Originally posted here.
------------------
Prensky Digital Natives Response
Current mood: validated
Posted Jan 10, 2009
Oh, by the way, I got my teaching assignment today! I'm teaching in my first pick school! Starting March 5th!!! Hooray! I won't be in the inner city! This could be an enjoyable experience. Not wanting to talk crap about the inner city, but I don't think I could handle it for my student teaching experience.
Response from a Drexel Assignment:
The characteristics of a Digital Native are that they naturally enjoy using technology to complete tasks and interface and share with others. Digital natives are very prevalent in our schools. Many of them have more experience with computers and video games than their parents, and their parents go to them as a trouble-shooting resource. We can learn a lot from digital natives because they try to make their mark on the Internet and technology, to be creative and innovate, and not just learn to use it.
As a teacher, I need to use the Piaget theory of Multiple Intelligences to my advantage. These students eat and breathe technology, so if my classroom doesn't allow them to use, build, and demonstrate their digital intelligence, I am doing them a disservice. I also must teach them good skills of being a digital contributor and being a responsible digital citizen by teaching them to be respectful, and not to cyber-bully. Just because you aren't saying something hurtful to someone's "face" doesn't make it okay and we need to help each other learn and grow, not tear each other down. I can also engage students through using these new technologies to instruct and facilitate with PowerPoints, WebQuests, Podcasts, Interactive White Boards, etc, and have projects where students can create and research products and present them through new technologies like Podcasts, Blogs, PowerPoints, and movies. Students can present their projects to one another via connectivity websites like Moodle for the classroom for peer review.
I am not in the classroom, but what has worked for me in the past (in the planetarium) is to use multimedia to tell a story and to promote questions. After each slide, a question was proposed, and we gave time for the students to think about the question and to start answering it creatively. Sometimes they'd get it right, and sometimes not. Then we'd answer the question on the next slide/segment (okay, it was actually a segment, we were not using an old slide projector, don't want to give you the wrong idea) and ask another question that would transition to the next. A way this relates to the keynote speaker are that Prensky spoke about Engage Me or Enrage Me. In our planetarium, we tried to always engage all the students and have them asking questions about space, our galaxy, and the universe. We were also able to engage them through professional multimedia working together to transition and tell a story, so kids could follow along but still feel challenged and awed. We provided scaffolding during the opening to give them important vocabulary words that they may have learned in their Earth/Space science unit, or are maybe just hearing for the first time. We talk a lot about planetary motion later in the show, so we would make sure to remind students what the difference is between rotating and revolutions. "The Earth rotates in 24 hours, and it takes 365 days to make one revolution in its orbit, etc." Except we'd have them work out the difference by asking them questions so they could work toward the right answer. Technology can facilitate learning, express ideas, and make understanding easier, but we still need to be questioning and working toward answers, not just enjoy technology for technology's sake.
Things that need changing are less busywork, worksheets, and memorization, and more critical and creative thought, more technology. I already knew that I hated math by the second grade because all we did was work by ourselves on endlessly long worksheets that were busywork. I guess that they were good for us to practice our skills and memorize our multiplication tables, but there needs to be a better way to engage students because it was the most boring thing ever. I would get half-way through the worksheet and then just be so bored I couldn't finish it and wouldn't turn it in uncompleted. Anyway, ironically I still plugged away at math because I loved physics and astronomy and I needed to know math to do them. I do think that it's up to elementary teachers to help students enjoy math, but I know a lot of elementary teachers that don't really like or understand math either, so its not a good system. I'm glad that one of the online Drexel courses works with the Drexel Math Forum, and we diagnose a math student in our Case Study. It taught me more about math teaching, which is important for a future physics teacher. (I think it is a good experience for any teacher that may be called upon to teach something resembling math, even if it's teaching how to plan time - that has its roots in math - "dividing" time, working with fractions of hours, etc.) :-)
Teaching and learning will look like exploring and "playing" with concepts in my classroom. In teaching core physics and physical science concepts, I will tie things into real-life examples, use demos to demonstrate concepts in action, and pull from many multimedia resources and technologies to help students gain understanding and critical thought of the concepts. Students will make and use raw data to analyze in authentic situations and work in group projects to create and innovate on ideas. Some of the best projects I've observed in shadow and field experiences have been when the students made a water-powered rocket that carried an egg up and then needed a parachute to come out and padding to protect the egg. The kits were very inexpensive and the body of the rocket was made of two 2-Liter plastic soda bottles. The students could work alone or in a group and were able to put personal touches on their rockets. Adequate scaffolding and teacher feedback was given during the project so that nearly every rocket was successful, but much of the success was due to the student's efforts and engagement. Students will also have access to robust software for problem solving, like Maple, which is what many experts in the field would be using. I will create authentic, project based learning for the students to demonstrate their learning and play with new concepts. New technologies will be an important part of the process, and I will use Jing to give students access to homework help when they are at home, and I will use Moodle to keep our class in touch and active out of the classroom. Students can share learning and websites with their peers, respond to peer work, and help each other in a supportive group of physics learning.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Almost done! Drexel U Masters in Education, Distance Learning
This re-post is more convoluted. Sorry.
Originally posted here.
------------------------
Drexel University, almost graduating.
Also, an article making the case for deeper learning in online courses
Jan 7, 2009
Current mood: Adventurous
...Moving on, school just started up again at Drexel University. I am in the e-Learning program getting my master in the science of instruction, training to be a high school physics teacher. I have learned so much, and I'm almost done with the program! I do my student teaching in March 2009, and get my master in June 2009. I am also certifying as a teacher (no brainer) but on top of that, I am also certifying as an Instructional Technology Specialist. Basically I could design distance learning courses for students and/or professional development courses for teachers. It has made me more aware of many of the new technologies that can be used for instruction and promote higher-thinking skills. It is great! What a good investment.
I was reading some posts of fellow students and I found out that incoming Freshman at Drexel's School of Education get FREE IPOD TOUCHES! I want one! I was searching websites to see if I was eligible to receive one and it doesn't look like I am. I wasn't an incoming Freshman, I came in as a grad student. I want one because this same student who was telling me about his also is teaching now and uses it in the classroom with his SmartBoard and Wi-Fi and I said, "How cool is that?" I didn't realize you could use it to control presentations on a SmartBoard, etc. Smart phones and ipod touches can do the coolest things when you really decide to learn of their capabilities and "open 'er up," if you know what I mean.
Speaking of the usefulness of a Drexel education, I came across this article during my ipod touch hunt, and it sums up why a distance learning education can be great! I got the article from e-Insights. So if you think I'm just goofing off in my e-Learning education, think again. But it's not all work, I really like the format and a lot of my learning is FUN! I get to research things I wanted to know more about anyway, like handhelds (SmartPhones and PalmPilots) in education, SmartBoards and interactive white boards, how to make educational Podcasts, and of course, we learn all the up-to-date teaching methods like Teaching for Understanding, Understanding by Design, Direct Instruction, and many others. I've also learned about the Constructivist Learning Theory of Teaching and Instruction, assessing school's technology programs with the STaR Chart, as well as the ISTE NETS standards for Web 2.0 learning for students, teachers, and administrators. Anyway, there are a lot of good resources out there. And I'm not going to school at a degree mill, thank you very much. I did my research, I was just as wary of signing up at a program that was nothing more than a paper mill. Okay, rant over. Here's the article.
