracing content intellectually. Within this view students come to take intellectual command of how they think, act, and react while they are learning...history, biology, geography, literature, etc., how they think, act, and react as a reader, writer, speaker, and listener, how they think, act, and react as a student, brother, friend, child, shopper, consumer of the media, etc.
  • to effectively learn any subject in an intellectually meaningful way presupposes a certain level of command over one’s thinking, which in turn presupposes understanding of the mind’s processes.
  • Thinking is inevitably driven by the questions we seek to answer, and those questions we seek to answer for some purpose. To answer questions, we need information which is in fact meaningful to us only if we interpret it (i.e., by making inferences). Our inferences, in turn, are based on assumptions and require that we use ideas or concepts to organize the information in some way from some point of view. Last but not least, our thinking not only begins somewhere intellectually (in certain assumptions), it also goes somewhere---that is, has implications and consequences.
  • Thus whenever we reason through any problem, issue, or content we are well advised to take command of these intellectual structures: purpose, question, information, inferences, assumptions, concepts, point of view, and implications. By explicitly teaching students how to take command of the elements of reasoning we not only help them take command of their thinking in a general way; we also provide a vehicle which effectively enables them to critically think through the content of their classes, seeing connections between all of what they are learning.
  • if I am to develop my critical thinking ability I must both "discover" my thinking and must intellectually take charge of it. To do this I must make a deep commitment to this end.
  • the human mind, left to its own, pursues that which is immediately easy, that which is comfortable, and that which serves its selfish interests. At the same time, it naturally resists that which is difficult to understand, that which involves complexity, that which requires entering the thinking and predicaments of others.
  • When we learn together as developing thinkers, when we all of us seek to raise our thinking to the next level, and then to the next after that, everyone benefits, and schooling then becomes what it was meant to be, a place to discover the power of lifelong learning. This should be a central goal for all our students--irrespective of their favored mode of intelligence or learning style. It is in all of our interest to accept the challenge: to begin, to practice, to advance as thinkers.
Teresa Dobler

Educational Leadership:Giving Students Meaningful Work:Seven Essentials for Project-Bas... - 0 views

www.ascd.org/...or_Project-Based_Learning.aspx

Projectbasedlearning pbl

shared by Teresa Dobler on 17 Aug 14 - Cached
  • personally meaningful
  • educational purpose.
  • "entry event" that engages interest and initiates questioning
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • sets up a scenario
  • sense of purpose and challeng
  • provocative, open-ended, complex, and linked to the core of what you want students to learn.
  • more voice and choice
  • s collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and the use of technology
  • fine-tuned their questions
  • investigated new questions
  • students follow a trail that begins with their own questions, leads to a search for resources and the discovery of answ
  • rs, and often ultimately leads to generating new questions, testing ideas, and drawing their own conclusion
diane hamilton

Heinemann Books: Authors: Regie Routman - 0 views

www.heinemann.com/...786.aspx

resources on big questions motivation

shared by diane hamilton on 30 Jun 12 - No Cached
  • diane hamilton on 30 Jun 12
     
    this publisher promotional site offers access to resources by Regie Routman who writes on the value of big questions and student motivation and engagement in writing - two works of interest to look at for those interested is Writing Essential and Conversations
alexandra m. pickett

My thoughts are free - 3 views

2kool4skool2014.edublogs.org

shared by alexandra m. pickett on 28 Jun 14 - No Cached
  • There are just too many posts.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 28 Jun 14
       
      6 high quality posts in discussion per module (that is 3 per week) and 2 blog posts per module (one per week). You really think that is too much???
  • if the “essence” of the student can never be felt through a computer?
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 28 Jun 14
       
      I question your assumptions about "essence" and "attendance" and "asking questions" and "peer acknowledgement" How can you say they are missing from an online class when we have examples of all these things all over the place this class?!
  • These are essentials missing from online courses that can not be seen.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 28 Jun 14
       
