Group items tagged

Greenwald presents 3 key features that must be present in a TRUE problem-based learning lesson: initiating learning with a problem, exclusively using ill-defined problems, and teachers acting as thinking coaches. She gives and example of an ill-defined problem scenario, and also 10 Steps to PBL approach. This article is a great read and gives applicable tools, which seem like they would be great for teachers or facilitators to probe students to dig deeper in their hand-on investigations. In regards to my own project, I am always interested in problem solving approaches in graphic design, and a lot of the 10 steps in this article could easily be translated to a design problem/problem and the research that is required for it.

This article is actually an interview of Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline, and Margaret Wheatley, author of Leadership and the New Science; both are also organizational theorists. The two discuss how organizations can be more successful if they can work better with uncertainty, and incorporate meditation, derived from periods of silence in dialogue sessions, into their work. They claim that organizations need to accept that change should be accepted as the reality, and that life is a continuous state of change. The two also discuss the concept of "collective cultivation," wherein Buddhism teaches that cultivation is the practice of meditation, study, and service. Organizations not only need to accept change, but they need to collectively work hard and know how to accept this change. Unfortunately, most organizations don't have the tools or methods to support this idea. This interview allows the reader to think more about the concept of organizations and leaders in general, and how we understand them. We can't blame the hierarchy for the way things are, because we put the hierarchy in place. We are responsible for our own actions when we obey the demands of our leaders. If we can change our own views of organizations and the habits that we have adopted to work in them, then we can potentially change the way that they function from the inside out.

What struck me most about this article is their suggestion that we need to change our concept of what it means to be a leader in an organization. Particularly in the Western world, we look to our leaders, in fact expect our leaders, to have all the answers. As a leader, being comfortable sitting with uncertainty makes those you lead uncomfortable with you. The process of action research incorporates many of the same characteristics Senge and Wheatley identify: listening, being open, engaging in dialogue. Actively using action research in the workplace may help us reform our model of leadership.

I thought this article was very different but also very interesting. I like the combination of a business perspective and a religious one. I never really put too much thought into any similarities between the two. The suggestions on an effective leader and an effective organization are insightful. I agree there needs to be more dialogue as well as more reflection in order for things to work more efficiently.

relevant to uptake (adoption and adaptation) of tools/processes learned in workshops and to building a constituency

"Madison Metropolitan School District (2001). "Classroom action research." http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/sod/car/carhomepage.html"

This website is a very helpful tool for anyone taking on the task of an action research project. In the section "Reasons to Do Actions Research" it cites collegiality, personal/professional development, consistency, and challenging the norm, all as reasons why action research needed to be done in this situation. Under the section, "A process for Analyzing Your Data" the site goes through some steps to go through in order to get a big picture of the data that has been collected. Some of the steps include, look for themes or patterns, identify the main points, and draw the information together to include some of the evidence which supports each of your themes. The site also has many other links to topics such as "What is Action Research?", "Guidelines for Developing a Question", "Techniques for Collecting Data", and "Ideas for Your Final Write-Up".

Are you Type "A" personality and you are having trouble unwinding, and need some type of tool to focus on relaxing? This video is effective very effective when having a day where through self dialogue and listening Here is a YouTube video on how to relax in a short period of time. It was effective for me.

What stress reduction techniques can I provide and make available for allied health students? Here is a web sites I think anyone can utilize to reduce their stress.This site has a plethora of tools to help students with Attention and Learning ,Encoding and Retrieval, Group and Cooperative Learning, Memory, Monitoring, Motivation, Note Taking, Organization, Problem Solving and Critical Thinking, Questioning, Reading Comprehension, Test Anxiety, Test Preparation, Test Taking, Time Management, Writing, Proofreading and much more. A really nice plan for students and how they can reduce their stress while in school. Enjoy Mary McGurn

The Communications Director of Pepsi co discusses the marketing campaign Pepsi Refresh, wherein the public is encouraged to come up with new ideas to "refresh" some part of their world, and with the votes of the public, potentially win grant money to fund that idea. It is both a great marketing tool for Pepsi, and a great way to get the public to be creative. I have come across the Pepsi Refresh project in my research, because there are some ideas from the public that include finding ways to incorporate play into people's lives. I think that this project is a great way to have people think about the change that they want to make in the world, and create a proposal for it that is compelling enough to get others to vote for them and make it happen. With the added incentive of possible grant money, people can think freely without the worry of "how could I actually make this happen financially?"