--------------------------
Study Shows Online Courses Require Deeper Learning Approaches
December 08, 2008
Think that online learning is less engaging or not as challenging as face-to-face? Think again. A recent survey conducted by The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) found that online learners reported deeper approaches to learning than traditional classroom-based learners. The survey explored experiences of online learners who said that their courses required deeper approaches to learning.
The NSSE, conducted by Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, surveyed nearly 380,000 freshman and seniors at 722 four-year schools nationwide. The report shows that 37% of freshman learning online and 45% of seniors said they often participated in course activities that challenged them intellectually compared to only 24% of traditional classroom-based freshman and seniors. And 58% of online learners reported using higher-order thinking in their coursework compared to 55% of classroom-based learners.
The majority of online degree students are adult learners, who typically seek a higher and more substantive dialog with their instructor, because of this online instructors tend not to take engagement for granted and as a result have to structure assignments that help students to stay more connected. For example, Missy Harvey, an online instructor for The iSchool at Drexel, says she uses weekly discussion boards and project-related boards, and shares her own experiences to keep students engaged.
Here are some tips to keeping online students engaged:
-Meet early and regularly with your department's instructional designer, ideally 6-8 weeks before the start of the course.
-Foster high interaction with and among online students.
-Seek to organize your online course in a highly structured manner, where each week/unit is clearly identified, and the required content (text, audio, video) and assignments are easy to locate.
-Build a community among your students by, for example, having them post their picture, a brief bio, and by having a synchronous participatory kickoff session at the beginning of the course.
-Review and utilize your end-of-course evaluation. The best suggestions I've received (vis-à-vis, improving my online courses) have come from my students.
For more tips contact me at kenhartman@drexel.edu or to read more about this survey go to: National Survey of Student Engagement
Posted by Kenneth Hartman on December 08, 2008 at 02:55 PM in In the News
Originally posted here.
------------------------
Drexel University, almost graduating.
Also, an article making the case for deeper learning in online courses
Jan 7, 2009
Current mood: Adventurous
...Moving on, school just started up again at Drexel University. I am in the e-Learning program getting my master in the science of instruction, training to be a high school physics teacher. I have learned so much, and I'm almost done with the program! I do my student teaching in March 2009, and get my master in June 2009. I am also certifying as a teacher (no brainer) but on top of that, I am also certifying as an Instructional Technology Specialist. Basically I could design distance learning courses for students and/or professional development courses for teachers. It has made me more aware of many of the new technologies that can be used for instruction and promote higher-thinking skills. It is great! What a good investment.
I was reading some posts of fellow students and I found out that incoming Freshman at Drexel's School of Education get FREE IPOD TOUCHES! I want one! I was searching websites to see if I was eligible to receive one and it doesn't look like I am. I wasn't an incoming Freshman, I came in as a grad student. I want one because this same student who was telling me about his also is teaching now and uses it in the classroom with his SmartBoard and Wi-Fi and I said, "How cool is that?" I didn't realize you could use it to control presentations on a SmartBoard, etc. Smart phones and ipod touches can do the coolest things when you really decide to learn of their capabilities and "open 'er up," if you know what I mean.
Speaking of the usefulness of a Drexel education, I came across this article during my ipod touch hunt, and it sums up why a distance learning education can be great! I got the article from e-Insights. So if you think I'm just goofing off in my e-Learning education, think again. But it's not all work, I really like the format and a lot of my learning is FUN! I get to research things I wanted to know more about anyway, like handhelds (SmartPhones and PalmPilots) in education, SmartBoards and interactive white boards, how to make educational Podcasts, and of course, we learn all the up-to-date teaching methods like Teaching for Understanding, Understanding by Design, Direct Instruction, and many others. I've also learned about the Constructivist Learning Theory of Teaching and Instruction, assessing school's technology programs with the STaR Chart, as well as the ISTE NETS standards for Web 2.0 learning for students, teachers, and administrators. Anyway, there are a lot of good resources out there. And I'm not going to school at a degree mill, thank you very much. I did my research, I was just as wary of signing up at a program that was nothing more than a paper mill. Okay, rant over. Here's the article.
--------------------------
Study Shows Online Courses Require Deeper Learning Approaches
December 08, 2008
Think that online learning is less engaging or not as challenging as face-to-face? Think again. A recent survey conducted by The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) found that online learners reported deeper approaches to learning than traditional classroom-based learners. The survey explored experiences of online learners who said that their courses required deeper approaches to learning.
The NSSE, conducted by Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, surveyed nearly 380,000 freshman and seniors at 722 four-year schools nationwide. The report shows that 37% of freshman learning online and 45% of seniors said they often participated in course activities that challenged them intellectually compared to only 24% of traditional classroom-based freshman and seniors. And 58% of online learners reported using higher-order thinking in their coursework compared to 55% of classroom-based learners.
The majority of online degree students are adult learners, who typically seek a higher and more substantive dialog with their instructor, because of this online instructors tend not to take engagement for granted and as a result have to structure assignments that help students to stay more connected. For example, Missy Harvey, an online instructor for The iSchool at Drexel, says she uses weekly discussion boards and project-related boards, and shares her own experiences to keep students engaged.
Here are some tips to keeping online students engaged:
-Meet early and regularly with your department's instructional designer, ideally 6-8 weeks before the start of the course.
-Foster high interaction with and among online students.
-Seek to organize your online course in a highly structured manner, where each week/unit is clearly identified, and the required content (text, audio, video) and assignments are easy to locate.
-Build a community among your students by, for example, having them post their picture, a brief bio, and by having a synchronous participatory kickoff session at the beginning of the course.
-Review and utilize your end-of-course evaluation. The best suggestions I've received (vis-à-vis, improving my online courses) have come from my students.
For more tips contact me at kenhartman@drexel.edu or to read more about this survey go to: National Survey of Student Engagement
Posted by Kenneth Hartman on December 08, 2008 at 02:55 PM in In the News
Education at Drexel Takes Its Toll
Originally posted Dec 5, 2007, at myspace blog.
Linked here.
-----------------------------
Education at Drexel Takes Its Toll
Current mood:tired
Hey my peeps! I made a website and a video podcast multimedia project and posted them! It was a great experience to make a vodcast, and now I know how to make one ten times faster. This is good, because I desperately need sleep after staying up til 5am a few nights here and there. Now I'm tired and sad. Me needs a nappie!
My video podcast (vodcast) is up! I posted it at Teacher Tube.
It turned out pretty good. It will teach you about why astronomers look through telescopes and you'll learn about Galileo and the moons of Jupiter!!! Oh, I KNOW you're excited!!!!! As excited as I am!
I made a website project for a class too. It's very basic, but here it is if you want to take a look around. It's all about sunspots and how they can affect us humans on the Earth historically and currently.
http://www.geocities.com/rowleydeb
(Sadly, geocities is no longer around. Maybe I'll have to find another way to post my materials that I had on this site. I think I still have the original files.)
IT'S NEVER FUNNY IN THE MORNING!!!
