In our first week for this class, we interviewed and introduced fellow students. Here is my introduction, as presented by Jake Sherman:
Karen is in her 5th year of teaching, and is starting her 3rd year teaching PreAlgebra, PreCalculus, and Honors Calculus at a cyber school in Enola. Enola is a relatively small town and suburb of Harrisburg Pennsylvania. The school Karen is teaching at has students from all over the state of Pennsylvania. The enrollment is about 2,900 students for grades K-12.
Karen is kept busy with her "kids" a dog, rabbit, 3 guinea pigs, 2 birds, a turtle, a fish tank, and 2 horses. She spends a lot of time with her horses Manny a 19 year old Quarter Horse and Ezzy a 9 year old Morgan Horse. Karen does small gaming (barrel racing, pole bending, et.) with Ezzy. In addition to horseback riding and caring for her animals Karen enjoys reading and some computer games.
When asked if she was a Steelers fan and Pirates fan Karen said that she cheers for the Steelers and the Phillies, and because the town she lives in is centrally located in the state it is ok to cheer for one team from each city.
Also given the choice of chocolate, vanilla, swirl or strawberry Karen would choose swirl or strawberry.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Assessment: Teacher-centered or Learner-centered?
As part of this week's readings and assignments, I completed this survey, looking at if I have a teacher-centered or learner-centered outlook on learning. Based on the survey results, I lean towards learner-centered.
I would have to agree with this result. Students are the most important part of a class. The whole point is for the students to learn, and the instructor needs to think about what will help those students learn the most. Not all students learn in the same way. Some learn from discussions and peer feedback. Others learn through hands on activities. Although it is the most common classroom format, students don't always benefit from sitting and listening to a teacher lecture. In order to be most effective, instructors need to be aware of this, and vary thier lessons to suit the needs of thier students.
Another piece of any course is assessment. The most prominent form of assessment is seen in tests and quizzes. Unfortunately, these don't give the whole picture. Some students don't do well in testing situations. I am a math teacher in a cyber school. Many of our tests are multiple choice (Not my decision, but what I work with). There have been plenty of opportunities where I see that students get a question wrong on a test because they missed one negative sign in a problem. Does this mean that they don't understand the material? Does that mean they should receive a failing grade on the test? In my mind, the answer is no. You can't just look at one piece of the puzzle. You have to look at all of the pieces to see the entire picture.
I would have to agree with this result. Students are the most important part of a class. The whole point is for the students to learn, and the instructor needs to think about what will help those students learn the most. Not all students learn in the same way. Some learn from discussions and peer feedback. Others learn through hands on activities. Although it is the most common classroom format, students don't always benefit from sitting and listening to a teacher lecture. In order to be most effective, instructors need to be aware of this, and vary thier lessons to suit the needs of thier students.
Another piece of any course is assessment. The most prominent form of assessment is seen in tests and quizzes. Unfortunately, these don't give the whole picture. Some students don't do well in testing situations. I am a math teacher in a cyber school. Many of our tests are multiple choice (Not my decision, but what I work with). There have been plenty of opportunities where I see that students get a question wrong on a test because they missed one negative sign in a problem. Does this mean that they don't understand the material? Does that mean they should receive a failing grade on the test? In my mind, the answer is no. You can't just look at one piece of the puzzle. You have to look at all of the pieces to see the entire picture.
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