Below Average – Page 3

Designing for Interaction

On June 9, 2022

Hi there!

Welcome to my fourth blog post for week five in EDCI 335. We are going to discuss designing for interaction. Our learning pod is creating an interactive learning resource on stress, and I will discuss eustress and distress. I have selected a video that I can see using with my learners, and I want to discuss how I might make it an interactive experience.

From 7:24 to 15:02

How are learners likely to respond to the video on their own?

While watching this video on eustress and distress, there are some ways in which learners will likely respond. Stress is a topic within mental health, and perhaps students might feel the need to write down experiences in which they have felt eustress or distress. In the video, a lot of information is shared with the students, and students may decide to make notes on their own about what is being presented in the video or how they feel about the video. Taking notes about how the students feel while watching the video could serve as an activity that is learner-generated (Bates, 2015). Further, this learner-generated activity reflects the learner-content mode of interaction proposed by Anderson (2003).

What activity could you suggest that they do after they have watched the video? What type of knowledge or skill would that activity help develop? What medium or technology would students use to do the activity?

The video I have chosen has not been designed to be inherently interactive, meaning this video does not push learners to respond (Bates, 2015). However, a teacher would be able to design this video to encourage interaction with learners very quickly (designed interactivity). For example, in the video, there are no pauses or breaks for students to stop and write notes or think about their answers to the questions being asked. Instead, I would design this video to encourage interaction with learners by pausing the video at times when the speaker asks a question. Pausing the video will allow students to think of an answer and share it with the class.

Further, the activity I have chosen to assess students is a compare and contrast chart between the types of stress. Pausing the video during moments where critical information is shown would allow students to take notes about what eustress and distress are. At the end of the video, students will have a compare and contrast chart of eustress vs. distress.

This activity can help develop skills such as listening and notetaking. Students will be asked to listen and take notes of what is being presented for them to create their compare and contrast chart. To do this activity, students would only need paper and a pencil.

How much work for you would that activity cause? Would the work be both manageable and worthwhile? Could the activity be scaled for larger numbers of students?

As I mentioned earlier, designing this video to encourage interaction with learners would be quite easy for teachers. Teachers must watch a video a couple of times before presenting it to students to ensure that the material will be understood easily. While watching this video to vet it for students, teachers could write down at what times the video should be paused for learners to reflect on their answers to the questions and write down notes.

Preparing for this activity would be quite manageable, as the teachers would need to watch the video before presenting it to their students. Further, not only is this activity manageable but watching the video and writing down times at which the video should be paused would be very worthwhile for the student’s understanding and reflection.

The activity of pausing the video to create a compare and contrast chart with the information presented could be easily scaled for a smaller or a larger number of students. Some students are slower at writing than others, but there is no harm in waiting a few extra seconds to resume the video for students to finish what they are writing.

Designing for inclusion is vital! Image: Moore, 2016

How will you address any potential barriers for your learners in the use of this video to ensure an inclusive design?

As we learned last week, designing for inclusion is vital, and there are many potential barriers for learners (Moore, 2016). Some potential barriers for learners that could present themselves during this video are:

Difficulty understanding the speaker’s accent.
Difficulties for learners with English as a second language.

I, like many, have difficulties understanding some accents, which could be a barrier for learners. To ensure inclusive design with the use of this video, I chose a video on Youtube that included:

Subtitles: to be read while listening to the video.
A feature to slow down the video: slowing down the video for learners will allow more time for them to understand what the speaker is saying and write down notes.

Turning on subtitles and slowing down the video will help learners with English as a second language and with difficulties understanding accents, making it slower and more accessible for them to read and understand.

I hope you enjoyed the read!

Amelia

References

Anderson, T. (2003). Getting the mix right again: An updated and theoretical rationale for interaction. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 4(2), 1–14.

Bates, A., (2015). Teaching in a Digital Age. BC Campus. (2nd e.d.).

Moore, S. (2016, June 22). One Without the Other. Retrieved from https://blogsomemoore.com/2016/06/21/one-without-the-other/

Inclusion and Social Media

by ariehl

On June 1, 2022

In edci338, Social Media

Imagine you owned a small designing business or were a content creator making posts to spread happiness and laughter. To spread the word about your business and start developing your learning network (PLN), you would probably want to get on social media platforms with a public account to create content for the world to see. Depending on your taste and the overall image you want your business to exemplify, social media can play a role in helping you establish messaging and themes. With all of the negativity and hatred being spread online, many businesses and creators online have been using their platforms to create safe spaces that are inclusive and diverse for all to enjoy and spread light. Further, having a PLN that is public and engaging requires risk assessment and policy understanding, all of which we will dive into later.

