Interview summary by Rosemary Vogt, Teaching and Learning Specialist, Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation
NIC’s Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation staff conduct interviews with instructors to explore the perspectives and insights they have about quality teaching and learning. NIC embraces the diversity of approaches each instructor takes as they cultivate a supportive environment tailored to their program and student needs. These interviews share how North Island College is making quality student learning a priority.
Jen is a sociologist with expertise in food studies, animal-human relations, teaching and pedagogy, and social justice studies. Her scholarship and teaching are informed by social constructionism and critical theories. Her classes emphasize active learning and self-exploration by engaging students in discovery. In addition to teaching, Jen works in the Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation as a Teaching and Learning Faculty Developer.
Question 1: Provide an example of a recent change to your teaching practice: How and why did this change come about?
My new teaching practice is to ask students what they want exams to look like. It’s not radical, but it’s still about a change related to acting more collegially with students. I asked students in Brightspace to comment on the types of questions they want to see, and what grade distribution they would like within the exam. The only caveat is that there will be a team portion to the final exam, and they will also get to choose what that will look like. This came about as I was considering exam structure and figured I should let them play a role in deciding.
Question 2: What will the team portion of the final exam look like?
This will be part of the students’ choice. They will have the option to redo all the multiple-choice questions in teams or to redo some of them and work on a problem in teams. They decide in the days leading up to the exam.
Question 3: How do you incorporate different worldviews into your teaching and learning practice? For example, Indigenous or intercultural perspectives?
It’s not easy! Teaching is always perspective based and there are expectations within courses and programs about what ought to be taught or done. Sociology, which involves the study of society, offers a lot of opportunities. But the discipline’s core/original concepts and ideas still have Eurocentric roots. Higher education is embedded in deeply colonial systems, so, it’s tricky. For me, the recognition that as instructors we have one perspective and questioning our curriculum expectations is a good first step.
Of course, we can also think about changing content. I have taken time in my professional development to do this. I have tried to participate in a lot of learning sessions, to work with elders like Evelyn, Daryle, Fernanda, and June, or to listen to advice of other expert colleagues at NIC and beyond. I’ve read a lot from Indigenous writers and post- and de-colonial writers.
The key for me has been to learn and to ask questions about how things can be done differently so that students from of all backgrounds feel fully included and represented; to ensure that they will learn about the world in a way that at least tries to reflect their stories and address their needs. That may mean using examples or including readings that aren’t just White settler Canadian or Western, middle class, but bring in diversity and challenge traditional paradigms. There’s still so much more for me to do and that learning won’t stop, really.
Question 4: Can an instructor ensure that quality learning takes place?
Yes and no. As instructors, we can provide students with quality learning opportunities. We can develop courses that give students the chance to engage with the material, to know what the learning outcomes are, to talk with each other and the instructor, and to get inspired by the discipline. But I cannot make students learn. I am setting the conditions of possibility for student learning, encouraging them to do so, telling them what it looks like, and supporting them in figuring out the avenues. It is up to students to accept those invitations.
Question 5: What kind of evidence have you gathered, or do you gather, to know that students have learned?
The number one place we are gathering evidence that students are learning is with assessments. Are students succeeding on the assessments? Do they understand what they’ve been learning? Are they showing evidence of their learning? The assessments must align with learning outcomes and must be intentional and connected with the course. And we must take stock of that periodically. I’ve looked at some of my learning outcomes and thought, “Oh, I did well here in this assignment, but this other one is a little light and I’ve got to make a change.”
One other way I try to gather evidence of student learning is using pre-assessment and post-assessment. I really like giving students potential test questions that might appear on a midterm or final exam at the beginning of the semester, which allows all of us to see how much students have grown. I also think some of the best evidence we gather connects with our everyday professional responsibilities and judgement. It’s not really the type of evidence that can be published in a journal article or a report; it’s the type you live. For example, what do students’ facial expressions and body language look like? Are students answering questions in class well? Are they challenged in the ways that are expected during in-class work? Are we observing improvements in their thinking and greater proficiency? Taking stock of these things as a semester unfolds can help show everybody where students are more or less successful.
Question 6: Why does building a cohesive classroom community matter?
There are some assumptions in this question I’m not sure I fully agree with. There is an assumption that instruction is always in a classroom with students, but we do a lot of teaching that is digital and asynchronous, whether there is or should be a cohesive community is a question for me. The other assumption is that a cohesive classroom matters. If we think about our purpose, it is to ensure students learn and can demonstrate course outcomes. I don’t know whether students need cohesion to do that? Additionally, what do we mean by cohesion? Is it with each other or with me or both? Again, I’m not sure. So, what do we need in a classroom for good learning to take place? Probably good learning opportunities, as well as collective and mutual respect? Maybe a sense of security to take risks or a feeling of ownership over the course. But cohesion may only be a bonus or only a requirement in some instances because I’m not sure engaged students who are learning need to be well connected to each other or me for the core work to happen.
Question 7: If we walked into your classroom and the students were engaged and learning, what would we see or hear that would have us know that?
Lots of things. If you walked in and saw me giving a formal lecture, hopefully you would also see most students listening, asking, and answering questions, and taking notes. More often, you would see students participating in activities because every class meeting has multiple in-class activities that involve solving problems using the disciplinary concepts relevant for that class. That means they will be talking to each other, looking for relevant material in their text or online, and so on. What I try to foster is deeper engagement where there’s wide effort, lots of taking notes, lots of questions, lots of answering, and then the debrief of what they found or think. So, it means the course involves a lot of dynamic conversation all over the place.
Question 8: What are you currently engaging with (reading, listening to, watching) that inspires you?
Sometimes carving out the time to do this work is tricky. I’m a big fan of academic and teaching Twitter. Although I don’t post a lot in this area, I value learning about the innovations and ideas and the good things people share. I am also working to get through Joe Chrona’s book Wayi Wah! Indigenous Pedagogies: An Act for Reconciliation and Anti-Racist Education. I’m also focusing energy on getting back to team-based learning (TBL). The TBL Collaborative and I spend a lot of time on their website. Team-based learning is reckoning with a lot of questions around access and equity; I am excited to hear more about how people are grappling with the core structure and the quite legitimate challenges to its structure.
Question 9: How would someone else describe you as an instructor?
It depends on who that someone is? Are they teaching colleagues? Are they my colleagues in CTLI? Are they administrators? Are they students? Students’ opinions matter most. I hope they would consider me to be organized, thoughtful, intentional, approachable, and of course knowledgeable in the discipline. I also hope they think of me as kind and reasonable, and funny.
Question 10: What inspires you to keep growing as a teacher?
A few things. There is excitement in learning and doing new things. I’m inspired by ideas. I’m curious and thrive on exploration and discovery. I also want to succeed in my classes and to be good at what I do. I want students to enjoy the experience and feel like they’re getting something out of it. I grow because things are always changing and it’s hard to be good without putting in some effort. It’s important to me that I can do all my work with a measure of pride and a sense that it’s important.