-Darth Crack Monkey ;D
Linked here.
-----------------------------
Education at Drexel Takes Its Toll
Current mood:tired
Hey my peeps! I made a website and a video podcast multimedia project and posted them! It was a great experience to make a vodcast, and now I know how to make one ten times faster. This is good, because I desperately need sleep after staying up til 5am a few nights here and there. Now I'm tired and sad. Me needs a nappie!
My video podcast (vodcast) is up! I posted it at Teacher Tube.
It turned out pretty good. It will teach you about why astronomers look through telescopes and you'll learn about Galileo and the moons of Jupiter!!! Oh, I KNOW you're excited!!!!! As excited as I am!
I made a website project for a class too. It's very basic, but here it is if you want to take a look around. It's all about sunspots and how they can affect us humans on the Earth historically and currently.
http://www.geocities.com/rowleydeb
(Sadly, geocities is no longer around. Maybe I'll have to find another way to post my materials that I had on this site. I think I still have the original files.)
IT'S NEVER FUNNY IN THE MORNING!!!
-Darth Crack Monkey ;D
"Assumptive Teaching" Helps No One
I'm trying to get my posts together. This post originally showed up here.
-----------------------------------
Title: "Assumptive Teaching" Helps No One
Current mood: exanimate
As a woman in the sciences, I found it appalling in Chapter One of the Pennsylvania Literacy Framework to find that "very few people are 'science literate'" (Dugan 4). The example that was cited, the Harvard graduates explaining why it is hot in the summer and cold in the winter – most of them incorrectly – is a grim situation. I learned the concept of seasons back in the second grade, and all my teacher had was a globe to demonstrate the tilt of the Earth and the orbit around the Sun, with the more prominent hemisphere being the hotter region, [all due to the Earth's tilt]. Nothing too fancy, no multimedia projects or hands-on demonstrations, was needed. I do believe that teachers have a difficult task of presenting the immense science curricula, with some of them barely grasping the concepts themselves.
It can be done though. I am proof.
I am an anomaly as a woman in the sciences, according to the Pennsylvania Literacy Framework.
Ironically, I do not think that the American education is as bad as it is made out to be. More subjects are taught than ever before. More American kids (and adults) are going to college than ever before. To make it to college, a student will have to demonstrate competency in literacy: Reading, writing, speaking, listening, etc. According to the United Nations' Development Programme Report of 2005, the United States has a 99.9% literacy rate. Of course, looking at it from a technological stance, I do think we are in trouble. It is true that our rate of U.S. graduates in the sciences is staying the same or slowly decreasing, and many of the graduate students attending mathematics and science doctorate and masters programs in the U.S. are foreign born, many of them from China. In UC Irvine's physics and astronomy graduate program (and many graduate programs across the nation) an American student would need to get a score of 150 or above, or around the 50th percentile. The typical Chinese student would need to get a score of 190, or the 90th percentile. Since the U.S. only lets in a certain amount of students from each country and the demand from Chinese students is so high, it has made the testing more cutthroat for them. So unfortunately by just comparing rates (and assuming they remain constant), it looks like the Chinese will soon be dominating the U.S. as the technological leader in the global economy.
The rate of U.S. born mathematicians and scientists can be increased if we are able to address sciences learning early in the system. **By second grade, students have made up their minds already whether they enjoy doing math or learning science.** Most of the time, they hate it. And many students (and people) hate what they don't get or understand. But I think these views can be changed. I did not always want to study physics; I wanted to be an artist, and I was very good at drawing even at the age of eight. I was bored by the repetition of math as early as the second grade. I would complete about half my learning worksheet, usually with many rows and columns of addition or subtraction problems, and then just tune out. I already knew how to do it, and it was boring. I also hated turning in an incomplete assignment. So I wouldn't turn in anything. It didn't take long for my mom to figure out this was going on, and she sat me down and did some simple averages with me. "Danelle," she said sweetly but firmly, "if you have turned in 5 papers with 100% correct, but don't turn in another paper, it gets a zero. You average them together," and she took the time to work out the average on paper in front of me, "it's 500 divided by 6, which is 83%, the grade of a low B. But if you turn in that last assignment and it gets 50%, now the average is ... 91.6, an A-. So what do you think you should do?". She was a helpful mother, and my grades improved. And who knew she was demonstrating the coaching skills discussed in the reading, modeling and talking aloud while problem-solving?
Since I did have good parental involvement in my education (and it seemed to help), I think it's easy to take the blame stance, the assumptive teaching, and put a lot of the blame (or praise!) on the parents. As I have found by reading "Real Writing, Real Teaching," this stance does not address the problem, and it definitely doesn't fix anything. Rather than dreaming about what things could be and assigning the blame when they're not, a teacher needs to take responsibility for his or her students and the classroom and try to delve deep.
Unexpectedly, incorporating more writing and more "coaching" can help in teaching a variety of subjects. Students need to be involved in the process of learning, not just repeatedly questioned. Teachers should "model" what the subject requires, sometimes by thinking aloud while solving problems, and teachers should present strategies for writing and problem-solving for a variety of conditions. And from Roberta's view, that can be an uphill battle until around mid-December, when the class just seemed to get it and learning started to become much quicker. It always seemed that she would have to cut out a unit because the class pace was so slow before December. But she used a "road map," because she knew where she was and where she wanted to go with the class. It is important to have a destination in mind, and a vehicle of sorts to take you there. She would think aloud with her students, not just posing questions, but show them how to get to an answer, how to read charts and understand the text, not just expect them to read it alone and know all the answers. And then they began learning how to do it for themselves, and soon she was able to add in additional units with the new-found time.
Some of the major strategies of lifelong learning come from excerpts in the "Real Reading, Real Writing" book and "Writing to Learn Mathematics." Coaching rather than just being the quiz master is an excellent strategy that I never consciously thought of doing. It just happens when you are tutoring one-on-one, but it should be applied to the classroom. Writing to learn math is a great way to present the subject, and students will automatically "delve deeper" in their writing.
I have even been on the receiving end of this teaching process in 9th grade Algebra I. Mrs. Willis, our math teacher (and, against the norm, most of my math teachers have been female), had us do weekly writing assignments on the chapter we covered, discussing each section. I remember learning about parabolas and asymptotes, and then trying to describe them. It was hard, I just wanted to draw a picture and put down the equation and say," There you go." But then from the writing exercise, the knowledge began to stick and it was extremely helpful. (I won't lie, it was tedious and definitely not my favorite part of the class.) More interestingly is that when the students are writing, they begin to realize what they know and what they don't know, identifying the gaps in their knowledge. Then they can fill in the gaps and not be blind-sided on an upcoming test. Writing also helps to connect prior knowledge to what is being studied.
I believe that frequent writing in general can help with lifelong learning. Many times I will hash something out in a blog or an email or in a journal entry and I will even get up from what I am writing to research more about the things I don't know so I can write more clearly and more deeply about them. Many times my perception ends up changing because I know more about a subject or I was thinking incorrectly about it previously. If these kinds of writing and critical thinking skills are picked up by students during school, then it will start to become an unconscious reaction and they will become lifelong learners, maybe without even realizing it. That is why it is so important that we as teachers use our writing skills and have our students develop them.