A fun word map on words people relate to inclusion.

Social media was made for users to engage in communication to build their PLNs. This communication may not always be personal and direct, but it can be through comments on a public post or even just viewing a post and liking it. Social media is widespread, and if you need to find something on social media, you can simply search it, and you will most likely find what you were looking for. However, this accessibility is both a blessing and a curse; social media can engage in communication or can pose challenges for communication. The accessibility of social media is a blessing because it can allow for some unique, inclusive, and diverse spaces for people to share their own experiences and raise awareness of injustices. On the other hand, it can also be a curse. Instead of working against injustices or creating inclusive and diverse spaces on the Internet, we can create places that are not diverse or inclusive and that make injustices instead of helping to solve them.

Click here for an article by Netflix on how they are working to become more inclusive.

Here is the million-dollar question: is social media inclusive? I believe there is no right or wrong answer to this question. Depending on the’ area’ of the Internet you are on, it could be inclusive, or it could not be inclusive (Arfini et al., 2019). I think of the Internet and social media as I think of different places in the world. You will see other things and have different experiences depending on where you want to go. To get to some niches (like the sketchy or illegal ones), you might have to cross some borders (do something to access these different places). There is a wide variety of what you can find online, and some areas are not inclusive. However, some amazingly constructed inclusive and diverse social media platforms are safe spaces for those to voice their opinions and share their stories. My final note here will be this: if you are looking for inclusivity, you will find it, and if you are looking for places with hatred, you will find those places too. Further, I believe who you associate with online, such as your PLN, reflects you and your values as a human being. Make it count.

In my last blog post, which you can find here, I discussed employers with employees who questionably use their social platforms. For example, many employees lost their jobs or have taken hits to their reputations because they post and share discriminatory language. Further, some companies with employees who share derogatory words have suffered economic losses. For reasons like these, companies often have employee social media communication expectations policies.

Here is more information on inclusion in the workplace.

Talking about inclusivity and PLNs, I feel it is essential to bring it home and talk about how I work to make my PLN and social media platforms inclusive. I have about 900 followers on Instagram, and I do not have 900 friends. My account is private, but I typically let whoever follow me if they have requested to do so. I am from a tiny community, so everyone knows everyone, even if you have only ever heard another person’s name. This is where most of my followers come from; the rest come from my travels and my last two years of university. Also, I am outspoken and political, so I often use my social media to share factual information with those within my PLN. Thus far, I have shared information on my Instagram stories and in my Facebook feed regarding COVID-19, United States politics, gun violence, BIPOC discrimination, mental health, elections and how to vote, and legislative bills, such as Bill 61 in Manitoba. I have tried to create a group of like-minded people who care about their communities, societies, and the world. Unfortunately, raising awareness around these issues comes with hate. Whenever I receive or see hate, I simply hit “remove follower,” and the hate is gone! Inclusion is something we ll must continually work towards (Shelley, 2017).

The benefit of having a diverse and inclusive PLN on social media is that I get the chance to engage in many interesting conversations. Sometimes when I post something, I receive a message telling me I made a good point, but I should also consider something else. Sometimes I receive a simple message from someone I know who has opposing views, and we will have an honest and constructive conversation about why we believe what we believe.

I hope you enjoyed the read!

Amelia 🙂

References

Arfini, S., Bertolotti, T., & Magnani, L. (2017;2019;). Online communities as virtual cognitive niches. Synthese (Dordrecht), 196(1), 377-397. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-017-1482-0

Shelley, M. & Schnellert, L., (2017). One Without the Other : Stories of Unity Through Diversity and Inclusion, Portage & Main Press. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=4832579

Designing for Inclusion

by ariehl

On May 31, 2022

In edci335, Learning Design

Over the past couple of weeks, a group of beautiful individuals and I have been working to create an interactive learning resource about stress, targeting students in their middle years. Each member has their learning topic and activity that they will cover within the learning resource. My topic is the major types of stress, and my activity is a compare and contrast chart.

