Week 2: Teaching Methods & Content

Integrating initial design phase into teaching methods.

In my previous blog post, I did come up with an activity.  Although I may have put the cart before the horse, I'll take a deeper look at some of the factors Fink delineates as crucial to developing effective activities.  Then, I'll see how my initial activity matches up.

1. Situational Factors

In the one-shot English library instruction session, there are a number of factors that impact the learning goals.  Because they are one-shot sessions, assessment and activities must be able to accurately capture learning in a single session.  Additionally, the one-shot session impacts the frequency with which I can give feedback since we are bound by time to perform all the activities in one session.  All the English one-shot sessions are undergraduate and I have noticed that, sometimes, undergraduates need some 'priming' activities before we are able to go into a deeper, more creative activity.  Unfortunately, time remains a factor that impacts all aspects.  My learning goals must be specific and attainable, assessment and feedback must be concise and effective, and all activities must fit within a one-session time frame.  Above all, I struggle with timing and how to squeeze effective learning activities that aspire to higher order thinking within a single session.  There is often a disconnect between my learning goals and the learning activities because I will create learning goals based in higher-order thinking that require more time-consuming activities and more self-reflection.  Finally, I notice that self-reflection in the classroom needs to be handled with care.  A lot of our undergrads struggle with vague directions and time needs to be taken to create an understanding among the students of what is expected of them.  Often, I find myself running up against an expectation from my students that, because I am not the professor, I don't have the same authority and there can be some disengagement in class.  There can be is a disconnect between what I believe is the purpose of the class and what the students expect from the session.

2. Learning Goals and Feedback & Assessment 

In the activity I created in my last blog post, I relied on reflective writing as well as discussion in order to capture what the students were learning.  The reflective writing can illustrate what criteria the students are using to evaluate resources.  By combining writing with discussion, I would hope students are able to use this model in their writing to deepen their understanding of the research they encounter.  My hope is that this activity would help them become better learners as well as to increase their foundational knowledge and applicable skills.  Feedback is key, however, to ensuring that students understand what they are learning and how to use these skills out of the classroom.  I feel as though I would need to make sure to illustrate how the activity is applicable to them outside of the classroom but I'm not sure how to do this in a way that would involve the students.  While I can lecture them about the importance and application about what we are doing, I would like for the students to identify how the session is useful outside of the classroom.  I do have an opportunity for them to self-assess when they compare their written reflections within their groups in order to discuss the strongest reasons for including the article they chose.  I'll need to create self-assessment in other activities as well.

3. Learning Goals and Teaching/Learning Activities

For my single activity on evaluating resources, it supports one specific learning goal.  A year or more from the session, I hope students are able to evaluate resources.  I also want them to regularly incorporate the libraries in their research process.  In order to incorporate the libraries' resources, the students will need foundational knowledge to feel comfortable with using the libraries.  I struggle with creating activities that will support the students choosing to regularly use the library resources.  In the past, I have focused on activities that compare internet searching with using the library resources but I'm not sure how that impacts their personal research strategies.  I'll have to think about my sessions a bit more carefully to see what extraneous activities could be cut out.  The larger issue isn't so much extraneous activities but rather time constraints for longer activities that focus on higher order thinking skills.  I may also want to reflect on my learning goals.  Using Fink's process of focusing on what the students will use a year from the session is daunting, since I feel that many students forget a lot of the basic activities we cover in the session.  Using other methods to create learning goals seems to be more appropriate for the one-shot.  For example, using Deb Gilchrest's model produces more measurable goals that can provide a snapshot of learning in the resulting assessments.

4. Teaching/Learning Activities and Feedback & Assessment 

For the evaluating articles activity, there are two opportunities for students to practice their learning.  In the reflective writing activity, students can examine their reasons for choosing the article they felt was the best article for their search.  In the group discussion portion, students can compare and analyze other reasons for choosing the article that they choose and in turn, revise and review their own reasons in their reflection writing piece.  Finally, during the class discussion, students can then determine what the discriminating factors are for evaluating articles.  Integrating writing with research in the classroom gives the students the opportunity to practice this skill before using it in their research.