Embedded Files
Our Tenets of Learning
As a collaborative community of just educators, we are guided by two tenets of learning:
Our first tenet of learning is that that when teachers embrace diverse learning methods, individuality is empowered. When educators cater to each learner's unique strengths and needs, they enhance the value each student brings to class lessons. In this environment, students are encouraged to be proactive in their learning choices, acting as their own facilitators. By supporting and celebrating these differences, educators provide unique experiences that foster confidence in students' own educational journeys. This focus on individual empowerment enables students to benefit from learning materials that align with their personal interests and distinct characteristics, allowing them to distinguish themselves from others, so they can embrace their own cultures rather than following Western ideologies.
Our second tenet of learning is that when an educational environment honors and values the diversity of students and educators, they understand the importance of diversity in the context of learning. Students learn how to positively impact society by cultivating a culture of inclusivity. When educational institutions actively promote such an environment, it helps dismantle stereotypes and reduce prejudice. Students in these environments are exposed to a wide range of perspectives and life experiences, which enrich their learning and personal growth. Strategies that promote racial equity, such as cultural competency training and initiatives, improve students’ educational journey. They emphasize empathy, understanding, and mutual respect, creating a community where every individual feels acknowledged.
Here's how we have used our tenets.
Discussion
Discussion
Synthesis Review
As a collaborative community of just educators, we pursue three goals:
Our first impact goal is to instill confidence and motivation in students.
Our second impact goal is to enhance students' concentration on learning.
Our third impact goal is for students to feel comfortable with the topic of diversity in learning.
To achieve these goals, we implement four strategies:
Strategy 1: Educators will provide positive reinforcement and constructive criticism through class interactions to boost students' confidence and motivation.
Strategy 2: Support students with diverse learning needs by implementing an inclusive reward system.
Strategy 3: Encourage personal reflection on acquired knowledge and learning experiences to promote diverse individual sharing and inclusivity.
Strategy 4: Support classroom discussions that advance racial equity and justice to recognize and celebrate cultural diversity.
Our group intends to use our impact strategies to achieve each of our impact goals by:
GOAL 1: Instill Confidence and Motivation in Students
Strategy one will help us achieve this goal because it directly addresses the need to build students' confidence and motivation through personalized feedback and encouragement. By recognizing each student's efforts and progress, we nurture their self-esteem and drive to pursue their interests. The approach of combining positive reinforcement with a safe space to make mistakes encourages students to take risks, thereby boosting their confidence and motivation. We plan to assess this goal by conducting surveys to gauge students' self-reported levels of confidence and motivation at the end of the class and compare the results with the survey they did to self-assess their confidence level at the beginning of the class. Additionally, observing student engagement in class activities and their willingness to take on challenges will serve as qualitative measures of their growing confidence and motivation.
GOAL 2: Enhance Students' Concentration on Learning
Strategy two will help us achieve this goal because an inclusive reward system acknowledges and supports the individual learning needs and styles of students, making the learning environment more engaging for them. By accommodating flexible learning approaches and celebrating every student's achievements, we foster a more inclusive atmosphere that can improve students' concentration and interest in learning. To assess this goal, we plan to utilize teacher observations and student reflections to provide insights into the effectiveness of these strategies in enhancing concentration.
GOAL 3: Empower Students with Diverse Learning Opportunities
Both strategies three and four collectively help achieve this goal by promoting an inclusive classroom dynamic that values diversity and encourages reflection on personal and societal issues. Encouraging personal reflection helps students understand their learning journey, while discussions on racial equity and cultural diversity broaden their perspectives and empathy toward different cultures and communities. These strategies empower students by providing them with a holistic learning experience that goes beyond traditional academics. We plan to measure the impact of this goal through feedback forms that ask students to reflect on how these strategies have affected their understanding and appreciation of diversity. Additionally, we will analyze participation rates in discussions and reflective activities as indicators of engagement and empowerment.
As a collaborative community of just educators, we are guided by two tenets of learning:
Our first tenet of learning is that when teachers embrace diverse learning methods, individuality is empowered.
Our second tenet of learning is that when an educational environment honors and values the diversity of students and educators, they understand the importance of diversity in the context of learning.
Findings Review
Our activity was successful in increasing awareness of learning strategies but was less successful in sustaining long-term engagement.
We were surprised by the immediate but short-lived boost in engagement, suggesting the need for additional strategies to maintain this effect.
Conclusions from Findings
Goal 1: Instill Confidence and Motivation in Students: Our findings indicate that the class effectively increased participants' awareness and utilization of diverse learning strategies, which aligns with our strategy of providing positive reinforcement and constructive criticism. The significant positive shift in students' awareness of learning strategies, as seen from the pre- and post-class surveys, suggests that our approach boosted their confidence. The increased likelihood of setting specific learning goals further supports this, as it reflects a higher level of motivation and confidence in their learning abilities. Observations during the Jeopardy game also highlight enhanced engagement and active participation, especially among typically less vocal students, indicating that our methods encouraged confidence and motivation across the board.
