My primary aim with course instruction is to facilitate an environment where students can take an active role in learning. This means students cannot simply write and study notes to regurgitate facts on an exam. Instead they must take initiative to learn independently, provide consistent input and feedback, and help shape the in-class time so it is focused on their interests, needs, and current deficiencies. With that said, I as the instructor must also be cognizant of the boundaries between courses, and how the course fits into the overall program curriculum. Although every course requires fresh thought and a tailored approach, all courses including activity, lecture, and laboratory-oriented classes require the instructor to follow the same steps. The instructor must, 1) establish course objectives and boundaries, 2) determine the methods for providing access to the course information, and 3) setup a framework for the students and instructor to share the locus of control throughout the course. Following these three steps provides the best possibility of establishing deep understanding, lasting curiosity, and a comfortable learning environment.
1) Establish Course Objectives and Boundaries
In order to understand a course’s objectives, it is essential to first understand how it fits into the greater curriculum of the students’ degree program. As an example, I have taught numerous sections of a course on exercise prescription. While it is tempting to teach exercise prescription for both health and sports conditioning, the time constraints of the course require prioritization. Given the students are expected to leave the course capable of prescribing exercise for health and general fitness, and will have other courses in sports conditioning and clinical populations, it becomes clear that health-based exercise prescription for the general population should be given priority in this course. A similar thought process is needed for each course, as well as, when the program curriculum changes.
2) Determine the Methods for Providing Access to the Course Information
Once objectives are tailored and appropriately viewed through the lens of the greater curriculum, strategies to provide access to course information can be chosen.
The traditional pedagogy of using live lectures (in person or online) to deliver content is comfortable for the student, and effective for surface level learning. However, it provides minimal opportunity for students to digest material and conceptualize complex topics. It also means that simple topics take up nearly equal amounts of in-class time as complex topics. Therefore, complex topics receive too little focus and the level of student content mastery stops at the surface level. This is especially true in content dense courses like those I typically teach. For these reasons, I have pivoted away from the traditional model when feasible.
I have also tried the flipped classroom model where all instruction takes place outside the classroom via video lectures and/or readings, and the in-class time is reserved for group work and assignments. Theoretically, this provides the students with the greatest amount of in-class time to focus on complex topics. However, it is on the opposite end of the spectrum from the traditional classroom. This means it is uncomfortable to many students because it is not what they are accustomed to experiencing. This leaves many students thinking that the instructor “does not teach”, despite the fact that significantly more time and effort is made to “teach” using this course format. Additionally, this requires the greatest amount of self-motivation by the student, and those insufficiently motivated are noticeably unprepared during in-class time and on exams. Likewise, the most motivated students complete the in-class assignments quickly and find the class time to be inefficient.
This leads me to my current pedagogical approach; the blended classroom. If the traditional model and flipped classroom model occupy opposite ends of a spectrum, the blended classroom represents the space in between. As the “space in between” the blended classroom has a lot of range. My current courses that use the blended model provide the full lecture online via video. Following the video lecture, the students fill out a poll where they identify the parts of the lecture they found hardest to understand. I then take this information and present it in a live focused lecture to the students in-class. During this mini lecture, they can ask questions, and we have time for in depth side discussions. The remaining in-class time is used to work on assignments. This allows students to at least get comfortable with the assignment before continuing on their own. I believe this provides students with the best of both worlds.
While I intend to primarily use the blended classroom approach for the foreseeable future, each class will represent a different spot on the spectrum. As an example, the course described in the previous paragraph is a 300 level undergraduate course. In a 100 level course, leaning more towards the traditional classroom end of the spectrum may be more appropriate. This is because underclassmen students typically have less comfort with independent work, and many 100 level courses serve as survey courses for the more in-depth upper level coursework. Additionally, when teaching a new course, it is likely not feasible or appropriate to produce the volume of online content needed to approach the flipped classroom end of the spectrum. This is because some trial and error is needed with new courses before committing to creating time intensive online content such as video lectures.
3) Setup a Framework for the Students and Instructor to Share the Locus of Control Over the Course
As previously mentioned, for my most information dense undergraduate courses, I provide full video lectures for students to cover independently. This gives students control of when they watch the lectures. They also have the ability to pause, rewind, rewatch, and change the video play back speed (0.25-2x normal speed). This gives significant control to my students. In addition, I also require my students to help shape the in-class time. I have done this using a variety of methods, including discussion forums where I use their questions to form discussion based “lectures”, and polls where the students vote for the slides they want to have covered during the in-class time. All of this shifts the locus of control from instructor to students; giving greater ownership of the process and removing much of the guess work to determining what the students need to be successful.
In order to provide quality educational content outside the classroom, I use online learning platforms. My syllabi, assignments, copies of in-class material, and quizzes are posted online. I also give tests through online learning platforms. By posting all course material online, students gain further control to when they access and review the content.
Finally, I shift the locus of control from instructor to students by surveying all of my students every semester. This includes the official university course evaluations, but more importantly, it also includes my own targeted surveys. Creating my own surveys allows me to learn who my students are, what they think and feel, and what they like and dislike. Each semester I include a set of questions that ask the students their top 3 things they liked about the class and the bottom 3 things they disliked about the class. When something is not going well, it usually sticks out on these questions. Once I notice a trend, I act. This gives students a powerful voice in how I approach my courses. Evidence from this informal survey provided the basis to why I chose to move from the flipped classroom model to a blended classroom approach. In addition to receiving student feedback I also frequently discuss matters of pedagogy with other faculty.
Whether I’m instructing in a classroom, laboratory, or online environment, my teaching strategy follows the same steps; 1) establish course objectives and boundaries, 2) determine the methods for providing access to the course information, and 3) setup a framework for the students and instructor to share the locus of control over the course. I anticipate continual adaptation of my philosophy as I encounter new teaching challenges and as new methods and technologies become available. I hope to empower students to take an active role in their education and inspire them to change and adapt to the ever-evolving professional world. Through this pursuit I expect to be constantly changing and adapting as well.