Faculty Talking Circle - Library Last Thursday and Friday, Sarah, Joan and I hosted Faculty Talking Circles on “How might we get the most out of our Library”. The circles were small but rich. I really appreciated many of the points raised by faculty, faculty support, and especially by our guest librarians, Leah Townsend and Sheena Sereda. In the past year, and especially the past six months, the library has made a significant effort to connect with the students, staff and faculty at NorQuest. As Sheena put it: “Some students see us as a first stop, others as a last stop, still others as only and after-thought and then there’s one group that never considers the library or its services.” In the face of this challenge, library staff have:
Have you thought of inviting one of the library staff to your classroom? Do you reach out to them in your course planning and educational research? Did you know that the library block in your Moodle courses can be adapted to suit your students’ needs? For a significant part of the faculty circle we discussed some of the challenges that faculty and library staff still face. Instructors mentioned that students often resort only to Google and don’t know how to conduct reliable searches. While many instructors feel that they are giving the right links and information in their course descriptions, Moodle shells and assignment descriptions, the students still seem to have a phobia about using the databases and can be intimidated any time APA is mentioned. As the discussion continued, we agreed that many of the issues could be addressed through modeling and scaffolding. We often make the assumption that our students have the digital skills and the critical thinking skills to access resources, process them, recognize quality, and properly catalogue. It may not be so. Instructors need to model the use of the library by showing students how to access it and by using it themselves. Taking time in class to walk the students through an assignment and the steps in research, giving them a flow-chart or graphic organizer that might assist a search, and then setting up low-stakes assignments early in the term can build confidence and competence (I do, we do you do!). We also might need to look more closely at the scope and sequence or our course and our program. Are the essential skills of research, data gathering, discernment, organization, presentation and formatting taught early on in our program? Or do we just assume that the students come with those skills? Thank you to all who came to the circle! Our next circle will probably wait until late November/early December. The next three weeks seem to be packed with demands for faculty input!
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The NorQuest Teaching Competencies At NorQuest College we have an agreed upon set of six teaching competencies (quality standards). We have had this list of competencies since 2008, and the list was written after a good deal of research and consultation with both faculty and leadership. Over the years, the competencies have provided: 1) a starting point for supervisory conversations about proficiency and professional growth, 2) a justification for funding requests and changes in roles/responsibilities, 3) a lens for adjudication of the Jaye Fredrickson Award, and 4) an important tool for self-reflection. While some might say our competencies are a bit dated or quibble with the language (For example, choosing to swap out “Evaluation Expert” for “Assessment Expert” to reflect an increased emphasis on formative assessment techniques.), the overall thrust of these competencies and their descriptors is still very sound and worthwhile. At NorQuest College, we would like every instructor/faculty member to ask certain questions as they consider each competency.
What I like about this list of competencies is the acknowledgement that teaching is a multi-faceted endeavor. It is more than just being “a good storyteller” or an “effective classroom manager”. While many instructors may have some natural talents that aid in presenting content and forming relationships, quality practice takes commitment to improvement, ongoing solicited feedback (collegial and learner), regular focused reflection, and timely strategic adjustments. As Dylan William says: it requires a “culture of continual improvement” and a commitment to reflective practice. There is a lovely little clip from Dylan explaining why, in spite of ourselves, we have “the best job in the world”! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0glFJMYv1JY. If you get a chance, just watch the first 2 minutes! Other facets that might be considered, if we ever think of “refreshing the competencies” might include Instructional Leadership (How do I collaborate with, support and/or mentor my colleagues in their practice?), and Service (How do I support the college and its initiatives, or my professional organizations through service work?). In addition, with the very diverse nature of our college and our students, where might we more properly highlight the role of the instructor as a model/champion for diversity, inclusion, and equality? Nonetheless, I think the teaching competencies have held up very well in these past twelve years and I am happy to draw attention to them one more time in this musing! Have a wonderful week! Jeff Linking Learning Asynchronous to Synchronous Friday SoTL Canada Last Friday I took part in the first ever SoTL Canada Roadshow. Approximately 50 educational researchers from colleges and universities across Canada participated in a Zoom call to discuss how Covid-19 has affected their inquiries into teaching and learning. In this musing, I’d like to share with you just how the meeting was conducted, and not what was discussed (that’s another musing). In specific, I’d like to quickly share how we did breakout rooms. The organizers came up with nine different topics for the breakouts. Each question had a different wrinkle on how Covid-19 may or may not have affected our work. These questions were carefully laid out on a google doc that was shared with us through a link in the chat box. The google doc also explained the process and the roles we were to use while working through our discussion. The process was simple: 1) introduce yourselves and your context, 2) assign roles quickly (order of birthdays?), and 3) carry out a focused discussion. The roles were as following:
