Gaps to encourage learning

A couple of weeks ago, I read about mindful learning in a book I was reading on mindfulness (Siegel 2007) that suggested that providing gaps in the teaching material stimulated student learning as the brain seems to want completeness (or at least that is my very broad interpretation). This made me stop and consider what I had been doing in the history of nursing course this year which is using primary sources as a key part of the learning activities. It would seem that what I have inadvertently done is built in these gaps. Primary sources by their very nature are incomplete. It is not possible to compile a complete picture of a time and place when using them and indeed, that is the role of historians to try and construct an explanation of events based on these incomplete pieces. By providing 3 or 4 primary sources for each time period and context each week, I am giving students only fragments of the whole. When they read secondary sources, they are provided with someone’s interpretation and the pieces have been filtered, even sanitised – there is no challenge in that. However, by providing students with both primary and secondary sources, plus a thinking tool to help them pull it all apart and put back together, and encouraging them to work in small groups in order to accomplish these tasks, there is a level of interest and thinking this year that I have not seen before. This is reflected not only in the group discussion that have been going online, but is also evident in the extent and depth of the summaries the groups are putting up on the main discussion board.

I don’t think for a minute that it is any one of the factors that I have changed in the way I am teaching this course this year that is responsible for these changes in thinking (and I hope learning), but could  be a combination of all. I am also not ruling out that it just might be this cohort of students as well. Either way, the idea of providing gaps in which learning can be stimulated has intrigued me.

Mindful learning has a number of dimensions: openness to novelty; alertness to distinction; context sensitivity; multiple perspectives; present orientation (Siegel 2007, p. 237). It may be that as first year students, learning within an online classroom, and (for many) learning about history, there is undoubtedly a great deal of novelty in my classroom. Whether students themselves are open to that novelty depends very much on themselves. I have tried to smooth the way as much as possible so the levels of anxiety are not disabling, but there will certainly be those who are not open to this novel experience for a number of reasons. My very style of teaching has always tended towards highlighting differences and exploring the grey areas so there are numerous instances throughout the course that draw attention to distinction. Furthermore, history is context based and full of discrepancies, so the very subject area lends itself very nicely multiple perspectives. Finally, I have become more aware over the years of bringing the concepts I have been teaching to the present – to try and provide some linkages for students as to the relevance of these historical events to the present culture or status of nursing. I know I have been increasingly mindful of my teaching over the past couple of years. I didn’t know I was essentially encouraging ‘mindful learning’. Hmm, yet another little synchronicity. Had a few of those lately.

Seigel, D 2007, The mindful brain, WW Norton & Co, New York.

Back in the saddle

This week I began my teaching term again after quite a long break. The two classes I am responsible for are online (with one having a videoconferenced lecture once a week), so my teaching is very dependent on technology. That is my mistake! or so it seemed this week. Nothing quite like technological problems at the start of term to take the wind out of one’s sails.

However, aside from these issues, I have enjoyed interacting with students again. In the large class I teach (over 500 students), I have been encouraging students to work in groups and I have set up group pages for them. While I generally leave the groups to work things out for themselves in terms of how the group operates and what tasks are undertaken/what content is mulled over etc, it has been lovely keeping a bird’s eye on the development of these groups. I have watched them really get their teeth into the primary source data and share their information around. Maybe it is a sign of a generation that is used to working with virtual strangers across vast geographical distances, but I am amazed at how quickly these groups have jelled and have just ‘got into it’.

I created a quiz for students to do that consisted of 5 questions related to their readiness to learn (background; learning style; preferences in teaching styles; preferences in resource use; how organised they were at the start of term). I guess not surprisingly those that completed this quiz early (in O week), were the organised ones, who generally liked to learn fairly independently and were comfortable with the online environment. I dare say I will not get a representative result with this quiz in terms of learning styles and preferences for all the students as it is likely only those who are already quite comfortable with the technology will actually complete the quiz; those who are assessment driven probably won’t take the time to look around at what is available to them on the online site. However, I am optimistic that the bunch of students I will be working with contains some really motivated students who really do want to learn and are throwing themselves into their studies. I have to admit it is very refreshing to watch.

The other addition to my teaching this year is a practice referencing quiz. I can see that a number of students have gone into this quiz 3 and 4 times already and it appears they are using the feedback provided as a way of learning how to reference. One student, for example, did this and then did the Assessment reference quiz and scored 100%. I am certainly fielding very few questions on referencing thus far, which is a change from previous years, so maybe this sort of resource helps take the angst out of referencing a little, and thus allows the discussion forums to be mostly focused on exploring the content. I hope so because although I have articulated both procedural and declarative knowledge as part of the outcomes for this course, I think somewhere along the way I have ended up focusing more on the procedural stuff in response to student queries etc which has taken away from really working through the important stuff. This is something I will keep an eye on as the term progresses. I guess only time will tell whether the thought I put into the design of the course etc will result in deeper learning for the students. That was my intention, anyway.