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Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Critical Pedagogy

This week’s focus was critical pedagogy, a philosophy of education grounded in critical theory. Paulo Freire believed that “teaching should challenge learners to examine power structures and patterns of inequality within the status quo” (Currell, 2020). 

This concept is quite interesting in opposition to traditional pedagogies employed in both higher education and K-12 education. From my perspective, many K-12 schools and teachers use policies that are meant to control students and set up the classroom with the teacher as the objective authoritarian. While many higher education classrooms, especially in the liberal arts and social sciences utilize a less structured approach there are still underlying power structures that exist. From my experience in engineering and STEM courses, we were not able to challenge the information presented by the professor and were conditioned to believe that they were to transfer their expertise to us. Now that I have transitioned to a graduate program in Engineering Education, I realize how structured our classrooms were in Engineering compared to my elective classes in the social sciences and humanities. We viewed our engineering professors as objective and unbiased, even though Freire explains that teaching is fundamentally a human and political act. 

In modern times, as our understanding of teaching and learning has increased, I believe that critical pedagogy can be useful to consider as educators. Reflecting on my time in the classroom, I believe that it is important to understand and acknowledge power structures and patterns of inequality. In terms of communication styles, I found that I have a low power distance as an instructor which meant that I did not place as much emphasis on formality with students. This communication style impacted my interaction with the students and worked for the structure of the course. Despite having a low-power distance, I acknowledged that as an instructor there was still a power structure within the classroom and I needed to be mindful of how my actions would impact students. Critical pedagogy serves as a way to help me further unpack and understand the dynamics of the classroom.

Overall, I believe critical pedagogy provides another way to reflect on classroom dynamics and the act of teaching. This is especially useful in my field of engineering, where we often see the field and professors as objective unbiased communicators of scientific knowledge.


References

(1) https://mathsnoproblem.com/blog/teaching-practice/paulo-freire-pioneer-of-critical-pedagogy/


Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Digital Learning Group Blog (Breakout Room 2)

  


Introduction:

In this blog post we are going to address the issue of use of technology in the class, be it digital devices or educational tools. A thorough analysis of the pros and cons of different technologies will be done and discussed with respect to our personal experiences in academia. As a team we felt that it would be more impactful to reflect on our individual experiences and you can read each member’s section below.


Sahil Dudani:

Two weeks back, I came across this article “Leave Your Laptops at the Door to My Classroom” from the Contemporary Pedagogy class at Virginia Tech. The article talks about how the author banned students from having laptops or digital media devices in the classroom based on various observations in the class and the consequences of such a decision. I have mixed feelings about this article because I do have views to present from the viewpoint of the teacher as well as the students.

The author realized that students were not very attentive in his class when he asked a question on marriage equality and observed students staring into their screens rather than interacting with him and their fellow classmates. Following this, the author decided to observe other classrooms as well and realized that students were not very focused in the class but were rather busy browsing social media or shopping websites and multitasking. These observations made the author think that multimedia devices and laptops were a big distraction and stood in the way of effective learning, driving him to ban laptops and other such devices in the classroom.

I would like to first start by supporting the author in doing so and how this could potentially improve learning, followed by presenting the students’ view. I agree with the author that multitasking deteriorates the capability of the student to focus on one task and is detrimental to effective learning and students who use laptops in class tend to multitask, hence lacking interest in the class. This also reduces their ability to communicate with the teacher and their peers in case of an interactive learning session. The other aspect to this is the fact that the teacher at some point might eventually become disinterested in teaching a bunch of students who are glued to their screens instead of learning about what is going on in the class.  Another thing that pops up is digital note taking and one can argue that using pen and paper is equally effective as digital note taking, based on which the author asked students to take down notes on a paper. The author’s policy also invited some criticism and eventually led to a few students dropping the class.