-----------------------------------
Title: "Assumptive Teaching" Helps No One
Current mood: exanimate
As a woman in the sciences, I found it appalling in Chapter One of the Pennsylvania Literacy Framework to find that "very few people are 'science literate'" (Dugan 4). The example that was cited, the Harvard graduates explaining why it is hot in the summer and cold in the winter – most of them incorrectly – is a grim situation. I learned the concept of seasons back in the second grade, and all my teacher had was a globe to demonstrate the tilt of the Earth and the orbit around the Sun, with the more prominent hemisphere being the hotter region, [all due to the Earth's tilt]. Nothing too fancy, no multimedia projects or hands-on demonstrations, was needed. I do believe that teachers have a difficult task of presenting the immense science curricula, with some of them barely grasping the concepts themselves.
It can be done though. I am proof.
I am an anomaly as a woman in the sciences, according to the Pennsylvania Literacy Framework.
Ironically, I do not think that the American education is as bad as it is made out to be. More subjects are taught than ever before. More American kids (and adults) are going to college than ever before. To make it to college, a student will have to demonstrate competency in literacy: Reading, writing, speaking, listening, etc. According to the United Nations' Development Programme Report of 2005, the United States has a 99.9% literacy rate. Of course, looking at it from a technological stance, I do think we are in trouble. It is true that our rate of U.S. graduates in the sciences is staying the same or slowly decreasing, and many of the graduate students attending mathematics and science doctorate and masters programs in the U.S. are foreign born, many of them from China. In UC Irvine's physics and astronomy graduate program (and many graduate programs across the nation) an American student would need to get a score of 150 or above, or around the 50th percentile. The typical Chinese student would need to get a score of 190, or the 90th percentile. Since the U.S. only lets in a certain amount of students from each country and the demand from Chinese students is so high, it has made the testing more cutthroat for them. So unfortunately by just comparing rates (and assuming they remain constant), it looks like the Chinese will soon be dominating the U.S. as the technological leader in the global economy.
The rate of U.S. born mathematicians and scientists can be increased if we are able to address sciences learning early in the system. **By second grade, students have made up their minds already whether they enjoy doing math or learning science.** Most of the time, they hate it. And many students (and people) hate what they don't get or understand. But I think these views can be changed. I did not always want to study physics; I wanted to be an artist, and I was very good at drawing even at the age of eight. I was bored by the repetition of math as early as the second grade. I would complete about half my learning worksheet, usually with many rows and columns of addition or subtraction problems, and then just tune out. I already knew how to do it, and it was boring. I also hated turning in an incomplete assignment. So I wouldn't turn in anything. It didn't take long for my mom to figure out this was going on, and she sat me down and did some simple averages with me. "Danelle," she said sweetly but firmly, "if you have turned in 5 papers with 100% correct, but don't turn in another paper, it gets a zero. You average them together," and she took the time to work out the average on paper in front of me, "it's 500 divided by 6, which is 83%, the grade of a low B. But if you turn in that last assignment and it gets 50%, now the average is ... 91.6, an A-. So what do you think you should do?". She was a helpful mother, and my grades improved. And who knew she was demonstrating the coaching skills discussed in the reading, modeling and talking aloud while problem-solving?
Since I did have good parental involvement in my education (and it seemed to help), I think it's easy to take the blame stance, the assumptive teaching, and put a lot of the blame (or praise!) on the parents. As I have found by reading "Real Writing, Real Teaching," this stance does not address the problem, and it definitely doesn't fix anything. Rather than dreaming about what things could be and assigning the blame when they're not, a teacher needs to take responsibility for his or her students and the classroom and try to delve deep.
Unexpectedly, incorporating more writing and more "coaching" can help in teaching a variety of subjects. Students need to be involved in the process of learning, not just repeatedly questioned. Teachers should "model" what the subject requires, sometimes by thinking aloud while solving problems, and teachers should present strategies for writing and problem-solving for a variety of conditions. And from Roberta's view, that can be an uphill battle until around mid-December, when the class just seemed to get it and learning started to become much quicker. It always seemed that she would have to cut out a unit because the class pace was so slow before December. But she used a "road map," because she knew where she was and where she wanted to go with the class. It is important to have a destination in mind, and a vehicle of sorts to take you there. She would think aloud with her students, not just posing questions, but show them how to get to an answer, how to read charts and understand the text, not just expect them to read it alone and know all the answers. And then they began learning how to do it for themselves, and soon she was able to add in additional units with the new-found time.
Some of the major strategies of lifelong learning come from excerpts in the "Real Reading, Real Writing" book and "Writing to Learn Mathematics." Coaching rather than just being the quiz master is an excellent strategy that I never consciously thought of doing. It just happens when you are tutoring one-on-one, but it should be applied to the classroom. Writing to learn math is a great way to present the subject, and students will automatically "delve deeper" in their writing.
I have even been on the receiving end of this teaching process in 9th grade Algebra I. Mrs. Willis, our math teacher (and, against the norm, most of my math teachers have been female), had us do weekly writing assignments on the chapter we covered, discussing each section. I remember learning about parabolas and asymptotes, and then trying to describe them. It was hard, I just wanted to draw a picture and put down the equation and say," There you go." But then from the writing exercise, the knowledge began to stick and it was extremely helpful. (I won't lie, it was tedious and definitely not my favorite part of the class.) More interestingly is that when the students are writing, they begin to realize what they know and what they don't know, identifying the gaps in their knowledge. Then they can fill in the gaps and not be blind-sided on an upcoming test. Writing also helps to connect prior knowledge to what is being studied.
I believe that frequent writing in general can help with lifelong learning. Many times I will hash something out in a blog or an email or in a journal entry and I will even get up from what I am writing to research more about the things I don't know so I can write more clearly and more deeply about them. Many times my perception ends up changing because I know more about a subject or I was thinking incorrectly about it previously. If these kinds of writing and critical thinking skills are picked up by students during school, then it will start to become an unconscious reaction and they will become lifelong learners, maybe without even realizing it. That is why it is so important that we as teachers use our writing skills and have our students develop them.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Using 'Kaizen' to Improve An Information Organization
Danelle Rowley
Problem-Solving Critique
1/22/2009
A Critique of the Kaizen Problem-Solving Tool
A. Kaizen for Continuous Improvement
Kaizen is a Japanese management method that has been used since the 1950’s. It is a combination of the words “kai,” meaning change, and “zen,” meaning good. The method of Kaizen applied to a management situation promotes continuous improvement and the elimination of “muda,” or waste. Toyota is one of the main companies known for employing Kaizen on the production lines in the Toyota Production System, or TPS. Kaizen has also been compared to the Theory of Constraints (TOC), Lean Manufacturing, Total Quality Management (TQM), and Continuous Improvement Process (CIP, or CI). Kaizen is being applied to new situations, such as the teaching and medical professions. In the graduate business school study by Emiliani (2005, p.41), Kaizen is described as being a bottom-up tool that can be used to bring about good change and reduce waste without initiating large-scale disruptions. I chose to critique the method of Kaizen because of my interest in the teaching profession and its possibilities to help continuously improve teaching outcomes.