We had a very productive discussion and it is easy to see why:
High quality learning experiences take thoughtfulness and planning, and this “roadshow” was certainly well-planned. Thursday’s Talking Circle Curiously enough, what I experienced in the SoTL Canada Roadshow very much aligned with what I had been hearing from some our dedicated faculty only the day before. At least three different instructors mentioned that they use the breakout rooms in a very similar way. In the face of Covid-19 and the move to online instruction, they had found ways to make learning focused, personally relevant, engaging, and accountable. This is an encouraging aspect of the Covid-19 lockdown year. From my work with faculty, from my discussions with other faculty developers, and from the data Viola and I are going through, I can see that the pandemic has challenged educators to rethink their planning and practices, their activities and assessments, and their modes and methodologies in a very productive way. We’ve seen a bit of a “leap forward” as many teachers, instructors and professors closely examine not only what they teach, but how they might teach it to ensure engagement and proficiency. Last Thursday, we held another Faculty Talking Circle. This one asked instructors to share their favorite kinds of tools, activities and assignments when connecting asynchronous and synchronous learning. More specifically, we asked:
What follows is a bit of a summary of what I learned from my colleagues. Keeping students engaged and connected throughout the course. According to Thursday’s participants, engagement starts with quality course design. In addition to focusing on content and concepts, think about:
Facilitating Asynchronously
Asynchronous work should not feel disconnected from the rest of the course, like a modern-day iteration of the old “distance learning” that many students had to do for their high school option courses (mailing lessons off to Barrhead to be reviewed and assessed). What Covid-19 has shown us is that there are many different ways to involve students in meaningful inquiry, engage them in asynchronous discussion and collaboration, and build on concepts, skills and understandings highlighted in synchronous lessons. Thursday’s instructors urged us all to:
Facilitating Synchronously While it was always challenging to keep students following during lengthy face-to-face lecture classes, the move to online instruction has compounded this. Instructors shared that, initially, their synchronous classes were either 1) online versions of their old face-to-face PPT lectures, or lengthy and very chatty check-ins with the students that had little educational value. First attempts using breakout rooms were chaotic, staying on top of the chat and students statuses was challenging, and getting students to ask good questions or respond to teacher questions was like pulling teeth. Over time, these same instructors learned to:
Other ideas that emerged from the session:
Thanks to all the instructors who participated in either the morning or afternoon session! We will have another Faculty Talking Circle next week Friday (the 23rd). Not sure what the topic will be. Suggestions? Student Survey (a few quick observations)
As part of our research study into the transition to online teaching due to Covid-19, Viola and I sent a survey out to NorQuest students, to see if their experiences align with instructor perception and experience. One week in, we already have 400 student responses! Now properly examining and unpacking such a data set will require a considerable amount of time and focus, but I thought I might share just a few tidbits. The students considered a number of closed and open questions, but the two that were the most interesting were:
Concerning “what works”, the two most frequently mentioned aspects were 1) the ability to watch pre-recorded lectures or recordings of the synchronous classes on their own time and in their own way (25), and 2) the flexibility of online learning so they could plan their own schedules around work, family commitments and other class work (17). Quite a number of students also remarked on how the online experience has saved them time and money with no commute and a flexible schedule (13). Students also wrote that they appreciated instructors who used the tech effectively (“BBU lessons are awesome!”), especially when the instructors use the chat and microphones well, weave in games, breakouts & polls, and maintained regular communication through check-ins, forums and messaging (8). Several students remarked that “Moodle organization has improved” (6), PowerPoints and lectures are more concise (3), and that instructors are giving more clarity about expectations between lessons (3). In addition, there were students who confessed that the online experience has taught them more about tech and that they have become much more self-disciplined (4). The list of what wasn’t working for the students ran a little bit longer. Okay, a fair bit longer. Here are some of the issues that bubbled to the top of the list (so far, I’ve only got through 200 or so of the 400 responses):
Of course, it is early in the data analysis stage, but I thought I might share some of the findings. There seems to be several very different groups of students going through this change: those who are actually thriving in a flexible environment where they can watch recordings and take charge of their learning, those who feel disconnected and long for the in-person connections, and those who are challenged by the technology and demands of online connectivity. Moreover, a great deal depends on who their instructors are and just how engaging they build their asynchronous and synchronous environments. I hope we might address some of these findings in the talking circle on Friday. |
AuthorJeff Kuntz Ph.D. ImagesExcept where indicated, images used in the blog posts are personal photos, images from NorQuest College or images from Pixabay. Pixabay is a vibrant community of creatives, sharing copyright free images, videos and music. https://pixabay.com/ Archives
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