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Are Learning Outcomes Corrosive? Isn’t it About How You Frame Them?
[social-bio] A recent article in CAUT Bulletin (January 2013) by Frank Furedi discussed the corrosiveness of learning outcomes. As I read through the author’s comments and opinions, I returned to the same questions of: “Isn’t it about how you frame learning outcomes? Shouldn’t the conversations be about how learning outcomes contribute to the learning process? Shouldn’t we as educators be focused on student learning?” I found the article to be very interesting, as I believe that each of the author’s arguments against learning outcomes may be flipped around to show the positive aspects. The article lists four main consequences of learning outcomes: First, that learning outcomes threaten to disrupt the…
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Developing CAT 1.0
[social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler When I first arrived at the GMCTE one of the first curriculum development projects I got involved in was the curriculum inventory tool. Initially called Currimap, it was in its initial feedback and trial stages and still growing: over the next few months, feedback from colleagues and faculty led to additional capabilities, refinements and flexibility being built into the code by our programmer. This fall we were pleased to launch our Curriculum Alignment Tool (CAT) 1.0. CAT is now an open-source resource available for those on our campus, and also with the code available for other institutions. Throughout CAT’s development we have strived to balance…
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Signal or Noise: what do I really want to assess?
[social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler “The essential requirements of a course/program are the knowledge and skills which must be acquired or demonstrated in order for a student to successfully meet the learning objectives of the course/program.” (University of Saskatchewan policy) When I was in undergrad, I thought I was a good student. I would take notes during classes, remember the material, tutor my classmates, complete assignments, and so on. Then would come the final exam including the multiple-choice section with its numbered bubble sheet. I could read, circle the right answer, even write a rationale, but I could not fill in the correct bubble – I actually could not…
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Student Evaluations of Teaching: What are we really measuring?
[social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler with Sheryl Mills On the recent CBC Early Edition podcast, the issue of what standardized testing was really assessing was raised. I find a similar concern arises with student evaluations of teaching. The debate of the validity and meaning is not new, but recent findings further suggest that when asking student about their instructors what we are actually measuring may not be what we expected. We may be looking at the gas gauge to measure speed. We do not appear to be measuring learning, or at least the actively engaged involvement with material that produces increased confidence, higher attendance, greater usefulness of reading textbooks, and better…
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Students Prefer Good Lectures Over the Latest Technology in Class?
[social-bio] An article appearing in January’s University Affairs indicated that students prefer a good lecture over technology in the classroom. The article states ‘university students prefer the “old school” approach of an engaging lecture over the use of the latest technological bells and whistles in the classroom’. I have not read the full report of the survey but would like to comment on the article. The survey of 15, 000 students and 2, 500 instructors across Quebec (with 10% and 20% responding respectively) indicated a preference for lecture over technology in the classroom but does not mention learning outcomes. Statements like this alarm me. Most instructors know that student preference…
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A Topic We Avoid: Teaching for the Success of Students with Psychiatric Disabilities
[social-bio] By Tereigh Ewert I was teaching a class of graduate student teachers this fall, and we were discussing a perennial concern: classroom management and student misbehavior. I wanted them to consider what motivated classroom disruption and misbehavior. We covered unintentional disruption, attention seeking, power challenges, and maliciousness. Then I suggested a cause that had not occurred to many of them—what if the disruptive student had a mental illness? Commonly discussed around mid-term and final exam time on campus is the amount of pressure experienced by students, and the need to be vigilant for signs of students in distress. But student mental health, beyond temporary periods of extreme stress,…
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The Power and Confusion of Metaphors and Analogies
[social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler Personally I enjoy a good metaphor and a good analogy. Just link statistical correlations to dancing partners or history to a play and my interest is peaked. Metaphors, similes, and analogies are about relationships (see 1:45 minute into this definition video for more details). Analogies and metaphors allow the unfamiliar to become familiar by linking the unknown to a known (e.g., cooled earth as a Lindt chocolate, or depression is a dark foggy forest). By drawing on the known we can more quickly describe the unknown, the abstract, and the profound, and make sense of it. I will never be a moon and feel planet’s gravity,…
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Course Learning Outcomes or Course Learning Objectives?
Summary: Clarify the difference between course learning outcomes and objectives. Understand their impact on student engagement and success. Find out how to enhance your course design! Date of publishing: January 14, 2013 What exactly are course learning outcomes and why are higher educational institutions moving in this direction? First, the distinction between course learning outcomes and course learning objectives needs to be established. Course learning outcomes are student-centred and are statements of what a learner is expected to know, understand, and/or be able to demonstrate after completion of a process of learning (Kennedy et al). On the other hand, course learning objectives are instructor centred and explain what the instructor…
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Bridges, Obstacle Courses, and Snowdrifts: What are we building for our students?
[social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler In my day… (or so the story starts), we had it tough. Whether that difficulty involved walking uphill in knee-deep snow, punch cards or hours in dusty stacks, there was something that challenged us as students. Now as educators we get to decide where we build obstacle courses so students understand what it means to face adversity, or where we build bridges that simplify and celebrate efficiencies just as The Bridge Builder did in Will Allen Dromgoole’s poem. This choice of repeating or removing obstacles reveals the beliefs we have about those experiences and the value we place on that difficulty. Do we see merit…
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wāskamisiwin: ‘Growing in awareness’
By Tereigh Ewert and Jeff Baker In 2011, the wāskamisiwin staff and faculty development series was created through collaboration among the Gwenna Moss Centre and the Colleges of Education, Nursing and Medicine. The goals of this series contribute directly to the University’s commitment to Aboriginal Engagement, and include generating increased awareness of the historical roots of contemporary social relations, considering the implications this history has for pedagogies being utilized within academic institutions, and fostering more positive and respectful relationships among Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Last year’s series consisted of six presentations on topics such as Circle teachings, Indigenous health and well-being, the Plains Cree way of life, the Indian Act…