Within my topic of major types of stress, I will cover eustress and distress. In other words, I will write about the difference between good stress and bad stress. Further, we will give examples of situations where a student’s stress could be good or bad. Upon this discussion, students will be tasked to work in groups to compare and contrast good stress against bad stress. Suppose students feel uncomfortable sharing their thoughts with other students, as stress can be a personal subject matter. Students will be encouraged to work alone, or the activity will be completed as a class.

Some topics, like stress, can be challenging. Just a little reminder to not be so hard on yourself!

Since our topic is mental health-related, our group decided it would be best for us not to give a sizeable summative assessment to the students. Instead, we will assess students based on the student’s evaluation of themselves. Stress can be perceived differently by everybody, and it is not linear; therefore, there’s no way that we would be able to make an assessment of student learning linear. However, we have come to a consensus that students should be able to say that they have walked away with knowledge of what stress is and knowledge of techniques they can use if they encounter stress without having to complete a major project or do a test.

As discussed earlier, stress can be a sensitive topic. When teaching issues related to mental health, it is essential to create a safe space where students feel comfortable sharing or not. It would also be necessary for students to know that they could leave class to take a break. When learning about a sensitive topic related to mental health, it is vital to create a safe space where students are entitled to privacy.

Just as engineers must create safe structures, teachers must create learning designs and use learning approaches in which students will feel safe.

One barrier I believe our learning design could face is the barrier of students not feeling safe discussing stress and mental health. Designs for learning should be made as designs for buildings are made—teachers are the engineers of education, just as engineers are the ones who build our buildings. Just as engineers must create safe structures, teachers must create learning designs and use learning approaches in which students will feel safe.

Overall, I believe the interactive learning resource my group is working to create will be inclusive, diverse, and accessible to all students. Some topics might be sensitive; however, they will be addressed in a sensitive matter. The assessments we have chosen for each learning topic are all simple, and should they present any sort of barrier, each is easily adaptable. We believe teaching children about mental health and their feelings young is crucial to developing emotional intelligence and social intelligence. As I said earlier, topics such as these are not linear; therefore, the learning of these topics is not linear, and the assessments are not linear. And that is where I will leave this discussion for today.

Thanks for reading 🙂

Amelia

Digital Identities and Personal Learning Networks

by ariehl

On May 30, 2022

In edci338, Social Media

Hi, folx!

I am coming to you on a cold and rainy day in northern Manitoba (even though it is almost June :/ ), and I want to discuss a little bit about digital identities and personal learning networks (PLNs). Let’s jump right in!

As described by Eric Stroller in “What is Digital Identity?” your digital identity can be made up of your presence online. Your online presence can be described as what you post and share, who you engage with, how you treat other people, and how you use digital tools for everyone’s benefit. Essentially, your digital identity is your body of work and is always with you. Our digital identities are our bodies of work and which are tied to us; this can serve us well or exceptionally poorly. For example, our digital identities can help spread the word about a business or a product to help create traffic and activity on your business website—which is a positive effect. On the other hand, if we use our social media and digital identities to post and share controversial things or treat people poorly on our social networks, this reflects poorly on us and could perhaps even prevent us from getting our dream job. For these reasons and the effects that our digital identities can have on our lives, we all must remain and continue to be digitally aware critical thinkers.

For more information, here is an excellent diagram from the World Economic Forum on digital identites.

It is essential to recognize that we can curate our digital identity based on how we want it to look, thus presenting an overall effect on our social media use. Over the last few years, many users on social media platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram, have used these applications in a professional matter to spread the word about their business. Having public social media accounts allows more people to see your products and your business who otherwise would not. Public accounts may also provide the opportunity to expand personal learning networks (Rajagopal et al., 2011). Conversely, people may use social media and build a digital identity in a personal matter. For example, many use Instagram and SnapChat to stay connected to friends and family members and to keep up-to-date with what is going on in their lives.

Further, I feel it is important to consider public and private social media accounts. In a sense, personal social media accounts are safer if you post and share more private content that you only want to share with your friends and family. On the other hand, public social media accounts with a perhaps more professional approach to social media, as I mentioned earlier, allow more people to come across your profile, which could help publicize yourself and your business if that is what you want to do.