B. Kaizen as a Way to Improve Higher Education
The missions of many schools tend to boast that they are high quality, they promote excellence, and are constantly improving themselves to better serve their students. Accrediting agencies like The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) also check graduate business school degree programs to ensure that they fulfill specific standards. However, many of these standards focus more on the school’s mission, curriculum, and faculty qualifications, and less on other things that are still of value to students (Emiliani, 2005, p.38). These overlooked standards could be processes like course registration, adding/dropping courses, plan of study, transfer credit, issuing final grades, dispute resolution, obtaining and using student feedback, etc. The AASCB does not even define what it means by “continuous improvement,” leaving the interpretation vague at best. While these graduate schools may focus on passing accreditation, the customers – students – may be left out of the equation.
Kaizen focuses on the activities that create value to the customer. In his article, Emiliani (ibid, p.38) goes on to quote one of the main mantras used in Kaizen as “continuous, incremental improvement of an activity to eliminate waste, unevenness, and unreasonableness (called muda, mura, and muri in Japanese) and create more value.” Unfortunately, many schools do not consciously realize the importance of eliminating waste and creating more value. When a school has problems or is running over-budget, usually the reaction a school leader will take is to increase tuition fees, cut programs, and/or lay people off. This is not a change for the better, and it will not improve a student’s perception of a school’s management process. Emiliani also gives the example of a manager justifying his cuts by saying “we looked at the numbers,” when it should be “we looked at the process” to understand and eliminate costs that customers do not value (ibid p.39).
C. Approach of Using Kaizen in the EMP
In the study of which Emiliani took part, conducted at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Executive Master’s Program (EMP) at the School of Business, the “customers” – students – are very discerning and expect a lot from their investment in this business Master’s program (ibid, p.40). Many of the students are “high potential,” have at least 10-20 years of business experience, at least six years of management experience, and need company sponsorship to enter the program. The EMP is a part-time program and will prepare the participants for more senior leadership positions. The curriculum consists of ten courses that focus on new product development, management decision-making, implementation, etc. The program includes international trips to visit global Fortune 500 businesses.
The reasons that Kaizen was picked as an improvement tool over other programs like TQM or re-engineering are due to the facts that these other programs can take a long time to implement; using these programs can be complex and confusing; many employees may resist changes; senior management may be uninterested; and that a big shake-up was not necessarily the goal. With Kaizen, the primary objective is “rapid improvement of a specific degree program,” and not an actual change to the “entire organization’s value-creating activities” (ibid, p.40). This change would be a more small-scale, bottom-up opportunity by involving the professors more than the senior management.
The Kaizen specialists outlined the responsibilities of management and other employees. Senior management would be committed in the process and involved in close-out meetings, every employee was informed of the benefits of participating in Kaizen, Kaizen would be independent of the formal administrative performance evaluation for professors, and that the Kaizen specialists would also need to gather data outside of the classroom for a more holistic approach. Senior management enthusiastically approved to this outlined plan.
The actual Kaizen process lasted for two days, although in the industrial profession Kaizen can last to four or five days. The Kaizen specialists participated in on-the-job learning and examined and critically thought about the processes being performed, looking for ways to eliminate waste and create more value for the end-use customers. Problems in a process were identified, measured, and corrected. Most of the improvements were rapid, being made during the Kaizen activity. Since everyone was observed, involved, and included, the Kaizen also “engaged people at all levels of an organization and promoted teamwork” (ibid, p.41). There were five different recording forms involved in the Kaizen activity: Pre-Kaizen self-assessments (to define status quo), an activity sheet (to define the future state), a target sheet (to measure improvement), a daily record (to summarize accomplishments), and a 30-day follow-up chart (to document follow-up activities). These records helped document the process improvements and made the changes more permanent.
D. Outcome of Using Kaizen
The Kaizen went smoothly and was viewed very favorably by the senior management, professors, staff, and students. Some of the big improvements that came from the Kaizen were processes that the professors could improve. For some of the improvements, professors were encouraged to “eliminate ambiguity in syllabi related to grading criteria and assignments, to eliminate variation in duplicate teaching materials, such as the same case study used in two courses, and for each class for the professor to state orally and in writing the learning objectives” (ibid, p.44). Content utility and technology needed to be updated with real business settings and new technologies. Learning opportunities needed to be expanded and student participation needed to be increased. Rather than students being graded solely on a mid-term and a final, professors were encouraged to change the format to 4-12 graded assignments.
At the conclusion of the Kaizen, the participants were asked to share their insights. Many reported that the changes made were “better aligned with student expectations” (ibid, p.45). This tied in with one of the objectives of Kaizen, creating more value for the customer. Faculty, staff, and alumni were also able to interact in ways they had not done before, and there was a great sense of camaraderie.
A problem that arose during the Kaizen was that a few professors felt threatened when senior managers were team members and sat in on classes (ibid, p.45). With better communication to faculty about the objectives of Kaizen, this problem may be diminished or eliminated. Another problem came at the close-out meetings where people were briefed on the changes initiated (ibid, p.46). In some cases, the attendance of these meetings was low, which could be perceived as a lack of interest.
E. Evaluation of Kaizen
When evaluating this specific example of Kaizen in a Master’s business program, it achieved its goals in eliminating waste and creating more value for the student. One reason why it was a success is that the professors and much of the staff were on board from the beginning. Senior management was also enthusiastic with the process and participating in the Kaizen. This could be due to the fact that Emiliani, one of the professors at the school, suggested the use of Kaizen and the faculty appreciated his opinion. Emiliani (ibid, p. 46) also points out that the “faculty generally have low regard for administrators, so their ideas are routinely viewed with skepticism.” Further, administrators may tend to “explain the need for improvement and benefits of participation poorly” (ibid, p.46), making it hard for professors and staff to get “on board” with the new changes.
Specifically, the improvements that came around from this Kaizen are improvements that many public schools have already been making in accordance with state standards, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and the Constructivist Theory of Learning. Learning objectives are explicitly stated, both written and orally, at the beginning of each class period. Standards are explicitly stated and plans are designed around them. Teachers include specific rubrics and grading criteria to make it easier for students to complete assignments. Teachers have also moved away from grading purely by mid-terms and finals, and have moved to project-based learning and assessments to give learning a more real-world feel. Some of these improvements would be redundant; however, the public school system could benefit from using Kaizen to continuously improve its activities.
Evaluating Kaizen in general, it can be a very useful tool in bringing about good change and continuous improvement. Since it is more concerned with eliminating waste and creating more value, it does not necessarily overhaul systems already in place and can be implemented on a smaller-scale, and even from the bottom-up. It can still run into the same problems as other systems – if employees or administration are not interested in improving processes, Kaizen will not work as intended. Participants must be willing to make change and critically evaluate the status quo. Also, for Kaizen to work properly, senior management must communicate goals effectively, as well as let participants know that there is a no-blame policy in effect.