Goal 2: Enhance Students' Concentration on Learning: The inclusive reward system used during the Jeopardy game demonstrated its effectiveness in increasing student engagement and concentration. The dramatic rise in participation and collaboration during the game, as well as the thoughtful discussions and collective reasoning observed, show that such interactive and competitive elements can significantly enhance students' focus and interest. This aligns with our strategy of supporting students with diverse learning needs through an inclusive reward system. The positive feedback from students about the engaging and fun nature of the learning activities further underscores the success of this strategy in maintaining their concentration on learning.
Goal 3: Empower Students with Diverse Learning Opportunities: Our data reveal that students developed a broader understanding of diverse learning strategies and appreciated the importance of engagement, interactivity, and real-world relevance. The positive shift in awareness of new learning strategies and the increased inclination to set specific learning goals reflect an enhanced comfort with diverse learning methods. Open discussion responses also highlighted the importance of diverse activities and unique learning facilitation methods, supporting our strategy of encouraging personal reflection and classroom discussions on diversity. The fact that some students' opinions about what makes learning interesting evolved, while others reaffirmed their views, indicates that our efforts to foster an inclusive and reflective learning environment were successful. This aligns with our third goal of making students feel comfortable with the topic of diversity in learning.
Strategy 1: Providing Positive Reinforcement and Constructive Criticism: The introduction of competitive elements and incentives, such as during the Jeopardy game, significantly increased student engagement and participation. This highlights the importance of positive reinforcement in motivating students. The dramatic increase in involvement, especially from typically less engaged students, indicates that reinforcing positive behavior with rewards can boost confidence and motivation. Additionally, the consistent engagement from more vocal students suggests that our approach to providing constructive criticism and encouragement is effective in maintaining their participation throughout various activities.
Strategy 2: Implementing an Inclusive Reward System: TThe significant boost in engagement from all students, including those who were typically less vocal, during the Jeopardy game underscores the success of our inclusive reward system. Our findings also suggest that while the reward system effectively increases participation and concentration during the activity, these rates might decrease once the rewards are no longer present.
Strategy 3: Encouraging Personal Reflection: Encouraging personal reflection has shown to be beneficial, as evidenced by the open responses in surveys where students shared their thoughts on what makes learning interesting. Many participants highlighted the importance of engagement, fun, real-world applications, and personal relevance. This indicates that personal reflection allowed students to connect their learning experiences with their interests and real-life applications, thereby promoting a deeper understanding and appreciation of diverse learning methods.
Strategy 4: Supporting Discussions on Racial Equity and Justice: While the survey responses did not directly address racial equity and justice, the increased engagement and inclusive atmosphere created by the diverse methods used (e.g., competitive games) suggest that our classroom environment supports open and inclusive discussions. The success in engaging all students, regardless of their usual participation levels, indicates a positive and inclusive classroom dynamic where diverse perspectives are likely valued and recognized.
Tenet of Learning 1: Embrace Diverse Learning Methods to Empower Individuality: The increased awareness and utilization of diverse learning strategies among students demonstrate that embracing various methods can indeed empower individuality. The personalized feedback and encouragement provided by educators helped students recognize their unique learning preferences and strengths. This empowerment is evident in the increased confidence and motivation to set specific learning goals, as well as the active participation observed during the Jeopardy game.
Tenet of Learning 2: Honor and Value Diversity to Understand its Importance in Learning: The positive response to diverse learning activities and the appreciation for real-world applications and interactivity reflect a learning environment that honors and values diversity. Students' engagement in discussions about racial equity and cultural diversity, as well as their reflections on unique learning facilitation methods, underscore the importance of diversity in the context of learning. By creating an inclusive classroom dynamic that celebrates diversity, we have helped students understand its significance in their educational journey.
Implication
Implication
Mission Reflection
Goal 1: Instill Confidence and Motivation in Students: Our inclusive reward system, such as the Jeopardy game increased student engagement and participation, particularly among those who were typically less vocal. This demonstrates that positive reinforcement and constructive criticism can effectively instill confidence and motivation in students. In the future, we believe that continuing to use inclusive rewards and interactive activities with students in various context, not only to college students, will be essential in achieving this goal. We might pursue this goal further by incorporating more construvisism and interactions in learning and reward-based systems in various communit learning settings to maintain high levels of student motivation.
