Author: Lisa Lewis

Academics & English

Lisa Lewis

Just read a very interesting article about the use of non-English words in Academic writing. I have to admit, it is not something that I have considered before. English is really a polyglot of languages

After all “we don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary” (James Nicoll)

So what is the differentiation between “new” words in another language and “old” (i.e. accepted) words in another language? When is is appropriate to indicate with italics or to provide a translation?

It isn’t as simple as you’d think. I encourage you to have a read: https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/ask-dr-editor/integrating-non-english-words-into-academic-writing/

Digital Pedagogy Lab: Toronto – Radical Assessment & Ungrading

Lisa Lewis

I was part of a 3 day lab in Toronto on Digital Pedagogy with a focus on Radical Assessment & Ungrading.

Unpacking the words:

  • Digital pedagogy is the study and use of contemporary digital technologies in teaching and learning. Digital pedagogy may be applied to online, hybrid, and face-to-face learning environments. (Wikipedia)
  • Critical Pedagogy: Habits of thought, reading, writing, and speaking which go beneath surface meaning, first impressions, dominant myths, official pronouncements, traditional cliches, received wisdom, and mere opinions, to understand the deep meaning, root causes, social context, ideology, and personal consequences of any action, event, object, process, organization, experience, text, subject matter, policy, mass media, or discourse. (Wikiversity)
  • Ungrading: SO this is a tricky one. There are many blog posts, articles, books on how to “Ungrade” and why grading isn’t the best (Jesse Stommel has excellent posts on this) but I am trouble finding a good definition of “ungrading”.

So, what were my takeaways?

Ask Why. Why assess an assignment? Why assign an assignment? Why grade the way you do? Why are things worth the amount they are worth? Why test a concept? Why test so much? Why that question?

By asking why, you are not necessarily deciding NOT to do something, you are critically thinking about how it will benefit a student’s learning and understanding. Will it enhance understanding? Will it allow for a different viewpoint? What else is going on in the student’s life? (I recognize it is not always possible to know the answer). It is also important to examine the effect it will have on your own life. Do you have the time to assess it? How much other work do you have?

Get students involved in their learning. In Adult Education/Higher Education we work with adults. Talk to them about grading. If you have to mark something explain why – is it because it is important? Because the institution requires it? Explain why you are doing/requiring what you are doing/requiring in the class. As an adult, I prefer to know the reason why I need to do something, what benefit it will provide. Why are students any different?

Would I go again?

I am not sure that I would! Unfortunately, because of the name, I thought there would be more doing and practicing. I associate “labs” as hands-on learning. This was more of an unconference. While I have attended unconferences and loved them (IIE does a great one) I was not looking for that for this. I was looking to increase my education and knowledge on a specific topic rather than getting bogged down in definitions and how the university/college system is failing
Here is a Google Doc of what we did: http://bit.ly/ungrade

One fabulous person I met was Rajiv Jhangiani (on Twitter @thatpsychprof. Give him a follow). Truly an inspirational speaker

Signature Pedagogies

Lisa Lewis

I just finished reading about signature pedagogies by Shulman (2005). A signature pedagogy is not something that I have considered before so I am going to post some of the quotes that I like, and my response to them.

Erik Erikson observed: “If you wish to understand a culture, study its nurseries” (p.52)

If you wish to understand why a person is the way they are, examine how they were raised. Thus if you wish to understand why a person teaches the way they do, examine how they were taught.

“Signature pedagogies are important precisely because they are pervasive” (p. 54)

The way that a discipline is taught goes far beyond any one faculty or university. Rather the way that knowledge is imparted in a discipline tends to cross all boundaries, whether the boundary is an institution or a geographical area. The rituals & modes of educational instructions is similar within the discipline. Why is this the case? Perhaps it has to do with the way people have been taught in a discipline

“Since faculty members in higher education rarely receive direct preparation to teach, they most often model their own teaching after that which they themselves received” (p. 57)

This actually makes the argument for the role of an educational developer. If you have not received instruction on how to teach, mimicry is a coping strategy. How faculty cope with being in a teaching role when they have never been taught how to teach? They copy by following the signature pedagogies of their profession, by teaching as they were taught. Thus pedagogies develop tremendous inertia in a field. In order for change to happen, an instructor must be aware that there are other ways of imparting information. The role of the educational developer is important for being a coach/advisor/support when  someone recognizes that there are other (better?) ways. It is important for a change facilitator to be present in that nexus otherwise the moment may pass.

One more thought: “Professional action is often characterized by tension between acting in the service of one’s client and acting in a manner that protects the public interest more broadly … Every profession can be characterizes by these inherent tensions, which are never resolved, but which must be managed and balanced with every action” (p.58)

A professional pedagogy must work to balance the tensions, to provide students with the ability to deal with the tensions. Any changes to the way that information is imparted must ultimately be in support of helping professionals cope with this tension. Change must be effective and not just change because it is the current ‘trend’ in education. Instead, does that new way of teaching support the students in their future. The research of a educational developers can really be important here.

