Teaching

THEORY OF LEARNING

Two philosophers have informed my view of learning: the American philosopher Justus Buchler and the German philosopher Karl Jaspers. Both philosophers have taught me the same lesson, namely, that learning is an open-ended process.

For Justus Buchler, philosophy is the furtherance of what he labels query. He defines query as the methodic pursuit of wonder. The philosophical attitude therefore consists in gently probing into whatever is encountered with an attitude of mindfulness and charity. This attitude does not from the outset close itself off to further query, but is ready to engage—so long as the sense of wonder is present—what initially appears different, threatening, opaque, and mysterious. I believe that the philosophical attitude is a good model for thinking about learning. What is learning but being grasped by wonder, and maintaining that sense of wonder despite challenges to one’s prevailing worldview.

When learning is informed by this sense of wonder, the virtues of mindfulness and charity come to shape one’s interactions with others. When I exercise these virtues, I am open to the possibility that my beliefs and actions are provisional and liable to error and prejudice, and that I can learn something valuable from the beliefs and actions of others. Genuine engagement requires the ability to defend one’s position openly without foreclosing the possibility that another’s standpoint or worldview has value and truth behind it. But only if I understand learning as a process, a continuous and lifelong openness and wonder in the presence of what is different, does genuine learning occur.

I have learned a similar lesson from Karl Jaspers. In speaking of the symbols we use to relate to the sacred, Jaspers puts forward the view that symbols should be understood as ciphers. He describes a cipher as an object that is continually suspended, continually questioned, and continually destabilized in order to stay alive, but without thereby being destroyed. This somewhat paradoxical existence of an object that is stable without becoming absolute or all-encompassing in its reach—due to its suspended state—is to me the picture of learning at its best. An ideal student is one who has come to hold a worldview in a thoroughly self-conscious manner, but in embracing that worldview, this ideal student is also aware that all conceptual frameworks are provisional, fragmentary, and liable to error. In this state of mind, the ideal student confidently holds to a position, but is ever-ready to engage other points of view with the hope of weeding out latent prejudices, and with the hope of developing a more capacious experiential and conceptual framework that embraces the complexities of human life, as well as the varieties of human existence. Genuine learning occurs only when it is embraced as a process of self-discovery open to revision, and, furthermore, as a process open to mindful and charitable dialogue with others.

PRACTICE OF LEARNING AND TEACHING

If learning consists of a process of self-discovery open to mindful and charitable dialogue, then teaching should ignite this process. The skills of an effective teacher would then include, among others:

The ability to model the ethical virtues of mindfulness and charity. This requires presenting each new theory with the same level of care and precision allotted to previously given theories. When teachers model classroom discourse that is mindful and charitable, students pick up those virtues and model them in their own conversations with other students. The teacher can also structure assignments and classroom exercises to allow for the development of these virtues. Here is a classroom activity that was specifically designed for this purpose:

Group Project for Introduction to Religion Course: At the end of the semester, after having been introduced to various theories on religion and religious traditions, students were divided into small groups and asked to consider the following: “If you had the opportunity to formulate a conception of the divine or sacred reality, which essential traits would it have? How would you structure an organized religion founded on this conception of sacred reality?” This collaborative exercise produced a lively discussion on whether sacred reality is male, female, both, or neither; whether it is omnipotent or limited in abilities; whether it creates or gives birth to the universe; whether it is static or undergoes change and has affections; whether it is one, many, both, or neither; whether it is immanent, transcendent, or both in certain respects. By the end of the class session, students became aware of a wide diversity of conceptions of the divine, and the strengths and weaknesses of each conception. How did this group project encourage students to exhibit the ethical virtues of mindfulness and charity? Students were essentially being asked in this exercise to take their deeply held beliefs about the nature of God and to determine how those beliefs would affect everyone else who would be subject to those beliefs, to think globally about their parochial beliefs. For instance, if God is male, as is the case in traditional theistic religions, do women get left behind? If God creates, rather than gives birth to the universe, does the rational act of creation by the word or language of God demote the natural act of giving birth, and, by extension, demote nature as a whole?

The ability to ignite the sense of wonder in students of varying abilities and learning styles. If I expect my students to model the virtues of charity and mindfulness to what is different or foreign, then I should do the same. My approach to students must also be one of wonder, of openness to the unique ways in which each student learns. The assessment tools I use in my courses are designed to take account of a broad range of learning styles and preferences.

TEACHING GOALS AND ASSESSMENT

LIST OF ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR GLOBAL STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Case Analysis: Deep learning occurs when theories come to have practical relevance for students. There is wide agreement among instructors that meaningful engagement is necessary for deeper learning. My business ethics courses were designed so that theory was always followed by practice in the form of analysis of real-world ethical issues. For instance, one of the cases we analyzed in class concerned the use of slaves, adults and children, in the harvesting of cocoa beans on some West African cocoa farms. Students quickly realized the broad ethical implications of buying one piece of chocolate from the local grocery store.