Goal 2: Enhance Students' Concentration on Learning: The increased awareness of learning strategies and the higher likelihood of students setting specific learning goals suggest that our current methods are effective in enhancing concentration. However, we also observed that participation and concentration rates might decrease once the rewards are no longer present. To address this, we plan to make adjustments by integrating more intrinsic motivation techniques, such as fostering a growth mindset and emphasizing the personal relevance and real-world applications of the material. These changes aim to sustain students' concentration and engagement even in the absence of external rewards.
Goal 3: Comfort with the Topic of Diversity in Learning: Our findings indicate that the diverse methods and inclusive environment we created were successful in making students feel more comfortable with diverse learning strategies. Moving forward, we think that continuing to support classroom discussions that advance racial equity and justice will be crucial in achieving this goal. We plan to make a concerted effort to incorporate more diverse cultural perspectives and real-world applications of diversity in our curriculum. This change will better reflect the insight we have gained about the importance of inclusivity and representation in fostering a comfortable and engaging learning environment.
Strategy 1: Providing Positive Reinforcement and Constructive Criticism: The significant boost in engagement observed during the Jeopardy game underscores the effectiveness of positive reinforcement in building students' confidence and motivation. The active participation from all students, including those typically less vocal, highlights the value of this approach. In the future, we think that this strategy will continue to guide our efforts to support learning. We might continue to pursue this goal by incorporating more interactive and engaging activities in our communities, where positive reinforcement is used to motivate and engage students.
Strategy 2: Implementing an Inclusive Reward System: The inclusive reward system significantly increased engagement and participation, especially among less vocal students. However, we also noted that participation and concentration might decrease once the rewards are no longer present. In the future, we think that this strategy will continue to guide our efforts to support learning. We might continue to pursue this goal by incorporating a variety of reward systems, including both tangible rewards and intrinsic motivators, in our community programs to sustain engagement.
Strategy 3: Encouraging Personal Reflection: Encouraging personal reflection has proven beneficial, as it helped students connect their learning experiences with their interests and real-life applications. This deeper understanding promotes inclusivity and diverse individual sharing. In the future, we think that this strategy will continue to guide our efforts to support learning. We might continue to pursue this goal by facilitating regular reflection sessions and discussions in our community learning initiatives, where students can share their insights and experiences.
Strategy 4: Supporting Discussions on Racial Equity and Justice: Our inclusive and engaging classroom environment suggests a readiness for discussions on racial equity and justice. This environment supports students in feeling comfortable with diverse perspectives and cultural diversity. However, we did not discuss any issues related to racial equity or justice in class. In the future, we think that this strategy will continue to guide our efforts to support learning. We might continue to pursue this goal by having more conversations with students focused on racial equity and cultural diversity, providing a platform for these crucial discussions.
Tenet Reflections
Our first tenet of learning is that when teachers embrace diverse learning methods, individuality is empowered. The findings from our surveys and observations strongly support this tenet. The significant boost in engagement and participation during the Jeopardy game, especially among students who were typically less vocal, underscores the importance of incorporating diverse and interactive methods in the classroom. Additionally, the increased awareness of learning strategies and the likelihood of setting specific learning goals indicate that students benefit from a variety of approaches tailored to their individual needs and preferences. In the future, we think that this tenet of learning will continue to guide our efforts to support learning. We might extend this understanding to incorporate these techniques in more educational settings, such as preschools, to help ensure that students in various environments feel empowered and supported in their unique learning journeys.
Second Tenet of Learning: Our second tenet of learning is that when an educational environment honors and values the diversity of students and educators, they understand the importance of diversity in the context of learning. Our findings indicate that fostering an inclusive and engaging classroom environment creates a readiness for discussions on racial equity and justice, even though these topics were not directly addressed in class. The comfort students felt with diverse perspectives and learning methods suggests that valuing diversity enhances their educational experience and understanding of its significance. In the future, we think that this tenet of learning will continue to guide our efforts to support learning. We might extend this understanding to other education peers by initiating conversations focused on racial equity and cultural diversity. Having these crucial discussions will help reinforce the importance of diversity and inclusion in all educational contexts, ensuring that students and educators appreciate and celebrate diverse perspectives.
Limitations
Our activity gave us valuable insights about the effectiveness of diverse and interactive learning methods in engaging college students. The significant boost in engagement and participation during the Jeopardy game, especially among typically less vocal students, highlighted the importance of such methods in enhancing learning experiences and promoting individual empowerment. However, this may not be generalizable to preschool and secondary education settings. The type of students in these environments are different. College students in our class were more obedient and are also our peers, which may have influenced their willingness to complete their survey responses and participate in activities. Children in preschool and secondary education tend to be less attentive and require more patience and different communication strategies. Further, we have much more to learn about how to help children concentrate longer during classroom time and promote diversity in their classrooms. Understanding the unique needs and behaviors of younger students is crucial in adapting our strategies to support their learning and inclusivity effectively.
Page updated
Report abuse