      REALLY?????!!!
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • can’t be measured.In class,
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 28 Jun 14
       
      i know every single click you have made in my cousre. I know dates, times, quantity. I have more data on you and your attendance and participation than any f2f teacher does.
  • ask questions and further ideas discussed in class allows the teacher to know if the student is on the right track.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 28 Jun 14
       
      This is not only demonstrated in the ask a question area of the course, but in the talk with the professor area, the Bulletin Board, and in the suggestion box area, not to mention the discussion area itself as well as via email. Have you not observed how i keep you on track in this course?
  • Even acknowledging that the student in class is thinking for himself and paying attention is taken into consideration by the teacher. In the classroom, discussion leaders can be acknowledge by the rest of the peers and possibly offer suggestions for them on how to stand firm in opinions and facts
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 28 Jun 14
       
      Don't you see how we do this with peer evaluations and the interaction and teaching presence demonstrated by students in the course?
  • how could she even know what type of personality her professor has if she has never even seen him in person
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 28 Jun 14
       
      Don't you have a strong sense of my personality? And what about the personalities of your classmates? Don't you hear their voices in their posts??
  • it’s worth it. I
  • This “cured” my misconception, as this course marked my first course ever taking an online course.
  • I feel amazing
Jarrod McEntarfer

educational-origami » Bloom's Digital Taxonomy - 0 views

edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom's+Digital+Taxonomy

shared by Jarrod McEntarfer on 08 Jun 08 - No Cached
  • loom's as a learning process. Bloom's in its various forms represents the process of learning. It has been simplified in some case like the three story intellect (Oliver Wendell Holmes and Art Costa), but it still essentially represents how we learn. Before we can understand a concept we have to remember it Before we can apply the concept we must understand it Before we analyse it we must be able to apply it Before we can evaluate its impact we must have analysed it Before we can create we must have remembered, understood, applied, analysed, and evaluated.
    • Jarrod McEntarfer
      Jarrod McEntarfer on 08 Jun 08
       
      When I did this the first time I tried to have them create analysis questions first, because I had modeled so many analysis questions I though it would be easy for them. It was a mistake not to start at the very bottom at knowledge.
    • Jarrod McEntarfer
      Jarrod McEntarfer on 08 Jun 08
       
      I should say that I was attempting to teach my students how to ask questions using the Blooms Taxonomy
  • I don't think it is. The learning can start at any point, but inherent in that learning is going to be the prior elements and stages.
    • Jarrod McEntarfer
      Jarrod McEntarfer on 08 Jun 08
       
      I don't agree it. It is important to scaffold the questioning process for the students
Irene Watts-Politza

Reflections on Online Teaching - Diane Hamilton - 3 views

dianehamilton.edublogs.org

shared by Irene Watts-Politza on 27 May 12 - No Cached
  • maybe even a little less nervous. 
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 27 May 12
       
      you are doing a great job so far! : )
    • diane hamilton
      diane hamilton on 27 May 12
       
      Thanks!
  • The rubric does allow for that, but there is a strong sense that some of these dialogic purposes are not as highly valued as others, but I value them all as essential components to class community.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 12 Jun 12
       
      Not at all. personal opinion, experiences and social presence and support ARE essential in building trust and the sense of a class community. That is why they we have class community areas for interaction in the course and why they are in the rubric. It is, however, important to understand that the discussion can't consist only of those types of posts. And high quality posts are what we need to strive for in the discussion areas of the cousre. The rubric is a device to clarify- to give students informed choice and guidance, and to elevate the quality of interactions. "2" points is not bad. it simply indicates the kind of post that it is. you can post as many "1" point posts as you like - that is not wrong - but, you also need to contribute to the quality of the discussion and learning and to do that you need to aim higher than social and personal experience/opinion type posts.
  • I believe students can have teaching presence within a course when the nature of their interactions helps others to think more deeply or to look at something from an alternate viewpoint.
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • (even caused me to consider dropping
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 12 Jun 12
       
      i am so glad you didn't : )
  • conversational tone she is requesting we use.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 25 Jun 12
       
      hey diane: don't misunderstand. I use a conversational tone becuase that is my style. my choice. That may not be right for you. I want you to find your own voice. Interestingly enough in my opinion, you have one, and it is strong : )
    • diane hamilton
      diane hamilton on 27 Jun 12
       