F. Applying Kaizen to Various Management Situations
Kaizen can be used in many management situations, due to the fact that any employee can use and benefit from the idea of continuous improvement through eliminating waste and creating more value for the customer. Minimal disruptions occur through the use of Kaizen, and it can be used from the bottom-up. Kaizen has been successfully applied to the auto industry at Toyota, and is also being applied to the teaching and medical professions with good results. One specific situation that could benefit from Kaizen could be while an employee is serving a customer, identifying redundancies or things that could be viewed as waste, and refining the process and using the new changes with the next customer, and so on. Another situation could be in HR meetings where managers are evaluating processes already in place, identifying what part of the process is valuable for the customer, and what part may be a hindrance or wasteful, and updating accordingly and getting others involved and on-board with the changes. In a scholastic environment, I would like to apply Kaizen to the way I prepare and present a lesson plan, how I handle grading assignments and papers, and how I use my time inside and outside of school. There are always ways to do a process better, and by being mindful and looking for continuous ways to improve, I can have more time in the long-run to do other valuable things.
References
Emiliani, M. L. (2005). Using “Kaizen” to Improve Graduate Business School Degree Programs. Quality Assurance in Education: An International Perspective, 13, 37-52
Problem-Solving Critique
1/22/2009
A Critique of the Kaizen Problem-Solving Tool
A. Kaizen for Continuous Improvement
Kaizen is a Japanese management method that has been used since the 1950’s. It is a combination of the words “kai,” meaning change, and “zen,” meaning good. The method of Kaizen applied to a management situation promotes continuous improvement and the elimination of “muda,” or waste. Toyota is one of the main companies known for employing Kaizen on the production lines in the Toyota Production System, or TPS. Kaizen has also been compared to the Theory of Constraints (TOC), Lean Manufacturing, Total Quality Management (TQM), and Continuous Improvement Process (CIP, or CI). Kaizen is being applied to new situations, such as the teaching and medical professions. In the graduate business school study by Emiliani (2005, p.41), Kaizen is described as being a bottom-up tool that can be used to bring about good change and reduce waste without initiating large-scale disruptions. I chose to critique the method of Kaizen because of my interest in the teaching profession and its possibilities to help continuously improve teaching outcomes.
B. Kaizen as a Way to Improve Higher Education
The missions of many schools tend to boast that they are high quality, they promote excellence, and are constantly improving themselves to better serve their students. Accrediting agencies like The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) also check graduate business school degree programs to ensure that they fulfill specific standards. However, many of these standards focus more on the school’s mission, curriculum, and faculty qualifications, and less on other things that are still of value to students (Emiliani, 2005, p.38). These overlooked standards could be processes like course registration, adding/dropping courses, plan of study, transfer credit, issuing final grades, dispute resolution, obtaining and using student feedback, etc. The AASCB does not even define what it means by “continuous improvement,” leaving the interpretation vague at best. While these graduate schools may focus on passing accreditation, the customers – students – may be left out of the equation.
Kaizen focuses on the activities that create value to the customer. In his article, Emiliani (ibid, p.38) goes on to quote one of the main mantras used in Kaizen as “continuous, incremental improvement of an activity to eliminate waste, unevenness, and unreasonableness (called muda, mura, and muri in Japanese) and create more value.” Unfortunately, many schools do not consciously realize the importance of eliminating waste and creating more value. When a school has problems or is running over-budget, usually the reaction a school leader will take is to increase tuition fees, cut programs, and/or lay people off. This is not a change for the better, and it will not improve a student’s perception of a school’s management process. Emiliani also gives the example of a manager justifying his cuts by saying “we looked at the numbers,” when it should be “we looked at the process” to understand and eliminate costs that customers do not value (ibid p.39).
C. Approach of Using Kaizen in the EMP
In the study of which Emiliani took part, conducted at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Executive Master’s Program (EMP) at the School of Business, the “customers” – students – are very discerning and expect a lot from their investment in this business Master’s program (ibid, p.40). Many of the students are “high potential,” have at least 10-20 years of business experience, at least six years of management experience, and need company sponsorship to enter the program. The EMP is a part-time program and will prepare the participants for more senior leadership positions. The curriculum consists of ten courses that focus on new product development, management decision-making, implementation, etc. The program includes international trips to visit global Fortune 500 businesses.
The reasons that Kaizen was picked as an improvement tool over other programs like TQM or re-engineering are due to the facts that these other programs can take a long time to implement; using these programs can be complex and confusing; many employees may resist changes; senior management may be uninterested; and that a big shake-up was not necessarily the goal. With Kaizen, the primary objective is “rapid improvement of a specific degree program,” and not an actual change to the “entire organization’s value-creating activities” (ibid, p.40). This change would be a more small-scale, bottom-up opportunity by involving the professors more than the senior management.
The Kaizen specialists outlined the responsibilities of management and other employees. Senior management would be committed in the process and involved in close-out meetings, every employee was informed of the benefits of participating in Kaizen, Kaizen would be independent of the formal administrative performance evaluation for professors, and that the Kaizen specialists would also need to gather data outside of the classroom for a more holistic approach. Senior management enthusiastically approved to this outlined plan.
The actual Kaizen process lasted for two days, although in the industrial profession Kaizen can last to four or five days. The Kaizen specialists participated in on-the-job learning and examined and critically thought about the processes being performed, looking for ways to eliminate waste and create more value for the end-use customers. Problems in a process were identified, measured, and corrected. Most of the improvements were rapid, being made during the Kaizen activity. Since everyone was observed, involved, and included, the Kaizen also “engaged people at all levels of an organization and promoted teamwork” (ibid, p.41). There were five different recording forms involved in the Kaizen activity: Pre-Kaizen self-assessments (to define status quo), an activity sheet (to define the future state), a target sheet (to measure improvement), a daily record (to summarize accomplishments), and a 30-day follow-up chart (to document follow-up activities). These records helped document the process improvements and made the changes more permanent.
D. Outcome of Using Kaizen
The Kaizen went smoothly and was viewed very favorably by the senior management, professors, staff, and students. Some of the big improvements that came from the Kaizen were processes that the professors could improve. For some of the improvements, professors were encouraged to “eliminate ambiguity in syllabi related to grading criteria and assignments, to eliminate variation in duplicate teaching materials, such as the same case study used in two courses, and for each class for the professor to state orally and in writing the learning objectives” (ibid, p.44). Content utility and technology needed to be updated with real business settings and new technologies. Learning opportunities needed to be expanded and student participation needed to be increased. Rather than students being graded solely on a mid-term and a final, professors were encouraged to change the format to 4-12 graded assignments.
At the conclusion of the Kaizen, the participants were asked to share their insights. Many reported that the changes made were “better aligned with student expectations” (ibid, p.45). This tied in with one of the objectives of Kaizen, creating more value for the customer. Faculty, staff, and alumni were also able to interact in ways they had not done before, and there was a great sense of camaraderie.
A problem that arose during the Kaizen was that a few professors felt threatened when senior managers were team members and sat in on classes (ibid, p.45). With better communication to faculty about the objectives of Kaizen, this problem may be diminished or eliminated. Another problem came at the close-out meetings where people were briefed on the changes initiated (ibid, p.46). In some cases, the attendance of these meetings was low, which could be perceived as a lack of interest.
