It’s all about ME and six C’s Just after finishing my master’s program in 1994, I started looking at what makes an adolescent learner persevere in their learning. From research and experience, I found that teens have less patience in learning than pre-teens. When charged with teaching teens Trigonometry in Math, Poetic Meter in English, the Past Progressive Tense in French, Mitosis and Meiosis in Biology, or the Causes of the Great War in Social Studies, my students would often fire back three questions:
Now, at first, a teacher might resent such questions. After all, learning for the sake of learning is a noble pursuit, and many of us became teachers - not only because we love teaching - but because we also love learning. Nevertheless, these three student questions are significant and we needed to be ready for them. Moreover, our responses needed to be better than “because it is in the curriculum/syllabus” or “well, some day you might….” So I continued to dig into the research and surprise, surprise, I found out that perseverance in adolescent learners is dependent upon ME! You might take that in a number of different ways: 1) that it all comes down to the teacher or 2) that the single most important factor is the student and their personal (almost selfish?) needs for learning. In fact, both are wrong, what the research told me is that it all comes down to Motivation & Engagement (ME!) and the interplay of these factors in a teaching and learning environment. What is more, as I continued my odyssey in education, teaching at King’s, U of A and NorQuest, I discovered that what applies to adolescent learners aligns with much of what we know about adult learners. Just like teens, adult learners are concerned about practicality, immediacy of application, and personal and professional relevance. In other words, “So what?” and “Just how can I use this?” For our learners at NorQuest, it also comes down to ME - motivation and engagement. However, the idea of motivation is a tricky one. I have heard a number of scholars say that motivation is completely dependent upon the learner and that the teacher has no influence on this. If a student is unmotivated, either intrinsically or extrinsically, there is very little a teacher can do about it. Other educational scholars say that this is poppycock and that such teachers simply do not want to figure out what motivates their students, individually or collectively. Yes, these scholars say, motivation does come from within, but it is also very much influenced by situation, culture, necessity, and rewards (and many other factors). Teachers cannot create motivation, but they can learn and act upon the motives of their students and discover their “motivators”. This makes me think to the work I am doing now with my four-month-old puppies. Daisy’s “motivators” are food and love, Edgar is less interested in food rewards, but thrives on praise and attention, and Rufus is a very smart little dog who likes a challenge (He has already figured out how to open and close the back door.) and is motivated by play. I often catch him doing that Border Collie head cock thing where he looks like he is trying to figure out just how to get into that cupboard, or take away a toy from his siblings. Now, I am not comparing our learners to puppies (well, maybe a little…). Coming to class with a bunch of “puppy snacks” or a clicker would be absurd. However, I am saying that every learner is different and it is up to us to explore ways to use motivators to ignite and fuel their passions. Thankfully, most of our learners at NorQuest come to us of their own free will and chose programs that they see as beneficial to their development a persons, citizens, and professionals. So finding their motivators is a little easier than connecting to teens. Adult “motivators” might be self-improvement, a new career or challenge, a permanent residency card, or simply the love of learning. Junior and senior high school students do not have that same liberty as adult learners – they are conscripts in more comprehensive programming that they may or may not appreciate. Coupled with motivation is engagement. In order to tap into the motivators of our students we need to design learning environments and challenges that allow students to participate in a variety of ways and on a variety of levels. In this way, we might reach and inspire more of our students and support them in their learning journey. That still leaves us with an important question, “Just how can we better engage our students?” Well this is where the six C’s come in. In researching engagement, I found that students engage and persevere in learning, when they:
Keeping these six C’s in mind (choice, confidence, challenge, context, connections and collaboration) when we plan our courses, units and lessons, gives us a better chance in reaching our students and in making courses meaningful and relevant.