      Hi Alex, Thanks for this notation. Now, I am curious though - what kind of voice do I project to you? Diane
  • I keep trying to understand why it’s been repeated
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 25 Jun 12
       
      the problem is that not every student reads every document. you would be surprised. That said, there are lots of ways to address this. It is certainly easier to not be redundant. Less to update. Less documentation. If you go this route, just make sure that you always link back to the documentation where the information is posted. : ) me
  • Maybe that’s the point.  Maybe I don’t need to know everything well, just the things I need in the moment. 
  • I have however come to realize that I need to ask my own questions and pursue them, go on a QUEST to find answers, to locate research and ideas that relate to my own burning wonderings.  There is a QUEST in every QUESTion!
  • It’s really difficult to flesh out, and it’s kind of foreign to me to be sharing these behind the scenes thoughts….
    • Maria Guadron
      Maria Guadron on 29 Jul 12
       
      Great screencast, Diane! What a wonderful way to add social presence and direct instruction
    • diane hamilton
      diane hamilton on 29 Jul 12
       
      Thanks!
    • Catherine Strattner
      Catherine Strattner on 30 Jul 12
       
      I would like to echo Maria! Thinking about doing this in my course as well- thank you for the inspiration!
    • Lauren D
      Lauren D on 31 Jul 12
       
      Great idea with the screencast!
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 17 Aug 12
       
      This is often how I felt. I attribute it to first-time online learning curve. Do you think you will be more comfortable in the role of instructor in discussion forum? I do.
    • diane hamilton
      diane hamilton on 17 Aug 12
       
      Yes, I do. I usually feel quite comfortable in that sort of role, but I also think I will have to be sure to promote a horizontal relationship within discussions so students don't shut down or defer to me. I want them to think,explore, and construct without pressure to give me the answer they think I want.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 17 Aug 12
       
      Shea proposes "learner presence" ... http://www.slideshare.net/alexandrapickett/learning-presencecs2 Can you propose and research Course Presence?
    • diane hamilton
      diane hamilton on 17 Aug 12
       
      Interesting....
alexandra m. pickett

Reflections on Online-Teaching and Learning - 0 views

mascjc82.edublogs.org

shared by alexandra m. pickett on 19 Jul 09 - Cached
  • teaching online can make you a better f2f teacher
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 19 Jul 09
       
      you might be interested in this: online teaching as a catalyst for classroom based transformation https://urresearch.rochester.edu/retrieve/6493/Catalyst+for+Classroom+Transformation.pdf : }
  • By pushing myself to interact better I can learn to teach interaction to my students.
  • I have learned that interaction is essential to teaching and learnng.  Learning is a social activity.  I feel I have been brave enough to include a discussion forum in each module of my course.  It was easy really to do.  the questions I have posed are big questions-they are not lower level thinking questions.  in order to elicit the rich content from my students in the discussion i need better instructions and to create that rubric-i will do.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • can’t believe how far I’ve come.  So, I guess that’s the most suprising thing that i have learned.  I can do this tech. stuff.  well, another thing that strikes me as suprising is that this course has helped me to become a better f2f teacher.  i can no longer hide behind my fear for interaction in the f2f class.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 11 Aug 09
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 11 Aug 09
       
      jess: you not only can do it. you did do it! yay!!
  • i suppose i can.  
  • I am proud of myself and patient with myself.
  • As I grow as a teacher, there is no doubt, that I will be rocky road.
  • I know that I have learned, for god’s sake I created an online course! 
  • change the world!
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 17 Aug 09
       
      one person at a time! : )
  • I felt scared and now I feel empowered. 
Donna Angley

Foster Critical Thinking Using the Socratic Method - 0 views

tilt.colostate.edu/...tip53.pdf

Socratic Method questioning

shared by Donna Angley on 30 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Donna Angley on 30 Jun 11
     
