PIDP 3210 – Assignment 1: Reflection 3

Objective

For my final reflective writing assignment, I’ve chosen to respond to Dan Meyer’s TED Talk, Math Class Needs a Makeover (2010, March). In this TED Talk, Meyer speaks of the need for math curriculum to gravitate towards creating patient problem solvers. He explains that to do this, we must focus less on the computation side of mathematics and more on the math reasoning side. The math reasoning side takes patience and a problem solving approach to actively define the problem. This talk caught my attention because I believe developing math reasoning fits into a larger societal goal of developing critical thinking skills.

Reflective

I chose this quote because I agree with the basic premise of Meyer’s argument, but disagree with the implementation. I believe Meyer to be right in wanting to develop reasoning skills. Computation, after all, is intellectual grunt work and often performed far better by machine. Reasoning, contrarily, is a human trait and ultimately where our efforts should lie. Unfortunately, Meyer’s approach of rewriting textbook problems to give next to no information and asking a question really leaves weak students to struggle. Greg Ashman in his blog post entitled What’s wrong with Dan Meyer’s TED talk? (2015, Sept. 12) agrees: “The textbook will have been designed by writers who have an implicit or explicit understanding of cognitive load. Novice learners need this structure because the capacity of the working memory is limited and so it enables novices to focus on a few salient points at a time.”

To use Meyer’s example of the water jug filling up:

The question is: How long will it take you to fill it up? First things first, we eliminate all the sub-steps. Students have to develop those, they have to formulate those. And then notice that all the information written on there is stuff you’ll need. None of it’s a distractor, so we lose that. Students need to decide, “All right, well, does the height matter? Does the side of it matter? Does the color of the valve matter? What matters here?” Such an under-represented question in math curriculum. So now we have a water tank. How long will it take you to fill it up? And that’s it.

If a student is not exceptionally strong in math to begin with, will they know that the formulas for solving for volume rely on all of those variables? Although this may seem obvious to some, I’m confident it isn’t obvious to everyone. They very well may need to be shown all the intermediate steps to ever get to an answer.

Interpretive

I don’t think it is Meyer’s intent to suggest we refrain from teaching the basic computation skills of BEDMAS, algebra, trigonometry, calculus, etc. His video suggests that we teach the basics through a discovery model of the students trying to define the problem. I think a far more efficient and successful model would be to teach the basics through a familiar classroom model, and only then, move onto the problem defining / patient problem solving.

Decisional

Meyer’s talk was very insightful. In reflecting on his lesson examples, it occurred to me that I routinely do exactly what he has suggested. My typical lesson plan involves: 1) introducing a skill 2) doing a plain, heavily explained example with the class 3) posing an easy question for them to model my example and finally, 4) posing a harder version of the question which requires them to ask questions and take a couple extra intellectual steps beyond mirroring. It is my opinion that this ability to take the basics and run with it, seeking out the answer, is a highly desirable attribute in tradesmen and I wish to develop it. I must concede however, certain students struggle when it comes time to think outside the box.

References

Ashman, G. (2015, Sept. 12). What’s wrong with Dan Meyer’s TED talk? Retrieved from

What’s wrong with Dan Meyer’s TED talk?

Meyer, D. (2010, March). Math Class Needs a Makeover. Retrieved from

PIDP 3210 – Assignment 1: Reflection 2

Objective

Adult learners already come to class equipped with Essential Skills. It is not the role of the instructor to teach anything outside of the subject matter.

My second reflective writing assignment will be a response to the above statement. This quote centers on the idea of teaching scope. Essential Skills are defined as reading, document use, numeracy, writing, oral communication, working with others, thinking, digital technology, and continuous learning (Workplace Education Manitoba, 2017). The quote caught my attention because I strongly disagree with the first sentence, and agree with the second. I feel there are two arguments with the above quote: Do students in fact come to class with required Essential Skills? If not, is it my role as an instructor to build these skills in the student?

Reflective

I chose to respond to this quote as it is a subject I often struggle with. On one hand, student success relies heavily on Essential Skills they bring to the classroom. If a student brings adequate skill, I am confident I can teach them the course subject matter. Unfortunately, in my experience, a significant portion of students lack the basic numeracy skills to be successful. This is echoed in a recent University Affairs article by Anne Kershaw, Big drop in math skills of entering students (2010, Sept 13). This article explores the problem, confirming the overall trend of student numeracy falling dramatically.

When students are lacking in areas such as numeracy or critical thinking, they will most certainly struggle in the Electrical program. As an instructor, I want my students to succeed but I can only help them within the scope of the course. There simply isn’t enough time in the schedule to address these shortcomings.