0 Comments
Building Community through Esports In today’s musing, I want to share what I have been learning about E-sports! Since the year 2000, E-sports has become a very popular form of entertainment. Not only do people train and compete in online competitions, many others have jumped in as fans. In fact, the most recent competitions for the Overwatch, Call of Duty, and League of Legends had viewership rivalling major sporting events like the Superbowl or the Stanley Cup Finals. The winners often take home multi-million dollar purses and superstar” gamers can pad their earnings by posting clips of their games on YouTube channels for their legions of followers. Still, it is something quite foreign to me. I grew up with community league sports and playing hockey in the alleyways, using garbage cans as goal posts, and reliving Bobby Orr’s spectacular game winning goal in the 1970 playoffs. The closest that I have come to Esports is when I have to tell my son to take the volume down a notch or two when he plays Call of Duty online with his friends and I can hear him warning the others about hidden threats. I think the neighbors also hear him telling others to “get down and fall back!” I’ve seen my neighbor suddenly dart behind a hedge at the force of his commands! Here at NorQuest College, Phil Switzer and Andrew Keenan (and others!) have been working to build a bit of an e-sports community. They see it as one way to engage our students, staff and faculty in friendly competition. Phil and Andrew started this endeavor before the onset of Covid and, as of late, they have invested a lot of time into making a go of it. It makes sense. In a time when a pandemic has forced many of us (faculty and students) to eschew physical community and take up our task online, we need to find new ways to have fun and build community. What Phil and Andrew are offering has the potential to do all of that. So, in an effort to find out more about the NorQuest E-sports initiative, I sat down (via Teams!) with Phil and Andrew and asked them a few questions:
What is Esports? Well, according to Phil, “Esports is happening when people play or watch electronic games with other people; Esports is the social side of gaming. Esports is about community, belonging, fun, challenge, and for some competition – for many it is just about having fun with people by playing a game.” This cleared up a misconception for me. I thought that Esports was all about disappearing into your bedroom to shout at your computer. It seemed kinda anti-social to me. I have so much to learn! Phil continued: “For NorQuest College we have Community Games Nights every week open to anyone. Soon we will also add Competitive Gaming for those who want challenges. We play games on our phones, computer, console, and we even watch some of our community members as they compete against each other. We have done everything from League of Legends, Pictionary, trivia games, and very soon, we will be doing NHL 20 here on campus November 20 for an Online Road Hockey Tournament. This will be a great way for many of our students to learn about Canada, hockey and technology.” Phil stressed that Esports is most definitely not anti-social! He stressed that Esports is all about community and belonging. Students and NorQuest employees get together to play, watch, and chat, in an atmosphere that is not loaded down with assignments and power imbalances. It is about NorQuesters getting together to have fun, meet friends, and learn new skills. Why are you excited about Esports for NorQuest? When I asked about the educational value of Esports, Andy said; “Esports provides opportunities for our students to lead. As we move towards micro credentials and recognizing student expertise, Esports gives learners opportunities to lead and to mentor their peers. At times, these students also mentor our NorQuest faculty! In fact, NorQuest Esports has already “flipped” the classroom dynamic in our student club; our student members share their best practices for community building – and faculty need to learn from the students!” I thought this was an interesting point and could see the potential for community and confidence building. Andy continued: “At first glance, Esports seems to be about video games, but really, it is about the cultures and practices that surround digital natives. These cultures and practices include new forms of communication, new online platforms, new types of community, and a primary emphasis on inclusion and diversity.” Phil echoed what Andrew had shared: “Games are core to learning digital skills. For faculty, gaming provides a way to meet our College Wide Learning Outcomes – developing teamwork, communication, problem solving, and analytical thought.” Phil encouraged the faculty to re-examine our course outlines to think of ways that we might incorporate games that will meet our course learning outcomes – games that speak to the outcomes but also help to build a positive learning community.” He continued, “In some of my courses we are playing games and have been since March. These games are fun, free, and take as little as 10 minutes to play with up to 50 people at once in a safe online space.” Andy continued, “Esports is about empowerment. We want our students to gain the digital literacy and competencies to be successful as future leaders. Esports provides a pathway to skill building and becoming comfortable in an ever-changing digital landscape. We also want to celebrate the knowledge and expertise of the students in our community who have valuable insights to share with us as an institution.” “Like Andy says, this is about real Career Skills and real careers,” said Phil. “Mount Royal University now has an Esports program, NAIT has added courses specific to Esports, and Durham College - whom we’ve been working with – now has a post-degree program in Esports. Soon more Colleges and Universities will be adding courses and entire programs in Esports Management; Esports Marketing, and more. Playing games to learn, have fun, and be challenged is only part of the story here; Esports is huge right now and projected to grow exponentially for the next few years!” What are your next steps?
