How to Get People to Actually Do...

I've tried to get people to participate in discussion boards and other social technologies. Very few do and it is difficulty to know exactly why.

Creating Passionate Users' 'Getting someone to decide' postgives some research that highlights the problem. People learned intellectually (some by video, some by a printout) of the consequences of not getting a tetnus injection but only 3% of those in the survey did something about it (whichever way they were taught). Then those being studied were given information to take away on a piece of paper, asked to decide if they would go to the clinic or not, and 28% did something about it.

So in conclusion how does this affect my teaching? Some learning theories see learning not just as taking in and constructing knowledge, but as changing your actions and motivations. We can help change actions by giving people the exact instructions they need to do something, and asking them to make a decision to do something and not change their minds.

Finally they give us the reference for the research:

Leventhal, H.R., Singer, P., and Jones, S. (1965)
Effects of fear and specificity of recommendation upon attitudes and behaviour.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2, pp 20-29.

What Are My Professional Values?

What Are My Professional Values, and How Do the Opportunities and Challenges within the Local, National and International Contexts Impact on Them?

Peter Beaumont, 2004


This essay will start by identifying what my professional values, and professional values in general are. From there it will discuss how these values, including the affects that these values have, are themselves affected by the contexts that I work within, including local, national and international contexts.

[Could have a section here about definitions of what values are (search Google.co.uk for define:values to start thinking about this), what a profession is and what professional values might mean (see notes).]

If professional values are what I see as important in my role in Higher Education, can I identify any things I value, which might help me to decide what my professional values are.

[Discuss things that are important to me in the way I go about my work]

The ILTHE in (1) require members and associates to adhere to what they call professional values. The 5 values the refer to are:

· a commitment to scholarship in teaching, both generally and within their own discipline;
· respect for individual learners and for their development and empowerment;
· a commitment to the development of learning communities, including students, teachers and all those engaged in learning support;
· a commitment to encouraging participation in higher education and to equality of educational opportunity;
· a commitment to continued reflection and evaluation and consequent improvement of their own practice. (Taken directly from (1))

These 5 sections cover the values that I identified as mine, as well as other areas that I have not yet considered. They will serve as a useful structure to help identify how my values are affected by the different contexts in which I work.

The first value mentioned here relates to being committed to scholarship in teaching. This means a variety of things to different people as is evidenced in Edge Hill Faculty of Education’s Teaching and Learning Audit Report (2). In this, those involved in teaching identified several different meanings for scholarship in teaching, which were ‘Reflection on practice and development’, ‘Utilising a wider context of theory, research and practice’, ‘Collaboration and dissemination’, ‘Subject knowledge’ and ‘Innovation’. A theme that I consider to run through these 5 definitions is ‘reflective development of practice within a wider learning community’.

To give some context to what follows, it is worth noting that one area of my practice where I think this value would be noticeably influential is where I am involved in leading inductions into Edge Hill’s online Virtual Learning Environment, WebCT. This is where I am involved in leading or assisting with face-to-face teaching sessions with staff and students.

Looking at the local context, Edge Hill’s staff development program has encouraged reflective development of practice in relation to developing the WebCT induction sessions. A recent session brought several people together to learn about good practice, to develop understanding of how students learn and to share thoughts with the hope of developing practice. This particular session was in line with that value, and because it showed the importance of scholarship in teaching, it encouraged me to further assimilate that value into my own value structure.

Another area of work that it would be useful to mention to give context to what is about to be said, is the ‘Developer’s Information Base’ which I have started work on. Although not released yet, this is intended to be an area where people who are involved in creating WebCT areas for courses can find links to useful information that will help their understanding of learning, learning in an online context and other technical considerations. It will also give them an opportunity to interact and discuss with each other these and any other related issues, using an online discussion tool.

The ‘Developer’s Information Base’ will, within the local context at first, encourage others and myself to reflect on the development of practice within a wider community. If the content created is successful it may be disseminated throughout a wider context.

Referring to the ‘Developer’s Information Base’ leads us on to something that could be a challenge to anyone holding this first value. That challenge is time constraints. An important part of my role is administrator for the Learning Technology Development team, and this throws up time consuming work without any notice meaning developments such as the ‘Developer’s Information Base’, which I consider important to the development of people’s practice, take place slowly if at all.

Looking at the national context, the first value that is being discussed here ‘a commitment to scholarship in teaching, both generally and within their own discipline’, is encouraged by groups such as the ‘Impatica User Group’ which I have taken part in. This is a group of people, who use a piece of software to make their teaching more accessible, both to those who cannot attend face-to-face sessions, and those with disabilities who might get less out of those sessions than most students. Their activities aim to share good practice, knowledge and work that may be inspiring, to the community.

Finally the international context of Higher Education means international books, journals and web sites may help support a ‘wider learning community’ within which one could develop one’s practice reflectively.

The second value to be discussed here is ‘respect for individual learners and for their development and empowerment’.

[nb: this was as far as I got with writing this up. Some more notes on where I might have gone are seen below. ]



(1) - ILTHE Website - http://www.ilt.ac.uk/120.asp - 24/06/04 - “ILTHE Professional Values and Core Knowledge Page
(2) - Edge Hill Faculty of Education, Teaching, Learning and Assessment Committee Teaching and Learning Audit Report, Graham Rogers, 2004

Notes:


Professional Values

Professional values are an important aspect to reflect on, as they are a basis for your motivation. As noted in (5) your professional competence is grounded in your values.