This article discusses affective conflict vs cognitive conflict. Conflict is everywhere we go and these tools can really provide insight on how to handle the situation.

This blog focuses on the art of using Wiki pages to teach. On this blog teachers can ask questions and share experiences that surround using Wikis within classroom settings.

This article can be used for those who may want to begin using humor in your class without losing sight of the learning objectives.

This is a great read and humor has many long term benefits for overall health and well being. In nursing, it can be very stressful and humor can be a very effective measure to relieve stress.

The brain-based learning material that I have been reading recommends surprise as an important tool to gain and hold students' attention. Humor fits with this. The article recommends a highly organized, thought-out, and planned approach which may work for some but other teachers might just want to wing it.

This article talks about when it may or may not be appropriate to use action learning. Action learning is an approach you take on with a group to gain a better knowledge of a particular objective that can be achieved through shared reflection and action. Through this process individuals willingly participate to deal with a problem as a group and create innovative ideas that can be carried out and evaluated to continue revisionism. (Our action research class in a nutshell) The example chapters at the beginning outline a clear picture of a kind of problem that needs continued learning and revision to meet a better goal after reflection and reassessment occur.

The article is about a systematic approach and learning about "a problem" resolving them with a group of committed people through reflection and dialogue. This action learning approach may not be suitable for everyone due to the time constraints and the possible need for immediate problem- solving. There are tools that are utilized during the process of trying to learn about a problem that help to facilitate the learning process of that problem.

This article provides more resources to the Action Research Process. This involves identifing a problem and wanting to implement change to improve outcomes. Something each Action Research articles have in common are reflection and evaluation.

Like this interesting tips for teaching my workshop and providing more resources for the staff.

As a research methodology, Participatory Action Research (PAR) is an ideal blend of CCT skills and tools. The author of the article, Couto quoted Freire (1970) in saying that "PAR is a community-based, problem-centered, active learning pedagogy, and it imparts several social problem-solving skills and lessons about participation in democratic societies". The article chronicles efforts by the author to engage students from the University of Richmond in a participatory action research project. The purpose of the research was to better understand needs and issues facing the Richmond Juvenile and Family court system. During the project, students worked with detained juveniles to better understand how the system was affecting each individual. The article provides a clear overview of participatory action research, offering numerous benefits of the process. The author suggests that PAR has the potential to be seen as the "scholarship of engagement" and is spreading in the same way that community service and service learning caught on in the 1970's and 1990's.

This method sounds like it could deliver much stronger learning experiences than typical service learning can because there the students usually remain formally outside what they study, though they learn and gain a lot through personal interactions and experiences. Here they directly engage in situations, working for change as partners, that through the service learning model they generally only try to alleviate and understand. The example is extreme and probably unsuited for most groups, but the methods are intriguing and exciting. The part about the community affected controlling the agenda would be key, as it can be a balance act, trying to have students really learn from experiences and not take condescending approaches.

This article was a good complement to the interview of Peter Senge and Margaret Wheatley (Changing How We Work Together) and Senge's work is also quoted in the article as well. Senge says that learning organizations should nurture new and expansive patterns of thinking, have higher standards for collective learning, and engage people in the team. It would be interesting to see what would happen if higher education institutions engaged in more participatory action research, wherein the students, faculty, and staff had more of a say in the actions of the institution. As it stands now, feedback from students and faculty is sought in some respects, such as in committee work, but many students are too busy to offer feedback to the institution. Instead, there is still a hierarchy of administration that makes the final decisions for actions that affect the students, faculty, and staff.