Final Reflection!!

Final Reflection 

Even though I have been working in education for a quite a few years now, I was not well versed or had previously analyzed the conception of curriculum, or connected these approaches to philosophies of education.  I have gained deeper insight into curricular frameworks and have been able to apply this knowledge to a familiar context, my place of practice. The interconnectedness of curricular frameworks is the key aspect in my learning. I will look at curriculum with fresh eyes from now on. Pedagogy is the way we engage our students and curricular activities should empower our students to be become self regulated learners. Integrated approach to curriculum planning and assessment means keeping an open mind, challenging myself to try a new approaches, or encourage my colleagues to try a new approaches; evaluate and re-evaluate my vision related to planning curriculum, and seek methods to enhance the student learning experiences.

Initially, I had difficulty navigating the course, but I did become more comfortable with it as time went on and I got into the groove of things. I enjoyed working with my partner Scott, as we managed to have each other’s backs during times when we each needed it the most. For that I am grateful. I also enjoyed reading my colleagues blogs and wished I had more time to check out everyone’s professional community as I know this would have enhanced my own learning even further and introduced me to excellent resources. At first I was discouraged about my own professional community, but other avenues opened up and I managed to discovered “healthy debate” which I will continue to follow.

I found the course to be extremely rich with information and overwhelming at times, but reading my colleagues comments and discussions helped me to stay on track and I am grateful for my learning cohort. I feel self actualized at the end of this journey as this and PME 833 are my final courses in the PME program. I look forward to getting some sleep now! Good Luck to all of you on your journeys. It has been a pleasure learning with you!

Comparison to Terra’s Professional Community

Terra,

I have a natural affinity to the presentation that you have created for your professional community. Obviously, the similarities begin with our passion for adult education particularly health education, and our determination to enhance vocational outcome-based education to reflect the needs of an evolving health care system and prepare learners for the future.

Our professional communities are both concerned with responding to the needs of our patients not only for treatment but, preventatively through health promotion and prevention. Challenging the status quo and our current beliefs about teaching and learning sets the stage for innovative instruction. Engaging our colleagues in collaborative inquiry will identify issues in curriculum and establish program vision and education philosophy. Dental Programs are part of the allied health cluster; therefore, both professional communities are interconnected and share common interests. CAAHP and your program community are both concerned with preparing high quality health care professionals that respond challenges facing our health care system.

I think one difference in our professional communities is that CAAHP is involved from more of a macro level with a boarder academic school perspective compared to your community, which is program specific. As an administrator, I am committed to supporting educators as they work collaboratively on instructional design projects. I try to be actively involved with the working team and support all activities related to curriculum planning. My job is to support faculty in providing rich learning experiences for our students. Another difference would be the level of interaction amongst our communities. I think communication among members of CAAHP will be sporadic compared to your group.

Your professional community focuses on the specifics of assessment and your presentation prompts dialogue related to assessment that enhances learning. As the associate dean, it is my job to listen to student feedback and engage program faculty in analysis and critical reflection. Keeping the lines of communication open with faculty is extremely important in supporting integrated planning, instruction and assessment so that we can continually improve and keep up with the changing needs of our students and prepare them for the health care system of our future.

I like the way you presented the information and interjected thought provoking questions that will intrigue your colleagues and prompt ongoing dialogue. This approach fosters collaboration and team building while placing students at the center of our focus.

Great presentation!

Eva

Connecting to Professional Communities

Well, this is our last Blog post in PME 810.... 

This week we have been busy trying to connect "out in the world." I hope to hear from my community at some point, however, I have subscribed to the Healthy Debate newsletter and have participated in the Healthy Debate blog. 

Healthydebate.ca healthydebatenewsletter@gmail.com via sendgrid.net to me Hello! Hurray! You've subscribed to our site. We need you to activate your subscription to the list(s): Healthydebate News by clicking the link below: Click here to confirm your subscription. Thank you, The team!

Here is the link to my Journal Page for this week!!

Module 5 Journal Page Link

Here is the screen shot of my post and the link to to healthy debate webpage. 

