Reflective Practice

Reflective Practitioner

I did not fully understand the effectiveness and important habit of being a reflective practitioner until I entered the Graduate College Teaching Certificate program. Being a reflective practitioner is an important role of an instructor. I reflect through the use of teaching logs for daily teaching sections, student feedback and through the adjunct community.

August 27-September 19 Teaching Logs

Student Feedback (Course Evaluations)

Trends in Student Feedback

There were many more positive comments than I would have expected. Being this was my first semester teaching this course, I anticipated more feedback comments about how I could improve. Another trend that I noticed is that they appreciated the real life examples that I tied into the class material to help them understand and gain experience using the information. I have felt that using real life examples has allowed me to better connect to the students and generate value of why the material is beneficial to their life after college. The last positive trend I found was they appreciated the different types of learning in class from the peer engagement to the class discussions. This was where they found the most benefit. One of the things that I struggled with through the semester were the assignments. I had worked with another instructor to build my class materials and content.

Reflecting on the Trends

The positive comments about my teaching style and the activities were a total surprise to me. I did not expect to see as many positive comments as there were. When I saw these, it made me smile, take a deep breath and realize even with as much positivity received, that I could reflect on how I could improve to make the class better. One comment really stood out to me about not receiving enough feedback; this surprised me because students who have received great grades and no issues on their submissions, I didn’t usually provide feedback with the exception of “thank you for a thoughtful submission” or “Great comprehension of the materials”. I didn’t realize that even though a student had gotten a 100% on their submission, they would still expect or want additional feedback.

Incorporating Student Feedback

Based on creating my syllabus and assignments, I plan on having them reviewed by a peer to see if 1) it makes sense, 2) it flows and aligns with the course objectives. After taking the effective grading workshop, I will provide feedback to all students, regardless of the grade received. There were valuable tools of how to effectively give feedback and align grading to meet the needs of the assignments. I plan on using the evaluations as part of my reflection process each semester. I feel that the feedback will provide student insights of things that worked well and what didn’t. By receiving that feedback, I can make changes as needed and tie in what I felt went well or needs to be improved. I can align the two and make adjustments as needed. Another thing I would like to try, when I feel brave enough, would be to ask the students for feedback throughout the semester so I can adjust as we go and not wait until course evaluation time. By doing this, I allow the current class an opportunity to experience that change and they get the benefit of their feedback.

Mid-semester Assessment Protocol (MAP)

I completed my MAP during week seven in October 2018. I found this was a beneficial process, as it allowed students to give open feedback without fear of repercussion. After meeting with Shawn Simonson, the feedback was mostly positive and the students were receiving from the class what they needed. They enjoyed the activities and being able to engage with each other. This also provided me feedback of the barriers they were experiencing with learning, which allowed me to adjust going forward. I was able to implement additional active learning strategies, which increased their overall average exam scores.

Peer Observations

During the course of the 2018 semester, I was observed by peers that came from different disciplines. They provided feedback relative to their teaching experience and they helped me to improve areas I was struggling with. The discussions had after their observations were fruitful and gave me many new ideas on how to better engage students for motivation. One specific item that stood out to my peers was my ability to try and fit as much in as possible, but that hindered the learning experience for students to process the material. As I moved forward and planned other class sessions, I thoughtfully considered what material was pertinent and activities would provide the value needed to meet the outcomes.

Other comments from my peers noted my kind demeanor and my ability to work with students allowing them to feel comfortable. They felt I was able to engage a classroom with my tone, my movement and the passion I conveyed through my class lessons. One observation said, "I don't know what you were talking about, but you had me interested and I learned something today!". That made me feel good!

Faculty Feedback

The faculty feedback has been exponentially valuable to my development as an instructor. Megan and Tasha provided initial feedback on the course design work about how to improve and what factors that needed to be considered when planning. One thing I did not think about too much was the inclusivity piece because I had assumed everyone would be included being apart of the class. Megan helped me to realize what I could do to improve through different tactics and questions to ask about lesson plans. All the feedback provided through my work and my observations encouraged me to think beyond what I know and consider any and all possible factors.