E. Evaluation of Kaizen
When evaluating this specific example of Kaizen in a Master’s business program, it achieved its goals in eliminating waste and creating more value for the student. One reason why it was a success is that the professors and much of the staff were on board from the beginning. Senior management was also enthusiastic with the process and participating in the Kaizen. This could be due to the fact that Emiliani, one of the professors at the school, suggested the use of Kaizen and the faculty appreciated his opinion. Emiliani (ibid, p. 46) also points out that the “faculty generally have low regard for administrators, so their ideas are routinely viewed with skepticism.” Further, administrators may tend to “explain the need for improvement and benefits of participation poorly” (ibid, p.46), making it hard for professors and staff to get “on board” with the new changes.
Specifically, the improvements that came around from this Kaizen are improvements that many public schools have already been making in accordance with state standards, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and the Constructivist Theory of Learning. Learning objectives are explicitly stated, both written and orally, at the beginning of each class period. Standards are explicitly stated and plans are designed around them. Teachers include specific rubrics and grading criteria to make it easier for students to complete assignments. Teachers have also moved away from grading purely by mid-terms and finals, and have moved to project-based learning and assessments to give learning a more real-world feel. Some of these improvements would be redundant; however, the public school system could benefit from using Kaizen to continuously improve its activities.
Evaluating Kaizen in general, it can be a very useful tool in bringing about good change and continuous improvement. Since it is more concerned with eliminating waste and creating more value, it does not necessarily overhaul systems already in place and can be implemented on a smaller-scale, and even from the bottom-up. It can still run into the same problems as other systems – if employees or administration are not interested in improving processes, Kaizen will not work as intended. Participants must be willing to make change and critically evaluate the status quo. Also, for Kaizen to work properly, senior management must communicate goals effectively, as well as let participants know that there is a no-blame policy in effect.
F. Applying Kaizen to Various Management Situations
Kaizen can be used in many management situations, due to the fact that any employee can use and benefit from the idea of continuous improvement through eliminating waste and creating more value for the customer. Minimal disruptions occur through the use of Kaizen, and it can be used from the bottom-up. Kaizen has been successfully applied to the auto industry at Toyota, and is also being applied to the teaching and medical professions with good results. One specific situation that could benefit from Kaizen could be while an employee is serving a customer, identifying redundancies or things that could be viewed as waste, and refining the process and using the new changes with the next customer, and so on. Another situation could be in HR meetings where managers are evaluating processes already in place, identifying what part of the process is valuable for the customer, and what part may be a hindrance or wasteful, and updating accordingly and getting others involved and on-board with the changes. In a scholastic environment, I would like to apply Kaizen to the way I prepare and present a lesson plan, how I handle grading assignments and papers, and how I use my time inside and outside of school. There are always ways to do a process better, and by being mindful and looking for continuous ways to improve, I can have more time in the long-run to do other valuable things.
References
Emiliani, M. L. (2005). Using “Kaizen” to Improve Graduate Business School Degree Programs. Quality Assurance in Education: An International Perspective, 13, 37-52
Love / Hate Group Work
Author: Danelle Rowley
Posted date: Monday, February 9, 2009 4:06:31 PM EST
Last modified date: Monday, February 9, 2009 4:06:31 PM EST
Total views: 2 Your views: 2
It's so funny to me, everytime I hear that we have to do a group project in a class, I think, "Oh no!" And I feel a little queasy in my stomach. But then as I'm working with the group, things seem to be coming together and I always have a really good experience, and I make new friends in the class. So the best thing you can do when you have to do group work is think of the worst thing that can happen, and you'll always be pleasantly surprised! LOL, or just come into the group with low expectations. I seriously don't endorse that, but there's still that trepidation that accompanies group assignments.
What can you do to make sure that everyone in the group carries their own weight (how have you dealt with social loafing in the past)?
In the past, I didn't always deal with social loafing the best. I just picked up the slack because I wanted the good grade and tried not to get paired with the same person again. Now I try to communicate, but always in a respectful, non-threatening sort of way, and try to motivate people to contribute to the group. This doesn't always work, but at least I tried.
It's good to break up assignments so that everyone is included, respond to everyone's comments, agree on a timeline, and keep refining the project or paper until it's ready to turn in and everyone's happy and satisfied. And communicate communicate communicate! And follow up.
I realized that I had a few group conflicts in some of my groups at Drexel. In one group, a member was not communicating with us at all. I think that she checked into the board once at the beginning of the group, but never again. I tried to e-mail her, I even got her number from the professor and called her phone but didn't get an answer. I was afraid something had happened to her. During this time, I was reporting to the group about the status of this student in our group, making sure they knew what was going on. The professor also tried to contact her. Finally the professor e-mailed me to say that the student had responded, and that she had had her baby early and needed a C-section, so she was bedridden in the hospital for awhile. I also got an email from the student. She tried to get back into the group and the swing of things, but it turned out that she had missed too much school to make up so she ended up dropping out of our group and those classes. Luckily we had parted on good terms and she ended up being in one of my classes the next term and we even worked in a group later and had a great experience.
Ironically, in the same group (we started out with 5 members), another member began to participate less and less, after this other group member with the baby. I e-mailed her about a deadline she had missed, and she told me that her grandfather had passed away. The group work progressed, and she still was not contributing, but she was still in the course. I didn't e-mail the professor about it, because I did not feel like it was my perrogative - the student herself should communicate her personal life to the teacher. If she needed grief counseling, she should seek it out. I worked with the other group members and basically I told them that since she hadn't been contributing on the majority of the assignment that I was not going to assess her well in our group assessment. They came to the same conclusion. We three group members finished strong and were happy with our project. (We made an interactive PowerPoint presentation for fifth grade geography where we addressed state standards through using Google Earth and USGS.gov.) I didn't even put this group member's name on the final project, as our professor instructed us to do in case we did have a group member who didn't contribute. I don't know what happened to this student. I hope that things came out okay for her, but it almost felt like she was making up an excuse for not doing her work. I feel this way because she failed to communicate. Maybe she was really struggling, but I had no way of knowing. I think this was the first bad group member assessment I had ever given, and so far, the only bad assessment.
What should you do when one member of the group is dominating the rest of the group?
I haven't had this problem yet at Drexel. Everyone is very good about sharing the work and not taking over. (Uh oh, unless I'M the one that is taking over the group!) This is tricky, I would say to just be assertive, to state explicitly what you want in the project, compromise, but make sure you get to do some work. I think that the worst thing you can do (but we often to it) is to just sit and fume in silence, but not ever say that you don't feel like your voice is being heard or valued. Of course, once again don't put people on the defensive. Try to use the nicest language you can and don't call out specific individuals, unless you've exhausted all other routes.
What have you done in the past to resolve conflict during a group project exercise?
There was this very conflicting group that I was a part of during my undergrad, it was in my intro to modern physics course, and it was two other ladies and one guy. The guy had a brilliant mind, but he was the most cantakerous soul. He was sitting by us, and we had just formed a group and decided he was sitting by himself and we should include him in our group. We asked him if he wanted to be in our group, and he rudely said, and I quote, "Well are you going to write a good paper?" We were all taken back, and we almost wanted to say, okay, never mind, find your own group. We were all pretty motivated women, so it was kind of a shocking thing for him to say to us. Basically he needed to work on his people skills. We still formed a group with him, although each of us butted heads with him at some point. I guess we were all still pretty patient. We did a lot of good research, and he practically played devil's advocate on everything we proposed, but it helped us form strong arguments and good organization in the paper, and we ended up writing the best paper in the class (On the Anti-Matter Plume in the Milky Way Galaxy, if you are interested). So in this case, this huge, daily group struggle ended up producing good results. He also had more respect for us. But I was stressed out for weeks on end. I'd rather produce a pretty good project that fulfills the teacher's criteria and not be stressing out.
