Reflection on Fourth Meeting At the risk of sounding redundant, it was another great week. We had another great discussion Friday. Autumn & Steve had to keep tight reigns on us in order to stay on task. Speaking of which, the feedback from them was very reaffirming that we, as a group, are “getting it”. For me personally, I feel that I’ve learned a great deal thus far and it was very nice to receive positive feedback regarding my efforts, observations, and contributions thus far. Autumn & Steve, “thank you”.

I’ll also go out on a limb and predict that our remaining sessions will be just as productive. More importantly, I believe that the seed has been planted for many of us and there will be continued growth and exploration after this workshop is over. At this point my only questions are 1) I wonder how will our final presentations be perceived by our target audience, 2) will there be support for these ideas and concepts at higher levels in the administration?; and 3) I wonder what levels of resistance might be met from others at my level in the university?

Getting back to Friday’s session, applying the assessment cycle to our current courses was a good exercise. It was very informative to see how our class objectives did, or did not match our teaching goals. I enjoyed hearing others talk about their experiences. With regard to assessment, in some ways it seems like we (FDW participants) are all novices with this approach but in reality, we know much more than we sometimes give ourselves credit for. I think that we are just learning a new language and possibly experiencing a paradigm shift.

For example, I now know that I’ve been using CATS in my courses from Day one. I’ve also learned that I can do a much better job of framing these assessments and have become aware of the variety of CATS available to address different issues. I used the +/delta technique this past week in my target course and the results were very informative. As such, one of the things that I’m doing to improve communication of expectations is through the development of a rubric for the required research paper. I also received important feedback about components of the instruction and course that are helping students to learn and what components have room for improvement or modification.

However, one of the most important things that I found out is that despite my attempts to stress the recommended prerequisite knowledge and skills necessary for this course, and the emphasis that the course would be approached with those prerequisites assumed, I apparently have a few students expecting the course to provide those requisite skills. I can only see this as a huge barrier, not only in my attempts to facilitate a specific learning experience, but also from the learner’s perspective. They are not going to be able to meet the objectives of the course, as currently defined, if all of their energies are focused on learning basic terminology and concepts, much less those skills necessary for writing an acceptable research paper. This issue will be addressed during the feedback session with the class next week.

With regard to the iPaq, I was able to use it as an “all-in-one” this week for the first time as I signed up for the cellular service. I had a 2-hour teleconference tonight and it was very helpful to have my calendar, emails, & notes all in one device. The ability to use a Bluetooth headset was also a huge plus! I’ve started developing a simple database to record class rolls with. I hope to be able to implement it soon. I’ve already been using a spreadsheet on the device to maintain research appointments and will keep looking for ways in which the iPaq can help me to work more efficiently.  ¶ 7:38 PM