This week's project was mentioned in the previous post and John's response reminded me of something that is a natural part of my teaching process. Tailoring material to fit the individual remains a priority in my design and development of appropriate instruction. The last post serves as a good example of the process in action.
At the moment, the primary audience for this blog consists of three grad students -a techie, a science teacher, and a sports management expert - who are all taking an instructional computing course at the same time. A few others check in occasionally, but for the most part that's our group. With such a small collection of readers, it's fairly simple to pick examples of interest to the other members.
So John mentioned in a response that it was cool to discuss something he was interested in. The choice of material was intentional. A story combining science, technology, and sports seemed to be much more compelling than forcing my course mates to read only what I think is noteworthy.
How many classes are designed around standards, testing, and defined criteria, but forget that we are individuals with specific interests, desires, and passions? This has been a point of frustration for me in the past. After coming to the realization, that extraordinary courses would be uncommon by the very nature of their being extraordinary, my design and use of individualized educational technology has flourished. Maintaining this approach in the face of criticism, unbelief, and difficult authority figures has not been easy. Maturity and experience have been helpful, but intellectual honesty has been the most helpful trait.
2 comments:
It is definitely frustrating when, as a student, you feel that you cannot relate to the class material. I have an evaluation proceedures class now where the majority of students are sport management students. The course is geared towards those interested in seriously pursuing the field of research (which almost none of us are). The point was raised that the class goes so much more in depth than is necessary for the level of understanding we will utilize in our careers. Interestingly enough, the professor agreed and responded that there is nothing he can really do because he does not have the authority to change the course content. The point was also raised that many of the examples used in class were not sport related since his expertise is in social sciences. He has since added more sport related examples and the class has responded positively. The material is still slightly overwhelming, but at least we have a better chance of relating to the material!
We have all had to take classes that were required to graduate, etc. Sometimes, it would be nice to wave them away and just take what seems right at the time.
However, we do not know what we do not know. Presumably, those who have taken the courses see a need. Are they right? Who can say.
I know later in life, I have run across a situation or two that required knowledge I gained in some of those classes.
I believe tailoring a course to the students means to provide various methods for the students to learn, but not let the students dictate what content is provided.
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