Eva's blog post on Healthy Debate-Scroll to the bottom to view my post

Allied Health Programs- Dental Hygiene Pharmacy Technician, Dental Assisting, Occupational Therapist Assistant and Physiotherapist Assistant, Pharmacy Assistant, Paramedics, Advanced Care Paramedics, Dental Office Admin...

Allied Health education is grounded in vocational education with prescribed learning outcomes that ensures consistency from programs within educational institutions. College programs prepare students to write their regulatory exams and/or certification exams and enter competently into practice. Vocational education must continue to move away from teacher focused curriculum to student centred curriculum that incorporates interconnected teaching approaches. Pragmatism and reconstructionism frameworks encourage and develop critical reflection and the attitude to continue to learn (Hill, 1994). Advocacy for patients, empathy, adaptability, and ethical decisions making are essential skills and values for health care professionals. Ongoing professional development and a commitment to life long learning are key aspects to health care education. Competency profiles and outcome based education are measures adopted by a health professions to better regulate itself in the context of patient safety (Anderson, 2012). Curriculum and assessments must align education to practice.  Although we strive to graduate competent and confidence health professionals, it is tricky to define competence. 

From a curriculum perspective, the development of competence in health programs depends on experiential learning. Experiential education is underpinned by  theory of pragmatism where the role of the teacher is to facilitate learning and create an environment where experiences are valuable to the learner (Dewey, 1977). Eduction experiences that are valuable promote further learning. Health care is dependant on continuing education and commitment to ongoing development its healthcare professionals. Pragmatic educators believe in problem based learning and action based education but tend to be more concerned with the education rather than the training (Hill, 1994).  The synthesis of knowledge and application of that knowledge to real world experiences in simulation or during practicum is critical for students in health programs. Experiential learning fosters the development of attitudes which according to Dewey (1974) are what  really counts in the future. Reconstructionistic curriculum connects to the pragmatic approach and plays a significant part in experiential learning. Reconstructism takes pragmatism one step further by encouraging vocational education to be a change agent in society (Ozmon & Craver, 1986). Competence is based on questioning judgments, challenging assumptions and probing deeper, upholding legal and ethical responsibilities and demonstrate professionalism. 

Allied health programs consist of diverse learners that include traditional  and non-traditional students, international and domestic students, students that come with broad knowledge and experiences. It is up to the educator to draw from conceptions of curriculum learners that will develop  individual knowledge, skills and attitudes of a health care professional but the only way to do that is to examine what competence really means, how do we teach it? How do we evaluate it? 




References

Anderson, M. B. (2012). The question of competence: Reconsidering medical education in the twenty-first century. Cornell University Press.
Ozmoo, H. A., & Craver, S. M. (1986). Philosophical foundations of education (3rd ed.). OH: Merill
Publishing Company.
Hill, A. M. (1994). Perspectives on philosophical shifts in vocational education: From realism to pragmatism and reconstructionism. Journal of Vocational and Technical Education, 10(2), 37-45.

Journal on the Foundations and Principles in My Context of Practice

Hi everyone,

Please follow the link below to my journal page that discusses my connection to CAAHP

Journal Page

Planning, Instruction, and Assessment Approaches in Different Curricular Designs

Hi everyone,
This week we took a deeper dive into the different conceptions of curriculum related to educational philosophies and curriculum design. We have expanded our knowledge and understanding of curriculum design by examining approaches to planning, instruction, and assessment in ways which will enhance student learning experiences. Please visit our slide show and let us know how these approaches fit into your practice. 

Module 3 Planning, Instruction, and Assessment Approaches in Curricular Designs

                                 http://blog.scientix.eu/2014/07/inquiry-based-learning-science-education-and-the-maltese-situation/

Philosophical Foundations of Education and Curriculum Design Planning

HI Everyone,

We have created my visual representation for Module 2 using Google Slides. We have included a few short video clips that helped me to understand the concepts and identify the interconnectedness between conceptions of curriculum, philosophical foundations, and curriculum design.