Now, talking about the point of view of the students, laptops or digital devices may not always be a source of distraction since in the modern times, those devices are really helpful in note taking, organizing notes and searching for a particular topic easily, hence making them a powerful tool for learning. Besides that, some students may not be comfortable with paper notes because of various issues such as bad handwriting and the fear of losing them. Another important fact is that if a student is not interested in a class, creating forced interest by banning digital devices may eventually cause the student to drop the course, because pressing someone to do something they are disinterested in, will cause problems rather than help the student. I understand that students should manage their time, but in a lot of cases they have deadlines to meet and limited time, hence utilizing their time in the classroom as well.

Hence, I feel that banning digital devices in a classroom is a very sensitive issue that requires a lot of consideration and cannot be based off of studies claiming that doing so improves exam results. Such issues are very subjective in nature and should be dealt with in a manner that leads to effective learning without compromising the needs of the students.


Sophia Vicente:

Technology in the classroom can be used in many ways, both positive and negative. I’ve found that short activities on their devices can re-engage students and change up pace in the classroom. In my time teaching, I’ve also witnessed students using their devices for online shopping or texting someone the next row over, even though at the time they likely thought I did not notice. 

I firmly believe in student agency in the classroom. Ultimately, students are paying to attend college and to sit in my classroom. If they would prefer to use their time browsing online sales, that is their prerogative. While I personally believe it would be more beneficial for them to be an active participant in class and would prefer that they engage with the material at the end of the day they are paying for a service. This being said, I believe that there is a line between a student choosing to disengage and a student who is distracting their peers. In the second case, that student has the potential to affect their classmates who did not choose to be disengaged or distracted. I believe that there are a lot of ways to integrate technology into the classroom and support student’s learning. I also believe that technology in the classroom is critical for some disabled students who require accommodations such as closed captioning or support with note taking. In my opinion, the benefits of technology to the students who want to engage and participate outweighs the negative use of students who are choosing not to engage in the classroom.


Didier Mena Aguilar:

I believe that in our day and age, it is very hard to completely subtract the technology from our classrooms. The new generations have an innate need for technology when learning. If we think about it, every time we don’t know something we quickly google it or watch a YouTube video about it. Personally, as a student, or even in work related meetings, I constantly look in my phone for concepts and visual aids that help me understand the context better. Therefore, depriving the students from their day to day learning tools might be detrimental for them. Furthermore, as we have discussed as a group, technology should be used as a tool to learn in class. For example, in the course I teach, I include several questions the students need to answer in real time using their devices. If the students are engaged in the classroom they will not get distracted with their phones and laptops, even when they are using technology for learning or not. Lesson plan and course design are the first tool to overcome some of the hurdles associated with technology in the classroom.  Although there is some data that suggests that technology might be detrimental for learning, I think the benefits outweigh them. In summary, I am a supporter of technology in the classroom!


Kawthar Alrayyan:

From my point of you, the transition from in-person classes to online learning is a changing experience for every student and educator around the world that impacted education pedagogy on how to evolve and adapt to the digital tools we have. However, In this blog, Learning how to meaningfully use the digital tool in teaching within the traditional teaching pedagogy is considered as a digital pedagogy, a term that I wasn’t familiar with till I read about it in our contemporary pedagogy class. It is not about throwing away the traditional teaching of face to face but the art of how to apply digital learning and work with it to deliver a better learning experience.

But what impact does banning digital tools in class have? a personal story can reflect on that topic, when I was assisting a well-experienced professor, who is considered as an old fashioned way to educator, always said to me start with a traditional non digital teaching methods so you can be skilled with it if the mean of digital was not available in addition to the reason that if you mastered it you can master any other mean. He showed me that digital learning is a tool to help in delivering mindful learning but not the reason, and it was not smart to digitize all of your course learning methods just to make your life and students' life easier which required not having any technological tool in class.