Posted date: Monday, February 9, 2009 4:06:31 PM EST
Last modified date: Monday, February 9, 2009 4:06:31 PM EST
Total views: 2 Your views: 2
It's so funny to me, everytime I hear that we have to do a group project in a class, I think, "Oh no!" And I feel a little queasy in my stomach. But then as I'm working with the group, things seem to be coming together and I always have a really good experience, and I make new friends in the class. So the best thing you can do when you have to do group work is think of the worst thing that can happen, and you'll always be pleasantly surprised! LOL, or just come into the group with low expectations. I seriously don't endorse that, but there's still that trepidation that accompanies group assignments.
What can you do to make sure that everyone in the group carries their own weight (how have you dealt with social loafing in the past)?
In the past, I didn't always deal with social loafing the best. I just picked up the slack because I wanted the good grade and tried not to get paired with the same person again. Now I try to communicate, but always in a respectful, non-threatening sort of way, and try to motivate people to contribute to the group. This doesn't always work, but at least I tried.
It's good to break up assignments so that everyone is included, respond to everyone's comments, agree on a timeline, and keep refining the project or paper until it's ready to turn in and everyone's happy and satisfied. And communicate communicate communicate! And follow up.
I realized that I had a few group conflicts in some of my groups at Drexel. In one group, a member was not communicating with us at all. I think that she checked into the board once at the beginning of the group, but never again. I tried to e-mail her, I even got her number from the professor and called her phone but didn't get an answer. I was afraid something had happened to her. During this time, I was reporting to the group about the status of this student in our group, making sure they knew what was going on. The professor also tried to contact her. Finally the professor e-mailed me to say that the student had responded, and that she had had her baby early and needed a C-section, so she was bedridden in the hospital for awhile. I also got an email from the student. She tried to get back into the group and the swing of things, but it turned out that she had missed too much school to make up so she ended up dropping out of our group and those classes. Luckily we had parted on good terms and she ended up being in one of my classes the next term and we even worked in a group later and had a great experience.
Ironically, in the same group (we started out with 5 members), another member began to participate less and less, after this other group member with the baby. I e-mailed her about a deadline she had missed, and she told me that her grandfather had passed away. The group work progressed, and she still was not contributing, but she was still in the course. I didn't e-mail the professor about it, because I did not feel like it was my perrogative - the student herself should communicate her personal life to the teacher. If she needed grief counseling, she should seek it out. I worked with the other group members and basically I told them that since she hadn't been contributing on the majority of the assignment that I was not going to assess her well in our group assessment. They came to the same conclusion. We three group members finished strong and were happy with our project. (We made an interactive PowerPoint presentation for fifth grade geography where we addressed state standards through using Google Earth and USGS.gov.) I didn't even put this group member's name on the final project, as our professor instructed us to do in case we did have a group member who didn't contribute. I don't know what happened to this student. I hope that things came out okay for her, but it almost felt like she was making up an excuse for not doing her work. I feel this way because she failed to communicate. Maybe she was really struggling, but I had no way of knowing. I think this was the first bad group member assessment I had ever given, and so far, the only bad assessment.
What should you do when one member of the group is dominating the rest of the group?
I haven't had this problem yet at Drexel. Everyone is very good about sharing the work and not taking over. (Uh oh, unless I'M the one that is taking over the group!) This is tricky, I would say to just be assertive, to state explicitly what you want in the project, compromise, but make sure you get to do some work. I think that the worst thing you can do (but we often to it) is to just sit and fume in silence, but not ever say that you don't feel like your voice is being heard or valued. Of course, once again don't put people on the defensive. Try to use the nicest language you can and don't call out specific individuals, unless you've exhausted all other routes.
What have you done in the past to resolve conflict during a group project exercise?
There was this very conflicting group that I was a part of during my undergrad, it was in my intro to modern physics course, and it was two other ladies and one guy. The guy had a brilliant mind, but he was the most cantakerous soul. He was sitting by us, and we had just formed a group and decided he was sitting by himself and we should include him in our group. We asked him if he wanted to be in our group, and he rudely said, and I quote, "Well are you going to write a good paper?" We were all taken back, and we almost wanted to say, okay, never mind, find your own group. We were all pretty motivated women, so it was kind of a shocking thing for him to say to us. Basically he needed to work on his people skills. We still formed a group with him, although each of us butted heads with him at some point. I guess we were all still pretty patient. We did a lot of good research, and he practically played devil's advocate on everything we proposed, but it helped us form strong arguments and good organization in the paper, and we ended up writing the best paper in the class (On the Anti-Matter Plume in the Milky Way Galaxy, if you are interested). So in this case, this huge, daily group struggle ended up producing good results. He also had more respect for us. But I was stressed out for weeks on end. I'd rather produce a pretty good project that fulfills the teacher's criteria and not be stressing out.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Danelle's Educational Podcast - Astronomy-heavy
In an assignment a few quarters back (about a year ago I'm realizing) I had to make an educational video podcast all by myself. In the class we focused on Constructivist Learning Theory, and we had to purchase the expensive and hefty Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences. You may have noticed that I used it as a source in my previous post - Classroom wikis. I figured I paid enough darn $$$ for it that it might as well serve a purpose outside of that other class.
Anyway, making the podcast was really fun! It took a lot of time, but I know how to make one about five times faster, so that's always the bonus of learning how to use the technology... finding short-cuts and making things more efficient later.
My podcast is on authentic practice and using data sets to make conclusions. I used the wonderful CLEA software to get data on the rotational orbits of Jupiter's Moons. Good old Galileo. He first spotted the four largest moons - aptly called Galilean moons - and also noticed the "ears" (rings, actually) of Saturn.
Okay, enough intro, here's the link to the podcast. You can find it at Teachertube.com, like YouTube, for Teachers. "Ya know, for kids!" - Hudsucker Proxy
BEWARE! It is kinda lengthy, somewhere around 20 minutes.
Danelle's Video Podcast
I'm the user: mrsrowley
(heehee, that's me playing the piano.)
Anyway, making the podcast was really fun! It took a lot of time, but I know how to make one about five times faster, so that's always the bonus of learning how to use the technology... finding short-cuts and making things more efficient later.
My podcast is on authentic practice and using data sets to make conclusions. I used the wonderful CLEA software to get data on the rotational orbits of Jupiter's Moons. Good old Galileo. He first spotted the four largest moons - aptly called Galilean moons - and also noticed the "ears" (rings, actually) of Saturn.
Okay, enough intro, here's the link to the podcast. You can find it at Teachertube.com, like YouTube, for Teachers. "Ya know, for kids!" - Hudsucker Proxy
BEWARE! It is kinda lengthy, somewhere around 20 minutes.
Danelle's Video Podcast
I'm the user: mrsrowley
(heehee, that's me playing the piano.)
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