Connection to my Context - November 1, 2015

Back in Module 2, I had answered the the following question:

How you can use conceptions of curriculum as a tool, or framework, to analyze planning, instruction, and assessment within your specific context of practice.

My initial response is in black.  After reading some more articles about conceptions of curriculum, philosophies, and assessment, I have made some additions in blue. 

(My apologies for the weird spacing issues in this post!) 

Currently, I am working in post-secondary education - my two main roles are as an administrative assistant and as a seminar leader for a first year course entitled "Understanding, Learning and Inquiry."  In the future, I am hoping to work as an Instructional Designer or with faculty in the post-secondary setting, since these are areas that my current department has begun to expand in.  

Conceptions of curriculum can be useful for my current position as a seminar leader.  In this context, I am responsible for leading discussions that are pre-planned by the course instructor.  Though there isn't a lot of room for me to select the "academic" part of the content that is being instructed, I have the opportunity to relate the classroom discussions to the individual or to society.  My philosophy of education will relate back to how I teach within my role as a seminar leader.  As I teach various concepts, I must consider how my own beliefs play a role in how I deliver content to students.

The assessment in the course "Understanding, Learning and Inquiry" provides clear learning outcomes and rubrics for students prior to having them complete the activity.  There are multiple ways for students to broadcast their skills, such as small papers, group work, presentations, and portfolios.  This allows for a broad range of assessment types, which puts emphasis on different conceptions. 

Looking at my goal of working with faculty and helping with the design of programs and courses at the post-secondary level, I can definitely see the relationship with conceptions of curriculum.  In this setting, it would be first important to recognize the obvious and necessary focus on Academia.  Students are retaining credits in a specific subject area, so these concepts must be touched on.  What is often left out of the post-secondary classroom is the focus on the individual, however this can be difficult to do because of classroom sizes and the huge focus on academics.  In some cases, small breakout sessions (such as laboratories or seminars) would be beneficial to students since this can help them discover things in their own way.  More evident than the individual focus in post-secondary education is the societal focus.  Depending on the course, there is often an emphasis on the impacts with the environment or the world.  While there is focus on what has already happened, this can open discussions on what we, as educated individuals, can do to make changes or be proactive.  Technology is also becoming more useful in education since we are able to provide study tools for students online, use apps in the classroom that can provide immediate feedback on student opinions (such as Socrative) or useful in online courses, since there are more and more students who are choosing to study online instead of in-person.  What should be more evident in post-secondary settings is the links between courses and how all of the knowledge gained can be linked together to shape an individual or their opinions and motivations regarding society.  

In terms of assessment at the postsecondary level, the focus is very different than what would be seen in elementary or secondary classrooms.  Because of large class sizes and the necessary focus on academia, the assessment of knowledge is very stream-lined towards content and course-based knowledge.  There is a lot of emphasis on selected-response assessments and less emphasis on constructed-response assessments.  Part of this issue may be because of the lack of formal teacher education amongst university professors, but may also be because of the time constraints and large class sizes at this level.  This, however, doesn't provide an optimal opportunity for all students to be successful, plus there is less emphasis on higher level thinking and more emphasis on recall and recognition of facts.  

Students, regardless of their level of education (primary or post-secondary), should be given many opportunities for assessment success (in my opinion!).  Multiple choice tests don't provide students with the appropriate feedback that is required in order for them to make changes to their knowledge and also don't provide students with the need to study the connections between concepts; instead, students are more focused on the short-term memory of recalling imformation.