    The article summarizes a talk given by Political Science professor Rob Reich, on May 22, 2003, as part of the center's Award Winning Teachers on Teaching lecture series. Reich, the recipient of the 2001 Walter J. Gores Award for Teaching Excellence, describes four essential components of the Socratic method and urges his audience to "creatively reclaim [the method]
alexandra m. pickett

Mary Huffman: ETAP640 reflections blog - 0 views

huffmanmary.edublogs.org

shared by alexandra m. pickett on 12 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • IEP’s unless they are GIEP’s.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 12 Jun 13
       
      what does that mean?
  • I do wonder why the gender percentages are so different,
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 12 Jun 13
       
      ok. so this is a perfect opportunity to do some research. You have your thoughts, assumptions, ideas maybe about why, but can you find research to support our findings? If you have a question, answer it!!
  • Since Latin is offered alongside other languages such as German, Spanish, and French, I assume that students who choose to take Latin are doing it for a reason, and are interested in a challenge.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 13 Jun 13
       
      example sticky note in diigo
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • I think I will learn a lot about the students’ thought processes and understand which concepts they are grasping (or not).
  • “I think that we take for granted the huge amount of information that we pass on to our students in a F2F classroom just by our presence and interaction with them (bathroom passes, appropriate conduct with each other, respect for the work and management of time) the aspects of education that never finds its way into our lesson plans. In many ways in learning to teach online we are having to learn how to teach again, to focus on the minutiae that is generally accepted we do, to take nothing for granted, assume nothing and to take the entire content of our and every moment of that course (every moment of 8+ weeks) and place it in text form in a virtual environmen
  • them.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 09 Jul 13
       
      don't forget your self-assessment.
  • It isn’t easy to write a good discussion question, but it is essential for a productive discussion.
  • I understand how and why I did it, and I could do it again. 
  • One cool thing about this course is the ‘meta’ quality. 
  • what is best for the students.  How can we serve our students?  Are we doing the best we can to teach them? Are we teaching appropriate and relevant courses? Are we being interactive, engaging, are we even able to keep up with our students technology-wise?  Do we adapt and change our methods to keep up with their demands, or try to force our students to adapt to our methods? 
Lisa Martin

Scaffolding for Success - 0 views

fno.org/scaffold.html

scaffolding pedagogy

shared by Lisa Martin on 05 Jun 12 - Cached
  • "Structure" is the key word. Without clear structure and precisely stated expectations, many students are vulnerable to a kind of educational "wanderlust" that pulls them far afield.
  • 1) Scaffolding provides clear directions
  • 3) Scaffolding keeps students on task
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • 8) Scaffolding creates momentum
  • in Chapter 4, "Students in Resonance," the work gathers speed. The drive toward meaning is accelerated. The essential question and its subsidiary questions create suction, drive, urgency and motivation.
  • If done well, a scaffolded lesson should nearly scream with efficiency. Teachers and students should shake their heads in disbelief.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 05 Jun 12
       
      Love the hyperbole.
  • Scaffolding "distills" the work effort. Focus. Clarity. Time on task.
  • almost like an avalanche of thoughts, accumulating insight and understanding.
  • Amy M on 05 Jun 12
     
    An article on scaffolding.
  • Irene Watts-Politza on 05 Jun 12
     
    Ten steps to creation of tighter online research modules with common sense suggestions for effective design.
  • Lisa Martin on 16 Jul 12
     
    This article was originally shared by Irene, I found it useful to look at scaffolding in this course this semester.
alexandra m. pickett

Reflections Blog - Just another Edublogs.org site - 1 views

wamered.edublogs.org

shared by alexandra m. pickett on 11 Jun 12 - No Cached
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 11 Jun 12
       
      Hey Bill: i completely get the "technologically connected" fatigue. i am very plugged in... but, i remind myself that i am in control. I have boundaries. Also fyi - i don't have a cell phone. I know i know... hard to believe, right?! I just don't want to be that connected. me : )
    • William Meredith
      William Meredith on 25 Jul 12
       