It was a lot to absorb! Phil and Andrew were passionate about the initiative and eager for others to experience it in a way that they and many others had. When I asked about the next steps for this group, Andy and Phil explained that they just wanted to keep building momentum. At present, there is a solid cohort of regulars, which includes students, staff and faculty. They also have some gaming mentors from beyond NorQuest College; former professional players who would like to help build our program. Phil and Andy shared an ambitious plan that includes having NorQuest serve as a bit of a community hub and leader within the Alberta college community. However, at this point, they were careful to focus on immediate steps and the exciting opportunity presented by the NorQuest College Road Hockey event (which will be online). Keep your radar up for that one, as it promises to be quite the event! As well, Andy explained that, in the coming months “We also plan to create ways for instructors to easily incorporate games into their classroom, especially for faculty members who may not be interested in games initially. In fact, I’ve got a game I use with students to learn about how to ask probing questions and collect data. It is free and runs on a browser, called GeoGuessr. GeoGuessr uses Google maps and puts players in a random location in the world. Your job is to guess where you are. The game is both competitive and cooperative because you can have students work together to gather evidence and do research.” In the end, Phil explained, the next steps for Esports at Norquest were really up to me; it was about my next steps! Phil and Andy encouraged me (and you!) to join them on one of their Esports nights. As Phil shared: “We are open to everyone and anyone. Just email [email protected]. We already have over 20 NorQuesters (faculty, staff and students) who regularly come out to build community and connection.” At the conclusion of our little chat, I thanked Phil and Andy for their insights. I really appreciated what they had shared. It addressed one of the lingering concerns I have about our college. Since we have such diverse, practical and often short-term programming, it can be hard to build community and allegiance. Events like Inclusion Fusion help and so do faculty-student connections like the RBC mentors program, the Student’s Council, the Lighthouse, and the Indigenous Centre, but we do not have the sports teams, arts communities (and performances) or clubs that many other colleges have. Now, in the face of the disruption and disconnectedness brought on by the Covid pandemic, it is nice to hear of another way to foster community and connection. Besides, it sounds like fun! This week, the Esports group will meet on two nights, Tuesday @ 8pm and Wednesday @ 8pm. I plan to attend at least one of those nights. Will you be joining me? Will you invite your students? One Physics Teacher’s Experiment in Teaching A number of years back, when I was in a role very similar to the one I have now, I had the pleasure of working with high school teachers as they integrated changes related to literacy, assessment, inquiry, and differentiated instruction in their coursework. One of the teachers, who taught high school physics in a large urban school, invited me to come and attend his classes to provide feedback. For the purposes of this piece, we will call him “Fred”. Fred had been teaching for 30+ years and he was finding it more and more difficult to deal with the “busy-ness” of teaching. He was considering retirement (he had reached the magic number), but Fred also knew that he loved teaching, and he loved working with teens; he was just getting tired. Many of Fred’s classes were in a combination classroom and lab. On lab days, students were expected to spend the first 20-25 minutes in their desks listening to Fred explain the day’s experiment. Fred was very prepared; he had PPT slides, a two-page handout and a raft of notes to work from. On lab days, the students would often trickle in, in dribs and drabs. The school had a number of athletic teams and interest groups, so students had difficulty getting to their classroom right on time. Such was the case for the two classes that I spent with Fred and his class. Students trickled in, got settled and then waited to be re-oriented to the lesson and to Fred’s expectations. “So this is what is getting to me Jeff,” Fred shared, “I feel like the first 25 minutes of class is nothing but false starts. I start explaining the experiment, then a couple more trickle in and I have to start over. Then, even when they are all here, some students are not really paying attention and they will ask the same question that I had just finished answering for several other students. Meanwhile, other students have already read the whole handout and are asking me questions that most of the class is just not ready for. By the time we move to the back of the classroom (to the lab part), I’m exhausted and feel like I’m going to lose my voice. And once we get started on the experiment, I find out just how many students still didn’t get it!” After a couple of visits, Fred and I sat down together and discussed ways forward. First, we took a close look at what was actually going on:
