Goals for learning

Goals for Learning
By Prof. Jonathan Acuña Solano
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Twitter: @jonacuso
Post 148
Pre-Reflective Activity
Take a look at the following case in a sociology class. Reflecting upon the situation, what would you have done differently? I did post my own way of seeing the problem. Would you come up with a different reflection?
Maria is teaching a course in first-year sociology. It is the first time she has taught the course, having stepped in for a colleague who became ill very near the start of the term. Her colleague was able to send her a copy of his syllabus, which provided the chapter readings for each class, and some lecture notes. Since she had less than a week before the start of the term, and several other classes to prepare for, she decided to use her colleague’s syllabus without modifying it. He is a well-respected faculty member in the department, and she could not imagine that there would be anything she would need to do differently. The syllabus called for a quiz at the end of the first three weeks of class. As she was preparing the quiz, she thought back to some of the discussions she had had in class, and some of the questions students had asked. She often felt like they were missing the point of the class—they seemed too focused on terms and facts, and did not appear to appreciate the contribution that sociology could make to understanding everyday human behavior. She decided to include some questions about this on the quiz, since she thought it was a very important part of a first-year sociology course. The results of the first quiz were not good—not only did students do poorly on the questions about the nature of sociology and its role in understanding human behavior, but they also did not score well on the factual questions. Some students even complained that she hadn’t covered what was on the quiz and that they had no idea how to study for it. Taken from Laureate Education Inc. (2014)

How should an instructor approach a course whose syllabus has already been planned by a colleague that cannot teach that class anymore? This is the situation of the sociology teacher presented in the case provided before. Though his/her colleague can be a well-known professor with ample experience in their field, it does not mean that both of them approach teaching in the very same way. In other words, one cannot take for granted that two individuals (faculty members, in this case) will plan and structure student learning alike.
Though a course syllabus had been prepared, would one plan instructional goals and instruments likewise if compared to a colleague teaching the same course? A not very elaborate answer can be stated over here since no single instructor would plan the very same identically. Assuming that one can use a colleague’s syllabus does not guarantee success in teaching and in students learning. Had the sociology professor considered this simple issue at the beginning, the instructor would have made necessary modifications to suit his/her teaching and planning style to benefit deep learning among the class members. Bearing in mind that the teaching process is indeed a complex one and that no instructor will probably plan instructional goals similarly can guarantee that we can have all learners work on the same learning objectives and learn the same concepts to be applied in meaningful contexts.
Another important issue to consider in this case sample, which is also applicable to one’s teaching, is the use of schema in teaching. All students come into one’s classrooms with lots of prior knowledge and former experiences, and all of this information background that humans have can be detrimental in learning. Had our sociology professor activated learners’ prior knowledge, the teacher would have been able to create new connections in the students’ experiences and would have assisted them in building more knowledge. Some sort of previewing technique at the beginning of the sessions could have yielded some more positive results when summative assessments were applied and checked. From my teaching experience in and out of college education, this link between individuals’ prior knowledge and what they need to learn is vital to produce deep learning.

Clear goals, learning outcomes, and teacher and students’ expectations need to be set at the very start of a course. A course outline is not just a set of goals that need to be met by the end of a term, it is a contract that we faculty members must comply with to produce deep and long-lasting learning among learners. A course outline is not written on stone and can be modified to suit one’s teaching style and pupils’ learning preferences. Modifying outline content and expectations by means of a learning outcomes taxonomy such as Bloom’s or Fink’s Taxonomy is a must since we want students to replicate certain behaviors and use knowledge in other different contexts to produce a certain effect to prompt learners to think critically and –why not- out of the box.
Laureate Education Inc. (n.d.). Certificate in Higher Education: Module 1. [Online Certificate].
TeachThought.Com. (2013). Bloom’s Taxonomy. [Infographic]. Retrieved on 2014, Sept. 21 from http://www.teachthought.com/wp- content/uploads/2013/04/BloomsTaxonomySized.jpg
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