      I envy you for not having a cell phone!  I took mine to France but told people not to call me.  One of the best parts of being away!
  • it helps remove the filter.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 12 Jun 12
       
      interesting. really? say more about that. : )
  • Alex mentioned her desire not to allow students to unsubscribe from the posts.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 12 Jun 12
       
      Bill: i am actually really torn about this. I myself don't use the email subscription AT ALL. I find it confusing and disconnecting from the context and flow of the discussion. I have mine set to subjects only as a daily digest and i mostly just delete them... before even opeining them. I use the cousre interface to interact and view the interactions. I wish i could give students the option. But i can't. I have tried it both ways and talked about it with students from past courses. I even tried it once where i initially forced but then gave students the option to opt out... And i have come to the very reluctant decision that i have to force. I force the subscription, becuase frankly students don't login to the cousre. They disappear for days, and then claim they didn't know or couldn't find...and then claim they are overwhelmed. You also just can't "catch up" once a discussion has ended. The flow has moved on. There are also students that for some reason just prefer to get the posts via email. I've had several students tell me that they liked to view posts from their cell phones... So, i force subscription to all/only the essential forums in the course. The reality is that I can't force students to login to the course and click on the discussion and other areas of the cousre to see all that is happening. And i need a way to make sure that they are aware of the level of activity in the course and what is happening. me
  • ...28 more annotations...
  • I feel as though students must be subscribed to forums, but be forewarned that they need to develop a system for themselves to allow for tracking of the dialogue and how they want to participate in that dialogue.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 12 Jun 12
       
      i don't remember this being a problem in past semesters and i wonder if a default was changed at the system level. I thought everyone got a daily digest of subject lines and that highlighted new forum post tracking was automatically enabled by default... based you your feedback here, i have added "forewarning" : ) to 2 of the course information documents (contact and evaluation). : ) me
  • my presence could be demonstrated in other ways than just logging in daily or talking to students.
  • I came to realize that
  • in this course I feel as though everything I learn is huge.
  • it feels as though I am letting the students go without my assistance.
  • This is were the “earth-shattering” part comes in.  I am learning that I am not letting the students go.  I am going to be there.
  • I can fully see the difference between f2f and online teaching and WHY those differences exist.
  • In the beginning of this course my intention was to translate my f2f assignments and activities to an online format.  This made me feel comfortable as I knew that these activities worked for me and for most of my students.  Yet, as I began to learn about presence and community it became apparent that these f2f activities did not embody presence or community building.  They represented ease for me, and that cannot be the focus in online learning.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 26 Jul 12
       
      this is a brilliant observation bill!
  • Yet, I know I will always want to be tweaking my activities!
  • My two issues with online education before the start of this class dealt with the actual education being offered as well as the connections being formed.
  • But the theory in this course has allowed me to see that in practice, online education can allow for a sound education and a classroom community that can match that of most f2f classrooms.
  • Online learning allows an instructor the opportunity to put everything into place before the course starts so that students come in being able to see all that they need to be successful.  This may not always be the case with f2f courses.  Additionally, to make sure that such theories as presence and community are present in online courses online instructors often have to do more to ensure success in their classes.  For these reasons I am starting to believe that online education, when combined with effective theories can eventually surpass f2f learning.
  • I am not decisive as I would like to be.
  • While it probably should not be surprising that I feel prepared to teach online at the end of a course in online teaching, for me, I feel as though it is quite a surprising development and one I hope to pursue.
  • The article  written by Mark Edmundson, a professor at UVA, questions the validity of online learning. 
  • I have discovered that my thoughts are completely different on online education as a result of this class.  While this is probably not a huge development it has been interesting to watch my opinions change so much.  So, for the moment that is where I am.
  • I discovered that just inserting technology does not suddenly make things better. 
  • I leave this course knowing that presence is more than just responding to students. 
  • Being truly present requires that the students feel your presence as they are completing assignments and learning – knowing what is expected of them and what they expect of the instructor.
  • if a student knows what to do and how to do it (presence) he/she might feel more comfortable branching out in discussions and discussing points with a majority of students instead of just discussing with the same people at the same time.  But community depends heavily on presence and the two really work in tandem.
  • Yet, the blame lies solely with me for just assuming that my students know how to do something.
  • Instead, instructors, both f2f and online, need to assume that their students do not know how to do something.  Taking the time to explain something may seem tedious but it will provide for greater clarification, greater learning, and more meaningful assessments.  Taking the time to just let students know what to do and how to do it has the potential of increasing the enjoyment of learning for all involved!
  •   I truly struggled with this course and I walk away feeling fantastic about it.
  • Coming into this course I figured we would read a few articles about online education and create a course shell for an online course.  Additionally, I came into this course assuming online education failed to meet the standards of f2f education. Now, my thoughts are completely changed. 
  • Leaving this course I feel as though I could write an effective rebuttal of that argument and I believe that illustrates a great amount of growth for a person who entered this class questioning the merits of online education.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 19 Aug 12
       
