2/5/2017
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
Objectivism: Designed for preparing students for life in the work world were you listen to your boss, do what he says, and accept his/her way as the one way to do things. In this model, teachers teach while students learn passively. Students take tests to show that they have learned what the teacher has taught.
Constructivism: Designed to create problem solving and critical thinking. Students create their own understanding of the material by exploring it in ways that make sense to them. Students are usually crating something that shows what they’ve learned.
I was asked if I was a more Constructivist or objectivist teacher. My response: “I think my class is 1/2 objectivist and 1/2 constructivist. We have lecture each day…. At the beginning and end of my notes, I give them the questions they need to know the answers to for their quiz. Then we try to do something constructive…. I also try to do a lot of project based learning so they are creating there.”
My goal in my face-to-face classroom is to become more of a constructivist. I think students learn better when they create their own knowledge. After reading this week, I decided to try a purely constructivist approach to my students learning about planets. I usually give them a lecture about each planet and have them complete a table with planet statistics to memorize. This time I decided to let them create a travel brochure for a planet of their choice. I couldn’t believe how excited they were to compete the task. I heard them exclaim, “Wow! Can you believe…” I never get this reaction during a lecture. Students are still going to complete their table but they are going to use their classmates’ brochures to do so... I’m excited!
Per research in best practices by The Hanover Research Council in Best Practices in Online Teaching Strategies, “The online teaching strategy should foster students’ active, constructive participation in learning.” (p.20). This implies that quality online learning lends itself naturally to a constructivist approach. I look forward to using this approach in a Blended/Online environment.
QUALITY ELEMENTS
Another factor for Blended and Online learning discussed this week were quality elements. Per the Online Design Diva, Quality Elements are “variables reported considered to be factors that contribute to quality online learning experiences.” Some of these quality elements include frequent feedback to students, frequent student/student and student/instructor communication, friendly interaction to the class from the instructor, etc.
The relationships described above can be broken into 6 dimensions. These dimensions are Learner-Instructor, Learner-Learner, Learner-Content, Learner-Interface, Social Presence, and Learner-Instructional Strategies. A chart created by the Quality CNTRL Chapter of the Online Learning Quality Assurance League that explains many of these interactions can be seen here. Note: On this chart, additional dimensions have been added for K-12 online learning. These dimensions have not yet been explored.
One quality element that I see as extremely important is the positive relationships created in the on-line environment. Human connection is important for everyday living. We rely on it every day while going about our daily lives. While some people are more social than others, we still feel more comfortable when the people we interact with are friendly. This includes customer service, work/school interactions, face-to-face social situations, and social media. In this way, others are reaching out to us “engaging our hearts” and minds.
Blended and on-line learning courses need to include social interaction to keep students engaged. Computers themselves do not provide the social interactions humans require. One way to do this is to keep students affectively engaged. The virtual course I facilitated showed me this. Virginia Aerospace and technology Scholars Course was a college level class offered to juniors in high school. While the students taking the class were academically the cream of the crop, they found it very challenging. Many wanted to quit after the first unit. To attempt to keep them in the class, I would try to interact with them by praising their work in some way and giving friendly constructive criticism. Students interacted with each other on a discussion board. Looking back, I remember those who were active in the class by writing on the discussion board and interacting with me stayed in the class; those that did not were the ones who dropped. . “A learner who is affectively engaged has a desire to learn and is willing to commit mental effort to the challenging mental tasks required in the learning process.” (p 52.) These students experienced student-student interaction and student-content interaction, which are two elements of an effective class. I did not interact with students in any way other than the feedback they received on their assignments. I did not participate on the discussion board or reach out to students any other way than just academic feedback. Halfway through the semester, ¾ of the students dropped the class. After reading Chapter 3 of Essentials for Blended Learning: A Standards Based Guide, I recognize students did not have quality student-instructor interaction. This may be one reason they left. I intend to be much more socially present and communicate more with my students in the future.