Engaging in this activity has really enhanced my learning!
Please follow the link Below:

Philosophical Foundations of Education and Curriculum Design

Conceptions of Curriculum Module 1

Conceptions of curriculum are described by different authors to help us understand the impact each approach has on learning. Self-actualization, technology, social reconstruction and academic rationalism seem to be the four dominant orientations that appear across the readings and continue to be used. Feminist pedagogy is discussed by Pratt (1994) but seems to have been dropped.

The main conceptions of curriculum are grounded in assumptions related to curriculum patterns that help us to understand the nature and purpose of curriculum (Al Mousa, 2013). Conceptions are used to analyze curriculum frameworks and help educators take a multifaceted approach to examining and developing curriculum. The literature supports the idea of a blended and connected approach to curriculum design which consists of using more that one conception to support student learning, development, and, personal and professional growth. 

Curriculum as technology involves outcome-based education and focuses on process. This approach is concerned with developing a technology of instruction when the focus is on the presentation of material and less on the learner (Eisner & Vallance, 1974). Standardized testing is valuable to use when curriculum is required to meet certain skills especially for emergency protocols that need to be mastered and assessed.  When learning precise technical skills, students are fixated on getting competencies signed off which can overshadow the development of other skills needed to be a good clinician. Technology emphasizes methods of achieving clear objectives (McNeil, 2006). This approach serves a purpose in health education but requires other approaches that will develop well-rounded health care professionals.

Humanistic curriculum, self-actualization, and individual fulfillment involve individualism and personal growth. Pratt (1994) stresses the development of the individual personal and fulfillment through education that nurtures self-concept. This means that educators need to provide experiences where learners make personal meaning from their learning. Curriculum is seen as liberating process that sees learners develop good character and demonstrates good work qualities (McNeil, 2006). This approach requires the educator to take the approach of nurturer, mentor or guide where students feel safe to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes that result in significant and meaningful learning.

Health care education also requires academic rationalism where students are trained to think. Academic rationalism prepares students for life by developing critical thinking, hypothesizing, synthesizing and researching (McNeil, 2006). Engaging students in problem solving will help prepare them for real world experiences.

Social reconstruction relevance focuses on social change. This orientation concentrates on the needs of society over individual needs and introduces students to problems within societies (McNeil, 1996). What better way to introduce social issues related to health care especially with the aging population and the need to examine the social determinants of health? These are just a few examples of how the conception of curriculum enriches the teaching and learning experience.

                                           https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-healthcare-education-wound-healing-james-calder

Health Care education requires authentic, innovative curriculum that supports the practice and development of critical thinking skills, self-regulated learning, appreciation and concern for others, along with meeting  specific skills-based learning outcomes. Health care education is governed by licensing and accrediting bodies and it is easy to get fixated on ensuring that our curriculum checks all of the boxes located on competency profiles and meets all of the standards.  Educators need to facilitate the development of problem solving skills, appreciation for diverse perspectives, respect for others, self reflection, practice ethical decision making, and interdisciplinary collaboration that will prepare learners for the rapidly evolving health care profession.

Al Mousa, N. (2013). An examination of cad use in two interior design programs from the perspectives of curriculum and instructors, pp. 21-37 (Master’s Thesis).

Eisner, E., & Vallance, E. (Eds.). (1974). Five conceptions of the curriculum: Their roots and implications for curriculum planning. In E. Eisner & E. Vallance (Eds.), Conflicting conceptions of curriculum (pp. 1-18). Berkeley, CA: McCutchan Publishing.

McNeil, J. D. (2006). Contemporary curriculum in thought and action (6th ed., pp. 1-13, 24-34, 44-51, 60-73). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. 

Pratt, D. (1994). Curriculum perspectives. In D. Pratt, Curriculum planning: A handbook for professionals (pp. 8-22). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College Publisher.