Next, we asked a key question: “Who is actually doing the work?” Fred had to confess that, in spite of all his good intentions, he was actually the one doing the work. He made the handouts, prepared the notes, and gave the explanations. The students just had to sit back and listen (or not). We decided to put the onus for learning back on to the students! Yes, we would provide them with scaffolding and support, but we were not going to spoon feed any longer. The next lab class, Fred made a point of meeting each student at the door. As they came in, he gave them the two-page handout, a highlighter and a one-page graphic organizer. In a hushed voice, he asked the students to come in quietly and to get down to reading ASAP. Further instructions were written on the board. On the board, Fred had written the following directives:
K - What do we know already? What are the givens for this experiment? What are the conditions? W - What do you want to know? What phenomena are were really investigating? H - How will we go about testing to see what happens under certain conditions? What are the critically important steps in our experiment? L - What did we learn from the experiment? How should that be represented? How can it be replicated? S - What is the significance of what we have discovered? How might it be applied to real world applications? It took only a class or two for the students to catch on to the new routine. Fred no longer had to greet them at the door; the students just came in, picked up the materials (handout, highlighter and graphic organizer) from a front desk, and settled in to work. There were significantly fewer false starts and repeated explanations. When I next met up with Fred, he seemed to have a bit of a spring to his step. “It’s been a life-saver, Jeff! I am so glad we decided to make those changes. The students who are keen can get going as soon as they are ready and those who struggle I can sidle up to and work with quietly as they work through the KWHLS. Wow!” The Need to Step Back and Seek Input
I’ve shared this anecdote, but not because of my part in it. Indeed, Fred was the one who went through the reflective process; he identified an issue, sought a second set of eyes, discussed some of the underlying issues, chose a course of action and then skillfully and persistently put this plan into place. I just asked a few timely questions and shared some strategies that might help (we discussed many more options than the one he chose). The process that Fred and I went through is called: “instructional coaching”. As one of my mentors explained to me years ago, “to coach” in situations like this is not really acting like some kind of athletic coach, trying to get the best out of his athletes. I would feel funny yelling encouragement and guidance during an instructor’s lesson - “Atta go! Wonderful motivational bridge, Now let’s get to the outcomes!” Instead, to coach, means to provide the conveyance (like the old horse drawn coaches) so that instructors can work from one place or teaching challenge (a muddy spot) toward an easier or more efficient path. This “coaching” is done by careful observation and thoughtful feedback and questioning and not through pointed advice or judgement. There really is a bit of an art to it. In the last few years, Joan Wall, Sarah Apedaile and I have all had the chance to provide a bit of coaching to countless “Freds” at NorQuest. It has been great! Instructors have asked us to visit their classrooms (both physical and online) to seek feedback on their practices and routines. I love this part of my job. I get to watch true professionals in action and I get to step into learning environments that are vibrant and intellectually stimulating! In one morning, I can learn how to put in an IV line, balance the books, apply for a job, and formulate an effective thesis statement. If you are interested in having a faculty developer like Joan, Sarah or myself, work with you, just send an email our way. However, you might wait a week or two before doing so though. At the moment, it is a very busy time as many faculty need support facing up to tech challenges in teaching online for the first time (and Sarah is on leave for the next few weeks). You might also line up coaching conversations with a teaching colleague, where you visit each other’s classes and provide feedback. Just remember though, this process is not about evaluation; it is about reflection and growth. Look for someone who will challenge you to see possibilities, not push you towards their own preconceived notion of best practice. |
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
March 2024
Categories
All
|