Gibbs Reflective Cycle
Introduction to Pegagogy Module DIT - Week 1.
Description:
I started a module last week on the Introduction to Pedagogy as part of the new structured PhD programme in Dublin Institute of Technology. It took place in Cathal Brugha Street on Wednesday 16th of September 2015. The first class actually took place on Monday 14th September but as I was working in private practice at the time and couldn’t get somebody to cover my clinic I was unable to attend. I study in DIT Kevin Street so I had to make my way across the city for the class. Having never been in Cathal Brugha Street before I was unsure of where I was going or how long it would take me to find the building and correct room. As it turned out Cathal Brugha Street is not that big or difficult to navigate. We were originally supposed to be in a classroom on the 3rd floor of the building – a sound proof room I believe – but the computer system wouldn’t work so we re-located to another room on the 1st floor. All the notes and recommended reading had been given to us in advance by Dr. Barry Ryan and the topic for discussion at this class was “Active Learning”. The lecture was scheduled from 3-5pm. We finished up at around 4:30pm to everyone’s delight, with a very short break in the middle.
Feelings:
Although as an Optometrist I deal with members of the public on a daily basis, and I am in my 2nd year of a part-time post graduate degree, it has been many years since I have been in a classroom environment and I was nervous and anxious about attending for many reasons. I studied for my undergraduate degree in DIT Kevin Street. We had a class of twenty students and a handful of lecturers, so naturally everybody knew everybody else very well after four years together. For me this was a new college, a new lecturer, new classmates – I didn’t know the size – was it going to be in small classrooms or large lecture theatres, were my other classmates going to be older/younger, friendly, easy to talk to, have similar interests etc… As I had missed the introductory class on the 14th I was also concerned about missing out on the usual ice breakers. While my family and friends would probably not describe me as shy, I am definitely not the most confident person in the room and I find myself very self-conscious of awkward ‘mingling’. I dread having to attend networking events or ‘hanging-out’ with groups of people I don’t know. That being said I do like to challenge myself and take myself out of my comfort zone and see how I fare out. Life can get very boring without challenges.
During the class Barry spoke a lot about “next week in labs do this…” or “at your next tutorial with your students try this…” etc… As I don’t presently have students to supervise or demonstrate too I immediately became anxious that I was in the wrong place. I felt that I was perhaps a little bit premature in my attending a pedagogy lecture, without an actual class to practice the theory on and possibly should have waited until next year.
Evaluation:
At this class Barry discussed active learning. What is active learning? What is active learning or active teaching - theoretically and practically? It was refreshing to learn that lecturers and demonstrators get bored too. That the level of performance of both the lecturer and the student wanes as a lecture progresses2. It makes complete sense. I had just never even considered it before. As students I feel we always assume the lecturer is out to get us, make our lives difficult. Now as I embark on the first stages towards a career in academia hopefully, I can see that lecturers and demonstrators are also only human and standing at the top of a class reading out notes repeatedly is far from entertaining.
We worked a lot in groups, I think in the room we were in it was a bit more difficult to mix up the groups and move about. I know that that was something he had wanted to do in the first room.
There was a break half way through the lecture and we were encouraged to get up, go outside move around get to know one another a bit better. Not many people did get up and nobody changed seats which didn’t help with my apprehension about mingling and getting to know people a bit better.
Analysis:
I think there were a few other people who had missed the first session so maybe everyone was a bit ‘shy’ or quiet and it will just take a little bit of time for us to relax to one another as a group. During the class I had become concerned personally for my own involvement and how this module would benefit me; how I could make the most of it. As I’m not currently supervising or demonstrating to any students, I began to feel that I was wasting mine and everybody else’s time by being there since I can’t put the theory into practice straight away. I voiced my concerns at the end of class and was re-assured that learning the theory now will only benefit me in the future when I do get the chance to facilitate or supervise a class.
Active learning really opened my eyes to alternative ways to teach students in the future. Getting the students more involved with their own learning – having discussions, solving problems – giving real life case situations, making the most of the resources available to us on the internet to help people learn3 (http://optometryportal.com/). There are so many new ways to learn and facilitate learning that I had never really considered. It takes me back to my undergraduate and even secondary school days where my own learning would have been very similar to the “behaviourist” style4. I jotted down notes, I read the required material, I learnt things off by heart and I regurgitated it in the exam situation. I was never able to study in the library. I always remembered imagining myself being the teacher and teaching myself – pacing up and down, speaking out loud. These new teaching techniques being introduced - problem solving, reflection, discussions - would favour and indicate a more “constructivist” type of learning and teaching4. It keeps everything more interesting and exciting for the facilitator as well as the student. While the behaviourist style worked ok for me, I feel at home I took on a more “active” approach to teach myself. Baring this in mind I will hopefully someday in the future be able to use this insight for teaching my own students and make their years in academia a little bit more enjoyable. As Optometry is a very practical and experience based profession I believe that active learning and teaching lends itself very well to the course and how it is taught.
Conclusion:
Overall I found the lecture enjoyable and interesting. It is certainly a subject that I am keen to understand more about as I strive towards a career in academia. I am no longer discouraged by the fact that I currently don’t have any students of my own. I can see where I can take real-life situations and use those to reflect on and incorporate some of these teaching techniques also where appropriate; I have patient’s and younger colleagues at work outside of DIT who will certainly require elements of training - be it in taking pupillary distance measurements, picking the right frames for the right person/ for the right prescription, to helping somebody learn how to put in and take out contact lenses etc... I may not have one class of students but instead a world of students to work with.
Action Plan: If the situation arose again what would you do?
I will try to get more involved in class. I can volunteer some answers to questions, or for some of the action pieces. I believe that this will help me overcome my inhibitions about public speaking and my fear of saying or doing something silly.
I will speak again with my supervisors and head of Departments about getting even an hour a week supervising a student clinic, or giving a tutorial perhaps if the students were keen. I feel that in order to make the most of this module I will benefit more from being able to put theory into practice.
I will work on constructing an ePortfolio for my blogs and research ideas. I will try to implement this more into my research as well as I am currently trying to recruit participants by having a dedicated website or blog on the internet it could help get the word out there also.
References:
1. Gibbs G. Learning by doing : a guide to teaching and learning methods. London: FEU; 1988.
2. Bligh DA. What's the Use of Lectures ? Harmondsworth: Middlesex : Penguin Books; 1972.
3. Optometry Portal. 2015; http://optometryportal.com/. Accessed 23/09/2015, 2015.
4. Carlile O, Jordan A. It works in practice but will it work in theory? The theoretical underpinnings of pedagogy. In: O' Neill G, Moore S, McMullin BE, eds. Emerging Issues in the Practice of University Learning and Teaching. Dublin: All Ireland Society for Higher Education (AISHE); 2005:11-26.
