When do I pause?

Active listening is an important part of communication and refers to a process of listening to understand the speaker. You can signal you value and respect another person by listening with purpose. By pausing to reflect and try on different perspectives, we could learn that while we intended to be helpful, our words might not have had the desired impact.

After the video, you’ll have a chance to practice active listening.

Practice Active Listening!

• Speaker: Take 2-3 minutes to respond to this prompt: 

Was there anything that you found surprising about your Project 1 experience?

• Listener: Please do not interrupt when someone is sharing. You are practicing active listening. When the speaker is done:

Take 1 minute to say what you heard and what you heard from the speaker. You can mirror with phrases like: 

“I heard you say…” or “It sounded like...”

• [If you are in a trio] Observer: Listen and keep time.

• Switch roles.

• If you have additional time, use these prompts to discuss what the activity was like for you.

  • When you were in the “speaker" role: do you think you changed how you communicated knowing that another person was actively listening to you?

  • When you were in the “listener” role: did you find yourself listening in a different way when you knew you were the one reflecting back?

You will use the skills from class to create your own interactive tech project using the CPX:

• a dandelion scene that lights up with a "breeze"

OR

• any other creation that uses the CPX to sense user interaction and respond with at least 1 one external LED/fairy light 

Requirements

On your web site, post:

(A) Documentation of your process, including successes and failures. You should include:

1. Pictures/video of your process

2. A final video or collection of photos that demonstrates the final product

(B) A two-part reflection:

1. Reflect back on the project and how it relates to the topics of self-regulation and active listening, using the prompts below. You can choose to write the reflection (1-2 paragraphs) or record it as video/audio (1-3 minutes).

2. • Look back on the project as a whole and consider whether you were strategic in your approach.

     • Did you find yourself applying the self-regulated learning cycle of plan/do/evaluate?

     • Were there moments where you could have been more strategic?

     • Did you interact with anyone (a peer, instructor or mentor) where active listening played a role in how you engaged?

2. Challenge yourself to step back and think about any parallels you can draw to your learning journey at large, using the prompts below. You can choose a written format (2-4 paragraphs) or recorded video/audio (2-5 minutes).

• When you have encounter a large or challenging task, how can you be strategic? 

• What resources are available to you that can help in formulating a plan?

• How will you execute your plan? When and where do you expect to do this?

• How will you evaluate if your plan is working? How can active listening play a role in your evaluation step?

• How will you revise your plan?

Here are some takeaways for the topics:

Self-regulated learning

• • The capacity to step back and study our own thought process is called metacognition. It is the foundation for an iterative process called the self-regulated learning (SRL) feedback cycle. 

  • Effective learners use this SRL plan/do/evaluate cycle to come up with a plan, try it out, and use feedback to revise a new plan. 

  • When coming up with a plan, we can be strategic: break a large challenge into smaller pieces, research what others have done for similar tasks, keep a log of what did (not) work, seek feedback from others.

Active listening

• When you engage in active listening, you are not listening to find weaknesses or ways to respond; you are listening to understand.

• [Be open] Create space by pausing and slowing down to notice what you are feeling, and focus on listening actively instead.

• [Practice mirroring] You can act as a mirror by clarifying what you heard. By asking “Can I repeat back to make sure I’m with you?”, we are not only signaling that we are listening, but also ensuring that we understand correctly.

• [Seek perspective] We can try on other perspectives to gain a deeper sense of where they’re coming from. We may still disagree with what they’re saying, but the goal is to see the situation. Instead of immediately jumping to a conclusion or giving advice, take the time to reflect on their words and digest their point of view. 

• [Intention vs Impact] Consider the perspective of the listener and how our response might impact them. A well intended message can still come across otherwise.