Unconsciously, I have applied his method in my teaching, where I always ask the students to not use digital means for our first project in class ( design course) trying to use had drawings, sketching to conceptualize and synthesize their ideas on paper and then transform it using other non-digital tools, as it has been faced with opposition, they enjoyed the process eventually with less distraction, but it doesn’t last as I force them to use the digital means for their second project using what they have learned from the previous and provide same drawings and graphics explaining their ideas and designs. I can't say that this helped in enhancing their learning outcome, but it helped in creating a better communication mean with each other.

But nowadays, the new norm is to digitize all teaching methods. I have to acknowledge its benefit compared to traditional means in terms of documentation and accessibility, but it should not be the only source, and that is what digital pedagogy is all about. Reflecting it into the nowadays of online learning it is a learning experience seeing all types of educators adapt to the new need of digitizing and integrating their skills with the technology.

I believe that I am a hybrid learner, which means I enjoy using both methods, at the same time integrating and including students' preferences within the teaching methodologies. Asking along with every use that worked with them and didn’t work. At the same time considering learning their cognitive skills and knowledge to integrate the best approach. Therefore, try to be open to new learning ideas and technology is evolving fast and better to drive with it. 


Leah Hamilton:

The approach that I’ve taken to technology in the classroom in the past is largely an approach based around transparency--if I don’t want them to use technology in certain ways in my class, I should be able to explain why that is to my students. My teaching mentor, on the first day of class in the Spring, told the students that in addition to the spiel they always hear about good learning and not being distracting to other students, it makes him feel bad when people are off-topic on their devices during class. I was surprised how well students responded to this, which was not at all a disciplinary approach: several times I witnessed students apologizing after class for a (usually perfectly reasonable) use of technology that wasn’t on task which neither of us had noticed. I anticipate taking a similar approach when I’m instructor of record myself, as I’m not generally inclined to take disciplinary action against students for things that are affecting their own learning and not others’. As I see it, I do my students a disservice by leaning on external motivation instead of giving them the skills they need to tackle those obstacles that will continue to be in their way in “real life” (such as the constantly-connected nature of our world). I also have no way of knowing why students are texting in class, or using technology for anything else--I think it’s best to extend students who are non-disruptively “off-task” (or appear to be) the benefit of the doubt.


Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Case, Problem, and Project Based Learning

 This week the readings focused on case, problem, and project-based learning. These three pedagogical approaches are all examples of ways to actively engage students in a classroom and there is a large amount of literature that focuses on these approaches. As a student, I have had more experience with case and project-based learning approaches. On the other hand, as an instructor and GTA, I have focused more on facilitating case-based learning strategies. This difference is likely due to the differences in the classes that I’ve taken and the classes that I’ve worked with. 

My undergraduate engineering curriculum had a heavy emphasis on group projects through our engineering design course, lab courses, and capstone senior design course. While I can recall a couple of examples of professors using case-based learning, many of these lessons were related to engineering ethics which is widely taught using case studies. I felt that these approaches were usually useful in supporting my learning, however, there were also times where I did not understand the purpose of the activity. In my first-year engineering design course, I recall being very frustrated with the instructor while we were doing project-based learning because I did not feel like they were teaching or supporting the class. In hindsight, they were likely doing more than I thought to facilitate the class, however, since they did not introduce or explain their approach our class did not understand the activity which hindered our learning. I believe that when using different pedagogical approaches in the classroom and introducing students to new activities it is important to be transparent with your intentions and the desired outcomes. 

As an instructor, I realized the benefits of these approaches and was able to facilitate activities geared towards case-based learning. My approach to these activities was to allow students to give students scope and expectations of what we were looking for them to gain from the activity and then allowing them to either research a case within the scope or choose from a list we curated. The students’ feedback was overwhelmingly positive. We found that by letting them research and choose their own cases they felt like they had agency in their learning. For this activity, the feedback was very important to assess if the activity was working as intended and make sure that the students understood the purpose of the activity.