It is crucial to consider the effects social media can have on our lives. No references are needed to say that ever since the creation of social media, these online platforms provide a private and non-confrontational space for people to spread hatred and negative attitudes. There can be detrimental effects on the people who are on the receiving end of these negative comments and hate. Further, spreading hatred and negative comments and attitudes could potentially reflect poorly on you if you are being screened for a job by an employer. Employers want someone kind who is a proactive and empathetic citizen. If an employer sees that you are treating people poorly online, they may see that as potentially treating another employee poorly if you are hired for that job. Therefore, you could lose out on a job opportunity because of your social media use and your digital identity and reputation. Through social media, people’s words are easily amplified and can be widespread. Many have lost their jobs or have taken hits to their reputations because they post and share discriminatory language. Further, some companies with employees who share derogatory language have suffered economic losses.

Mental health matters! Be kind to one another.

As I said above, and I feel it is important to reiterate this point, digital identities can have detrimental effects on our lives; we all must remain and continue to be digitally aware critical thinkers.

References

Rajagopal, K., Joosten-ten Brinke, D., Van Bruggen, J., & Sloep, P. B. (2011). Understanding personal learning networks: Their structure, content and the networking skills needed to optimally use them. First Monday, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v17i1.3559

Open Pedagogies

by ariehl

On May 26, 2022

In edci335, Learning Design

Different learning approaches can be utilized in learning designs, such as inquiry-based learning, project-based, design thinking, direct instruction, and open pedagogies, to help engage students and promote education. Most of these approaches are approaches we have heard of before, and they might even be learning approaches our teachers used with us or that we use with our students. However, open pedagogies is an approach I have never heard of before.

‘Open pedagogies’ sound pretty intimidating; however, their meaning is quite simple. Open pedagogy is the practice of engaging with students as creators of information rather than simply consumers of it (UTA, 2021). In other words, open pedagogy is a form of experiential learning where students demonstrate understanding through the act of creation (UTA, 2021). Within open pedagogy, products are produced. These products can come in the form of learning resources, such as open textbooks or editable website pages like Wikipedia. Another example of an open pedagogy can be students’ involvement in creating the school curriculum. These products are open for public access and allow for revision and reuse.

Above is an awesome graphic explaining what open pedagogy is and its effects and impacts.

Incorporating open pedagogy into learning design could be tricky as open pedagogy products and materials are not set in stone as they are made to be reused and revised (BC Campus, OpenED). Using open pedagogy, instructors cannot hand a PDF file of information for students to learn. Instead, students would need to collaborate to create their learning materials.

Open pedagogy is not a learning approach for everyone. Open pedagogy requires a lot of work as the students themselves create this information. To generate this information, students need to have a strong understanding and knowledge of the topic of the product they are making or contributing to (UTA, 2021). Further, open pedagogy challenges the traditional teaching role that teachers are there to lecture and students to absorb information like a sponge (UTA, 2021). In reality, open pedagogy allows students to engage in information creation, therefore allowing students a greater understanding of the laws associated with information ownership (UTA, 2021).

This approach to learning is much different than the traditional approaches, such as direct instruction or inquiry, in the sense that students are in charge of creating what they are going to learn, rather than the teacher making what they will learn.

Thanks for visiting 🙂

Amelia

References

BC Campus Open Ed, (n.d.). What is Open Pedagogy? https://open.bccampus.ca/what-is-open-education/what-is-open-pedagogy/

University of Texas Arlington, (2021). Introduction to Open Pedagogy. https://libguides.uta.edu/openped

Waychoff, B., (2020). Revitalizing Teaching with Open Pedagogy. https://cetls.bmcc.cuny.edu/blog/2020/01/31/revitalizing-teaching-with-open-pedagogy/

Visitor and Resident Map, Personal Learning Networks, and Digital Identities

by ariehl

On May 26, 2022

In edci338, Social Media

Hi there! Today I’m going to share my visitor and resident map (V&R map), and then I would like to have a little discussion about personal learning networks and digital identities!

When I first read” V&R map,” I had that same confused look you probably have on your face as I write this sentence. Essentially a visitor and resident map is an exercise we can all do to help us better understand how we use the internet (OCLC Research).

I went through my devices and selected the top 30 most essential platforms I use. I then classified these 30 platforms into these four categories: V and R, and P and I.