Interpretive

This quote has confirmed a viewpoint I have held for some time. Inherently, I know I cannot bring every student up to the level they need to be performing at. I am a subject matter expert in the Electrical field, but am humble enough to realize I may not be the most qualified to teach basic mathematics or reading comprehension.

The responsibility is on the student to bring the right skills to the class. As much as I’d love to be able to catch somebody with Grade 8 math skills to the level required in my course, this isn’t realistic. Students spend years developing these Essential Skills in elementary and high school; I can’t replace that education in a week. I feel the solution lies outside of the Industry Training Authority apprenticeship model. Students who are weak in Essential Skills must take the initiative to enroll in a separate class in academia to bolster those skills prior to attending our classes. This could be done through correspondence with Open Learning, or by taking time off work and attending a class in person.

Decisional

Going forward, I will not feel guilty about some students failing. I have accepted that their lack of Essential Skills is out of my control. I will use what I have learned about Essential Skills to identify weaknesses in students which can then be addressed early on in the course. By pointing students towards resources to build these skills, I can ensure I’ve given them the best possible chance at succeeding. Sometimes all that is required is for someone to point you in the right direction.

References

Kershaw, A. (2010, Sept. 13). Big drop in math skills of entering students. Retrieved from

Big drop in math skills of entering students

Workplace Education Manitoba (2017). The 9 Essential Skills. Retrieved from

http://www.wem.mb.ca/the_9_essential_skills.aspx

PIDP 3210 – Assignment 1: Reflection 1

Objective

For my first reflective writing assignment, I’ve chosen to reflect on the following statement from the 3210 Course Manual (n.d.): “Behaviours, for example, such as attendance, punctuality, cooperation, politeness, and willingness to take direction can be factors in our decisions about learners’ success. However, instructors may fail to recognize these as components of the “implicit curriculum” because they appear so obvious”. This quote highlights the requirements of students in a classroom setting which are unevaluated, and largely unrelated to the course subject matter. It spoke to me because it caused me to self-evaluate and realize that those qualities are integral to the course which I teach, yet only attendance has a formal policy.

Reflective

I am an Electrical Trades Instructor. Prior to transitioning to teaching, I went through the ranks of Apprentice to Journeyman to Boss. Through this perspective, I identified with the above quote because these implicit curriculum requirements are integral to being successful in my trade. If one does not exhibit every one of the qualities above, they are most certainly not going to be successful in the trade. I wish for my students to be successful in their careers and thus, it occurred to me that if these actions are so important to success, why are they not formally evaluated?

Interpretive

Ultimately my job is to educate the apprentices on how electricity works. Grading is dictated by the Industry Training Authority and thus, adding a line item for the implicit curriculum is not possible. I can, however, take steps to illuminate this implicit curriculum. Brenda Smith Myles offers a solution in her article, “Making Sense of the Hidden Curriculum” (2014, May 1). She recommends the One a Day method as a way of explicitly stating the implicit curriculum in an effort to aid students with social disorders. In the One a Day method, “the classroom teacher writes one hidden curriculum item on the whiteboard each morning and introduces this item to students as a first activity”. This method could kick start discussion on behaviours and how they affect performance in the classroom, and on the jobsite.

In addition, I’ve come to think about the hidden curriculum in some of my lessons. In our studies, we review proper implementation of the Canadian Electrical Code, Part 1 (Canadian Standards Association, 2015). The Code is a minimum standard for prevention of fire and shock hazards. My lessons typically center on how to do work to the absolute minimum legal standard. This make a lot of sense from an economics standpoint, but may be indirectly teaching the lesson that we should be striving to do the minimum possible work acceptable.

Decisional

Perhaps the best way of bringing the implicit curriculum into the explicit realm of my instructing is to change the course outline. I believe it would benefit students to know exactly what is expected of them, behaviourally, in my class, and in the workplace. Further, by having One a Day mini lessons centered around jobsite scenarios, students will be forced to think about expectations and where they fit in their respective companies.

Although one could argue to a certain degree that societal and cultural considerations must be made for students, the fact of the matter is that apprentices must be useful to their employers and must fit a certain behavioural mold. It would be in their best interest to explicitly be told what those expectations are.

References

3210 Course Manual (n.d.). Explicit and Implicit Curriculum Development. Retrieved from

http://moodle.vcc.ca/pluginfile.php/781862/mod_resource/content/3/Explicit%20and%20Implicit%20Curriculum%20Development.pdf

Canadian Standards Association (CSA) (2015). Canadian Electrical Code, Part 1. Mississauga, ON: CSA.

Myles, B. S. (2014, May 1). Making Sense of the Hidden Curriculum. Retrieved from https://www.education.com/reference/article/hidden-curriculum-school-asperger/