I believe that these pedagogical approaches can help us expand our teaching “toolbox” and increase the number of ways that it is possible to engage with students in a classroom. However, I also believe that to successfully implement these approaches one needs to carefully consider the purpose and intended outcomes of the activity and how it aligns with the chosen method. Due to all of the possible differences that could exist between different classes and students instructors must be careful to make sure that the pedagogical approach aligns with the course content and learning goals. If used incorrectly or without sufficient forethought case, problem, and project-based learning pedagogies will not be effective.

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Inclusive Pedagogy

 According to The Teaching Commons, “inclusive pedagogy is a is a method of teaching in which instructors and classmates work together to create a supportive environment that gives each student equal access to learning” (The Teaching Commons, 2020). This method takes a collaborative and co-constructive approach to classroom instruction. I believe inclusive pedagogy shares some similarities to culturally responsive pedagogy as well. 


While browsing the resources on The Teaching Commons webpage I came across several strategies for inclusive pedagogy in the classroom. I think it is very important to “set the stage” to create an inclusive classroom environment. As a student, it is quite clear when instructors do not respect or care about the individuals in their classrooms. Because of this experience, when I was teaching I attempted to set expectations upfront. I found it interesting that the resource brought up that inclusive teachers should be prepared to hold a dialogue with students who disagree with the practice. I agree that this is an important practice to uphold inclusive pedagogy because even if a student does not agree with you or the practice there still needs to be mutual respect in the classroom. The aspect of setting the stage is critical for enacting the other strategies within inclusive pedagogy including preparing students for offensive material and having difficult conversations. It is much more difficult to introduce these later strategies if you have not first established trust and respect for an inclusive classroom.


Overall, I think inclusive pedagogy is an important practice in alignment with culturally responsive pedagogy. These pedagogies and related pedagogical practices can help elevate the classroom experience for both teachers and learners.


References
https://commons.georgetown.edu/teaching/design/inclusive-pedagogy/

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

Discovering My Authentic Teaching Self


I always thought that teaching was an inherently performative activity. Therefore, I assumed that to be considered a good teacher you must conform to be an actor and entertainer in the classroom. These assumptions were built by watching both teachers and professors throughout my life. Similar to Sarah Deel in her essay “Finding My Teaching Voice” (2004), it wasn’t until I started teaching and working with students myself that I started to challenge these notions. Once I became more comfortable in the classroom I started to find my teaching style. This allowed me to be more creative in terms of activities. One of the best outcomes was that I moved away from the feeling that I was acting or putting on a performance and started to develop meaningful connections with my students.

Shelli Fowler states that in order to discover your authentic teaching self you must also “work to discover who you are as a teacher and choose the techniques that work in concert with being authentic in the classroom” (Fowler). I agree with this statement, it took me too long to realize that there are many different and effective teaching styles in the classroom. Students are easily able to tell when professors are posturing or being inauthentic in the classroom. Therefore, finding your authentic teaching self and incorporating it into your classroom can positively impact the experience for students.

Something that I started doing while teaching was starting my class with something exciting that had happened that week. At first, the students were hesitant to share with the class, maybe out of nervousness or lack of understanding of why we were doing the exercise in the first place. After the second week, I started sharing something of my own that I was excited about and explained that I was interested in learning more about them as whole individuals. This approach seemed to increase engagement at the start of class and I had a lot more students participate. While I’m sure there are many things I could have done to improve as a teacher, I reflect on this experience as a positive outcome of starting to discover my authentic teaching self. I hope in the future I can continue to work with students and learn more about myself as a teacher to support their learning.



References:

Sarah E. Deel, in Reflections on Learning as Teachers, edited by Susan Singer and Carol Rutz, of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. College City Publications, Northfield, MN.? Copyright 2004 by Carleton College. Published by: College City Publications/Ashmore link, 925 Ivanhoe Drive, Northfield, Minnesota 55057 http://ashmoreink.com

Shelli Fowler, The Authentic Teaching Self and Communication Skills

Critical Pedagogy

This week’s focus was critical pedagogy, a philosophy of education grounded in critical theory. Paulo Freire believed that “teaching should ...