 

Shulman, L.S. (2005) Signature pedagogies in the professions, Daedelus 134 (3) 52 – 59,

http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/20027998.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A0f4766d7f54468c91320e0a2bbbb8444

Educational Development Challenges

Lisa Lewis

As part of the course I am taking on Educational Development I had to read two papers and answer the question: Consider what is it about educational development that makes it engaging and challenging at times, sometimes at the same time. Here are my thoughts:

Challenges:

  • Defensive Position – Constantly having to justify why you do and why you do it. Even with senior administration there is a lack of education about the position. The perception of others may be that the position is unnecessary or a waste of money
  • Uncertain Career Path. Often Educational Developers are seen as “Tier two” academics (if they are even seen as academics). The career path may have no progression or movement opportunities. Climbing the ivory tower can be difficult as there can be a prestigious in the position
  • Unrecognized as Academics. Many Educational Developer have no recognition of their service or rewards typical for academics. Thus there is exclusion. Excluded from research & evaluation opportunities

Benefits:

  • Support. Tremendous outside support from other Educational Developers
  • Valued. Individuals at institutions value the advice and offerings of Educational Developers
  • Unique Talents. To be successful in this role, a variety of skills and abilities are needed.
  • Interesting. The position itself is multi-faceted. Like a unique job every day? I suspect this is a career for you

Gender:

The first paper listed below was, in my opinion, the most interesting one as it looked at the position of an educational developer with respect to gender. Typically women occupy fewer positions in higher education. Gender imbalance increases as you climb the corporate ladder in higher education. This is not the case, however, with Educational Developers where women dominate in numbers in the field and in positions of leadership. Why do women hold greater numbers of positions and leadership roles in this discipline? Possiblely is is due to the supportive and service nature of the position. The job is typically coded with “feminine” words and skills. While these skills are a benefit in the position, they may be seen as a liability when attempting to climb the ivory tower.

Most Educational Developers have doctoral degrees and are very qualified for their position, yet the positions themselves may be uncertain or ambiguous; the position is often not valued by the institution. Is the marginalization due to the “pink ghetto” phenomenon? The position is not typically underpaid, but is often in the periphery and can be systematically excluded. How to fix this marginalization? Bernhagen and Gravett suggest being explicit in the work done, its importance and the role you have. Also, in academia, it is important not to neglect or undervalue scholarship

 

 

Bernhagen, L. and Gravett, E. (2017) Educational development as pink collar labor: Implications and recommendations., To Improve the Academy, 36(1), 9-19. DOI: 10.1002/tia2.20053

Kensington-Miller, B., Renc-Roe, J. and Moron-Garcia, S. (2015) The chameleon on a tartan rug: Adaptations of three academic developers’ professional identities, International Journal for Academic Development, 20(3), 279 – 290. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2015.1047373

 

Educational Developer

Lisa Lewis

Lately I have be interested in the field of Educational Development. My burning questions seems to be: What is an Educational Developer? What do they do? Is this a field that I am interested in pursuing?

Fortunately there is an 8 week, fully online course that I am taking to answer these questions.

This was the email I got:

Introduction to Educational Development – an international course for new and would be educational developers.

This fully online, free of charge, 8 week course has been devised to provide an introduction to educational development. What is it, who does it, what is like?

Educational development has been variously described as supporting faculty / academics to improve the student experience by using evidence based good practice in classrooms, lecture theatres and labs. But what is it like to be an educational developer? Might this suit you as a career? How do you get into the field?

How could I not sign-up? The first day is today, there seems to be a lot or reading, listening & discussing. Looks fabulous. Now I just need to convert Eastern Standard Time to my time zone for a meet up at the end of the week…

Here are two great blog posts about being an educational developer: Part 1 and Part 2

 

VIUTLC2017

Lisa Lewis

At the VIU Teaching & Learning Conference 2017 we were summarizing the days work in post-in notes.

My key thoughts from the keynote: Dr. Kimberly Tanner, PhD

  • “Teaching is the neurobiology of lots of brains”
  • “Teaching and learning are fundamentally about changing the human brain”
  • If learning is about brain changing, then students
    • Must be awake, attending, and interested
    • need to activate related knowledge / memories / circuits so that they connect these to new understandings
    • are only then likely ready for constructing new knowledge (circuits)
    • need opportunities to self-assess their understanding and identify confusions

Here I am hard at work:

Transformative Moment

Lisa Lewis

This week I attended the Vancouver Island University Teaching and Learning Conference and had the pleasure in attending many workshops & presentations. Once workshop that I want to focus on in this moment was by Janet Sinclair & Brain Walker called “Telling our Story: Indigenous Portfolio Development” about IRLP 100 (Indigenous Learning and Recognition Portfolio). I was interested in this workshop as I have many students who are taking this, while taking classes with me. Students come out of IRLP 100 transformed. They become confident in self, supportive in others & have a clear vision of their future.