PME 810

Hi everyone,
I am happy to be here learning with you. This is one of my last courses and I am excited to learn about curricular frameworks which will support the ongoing re-design projects that  I am working on in my own professional practice.  I have worked in post secondary education since 2005 as a full time educator and coordinator   of the pharmacy programs, and more recently in the capacity of associate dean for the School of Allied Health at Niagara College.  Curriculum plays a role in the way in which we engage students and meet learning outcomes; however, the way in which we construct knowledge through planning, instructing, and assessment should be innovative and creative. I am interested to learn how the educational philosophies will change my idea of curriculum and influence my approach to curriculum design.

Hope you enjoy the video... my husband and I are on vacation this week and we have decided on a 'stay-cation' here in our  backyard, the beautiful Niagara Region.  I really don't like making videos but.....her is my shot at it.... It's great to to be in this learning cohort! Cheers!

PME 801

 Intro to My PME Portfolio

    Welcome to my digital portfolio. This Blog will track  my learning experiences as I pursue my Professional Master of Education.  Collaborative Inquiry is my third course in the program and I am very excited to learn from my colleagues as we journey through this course and our programs.

    As a new administrator in higher education, I find engaging in reflective practice helps me to evaluate my development especially with respect to my leadership skills.  I believe critical reflection is the key to improvement on so many levels. Reflective practice helps me to recognize gaps and challenges my assumptions.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLyY0zpVqLKksXsc6WaB1Lh9Omq3sHVW6roqu664IxLL_zqSbhEU3wlhhfk-m52ggpGHJ-KEMN-2VPJoRWL9LGWsDK6DmBrQ2ax3KakmMLo4TR1NvZcxPUZ61MIgov0JNTNlLiR1EVVp0/s1600/reflection2.jpg

     Jumping back into PME after a bit of break feels pretty good. I have been on vacation this week so..... we'll see what's it like when I return to work next week. Our first task this week was to submit a digital artifact depicting how we perceive ourselves as collaborators. I used Popplet to capture my thoughts.

Blogger is a great digital tool that is extremely simple to use. I am looking forward to building my ePortfolio here as we move through this course and my other PME courses.


July 13, 2016 Concept Second Edition

Second Edition of my Concept Map - July 31, 2016 

The second edition of my concept map helped me to appreciate the collaborative process. The second concept map allowed me to break down the concepts of collaboration from the perspectives of an educator, learners, and administrator.



Technology Montage- Technology used to support Collaborative Inquiry- July 24, 2016


https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/ckfECbhQEuF/collaborative-inquiry/

August 2, 2016- Connection with a Professional Community 

Merlot is a community of members that includes staff, volunteers and members who provide educators and students with free access to Open Educational Resources. Merlot is a repository of learning materials developed and distributed by its members.. Merlot (Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Teaching Online) began in 1997, when the California State University Center for Distributed Learning developed and provided free access to MERLOT. Merlot is an online repository of teaching and learning materials in 25 different academic disciplines for use in higher education. MERLOT serves an international community of educators. MERLOT includes over 40,000 open resources and allows members to contribute materials to the collection of resources. MERLOT provides spaces for members to collaborate and exchange ideas. MERLOT allows for easy searching, building and sharing of technology based teaching.

Leadership in Collaboration - Aug 14th 

Our group looked at the role of leadership within a collaborative group; how it affects a group's members and what makes an effective leader. We referred to past, present and additional readings and resources for information and ideas on past solutions or recommendations. We used both Facebook and Google Docs to complete the project and found the use of both really worked for us. We hope you take something away from our work :

Project Name: Design Brief - Module 4

Group participants: Melissa Bergamin, Kristy Brooks, Sarah El Manawhly, Eva Lemak & Corinne Muir

Date: 08/14/2016

Overview:

Critically review and discuss issues of concern in the participant’s identified Professional Communities or a problem/solution that comes from the knowledge building work in Module 2.

Develop a Design/Problem Brief about the selected problem/issue including the contextual concerns, past solution concepts and related literature that supports an understanding of the problem and the proposed solution.

Schedule:

Due: August 14, 2016

First meeting: Saturday August 6, 2016. Group work online through messenger, Facebook and Google Docs.

Second meeting: Thursday August 11, 2016. Bring together past solutions and work on our solution.

Closing comments: Saturday August 13, 2016. Final editing and review.