The first question to approach relates to what is meant by professional values.

In (3 – page 10) a role that is referred to as professional is said to rest on three things: being valued by society, involving specialist knowledge and higher order judgments and skills being required in it. Some areas of my work involve specialist knowledge and higher order judgments and skills, and (3) claims that society values Higher Education. Examples would be learning facilitation that I undertake, whether in classrooms or through written materials that I develop.


D. Stanley Carpenter in (4) discusses 8 dimensions in which attitudes will differ between those taking part in an occupation, and those taking part in a profession. One of the dimensions he identifies is motivation. In an occupation the attitude he identifies is 'Self-interest' whereas in a profession, he identifies the attitude providing motivation as 'Service'. I would identify service and the importance of serving the students as one of my professional values.


My Professional Values

1) Scholarship in teaching – ILTHE 1 (with 5???)



2) Service – similar to ILTHE value 2 – Respect for learners and their development and empowerment. (with 4???)
In my role I serve students in direct and indirect ways. I would directly work with students if for example one had a specific problem using the WebCT software that many of them are expected to use during their time of study. In a case like this I would start by remembering or finding a solution to the problem. If the solution involved something that they needed to do, I would explain what they must do in a way that they can understand. An example would be a student who works at home on their computer, but who cannot access our WebCT software. I cannot travel to their home, so they must make any changes to their computer, to solve the problem. If I could solve the problem, I would tell them what I was going to do, and advise them when the problem would be solved. An example would be when a student has forgotten their password, and I am required to reset it. In the examples here, service is shown, and the students’ needs are being put before mine.


3) Learning Communities – ILTHE 3


4) Participation and equality – ILTHE 4 (with 2???)


5) Evaluation of own practice – ILTHE 5 (with 1???)



(3) - ILTHE Website - http://www.ilt.ac.uk/120.asp - 24/06/04 - “ILTHE Professional Values and Core Knowledge Page
(4) - Edge Hill Faculty of Education, Teaching, Learning and Assessment Committee Teaching and Learning Audit Report, Graham Rogers, 2004
(5) – Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Light and Cox.
(6) – Chapter 27 – Professionalism; Student Services: A Handbook for the Profession, 4th Edition; Komives, S; Woodard Jnr, D; (from netlibrary)
(7) - Student Services, Komives et al
– “Action Research for Equality in Teaching and Learning”; p35 Chapter 2; Melanie Walker - Reconstructing Professionalism in University Teaching; Ed. Melanie Walker; 2001; Open University Press; Buckingham

Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: What is involved? (From 2003)

Part 1. Introduction.

This piece of writing has been written to display a snapshot of my views on teaching and learning in Higher Education. It is being purposely written before I start work on my portfolio for the ‘Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Teaching and Learning Support’ course.
Once the work for the portfolio has been finished, I intend to write a similar piece, describing how my mind has changed, and how it has stayed the same through that time period. The two pieces of work will show the development of my thoughts about and understanding of teaching and learning in Higher Education. They will also show the development of my values and my awareness of my values, and possibly other things that I am not aware of at this point.


Part 2. The Purposes Of Teaching And Learning In Higher Education.

The experience of Higher Education should allow and require the student to develop a wide variety of skills, abilities and knowledge relating to their subject area. These should be developed to an appropriate level of complexity for the level of study, such as HE1, HE2, HE3 or M level.
The reason or reasons for developing these skills, abilities and knowledge might be one, or a combination of items such as:

· To make the student more employable, in a specific area or in general.
· To give the student the ability and motivation to learn throughout their life.
· The student's interest in the subject.

The purpose of teaching is to help focus and guide the student so that the knowledge, understanding and skills are learned and developed through the student's activities and study.


Part 3. Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in Practice.

This section covers what I consider to be some of the issues that are most important to teaching and learning in Higher Education.

The Relationship Between Teacher and Learner
The teacher/learning facilitator works in partnership with the student, in that the student must trust the teacher/learning facilitator's guidance and act on it. However this involves the students working independently, to the extent described in the institution’s level descriptors.

Personalised Learning.
Teaching should take into account different students’ needs. This could be related to a student’s disability, which might require the course, or resources used in the course, to be presented in a way that he/she is able to access. The teaching strategy also needs to take into account the way students learn best, which will vary from student to student. Therefore a wide variety of learning styles should be catered for where possible, to help different students access and connect with the learning resources.

Making Aims Explicit
The student needs to be aware of the learning outcomes of their course as a whole and the modules within it, as well as why it is important to learn what they are learning. This motivates the student to get involved in learning activities, partly by showing them that each activity they are asked to undertake is part of the bigger learning experience.
The students should be able to reflect on their development through their course, as this helps them to appreciate, and take charge of, their own learning. The student should be encouraged to learn to identify which skills and what knowledge has been developed at different stages of their course. They can then see what their efforts so far have achieved, and take steps to work on skills and knowledge that still require development.

Assignment: Module 1, Part 1

I've started writing my assignment now, and feel like I've some sort of structure that means I can keep my momentum going. I did about 500 words on Sunday evening which was satisfying... just 3400 to go.

Meeting Lindsey tomorrow, and I hope she can give me some guidance on if I'm going in the right direction with what I've done so far.

I've found some earlier writing that I did for the 2002 version of the course. I'll post it on here so that I can keep going back to it.