V and R are on a continuum, and these letters stand for “Visitor” (you do not leave a social trace) and “Resident” (you do leave a social trace) (OCLC Research).
P and I are also on a continuum, separate of V and R. P and I stand for “Personal” and “Institutional” (work-related) (OCLC Research).

Before diving into digital platforms, personal learning networks, and more, I would like to discuss why I placed some of these platforms where I have put them. After looking at some examples, I thought about what it meant for streaming services, such as Netflix, to be a resident or personal site. I don’t always use Netflix as a personal service; sometimes, while I’m substitute teaching, I will log on and use it for work-related activities, play documentaries and entertaining clips. For this reason, I rated all the streaming services I sometimes use around each other. Further, looking at the platforms I chose to incorporate into my map, all of my school apps, such as bright space, Microsoft Teams, and WordPress, are in the institutional category. I only ever use these platforms when it is for my schoolwork, which I consider work-related.

Thinking about my V and R map and the platforms that I chose to include, an important question is what digital platforms are students using to develop their professional network? To build my professional network, I am using LinkedIn, as most students do. Whenever I take professional development workshops or courses, the instructors always say to get onto LinkedIn as soon as possible. LinkedIn is a great platform to sell yourself and hopefully find a job through some of your connections! Along with LinkedIn, these instructors also tell you to get onto Twitter. Many use Twitter for fun, but Twitter has many other educational and professional uses, some of which can help expand your personal learning network.

Applications and platforms are great for expanding our personal learning networks. It is also important to consider in-person opportunities as a way to grow and boost your personal learning that works. I recognize this is an online course, but in-person interactions are more critical now that we are all coming out of our COVID-19 bubbles. Another great way to expand your personal learning network is through in-person means to attend an educational event, such as a workshop, a conference, or auditing a class, all of which can be done online.

When creating our digital identities and reputations, it is important to consider various factors such as data privacy and security. For example, when creating an Instagram account, we can choose whether that account is private or public. Making an account public means that whoever can see what you are posting whenever they want. Whereas a private account, someone must request to follow you, and that request must be approved by you. Only when that request is approved by you may individuals see your photos and what you post. Clearly, these data privacy and security aspects can both limit and promote our personal learning networks. For example, being private on applications such as Instagram, Facebook, and more, can perhaps limit the number of connections and information you’re able to find and share to expand your personal learning network. On the other hand, being public on these applications can allow for more traffic on your profile, as more people are able to find it and look at it. However, keep in mind when creating personal learning at work how you can create a digital identity and reputation.

Our digital identity is our presence online, such as what we post and share, who we engage with, how we treat people, and how we utilize various digital tools. Our digital identities are always with us, it is our body of work. Because our digital identities are always with us, they could either serve us to be really good or really bad. What I mean by this is that depending on what your digital identity and reputation may look like, it could determine whether you get a job or not. Often times when employers are vetting potential employees, they will search for your digital identity.

I will leave you with this. What does your digital identity and reputation look like? How would an employer respond if you applied for a job at their company and they assessed your social media presence via your digital identity? What would they find? Would the potential employers like what they see? Could you possibly miss out on a job opportunity simply because of your social media presence, digital identity, and reputation?

I hope you enjoyed the read 🙂

Amelia

My Current Instruction Style

by ariehl

On May 15, 2022

In edci335, Learning Design

After reading the article “Behaviourism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism” by Ertmer and Newby (2013), I started thinking about what sort of instruction style I currently employ in my classes (Question 3 from ‘Application Exercises’). Now, I’m not a teacher, but I have quite some experience educating people! I have been a swimming instructor for the past five years, where I teach swimming, lifesaving skills, and first-aid to children from as old as three months to adults of any age. Also, while taking EDCI 335 and EDCI 338 at the University of Victoria and EDUC 201 through Athabasca University, I’m substitute teaching in northern Manitoba, where I went to elementary, middle, and high school. I have also been a volunteer soccer and curling coach since I was in grade 7 (for the past eight years). All in all, I have accumulated quite a bit of teaching experience during my mere 19 years on earth.

I love soccer and curling, and I decided to volunteer to share my love of sport with the children in my community!

