Teaching Narrative

For most of my life, I have been involved in our local 4-H program, both as a member and a volunteer. 4-H is the largest youth development program in the United States and offers opportunities for individuals to learn about a vast range of topics through hands-on education and mentorship. Through my experiences, I have adopted its philosophy of “learn by doing,” a way to experiment and explore something new by getting elbows deep in it. This is also something that I have adapted in my educational journey as well—to always try and be hands-on with learning in order to better absorb and share such knowledge. That is the philosophy that I intend to prescribe in my future classroom as well. With the hopes of becoming a university professor, I want to give students opportunities to learn through exploring, immersion, and experimentation so they can adapt those skills to their future endeavors. 

The Digital Humanities Graduate Certification has allowed me to do more hands-on learning of my own and gain more digital humanities skills that I can also integrate into the classroom. I have gained insight on how to approach teaching new digital tools through my experiences in LEADR. To engage multiple types of learners, it is important to integrate information in both lecture and workshop formats and also encourage experimenting with different tools. From my experiences of educating students on digital technologies like WordPress, podcasting, and 3D printing, it is important to appeal to the students’ creative sides as well and give them opportunities to work with each other on something new. It is also important to allow time for practice and reflection as that is how to get the most out of hands-on learning. This teaching method is something that I will also integrate into my future classroom.

To further student learning about digital humanities projects, I intend to create more interdisciplinary projects for students to participate in as well. This allows for students to learn about bridging gaps that may be present in research studies or how to use methodological approaches from different fields to solve problems. I also believe that this approach will aid in metacognition and transfer of learning, outcomes I have learned through my experience as a student in ANP 412, teacher in LEADR, and researcher in CHI. Metacognition, or “thinking about thinking,” and transfer of learning, or adapting the knowledge gained to different environments, are the result of hands-on learning, I believe. They are two aspects that fuel my want to integrate digital humanities into the classroom because this type of learning helps students apply the skills they learn in different ways and in different settings, all in which helps develop and evolve their future goals.

Finally, it is important to provide an environment that is supportive. I hope to create a classroom that fosters curiosity and creativity, but also integrates critical thinking and problem solving. This happens through encouragement and engagement. Providing an inclusive space for students to share their thoughts and ideas is pivotal in the learn-by-doing philosophy. Integrating hands-on learning initiatives into my classroom will allow students to be hands-on in pursuing their future goals.