Reflections on Teaching: Searching for Milestones of Excellence

1. Reflections on Teaching: Searching for Milestones of Excellence A 2014 CCEAM CASEA Conference Workshop Tim McRoberts Program Manager, Holland College PhD Student, UPEI Prince Edward Island, Canada

2. “I did read the course outline, and it sounded really interesting, but whether I would have taken it if it hadn’t been him, I don’t honestly know.” personal communication, 2014. • Who am I as a PhD student and educational administrator? • As a researcher, I had the honour of observing a class experience. • The opportunity to search for the “X Factor” of one university professor emerged. • Why is this topic important for leaders in post-secondary education?

3. “So it’s all about ownership, students’ ownership. Yeah, I think that really is learning.” personal communication, 2014 • What experiential factors contributed to students recalling a course as important and memorable? • What steps did the professor take to design a memorable and socially engaging course experience? • How did this course integrate a learning cycle for millennial learners?

4. “I’ve shared with you the story of when you called everybody in and said you were going to tell a story. You didn’t really say it like that, but as soon as you began speaking the entire room leaned in to listen to you speak. I’ll never forget it because I was at the back; it really was something.” McRoberts, 2014 • Less secondary school graduates in Atlantic Canada (Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission, 2007). • Increased levels of internationalization (Association of Canadian Community Colleges, 2011). • Career changers, degree finishers, individualized course selections. • A changing post-secondary student demographic.

5. “I thought of this one for a while, and the most important learning for me, really, is that the enthusiasm of the facilitator goes a long way to making the course valid.” personal communication, 2014 • Post course interviews with three students and their professor. Focused on their lived experiences in the class. • Qualitative coding and thematic analysis of responses to semi-structured interviews. • Strengths of the Professor, Teaching Strategies, The Teaching Environment, Personal Ownership for Learning, Memorable Moments, Connecting with the Professor, and Engagement were themes chosen for further examination.

6. “He knew who we all were. He actively would call on us during classes which, honestly, I don’t see anywhere else these days.” personal communication, 2014 • Challenges as opposed to assignments. • Community connections with content. • Prioritizing personal relevance. • Multiple course choices for students in the name of ownership and personal investment.

7. “It was a funny thing because when I read it, it made so much sense to me, and I think it really captured what I was doing all those years and not knowing it. I was actually going through that cycle.” personal communication, 2014 The Essence of Bernice McCarthy’s work: • The learning cycle is all about how individuals perceive and process information. • Perceiving is about what happens to you and how you label it for yourself. • Processing is about how you reflect and act upon information.

8. Perceiving and Processing create the two dimensions of the learning cycle which result in four quadrants. Perceiving is anchored by experience and abstract conceptualization Processing is anchored by reflection and acting.

9. “The most important part of my work (which of course is based on the work of many others), is the movement from content as primary to competence as primary. The "What?" of Quadrant Two is always in service to the "How?" and "What if?" of Quadrants Three and Four.” McCarthy, 2014 • The vertical axis connects personal perceptions of the student to the expert. • The horizontal axis connects the individual’s reflections leading to action. • Movement across these continuums encourage individuals to test new ideas in real world situations, adapt what they learn in their own life context, and act upon ideas they ponder.

10. “The other big thing is that there’s high retention if there’s engagement emotionally. I believe that strongly.” personal communication, 2014 Imaginative Learning: Feel, observe, seek personal meaning, get involved. “Why?” Analytic Learning: Listen, think about information, know what the experts know, seek facts. “What?” Common Sense Learning: Think, experiment, build, tinker. “How?” Dynamic Learning: Do and feel, seek hidden or new opportunities, explore, self-discovery . “If?” The individual may have a preference but one should learn to operate in all four areas.

11. Your Brian The model is highly influenced by the right and left brain processing function. Left Brain Processing: Structural, sequential, language and numbers, analysis of information. (Logical) Right Brian Processing: Imagery, patterns, metaphors, synthesis of information. (Intuitive) Individuals have the opportunity to employ right/left brain processing in each quadrant. The interplay between right/left brain thinking encourages creativity and problem solving(McCarthy, 2012).

12. Discussion • How can administrators and leaders leverage such a culture of learning in their institutions from this experiential study? • How can administrators use this study to consider attrition and retention in post-secondary education? • How can this study support opportunities for faculty development?

13. References Association of Canadian Community Colleges (2011). Driving Canada’s long term prosperity: Advanced skills and incremental innovation. Retrieved from http://www.accc.ca/xp/index.php/en/comm/briefs-papers/brief-list McCarthy, B. (2012). The learning cycle, the 21st century and millennial learners. Wauconda, IL: About Learning. Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission(2007). Surveying the enrolment landscape: Factors and trends in maritime university enrolment 2000-2001 to 2006-2007. Trends in Maritime Higher Education, 5(1), 1-11.

14. Questions or further discussion can be directed to: Tim McRoberts, PhD student The University of Prince Edward Island 550 University Avenue Charlottetown, PE Canada C1A 4p3 Email: tmcroberts@upei.ca Telephone: (902) 566-9612