Tag: learning

The Iterative and Reciprocal Process of Developing Rubrics (With Training Video)

An important element of developing residential curriculum involves scaffolding and sequencing learning. Rubrics, or tools developed for the purposes of scoring and rating development along a scale, can be useful in this scaffolding and sequencing process. As discussed earlier, residential curriculum rubrics break down learning outcomes into successive stages of development and mastery. Although coming... Continue Reading →

What Does Connected Learning Look Like?

Connected learning holds the promise of re-invisioning what education can look like.  In many ways, we have talked about the ideal of connected learning for years, but it wasn't until the advent of the internet and social media, in particular, that we have had the tools to make it a reality.  The beauty of social technology... Continue Reading →

Stay the Course: Reminders for When Assessment Gets Messy [REBLOG]

Old wooden ruler.

The folks over at the “Oh, No, It’s an Assessment Blog” posted this great little piece on the “messiness” of assessing student learning and distilled down five tips to help guide efforts in this area.  They also include an excellent video (see below, highly recommended) form the folks at EDUCAUSE about why learning assessment can seem (and is) difficult.

2015-03-14_OhNoLogo22-abby3My friends for the assessment revolution! My office is gearing up to take the next step in our learning outcomes assessment efforts. I’m VERY excited! It’s going to be fun, intellectually and professionally fulfilling, and (most importantly and hopefully) provide meaningful insight into the student experience. But in addition to excitement, I am also a bit nervous, because, as you’ve likely noticed, measuring for learning is messy – which is the largest part of its difficulty, but, also, its beauty. In my research about student learning and assessment over the past few years I’ve come to learn that it’s not just me who’s feeling this way:

In watching videos like the above and reading anything I can get my hands on, I’m hearing a few common themes (some old, some new) that I’m keeping in mind during this big year for our assessment efforts in the Career Center:

  1. Assess learning not just once, but…

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Checklist: Selecting Technology for Learning [REBLOG]

Learning + Technology Development Process Model (Hibbitts & Travin, 2015)The following post comes from Laura Pasquini which shares an excellent model for determining how one should go about integrating digital technology into course content and deciding what are the most appropriate approaches given the content and context.  Tony Bates’ SECTIONS model is a practical and useful tool to have in your digital teaching arsenal.  Read on…

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With so many possibilities for digital learning, selecting media and technologies for appropriate course instruction is a very complex process. Although there are a wide range of options in the ed tech realm, pedagogical considerations should always come first. Instructors should reflect on the learning objective and desired outcomes for their subject matter before identifying identifying technological applications for the course.

The SECTIONS model, developed by Tony Bates (2015), is a pedagogical framework for determining what technology, specifically how this technology will be appropriate for instructional approaches. This might include identifying and determining pedagogical characteristics of text, audio, video, computing, and social media. With this framework, Bates (2015) asks five critical questions for teaching and learning for technology and media selection:

  1. Who are the learners?
  2. What are the desired learning outcomes from the teaching?
  3. What instructional strategies will be employed to facilitate the learning outcomes?
  4. What are the unique educational characteristics of…

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Beyond the Grade: Digital Badges to Certify Learning

Grades are not the only way of assessing student work. There are a number of colleges and universities that have experimented with alternative approaches to the traditional letter grade. One such college, Reed College in Oregon, provides students with more detailed feedback and assessment in addition to grades. As stated in their Guidebook, “Students' work... Continue Reading →

5 Outcomes #PechaKucha Presentations Can Teach You

From the first ACPA PechaKucha session, to its adoption as a conference-wide event, a number of faculty have begun to utilize the presentation style as a class assignment for their students.  For a few years, I have avoided assigning this to my own students.  I thought it was just too hard.  That it required too advanced a... Continue Reading →

100 Professionals Answer “Why They Choose Student Affairs” As A Career

In honor of Careers in Student Affairs Month (CSAM), I asked my colleagues to complete the following sentence: I received approximately 100 responses.  Doing a back-of-the-napkin qualitative coding and analysis for themes (completely non-scientific on a non-scientific sample), the chart below represents the most common responses.  Not surprisingly, "learning and growth" and "making positive change" rose to... Continue Reading →

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