As a psychology major, behaviourism is a theory that I am very familiar with because it is mentioned in every class. Studying this theory so often has made it very easy for me to see how I use behaviourist strategies when instructing. In behaviourism, learning is accomplished when a proper response is demonstrated following the presentation of a specific environmental stimulus (Watson, 2017). This sounds complicated, but we have probably all experienced this in the vast amount of time we have spent in school! Behaviourism is when a child misbehaves in class, the teacher takes something away from said child, and then that undesired behaviour becomes desirable when the child stops misbehaving. Just as teachers reinforce the behaviour with punishments, they also use rewards, such as class parties at the end of the week, if the class demonstrates desirable behaviour (Staddon, 2021).

A time that immediately came to mind when I employed the work of the behaviourists was about three years ago when I was teaching swimming lessons to a little girl named Scarlet, who was about four years old at the time. Despite only being four years old, Scarlet had the personality of a 16-year-old teenage boy—she was very goofy. Despite being incredibly socially outgoing, she hated swimming lessons, and I could not get her in the water. You can not learn to swim if you do not get in the water during swimming lessons, so this was a problem. Scarlett’s parents had signed up for seven private lessons with me, so I had seven lessons where Scarlet would not get in the water. I soon figured out that the only way to get her in the water was to promise her a lollipop after every single lesson. If I wanted her to get her hair wet, I had to give her two lollipops at the end of every class. I am sure I could have found a better way to negotiate with her, but rewarding her desirable behaviour (getting in the pool) with lollipops (reward) at the end of every lesson worked well and got the job done.

Here is more on reward systems and their advantages and disadvantages.

As Ertmer and Newby (2013) stated in the article and other authors, such as Beauchamp and Parsons (2000), no learning theory is better than the rest. An instructor using many learning theories within their instruction will provide the best learning experience for their students. As much as I use the strategies of behaviourism, I do believe I use some methods of cognitivism and constructivism.

I also utilize cognitivist strategies in instructing swimming lessons, soccer, curling, and substitute teaching. Cognitivism emphasizes the role that environmental conditions play in facilitating learning (Watson et al., 2008). Instructional explanations, demonstrations, and illustrative examples are instrumental in guiding student learning (Ertmer and Newby, 2013). When learning to instruct swimming lessons, we are taught to: “Demo, Discuss, and Do.” First, we demonstrate the skill being taught, such as a back float, then discuss how to do a back float, and then practice. The same technique can be applied to coaching curling and soccer; show the players how to kick a ball, discuss how to kick the ball properly, and then practice kicking the ball. It can further be applied to school settings; show the students how to write a particular letter, discuss how to write a letter, and then practice writing a letter. These are relatively simple tasks, and cognitivism works well for them; however, it is most helpful when teaching more complex and abstract ideas, such as when knowledge can be simplified to be applied to different topics and contexts (Levy, 2018).

I’m sure we all recognize this sheet from our school days.
My teachers would demonstrate how to trace the letters, discuss that we should start writing a letter from the top, and then we would practice.

Next, constructivism states that learning happens by creating meaning from experience (Ertmer and Newby, 2013). A situation in which I have used constructivism recently occurred, and I believe it was the first time I used such a strategy. While I was substitute teaching, I was working with a grade six class while they were studying Indigenous people. They were learning about residential schools and the ongoing discrimination indigenous people face. The students did not understand why indigenous peoples were so upset about these events. They were having difficulty feeling empathy for the hardships indigenous people face at the hands of our ancestors. I told them to think about how they would feel in the shoes of indigenous people. I had them imagine what it would be like if they woke up one morning to someone knocking at their door saying they would take their children away to go to a residential school and return when they were 18. They concluded that that situation would be awful (to say the least) and that no one should ever have to face a problem like this.

Further, I told them to imagine waiting years for their children to return home from school. I explained that some children returned to their families unable to communicate because they had forgotten to speak their language, and some never returned. Picturing this made the students quite sad, and I believe I helped them understand the gravity of the grim situation indigenous peoples have faced for over a century. The experience of this imaginative activity helped students create and feel the meaning behind what they were learning about indigenous peoples. I hope the students I (hopefully) helped that day remain the same kind and empathetic individuals; they are our future.

