Three Reflections

Well, I didn't have a Skype call as the student I was paired with has dropped the course. So while I can't complete the three reflections as they are assigned, I thought I would throw some reflections out here anyway. Not so much on trends, but on new insights as I am going through the course.

As I mentioned in my intro, I have been taking courses in the PID Program for over 5 years. When I first started, this course, 3100, didn't exist. If I would have taken less than the required time, I would not have had to take it. Because I have taken longer than >5 years to complete the Program, I had to reapply and that meant having to take this extra course. I wasn't totally happy about that, but consequences is consequences! Having now done several of the assignments, I am glad to be taking it. I am definitely gaining insight into myself and my teaching, and perhaps even a little more into my students as well.

This course is also helping me to be more concise! Those Assignment 3 lesson plan posts are tough to keep at 100 words! I am finding some really excellent resources on the lesson plan elements though, many of which I will definitely be using in the next semester.

I am somewhat amazed (perhaps naively) at how many resources there are for adult educators out there. Before this course I had no idea. It is hard to find the time to go through all of them and integrate some of the ideas into my teaching as well. I barely have time to prep and teach what I have now! I guess that is a task for the summer months when I have no students, although that time is always full as well!

I didn't discuss this trend in my assignment 2 blog post, but I think another trend in Veterinary Technology is the Veterinary Technician Specialties. These are credentials which are earned by becoming a 'specialist' VT in a certain area, such as radiography, equine medicine, internal medicine or even education. Each specialty has an Academy which regulates the requirements to achieving a Specialty (VTS) designation; each Academy has a formal process of education, training, experience and testing to qualify. It takes a minimum of five years to gain a VTS, and that would be after our two year program. "Addressing" this trend for me will be a matter of ensuring that my students have an excellent base of skills, as well as ensuring that interested students have the required information and support to start the process once they graduate.

Creating a Positive Learning Environment

The University of Saskatchewan has a set of webpages on building a positive learning environment.  The page on Effective Communication has several pointers on fostering student input, including waiting at least 15 seconds for an answer when asking a question.  I do leave several seconds to give students time to formulate their thoughts, however if there is no answer after a short time, I will give the answer or rephrase the question.  I am going to try to leave the full 15 seconds and see if I get more student responses.

In the video on this page on Fostering Student Engagement, one of the professors discusses the fact that she has cut out a lot of material in her course in order to be able to really discuss topics, and have the students involved (~6:30 of the video).  I found that interesting in that it linked back to my second journal assignment in which I said that I was planning on finding ways to decrease course material to hopefully increase student input and ultimately increase understanding of the material presented.

Different Learning Styles

I liked this article on Learning Styles as well.  It was more focused on children than adult learners, but it included the Read/Write learning style in addition to the Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic.  I think despite the focus on children, it could be a good resource for ways to assist students to learn materials.

I liked the 'Characteristics' section on this webpage.  Although the webpage I linked in my Assignment 3 post below also has 'Characteristics' listed, the list is not bulleted.  I guess I have Visual preferences as well :).

Characteristics of Adult Learners

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lindah/329179351

This webpage gives good tips for teaching to the different learning styles. I am primarily a kinesthetic learner and so tend to teach by demonstrating. Over time, I have developed flowcharts and tables to better accommodate visual learners. I think I am weakest when teaching to auditory learners. I do describe the task when I am demonstrating, however sometimes I fumble a bit trying to do both simultaneously.  The website has given me the idea to record my demonstrations with a voice-over so that auditory learners may listen as often as they need to in order to learn the material.

Clarity in Explanations

I came across this article while researching for some assignments and thought it helpful.  I found the paragraph on "Reconstituted and repeated" especially familiar.  I have students who are at various levels of veterinary experience.  For some, tasks and concepts are easily assimilated as they have already seen them done or performed them before.  For others, it is the first time they have been introduced to the notion and they have a hard time grasping it.  Finding other ways to describe it can be difficult.

An example I am often faced with is getting students to understand the difference between what the number of x-rays accomplishes and what the power of x-rays accomplishes.  Some students understand how to tell the difference right away, and others struggle for the entire semester.  I really identified with the "Paced at the speed of the learner" paragraph: I never feel like I have enough time in the semester to get through all the material, never mind having to repeat lessons.  Perhaps some support materials would be helpful for the students to peruse in their own time to help re-enforce the idea.

This year for the first time most of the class "got it".  The faculty member and I met several times last year to try and figure out how to teach it differently to help them.  We changed some flowcharts to better explain the concept; the faculty member explained the idea in lecture and then I re-enforced it in lab sessions throughout the semester.  I still feel as though some students struggled with it and weren't honest about it.  Perhaps embarrassed by their inability to grasp the idea, they would not admit that they needed extra help or had questions.  I don't have enough time to check in with each of them individually, unfortunately.  Perhaps having a 'concept check' quiz partway through the semester to see where they are at, and checking in with those who are less successful on the quiz.

I think continuing to try to find new and better ways to explain concepts is a good idea, even if this year’s class understood.  There are no guarantees that next year’s group will be in the same place and having a collection of explanations will help to ensure their success.