      what would you say? i would like to read that rebuttal.  : ) 
  • Yet, I feel as this is one of the first courses that will let me leave with having a profound change in thinking. 
  • Online education is the way of the future and more important, it needs to be done correctly.
  • o in my new “educated” role, I would like to try and be an advocate for online education.  I will try to discuss the field more often and when I hear someone mention online education I will ask them what they know about it and what they think about it.  Striking up conversations allow for the spread of ideas and maybe eventually online education will gain the same prominence that many f2f courses currently possess. (4)
Heather Kurto

The Technology Source Archives - Seven Principles of Effective Teaching: A Practical Le... - 0 views

www.technologysource.org/...274

effective teaching evaluating online courses

shared by Heather Kurto on 13 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Instructors should provide clear guidelines for interaction with students.
  • Establish policies describing the types of communication that should take place over different channels.
  • Well-designed discussion assignments facilitate meaningful cooperation among students.
  • ...18 more annotations...
  • Set clear standards for instructors' timelines for responding to messages.
  • Discussions should be focused on a task.
  • Discussion groups should remain small.
  • Only at the end of all presentations did the instructor provide an overall reaction to the cases and specifically comment about issues the class identified or failed to identify. In this way, students learned from one another as well as from the instructor.
  • Tasks should always result in a product.
  • Tasks should engage learners in the content.
  • Learners should receive feedback on their discussions.
  • earners should be required to participate
  • Instructors should post expectations for discussions.
  • "information feedback" and "acknowledgement feedback."
  • Information feedback provides information or evaluation, such as an answer to a question, or an assignment grade and comments.
  • Acknowledgement feedback confirms that some event has occurred.
  • We found that instructors gave prompt information feedback at the beginning of the semester, but as the semester progressed and instructors became busier, the frequency of responses decreased, and the response time increased.
  • nstructors can still give prompt feedback on discussion assignments by responding to the class as a whole instead of to each individual student. In this way, instructors can address patterns and trends in the discussion without being overwhelmed by the amount of feedback to be given.
  • egularly-distributed deadlines encourage students to spend time on tasks and help students with busy schedules avoid procrastination. They also provide a context for regular contact with the instructor and peers.
  • Communicating high expectations for student performance is essential. One way for instructors to do this is to give challenging assignments.
  • Another way to communicate high expectations is to provide examples or models for students to follow, along with comments explaining why the examples are goo
  • Allowing students to choose project topics incorporates diverse views into online courses.
Irene Watts-Politza

Using Facebook to build community in large college classes (essay) | Inside Higher Ed - 1 views

www.insidehighered.com/...ty-large-college-classes-essay

shared by Irene Watts-Politza on 16 Jul 12 - No Cached
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 16 Jul 12
       
      Uh oh ... this is how it starts ... he'll be an online teacher within two semesters!
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 16 Jul 12
       
      Such affinity for promoting teaching presence!
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 16 Jul 12
       