Dilemma/Problem:

What is the role of leadership in a collaborative group?

Key issues:

• Lack of leadership: enables power struggles and conflict. Less chance for the building and development of a common vision and/or goal. Overlooks the opportunity to transform tension into opportunity for creativity. Encourages and supports “groupthink.” Does not challenge assumptions. Does not recognize or support the strengths of each team member
• Weak facilitation skills
• Interference of organizational hierarchy: looming bias over collaborative efforts based on participating individuals and the roles they have outside of the collaborative group.

Target Audiences:

Audience types:

• Business
• Education
• Health
• Government
• Inter-professional teams

Key motivations:

• Improvement of practices, policies and procedures
• Improvement of culture, environment and relationships within the workplace
• Professional development

Key Concepts

Past Solutions & Questions

1. In the article Teacher Teams and Distributed Leadership: A Study of Group Discourse and Collaboration, a key idea is “socially distributed leadership.” Leadership is then determined through social interactions, passive and active discourse, and the “[engagement] in mutually dependent activities.” The downfall indicated in the article was “the cultivation of groupthink” with certain collaborative structures like teacher teams. Since teacher teams would not have a hierarchical structure, there would not necessarily be an obvious leader(s), however, multiple leaders could emerge or “shared team leadership evolves.” If leadership emerges from social interactions, what happens to the introverts?

Proposed Solutions

1. Educators, employers, and organizations need to recognize the difference in the way extroverts and introverts respond to stimulation and how this response affects productivity, learning, and creativity.   Introverts teach and speak publicly, even though it is out of their usual comfort zone yet if they feel passionately about something or someone, then they are compelled to do so. Group leaders need to be conscientious dangers of group work to ensure that extroverts do not stifle opportunities for introverts to shine.

Susan Cain, author of the book, “Quiet, The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking,” uses examples that speak to the importance of listening and gathering facts. Introverts spend time learning about people and what motivates them. Introverts are natural listeners who are receptive to other’s perspectives and take the time to consider other’s ideas. Introverts are also more sensitive compared to extroverts, and therefore, more empathetic towards others (Cain, 2013).  Cain writes that according to a study completed about university students, empathy has decreased by 40% in the last thirty years. The element of self-awareness is critical in a collaborative setting. Introverts are in tune to what is going around them and how they impact others. Susan Cain believes that self-awareness is at the heart of communication.

SOLUTION: Group projects should include individual tasks , advance notice of the topic/problem/question giving introverts time to prepare, have small groups meet to discuss the idea then sharing in a larger group,  give everyone the chance to share their ideas via email, rather than in group meetings giving participants a better chance to express themselves in a comfortable environment, demonstrate a high level of emotional intelligence, recognize the characteristics of introverts and use facilitation skills to maintain a balance between extrovert and introvert participation, ensures everyone’s ideas are heard and considered.

2. A group leader plays a significant role leading a collaborative inquiry extending beyond facilitation. The collaborative process occurs between members of a team and the team leader must foster a positive environment for inquiry. The leader must be able to motivate the team to work through each phase of the process and contribute to a meaningful learning opportunity.

The leader draws from the knowledge and experience of each team member by listening to the their stories and coaching the them through the process. Individuals involved in inquiry are close to the reality of the problem contextualized within their own career (Deketelaere & Kelchtermans, 1996).  The leader has the opportunity to raise questions and stimulate dialogue while challenging the possibility of groupthink. Individual team members may have difficulty moving their thinking to more abstract level (Deketelaere & Kelchtermans, 1996). Group leaders should be able to view the problem and data through an alternate lens that is grounded in theoretical framework.

The group leader must also have a good understanding of the dynamics of the group. The leader must be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses for group members and recognize that individual shortcomings can be used in complementary fashion (Deketelaere & Kelchtermans, 1996). Having a good working knowledge of group dynamics greatly affects the success of the team. Leaders should be receptive to various communication styles and personality traits in order to facilitate team and individual professional growth. It has been shown through research that when a team has a positive dynamic, fostered by a positive leader, its members are nearly twice as creative as an average group.

