General
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Perplexed by Plagiarism – What Students May Not Know About Referencing Conventions
[social-bio] Students, when asked what the purpose of referencing is in papers, are likely to respond “to avoid plagiarism.” Slightly less rule-bound and more educationally enlightened, some might say “to show where the ideas in my paper came from.” Now, while these interpretations may be accurate, they are incomplete and indicate a rather narrow view that may explain why students often report being perplexed by the notions plagiarism, originality, and authorship. Looking back, it wasn’t until I was a grad student that I started to recognize and value the information that referencing conventions provide. As an undergraduate student, I recall believing there was a “quota” of references to be filled…
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Do Students Know What Academic Dishonesty Is?
[social-bio] Students know that academic dishonesty is wrong and punishable. Students clearly understand some of the acts known to be academically dishonest, especially where intention to break known rules for a grade advantage is apparent, such as in exam cheating or purchasing papers on-line. At the U of S it is a requirement that teachers provide information or link to the information about academic misconduct on course syllabi. And, yet, students are still left wondering is it wrong to study from circulating old exams from the same course or professor? Is it wrong to, instead of reading Hamlet the play, to watch a movie version and write an analysis on…
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Schooling the World
[social-bio] What is the purpose of modern education? What do colleges, universities, and schools prepare the children of the world to learn how to do? In his blog, 2 cents worth: Teaching & learning in the new information landscape, David Warlick, a self-proclaimed “35-year vagabond educator,” both asks and responds to the following question in his post entitled, “What is the purpose of education.” He suggests that: “The purpose of education is to appropriately prepare our children for their future.” There are some implied, but essential questions in that answer: What will their future hold? What will they need to know? What are appropriate method, materials, environment, activity? Who are…
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Do Teachers Hate Discovering Academic Dishonesty? Yes!
[social-bio] In my reading, researching, writing and chatting about the topic of academic dishonesty over the past decade, teachers’ reactions to academic dishonesty can range from feelings of general disillusionment with students to feelings of personal affront by a specific student. Many struggle with questions like why would students do this, what could I have done differently, what is the right thing to do now? Beyond avoiding the disappointment that encounters with suspected academic dishonesty entail, as teachers I propose we are called to create the conditions for academic honesty because of our commitment to students’ achieving the learning outcomes set out in our courses as well as our commitment…
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The Profession of Learning
[social-bio] My title here at the Gwenna Moss Centre is officially “Instructional Design Specialist”; I apply my instructional design background to help faculty and instructors develop and improve their skills and abilities as teachers and course designers. However, I think of my “real” work as being more fluid and less prescriptive than the title suggests; I think my ultimate role is to be a “professional learner”. A philosopher at heart, I am prone to reflecting on ideas such as “What is learning? What is teaching? Is it truly possible to have one without the other?” and hoping that I can inspire others who are also on their own teaching and…
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An Open Letter to Canadian Universities
Guest Author, George Siemens The following post was written by George Siemens from the Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Institute at Athabasca University. It is reprinted here with his permission. An Open Letter to Canadian Universities Dear Canadian Universities, You are, as the cool 4chan/Reddit kids say, about to get pwned. The dramatic entrance of elite US universities into online learning will change the education landscape globally. Where we, as Canadian higher education institutions, should be leading, we are laggards. The geography and distributed sparse population of Canada lends itself well to technology-enhanced learning. Remote northern communities can benefit substantially from being able to join classes on subjects where local expertise…
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Learning Styles Don’t Matter? Who Knew?
[social-bio] I blush as I confess that I’ve been guilty of it myself—I’ve promoted the notion of learning styles in my graduate teaching courses. In my defense, it has been with the purpose encouraging future faculty to consider employing teaching strategies beyond a (poor) lecture. Thinking back to my own days as a student, classes that included discussion, multi-media, collaboration, problem-solving, etc., were few and far between, and perhaps this is why as an educator of educators I clung to a theory that’s corollary was that teaching styles should be multi-modal. Cedar Reiner and Daniel Willingham, in “The Myth of Learning Styles” (Change magazine) argue that educators are mistakenly focused…
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Surface or Deep Learning?
[social-bio] While I was reading Taking Stock: Research on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Executive by Lindblom-Ylänne, I found myself reflecting on my own learning and asking which of my experiences and courses led me to deep learning? Conversely, what types of activities that I as an instructor have employed have led to deep learning for my students? Surface approach to learning is described as adopting minimal effort in the learning process. One example of this approach is when reading a text as an exercise the student concentrates on reading the text itself. A deep approach to learning is based on a genuine interest in the subject matter and…