Group Projects/Debates: The best ideas develop in cooperation with others, and personal prejudices only become apparent as such in the presence of others. To facilitate dialogue among students, I divide the class into small groups. The groups are given a problem to solve and the solutions of each group are discussed by the class as a whole.

Free-Write: Many students are intimidated when the instructor singles them out. This sense of anxiety comes from not having an opportunity quickly to formulate their thoughts into a coherent argument. To encourage critical reflection on the issues presented in class, I often ask my students to write for about three to five minutes on some aspect of the lecture material. This also gives me an opportunity to gauge how well students have been learning the material, and to restructure my approach accordingly.

Peer Instruction: There is ample evidence in literature on pedagogy that when students are given feedback by their peers, they are more likely to be receptive to constructive criticism. With this in mind, I have incorporated peer instruction in some of my courses. I have discovered that when a student is given the opportunity to discuss a written assignment with one other student, this one-to-one dialogue can produce a safe and comfortable environment that allows for the acceptance of constructive criticism.

Journal Entries: Since much of student learning occurs outside of the structured classroom environment, for some of my courses I have asked my students to keep a journal in which they were encouraged 1) to summarize in their own words the major theories or the thesis in the assigned text, 2) to write down a personal experience that best illustrates the summarized theories, 3) to provide a critique of the evidence offered in support of the theories or thesis, and 4) to write down several questions raised by the assigned text. Journal entries are then discussed in class. I also provide written comments on the entries.

Cross-disciplinary Instruction: I believe that one of the chief goals of a college education should be to exhibit the complex ways in which disciplines are embedded and informed by other disciplines. A prejudice is the false belief that one’s actions and beliefs are pure and unmixed with what initially appears foreign, threatening, different, and so on. The only means to undermining a prejudice is to show that all beliefs and actions are thoroughly and undeniably related to other beliefs and actions. One example will suffice here. In my introduction to religion courses, after reviewing theories of religion offered by theologians, philosophers, sociologists, and psychologists, I then assign novels and poems to my students. Students have informed me that by identifying emotionally with the characters in the fictional works, they were able to transcend their initial prejudices regarding particular religious beliefs and practices.

Self-Assessment of Learning Environment: Students ought to be given an opportunity to assess their own performance, and to comment on whether the class is structured in a way that enhances that performance. During the semester, I ask my students to provide anonymous comments on some aspect of the course (group discussion, journal, exam, free write, lecture, and so on), and whether it enhances or detracts from their learning. I find that when students reflect on their own learning and on the structure of the class, they begin to take greater responsibility for their education. Most importantly, this exercise builds trust in their peers and in the instructor by showing the students that the entire class is working as a team toward a common goal.

Modeling: Modeling can take many forms, from modeling constructive dialogue in the classroom that promotes the virtues of mindfulness and charity to modeling good writing. For instance, for a recent course on theoretical ethics, I provided a template to students at the beginning of the semester for the journal assignments. The template was essentially the model for a well-written journal assignment.

Essays: An essay gives the student an opportunity to create a meaningful picture in words out of various concepts presented in the course. In general, I require the following structure for the essays I assign:

Opening Paragraph: a brief description of the problem or issue to be address and a succinct thesis statement

Middle Paragraphs: a defense of the thesis statement through arguments and evidence/facts in support of each argument

Final Paragraphs: counterarguments and responses to the counterarguments

Conclusion: brief restatement of the thesis in light of the arguments presented in the paper and a statement of further research on the topic

Exams: Exams may include multiple choice, matching, short answer, and short essay questions. For all exams, I provide an exam review sheet with a list of the major concepts or theories that will be on the exam. Students are then given an opportunity to bring any questions they may have to an exam review session held one class prior to the exam date.

ASSESSMENT TOOLS APPLIED TO GLOBAL STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

A. KNOWLEDGE

1. Students will be able to identify and analyze theories in religion and philosophy in order to discriminate their strengths and weaknesses

Assessment Tools:

Journal Entries

Case Analysis

Exams

Cross-disciplinary Instruction

Free-Write

Modeling

2.Students will be able to generate revised worldviews by reconstructing theories in religion and philosophy

Assessment Tools:

Group Projects and Debates

Essays

B. ATTITUDES

1. Students will be able to identify competing values and to synthesize these values into a coherent personal value system

Assessment Tools:

Group Projects and Debates

Journal Entries

Cross-disciplinary Instruction

Free-Write

2. Students will be able to display a consistent and pervasive value system that is simultaneously flexible enough to be modified and revised in light of new evidence

Assessment Tools:

Group Projects and Debates

Peer Instruction

Self-Assessment of Learning Environment

Modeling