      The future of the public university ...
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • It is definitely not for everyone -- you must be committed (especially time-wise) to using it. But knowing that you and your hundreds of students are finally seeing eye-to-eye is worth the effort!
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 16 Jul 12
       
      We must be passionate about what makes our students passionate.
  • The success of Fb described above, as well as survey data I collected showing positive reactions to the Fb group, will lead to my continued use of this technology.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 16 Jul 12
       
      Collecting feedback to improve future course iterations ... another example of using data to effect best practice.
  • After all the years of teaching these “mega-sections” and with the tough financial situation of my state university it was clear that this type of class was not going away.
  • I was hoping to include something that would add a greater sense of community to the class, something that everyone in the class could use to better connect to one another.
  • I knew the data about how many college students were on Fb, but would students be willing to spend some of their valuable Fb time communicating within a Fb group for a college course? Also, would I be willing to become an avid Fb user, following the flow of communication several times a day? It did not take long to learn that the answers to these questions was “Yes,” and that I had reached my goal of facilitating a sense of community. Although joining the Fb group for the course was not required, a little over 80 percent of the class became members of the group.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 16 Jul 12
       
      Roughly equivalent to 76% student satisfaction rate Alex and colleagues found regarding student satisfaction with high levels of student/instructor interactivity.
  • Moreover, the students essentially ran the group.
  • These included everything from asking for notes, getting clarification on points made in lecture, posting videos and images that pertained to class material, forming study groups, noting relevant events on campus, and congratulating class members on specific accomplishments.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 16 Jul 12
       
      This makes me wonder how to increase the visibility of the "Bulletin Board" or "Faculty Lounge" course areas.
efleonhardt

JOLT - Journal of Online Learning and Teaching - 0 views

jolt.merlot.org/...brinthaupt_1211.htm

online teaching rapport

shared by efleonhardt on 22 Jul 14 - No Cached
  • fostering student engagement or creating effective student interactions with faculty, peers, and content.
  • rapport
  • One way that Bain identified highly effective teachers was by how they treated their students
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • teachers usually believe that students want to learn and they assume, until proven otherwise, that they can
  • pretests, survey forms, and a course overview that identified several questions that the course would help them answer.
  • is better equipped to gather information about students in a variety of ways that may help with success later in the semester.
  • The distance gap needs to be bridged in both directions. It is not sufficient for teachers to get to know their students without letting them get to know their teachers as well.
  • (e.g., Anderson, Rourke, Garrison, & Archer, 2001). Facilitating interpersonal contact is an important role for online teachers and creating a social presence by projecting their identities is essential
  • these general behaviors as teacher “presence”
  • that student deserves to be recognized and treated as an individual
Joan Erickson

Our last week together | Sue's reflections ETAP687 - 1 views

srappazzo.edublogs.org/...our-last-week-together

shared by Joan Erickson on 13 Aug 10 - Cached
  • It has been a long journey.  I have struggled with who I am as a “Teacher”.  I am a trainer, spoon feeding information for those to do their jobs.  A teacher brings students to the level of thinking for themselves…nurturing critical thinkers.  A very big part of me now questions my training. 
    • Joy Quah Yien-ling
      Joy Quah Yien-ling on 13 Aug 10
       
      I agree. We just need to micro-manage a little less, and give students more space to explore and learn autonomously, which providing sufficient structure. Not too much - just the right amount.
  • To look at your own course objectively is difficult
    • Joan Erickson
      Joan Erickson on 13 Aug 10
       
      completely agree with you. the peer reviews were essential to my finishing the course!
Diane Gusa