SOLUTION: A group leader should be observing and frequently interacting with the group to see the engagement/enthusiasm, and be able to respond quickly to any issues that may arise. A group leader should be reflecting on past meetings and interactions in order to build on current positive dynamics and relationships within the group. A group leader should encourage feedback to ensure that the needs of the group are being met. A group leader can facilitate team building activities frequently, in order to keep group members motivated, inspired and engaged.

3. One skill a leader should have is the ability to find or search for solutions to the problem(s) beyond typical or already known areas. One way to accomplish this is to use Analogical Thinking. The article Opening of the Solution Space: The Role of Analogical Thinking for Breakthrough Product Innovation explores this concept in application of product development but the concept can work for any problem solving situation. Sometimes it is “a solution searching for a problem” (Gassmann & Zeschky, 2008) and other times more like “when a familiar problem is used to solve a novel problem of the same type” (Gassmann & Zeschky, 2008).  In either instance the problem has propelled the search for a solution and looking into other industries (areas) can provide an insight that might otherwise be missed. This is a clear definition of innovation, taking an idea and applying it in a novel way. Using this approach requires looking at more than just the surface side of the problem and trying to find out how similar problems were solved. A leader should guide the group toward a clear focus in finding the root of the problem and then use creative thinking to find an analogous solution in an unrelated field. A leader should also be able to identify the potential weakness in the group and instead of letting it hold the team back, use different methods to get the group finding creative solutions.

SOLUTION: To encourage participants in finding the root of the problem, have individuals research solutions from a perspective in their own expertise where evidence based research can be applied and discussed. A leader can also facilitate in the narrowing of a problem space by identifying short term and long term needs/goals which would provide a group consensus by discovering overlap in research findings and engaging discourse analysis. Subsequently, the group weaknesses can also be identified and a proposed course of action can also be outlined by both the group leader and its participants.  

Resources

Barron, B. (2000). Achieving coordination in collaborative problem-solving groups. Journal of the learning sciences. 9(4). 403-436.

Cain, S. (2013). Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking. Broadway Books. Cain, S. (2013). Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking. Broadway Books.

Deketelaere, A., & Kelchtermans, G. (1996). Collaborative curriculum development: An encounter of different professional knowledge systems. Teachers and Teaching, 2(1), 71-85.

Dorst, K., (2011). The core of ‘design thinking’ and its application. Design studies 32(6), 521-532.

Dorst, K., & Cross, N. (2001). Creativity in the design process: co-evolution of problem-solution. Design studies, 22(5), 425-437.

Gassmann, O., & Zeschky, M. (2008). Opening up the solution space: The Role of analogical thinking for breakthrough product innovation. Creativity and innovation management. 17(2), 97-106.

Goel, V., & Pirolli, P. (1992). The Structure of design problem spaces. Cognitive science, 16(3), 395-429.

Svihla, V. (2010). Collaboration as a dimension of design innovation. CoDesign, 6(4), 245-262.

 Aug 19, 2016- Connecting with a Professional Community Digital Foothold 

Once I began to investigate further, I found that content contributed by members linked to Facebook, email or Twitter. Although I am an avid Twitter follower, I haven’t really used it as a collaborative tool. It dawned on me that Twitter is the best way to gather information posted by Merlot II. I really enjoy Twitter because I am able to filter through the Tweets super quickly and decide what I want to investigate further. I also find it very useful to re-tweet the information. Some of my colleagues follow me on Twitter and find it very useful as well. I had a couple of educators tell me that they had no idea that Merlot II had so many useful Open Educational Resources (OER) I think Twitter is a very useful way to send out tidbits of information that sparks interest and initiates a ripple effect of valuable info.

Once I started following Merlot II on Twitter I could quickly an easily evaluate the information that is of interest to me and follow the Tweet to an educational website. Through my investigation into professional communities, I have discovered that blogs and discussion posts do not provide the same level of immediate engagement, or as broad an audience. Where else can one educator engage 19,000 followers?

Final Thoughts- My Growth in PME 801 - Aug 20, 2016