Janet & Brian gave an overview of the course of the course and had the participants do ‘mini’ versions of some of the activities that are in the class. Once in particular stuck with me. They asked us to think of a transformative moment in our life and then determine what we learned from it. I have to admit, I panicked a little at the question, but was quickly able to think of a moment in time. When I was 16, I traveled to Switzerland with my cousin to visit family. The whole trip changed me, moments throughout the trip are etched in to brain & soul but there was one experience that has continued to define me.

At the end of the trip, when it was time to go, my family said “you’ll be fine” and sent me on my way home. Alone I had to catch a tram down the mountain they lived on, caught a train to Paris, walked from the train station to my hotel, overnight-ed at the hotel, caught a cab to the metro, the metro to the airport & flew home all by myself. There were challenges along the way – my bags were heavy, but some kind people at a pub(!) held half my bags for me till I checked in to the hotel – I had lost my plane ticket & my french is poor. Somehow, it all was fine. It did all work out. I took one step at a time, and fixed any problem that I encountered.

I was left with a feeling that I could do anything that needed to be done. While I happily accepted help from others (the kindness of strangers can be a wonderful thing) I was fine on my own. I could and did survive & succeed.

Interleaving – Weaving my Math Topics

Lisa Lewis

One effective self-regulated learning strategy is interweaving course content or interleaving. Interleaving is the practice of switching between ideas while studying as this strengthen  understanding on topics previously learned while creating links and connections between topics. I have been using, demonstrating, and teaching this concept in my math classes. As I am not with my students when they are studying I am demonstrating the usefulness of interleaving in three ways:

  1. As homework suggestions
  2. During regularly scheduled class activities
  3. During instruction time

Homework Suggestions:

The easiest change to make were homework suggestions. While students had standing instructions to practice the topics explored that day, I made a point of recommending other previous topics to look at. Thus my new instructions each day were, for example: “Try practicing what we learned today, factoring using the difference of squares, but also try 1 questions of graphing and 1 simplifying an algebraic radical”

Class Activities:

Changing class activities & assignments took more time to prepare. Each new group activity/assignment now included one or two questions on a previously learned topic. While it was nice when the previous material had a strong link to the new material, I wasn’t very worried about always finding a strong link as mixing up old and new allows students to find their own links.

As one student noted, testing has material all mixed up, so why not activities?

Instructional Time:

During instruction I made an effort to remind students of previous material and how that related to the new material. Math can be ‘silo-ed’ if not careful. I also made a point of choosing questions from other units to solve, mixing up the new with the old which keeps everything fresh in the minds of my students.

Changes in a Math course

Lisa Lewis

My math class looked like: teach, student practice, teach, student practice, teach, student practice, teach, student practice, teach, student practice, teach, student practice, teach, student practice, review, test. Also, I had taught similar concepts as unique, separate entities. For example, there are 4 different chapters of binomial factoring. I taught one, after another, over 2 or 3 days.

I changed my thinking in how I approached math class to incorporate ‘clumping’ of similar strategies (Nilson, 2013). Now, for example, all four chapters in binomial factoring were taught in 1 day. Students could now see similarities and differences in similar material. This left SPACE in my teaching schedule. I decided to incorporate activates on those days. Activities would be done in groups of 2 – 4 and help students master aspects of the course.

Within the activities, I would embed Self-Regulation learning strategies. Initially the strategies were implicit, as the term progresses I changed my thinking and made the strategies explicit. For example I said “A great learning strategy is called Dual Coding. Dual Coding means combining words and visuals. Essentially you look at visuals and explain them in words or take information and draw a visual.” Then I got the students to use that strategy in the activity. My goal was to have students understand why I was doing something.

I believe that test corrections are very important in math. Thus, once I have returned a math test, I ask students to make corrections to their test and hand it back in for marks. To expand and enhance test corrections, I created a ‘test wrapper’. Students would answer a few simple questions before the test, a few simple questions after they completed the test corrections and I would be able to have a conversation with them about how they approach studying math, their motivation for being in the course, and their confidence level with the material. I saw it as a simple way to have a conversation about their learning in a math course.

One unexpected benefit with the test wrappers was the 2 or 3 simple questions at the beginning of the test really grounded the students. It gave everyone a simple starting place, essentially the first couple of steps on the test journey. I forgot the wrapper (once) on a test and students immediately asked where it was – I had to promise to put it there for the test corrections (and for the next test)

Overall I am pleased with the changes to my course

Accessible Learning and Inclusive Design

Lisa Lewis

Lat year at VIU I was part of the VIU Council on Learning and Teaching Excellence. My person goal was to provide more support to aboriginal students in my Physics class. I found that the changes I made had a profound  affect on all the students in class.

For a video of what each member of my Accessible Learning and Inclusive Design group did (I speak second) check out this link: https://ciel.viu.ca/scholarly-teaching-practice/viu-council-learning-and-teaching-excellence/2015-2016-council-action-groups/accessible-learning-and-inclusive-design-group