The Application of Learning Style Theory in Higher Education Teaching - 0 views

www2.glos.ac.uk/...kolb2.htm

education Intelligence Multiple learningTheory Learning Styles

shared by Diane Gusa on 29 Jun 11 - Cached
  • A learning style is: "A complexus of related characteristics in which the whole is greater than its parts. Learning style is a gestalt combining internal and external operations derived from the individual's neurobiology, personality and development, and reflected in learner behaviour" (Keefe & Ferrell 1990, p. 16).
  • general tendency towards a particular learning approach displayed by an individual.
  • Riding & Cheema (1991), from an extensive review of the literature, conclude there are only two principal styles "families", the holist-analytic, and the verbaliser-imager. These two broad groupings relate to the type of cognitive activities normally ascribed to the two hemispheres of the brain. Curry (1983) suggests there are three different perspectives on styles: those relating to a preference for a particular instructional approach, those relating to the individual's intellectual approach to assimilating information independently of the environment, and those relating to the individual's intellectual approach to assimilating information with the environment.
  • ...26 more annotations...
  • Dunn, Deckinger, Withers & Katzenstein (1990), who found that teaching students based on their diagnosed learning style did significantly increase their achievement level (see also Napolitano 1986).
  • Research indicates learning style is not a stable construct, so one may alter instructional style to meet a learning style that will itself change, requiring a further change in instructional strategy.
  • Researchers have failed to address the question of how it is possible to achieve a tailoring of instructional approaches on anything other than an individual level.
  • What may be possible is to promote an educational environment developed for flexibility at the individual student level.
  • What is required is a stimulus-stimulus approach, where the student and the lecturer are actively involved in both learning and the mechanics of the learning process, the aim being to facilitate learner empowerment by developing in students a critical awareness of material studied and the delivery and structure of the material. Learners can then tailor flexible education strategies to their requirements to optimise the quality of the learning experience.
  • his ability of an individual to actively select from a personal style or skills portfolio, is part of what can be termed self-directed learning
  • In an educational setting, a self-directed learner no longer operates as a passive receiver of information, but takes responsibility for the achievement, and ultimately setting, of learning outcomes. In essence, the traditional lecturer-student divide becomes increasingly blurred, as the learner begins to pro-actively structure the programme to match their own learning attributes.
  • facilitator, and finally to that of a resource to be tapped
  • lecturer's role
  • Under such an approach, higher education ceases to be simply something that is done to people, and becomes a platform from which individuals can go on to, in effect, educate themselves
  • "causer of learning".
  • This approach will tend to create learned helplessness in people
  • Higher education should be concerned with not only enhancing learning in a specific situation, but should also constitute a catalyst for further self-initiated development of the individual, above and beyond the contents and aims of a particular course. T
  • The lecturer must avoid removing traditional barriers to self-direction, such as a rigid programme structure, only to erect new barriers through the use of prescriptive self-direction strategies imposed on the student.
  • allow the individual the freedom to define and devise learning strategies, and to make mistakes. T
  • The role of the lecturer must be essentially non-interventionist, unless the student seeks guidance
  • as people may still not choose to direct their own learning due to: a lack of belief in their own ability, a failure by them to recognise that self-direction is needed or preferable, the setting of an inappropriate learning goal(s) that fails to act as a motivator, and previous learning and education experiences.
  • That educational system primarily tends to concentrate on didactic approaches that often view learning as being of secondary importance to memory, where information acquisition and subsequent information regurgitation predominate.
  • This will require that the lecturer breaks down barriers to learning and self-direction that may be present. This covers: those barriers created by the student during the course (wrong choice of learning approach, poor motivation, lack of confidence), those barriers that the course itself may indirectly create (lack of flexibility, lack of direction and guidance, poor structure), and those barriers that the student brings to the course (reason for attending the course, poor learning skills, previous bad learning experiences).
  • In the initial stages of a programme, the lecturer will need to ensure the existence of an appropriate control structure, as students undergo the transition from being other-directed in their learning by external influences, to being self-directed.
  • caffold structure
  • clearly communicated and understood aims and objectives for the students at regular intervals.
  • allows students to progressively take control of their learning,
  • but that also offers sufficient guidance and direction in the early stages to prevent individuals from becoming lost.
  • The application of learning style theory in higher education teaching
    • Diane Gusa
      Diane Gusa on 29 Jun 11
       
      This would take a very brave instructor to do this. However, I know of colleges (Goddard for one) that does exactly this in their graduate program.
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