Upon analyzing my instruction style, I mostly rely on behaviouristic strategies when instructing, but with good reason. Swimming is a physical activity where techniques require practice to effectively and efficiently perform the techniques; no one does front crawl perfectly the first time. While instructing swimming lessons, I find myself providing a stimulus (such as helping someone kick their legs, or holding up someone’s back, so they maintain a streamlined body position) to help to reinforce a proper response (such as a solid continuous kick or a streamlined body position). Further, I always encourage those I instruct to go swimming on days when they do not have swimming lessons and practice what I have been teaching them. The ones who get to the pool to practice are always those with the most progress. I find that it is easiest to apply the theory of behaviourism to physical activity as it emphasizes our responses to external stimuli.

Practice does not always make perfect, but with some work and determination, it certainly helps.

I am unsure of what I would like to do when I graduate, but I want a career path where I have the opportunity to educate. These three learning theories discussed above—behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism—are only three of the many that exist, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. I will work towards the opportunity to apply these theories, among others, to the work I will do day to day to truly maximize the potential for one’s education.

References

Beauchamp, L, & Parsons, J. (2000). Teaching From The Outside In. Edmonton AB: Duval House.

Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (2013). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43-71.

Levy, Y. (2018). Why cognitivism? Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 48(2), 223-244.

Staddon, J. E. R. (2021). The new behaviorism: Foundations of behavioral science (Third ed.). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Watson, J. B. 1. (2017). Behaviorism. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Watson, R., Coulter, J., Sharrock, W., Dennis, A., Read, R., Button, G., & Hamilton, R. (2008). Cognitivism. Theory, Culture & Society, 25(2)

My Top 5 Tips for University Success

by ariehl

On May 10, 2022

In Student Life

Navigating university, no matter what year you find yourself in can be a bit tricky, so I want to share the 5 top tips that have brought me university (and overall adulting) success!

1) Get a planner! I have tried oodles of planners, and physical ones just do not work for me. So I downloaded the app iStudiez and it syncs with all my devices and calendar so I can see what I need to do and when from wherever I’m looking at it.

2) Get involved with the university! Pay attention to the emails UVic sends out! They have some incredible opportunities, such as being a Notetaker for the Centre for Accessible Learning (CAL), becoming an Engage Leader mentoring first-year students, participating in a workshop, and more!

3) Stay in touch with people you love from home! For me, moving across the country and being in a place I had never been to before was surreal, and sometimes it felt like it wasn’t even real. Phoning my parents or friends from my hometown was grounding, and it brought me a sense of familiarity that I was missing.

4) Get out and adventure the new place you call home! If you are like me, you most likely moved to the island to start your new adult life at university. It is essential to figure your way around the new place you live to feel connected to the location and the community. Getting out for a day of adventuring–or even just a walk–can become a much-needed break from your studies.

5) Don’t be too hard on yourself! University is tough! In my first year, I had a tough time getting over failed midterms or disappointing grades on assignments I had worked hard on. However, as you move along through school, you will find strategies that work for you, and there’s always room to improve.

Hi there!

by ariehl

On May 9, 2022

In About Me, edci335, edci338, Learning Design, Social Media

Hi everyone! My name is Amelia Riehl (she/her); I am 20 years old, and I am the author behind “Below Average” in EDCI 335, 337, 338, and 339 at the University of Victoria (aka. UVic). I chose the title “Below Average” because I always thought the labelling of a student in school as ‘below average’ was wrong. It is a diminishing label that can ruin the self-esteem and self-worth of a student. Everyone learns differently, and that is normal.

I am majoring in Psychology at UVic, where I will follow the mental health and well-being stream. I am in this class because I have finally decided I want to get a minor in Education. After I finish my first degree, I plan on returning to school to get an after-degree in Education or to attend graduate school to get a Master of Education in Counselling Psychology.

Victoria is a lovely city if you put aside the awful drivers… A stop sign says “STOP” for a reason, and Victorians do not seem to understand that. However, I was born and raised in northern Manitoba, where we completely disregard any sort of traffic direction! I moved to Victoria in August 2020 after graduating high school in June 2020, and I have been here ever since! I travel home to Manitoba in the fall when it never stops raining in Victoria and for Christmas so I can visit my parents, my two little brothers, my two lovely pups, and my two not-so-lovely cats.

I look forward to learning alongside you all.

Amelia 🙂

If you don’t feel like reading, feel free to watch this introduction video! (May, 2022)