When thinking about my teaching philosophy, I feel I work in the progressive and constructivist mindset. I look for ways for students to connect the facts and content I teach with their real-life experiences. I also want students to make sense of their own world through interactions with diverse individuals and resources. While I feel there are many uses of other learning theories like Behaviorism, I lean more towards the more modern theories. I know that students are coming to me with a vast knowledge of internet resources and can easily access content once reserved for memorization. I am moving towards a setting where I provide students with problems to solve instead of information to remember. If I can help them generate content for others I will be helping them contribute to society by adding to the knowledge base. As Siemens (2004) noted, students can easily access just about any piece of material through the use of nodes, such as the internet or through other individuals. I now teach students how to become better consumers of this instant information so they know if they are getting quality or worthless tidbits. I also serve in the role of guiding them to new information and stepping in to provide just-in-time information when their sources fail them.
I also feel there is a greater need for collaboration and communication between learners and instructors. Often, teachers are given a powerful role in which they are expected to just impart information upon the masses. In our information age, students and teachers would work better if they collaborated on what they know and not have a power struggle in the classroom. If teachers are leery of giving up control of their traditional classroom, they might explore having a virtual world which allows them to interact with their students. They could encourage less threatening interactions (e.g. students being scared to ask questions) through discussion postings or weekly/biweekly chats with their classes. I think if we moved to a more informal setting outside of school hours, students would be more apt to work in the formal nature of the classroom.
Reference
Ray,
ReplyDeleteSolid objectives and philosophy of learning as you highlight the student's need to search for concepts and tenets that make sense to them. I find that some need to led to the water trough, but want me to exercise the option to drink at their leisure. I concur that students lack the primal problem solving skills and a stronger emphasis is needed to better prepare them for future challenges. Aerospace provides many opportunities for this challenge and mindset.
I have seen the concept of work outside the classroom benefit many that crave the interaction after hours; in doses, it is healthy to stay connected.
David